Hello,
I am just starting out and I am planning ahead does this seem like a good build for a feral druid? I have been doing some research and this seems to be one of the better builds. Or should I spend some of my points on feral charge and omen of clarity. Any comments/critiques are appreciated.

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/druid/talents.html?0100000000000000000005032020323221253 3125155003000000000000000

The order is just as important as the talents.

IMO, the key feral leveling talents are...

Feral Swiftness -- Get 2/2 at lvl 21 -- Improves outdoor speed in cat form
Primal Fury -- 2/2 at lvl 26 -- free combo points on crits
Faerie Fire (Feral) -- 1/1 at lvl 30 -- pull mobs while in cat (or bear) form
Savage Fury -- 2/2 at lvl 32 -- 20% DPS boots on your main attack
Imp. Leader of the Pack -- 2/2 at lvl 42 -- free heals during crit
OoC -- 1/1 at lvl 53 -- free attacks
angle -- 1/1 at lvl 61 -- replaces claw (remove claw from your bar once you get mangle), not that great until you have quite a bit of AP.

When I leveled I took Mangle before OoC, but Mangle at lvl 50 isn't all that great. You need quite a bit of AP (1000-1200) before it becomes nice. And you are not likely to get that much AP until you reach 61-62 and have a full set of Outland Kitty gear.

So, here's my build at lvl 61 (http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0ZxGMcfroezwoVx0z).

Other notes:

Feral Charge -- great tanking talent, great PvP talent, not really needed when leveling and/or solo questing. Pick it up later.

Thick Hide -- an OK tanking talent, worthless while questing in cat form, pick it up later.

Intensity -- nice tanking talent, pick it up later

Nature's Grasp -- nice PvP talent, not really needed when leveling. I picked it up at lvl 70. While solo leveling there were maybe 4-5 times I wish I had it. If you get into trouble use Dash and start over.

any will say that Shredding Attacks is only a kitty PvE (5-man/raid) talent, but it gives you another solo attack sequence that can be useful at times (Pounce-->Shred-->Shred-->...-->Rip). Rather than just Pounce-->Claw (or Mangle)*4-->Rip or just FFF-->Claw (or Mangle)*4-->Rip. I was 2/2 at lvl 34, though it can't really be used until lvl 36 and in combination with an energy bar addon. Once you get around 2000 AP with 25+% crit, FFF-->Mangle*4 is about all you'll ever need. But from 36-70+, I found Pounce->Shred-->Shred a great attack sequence option. Especially when attacking mobs with ranged abilities (spell casters/hunters).

While questing, 80% of the time you will want to use Rip at 4 combo points (sometimes at 5 if PF occurs twice on a mob). Don't bother with Bite (at 4 or 5 combo points) unless the mob has less than 15% health.

I thought the first 20 levels as a Druid sucked big time (I also most quit around lvl 18)! But it is worth the pain. I, also, found lvls 33-36 a bit tedious (too much shifting out to heal yourself) until you get pounce at lvl 36 which allows you to have a mob at 40-60% health before he even starts to attack you (less damage taken, less heals needed, less shifting!!). But most classes have "dead spots" in their leveling progression.

Here is my build (http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=0zZxGGsfroezioVxcz) at lvl 70. Now that I've been 70 for a several weeks, I'll probably move a few points around, but I wouldn't change much from what I did while leveling (except getting OoC before Mangle).

Danimal,

I would strongly advise the following changes:


1. Move all 5 points out of Improved Mark of the Wild into Naturalist.

Why?
Because Improved Mark of the Wild - particularly for levelling - is a very weak talent. When mark of the wild only gives you 6 to all stats, for example, getting an extra 35% added to it only equates to +2 extra. That's a waste of your early talent points, in my humble opinion.

Also, when you get to late game and you're raiding, Restoration spec druids will have that talent, so you are unlikely to need it.


2. Move 1 point out of Natural Shapeshifter and put it in Feral Charge.

Why?
Feral Charge is a key tanking ability. It's also heaps of fun. It has many uses - you can use it to immobilise a mob that is running away (on low health?) into a pack of adds. You can use it to interrupt spell casts, for example if a mob is attempting to heal itself. Finally, and most importantly, you can use it to catch any mobs that get away from you and make a dash for your healer.


3. Move 1 more point out of Natural Shapeshifter and put it in Omen of Clarity.

Why?
Omen of Clarity is deceptively awesome.
What this does is gives you a chance when hitting a mob (including whilst you are in feral forms) to get a "clearcasting" buff. The clearcasting buff reduces the cost of your next damaging or healing spell or ability by 100%.
This means that you could do:

- A heal on someone for no mana cost
- An expensive bear ability like Mangle or Swipe for no rage
- A Shred in cat form for no energy

That last one is important. Free backstabs? As in, a backstab that costs no energy? Rogues would kill for a talent like that. It helps your cat form dps a lot, and it also means that occasionally you can do an enormous amount of burst damage very very quickly, which is great for pvp.
Omen of Clarity is loads of fun and I absolutely recommend getting it.



If you were to make the changes I've described here, your talents would look like This. (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/druid/talents.html?0100000000000000000005032021323221253 3125105501001000000000000)


-Annikk

Thanks for all the great info I appreciate it.

Nature's Grasp -- nice PvP talent, not really needed when leveling. I picked it up at lvl 70. While solo leveling there were maybe 4-5 times I wish I had it. If you get into trouble use Dash and start over.Over the weekend, I did quite a bit of rep grinding. And I used Nature's Grasp several times. It sucks for solo PvE. You just can't count on it proc'ing on the correct mob, which makes it close to worthless for all but PvP.

It has definately moved to the top of my list of Feral talents that I will get rid of next time I respec. I often don't remember to use it the little bit I do PvP so it won't be an issue there. I just PvP to pass time. If I were more serious about PvP, I'd keep it.

I agree with that, I guess... although at low levels it's a very useful trick if you are undergeared and often need to break away from a fight to heal.


-Annikk

Over the weekend, I did quite a bit of rep grinding. And I used Nature's Grasp several times. It sucks for solo PvE. You just can't count on it proc'ing on the correct mob, which makes it close to worthless for all but PvP.



It is a pre-emptive ability, I used it all the time whilst solo'ing elites in Cat form. Use it before you stealth to pounce,shred... by the time it fights you might have a full 5combo down then rip and stand back to HoT up get some distance, star/moonfire to break it bear form and charge to stun/bash, back to cat form... blah be blah, blah...

In high end PvP I use it when I am pissing off a group of Alliance, nothing better than getting it to proc on a warrior giving u time to charge down a clothie to kill - feral charge macro has a combat seq for charge>Maul, followed by a Mangle, then swipe/lacerate... It isn't about using it as an escape, only Pussy cats do that... can't remember when I ran away in PvP prefer to go down fighting!! - For The Horde!


Also Lose Nuturing Instinct until 2.4 comes out. Until then it is waste, few points in Thick Hide instead!!

Patch 2.4 has come... & I'll be trying out Nurturing Instinct on my level 47 feral druid for soloing & BG fun.

I figure with Agi/Sta gear on, (202/128 respectively), I should be getting a very decent self-healing bonus as I like to throw a quick Rejuvenate/Regrowth after fights (depending on how long the fight was).

Spell coefficients: (http://www.wowwiki.com/Spell_damage_coefficient)
Rejuvenation = 80%
Regrowth (Direct Heal) = ~30%
Regrowth (HoT) = 70%

UPDATE: I'm really liking this NI change. I feel more like a hybrid. Helps that I'm actually topping the healing charts while doing alright on DPS charts.