(Another) feral dps question

Post by Thuya

Very simple question. What is the best way to maximize the feral cat dps during trash pulls when rip and rake don't have enough time to reach full efficiency. I've tried just shred spamming and such but I can only seem to get around 1500 dps. When it's a boss fight or the DPS isn't as good where the trash fights take longer, I can get upwards of 2300 dps with my current gear. Is this just something I'm going to have to deal with? or is there a way to increase my output on the trash? Thanks.

edit: BTW I'm talking about in level 80 heroic instance situations.

Post by 137754

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Post by Thuya

http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Black+Dragonflight&n=Pinguino

That's my link.

as for "Rotation" it's really dependant on OOC procs, but in general it goes:

Pounce for the bleed
Rake
Rip (just to get the bleed out there)
TF
Mangle
SR
Shred to 5 cp for rip
refresh bleeds as needed using the OOC procs for shred.

Again, I can put out good dps on a stationary fight like most bosses, I'm just really wondering if as a cat i'm just limited to that since a lot of the damage comes from bleeds.

Post by Kramp

Feral druids does'nt have a rotation, they have a lists of buff/debuffs they must keep. In priority:

-Mangle
-Savage Roar
-Rake
-Rip
-FF

Post by Dicoterra

From reading your rotation it seems kind of strange. It seems like you missed a lot of steps and are mostly putting in your end type moves. A good rotation on mobs is Pounce, mangle, shred to 3cp SR, rake to reapply bleed then shred to 3-5 points, then FB. That should kill most mobs, that normally gets me 1800-2100 on trash. if you are going to be facing multiple mobs Pounce, mangle, rake, to 5 CP throw in a shred if you don't get enough crits. Then SR, mangle rake shred to 4-5 CP rip and switch target and repeat without SR if there are only 2 because you never want to refresh any buffs/debuffs before then end. I hope this helps, it gets me through 5-10 man heroics fast and with good numbers.

Post by 109094

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Post by Thuya

re: Kramp, Yea I know that there's no "rotation" that's why I was hesitant to put one in the beginning anyway. Thanks though. :)

re: Dicoterra, Your response makes a lot of sense. I'll have to give it a shot. I just was always under the impression that i wanted rip up as much as possible, so i threw it up early, then reapplied it with a higher version (the 5 cp) after the fact. And since the only thing that changes with SR for cp is the duration i wasn't worried about making it a 3-5 cp SR. Good ideas though, thanks :)

re: Parrazell, I think i like your idea the best, so i'm going to give it a try first. I DID read about the cat:swipe, so i'm really looking forward to testing it out.

Thanks for the input, I'll be trying out these ideas and hopefully it'll get me back up where I KNOW cats dps can be.

Post by Aadramelekh

I would vote parrazell's rotation as the best for trash in dungeons.

What you need to understand is that you are together with another 2 DPS and a tank that also does great damage, comparable to the DPS on trash. Using any other kind of bleed than Rake on trash is wasted energy because most trash mobs die in 10 seconds when focus fired by the party. So first thing: Pounce should go away from your DPS rotation. From ANY rotation for that matter. Its main use is for stunning. At 50 energy, it is too expensive to be considered. For a regular 3-5 mobs pack open with Mangle and Rake, Mangle once more on the first target, then use Savage Roar. After that go on the next target (yes, forget the first one, it's already at 40% HP or lower so you will waste energy and CP on it), use Mangle, Tiger's Fury, Rake, Shred and Ferocious Bite. Then onto the next target. And so on and so forth. You can alternate and improvise depending on OOC procs. Generally with this pattern I pull 2200-2400 DPS on trash, depending on lucky crits and OOC.

At bosses where not much movement is involved, I get upwards of 3000 DPS using something like: Mangle -> Rake -> Shred -> Tiger's Fury -> Shred -> -> Savage Roar -> Berserk and then go wild with Shred, Rake & Rip at 5CP, then Shred again until 5CP, then Ferocious Bite or SR. Improvise and see whichever suits best for the boss.

But as a last reminder: When talking about trash mobs in heroic dungeons, FORGET Pounce and Rip. Especially Pounce is wasted energy and damage. Rip will probably tick for 8-10 seconds thus half wasted (that is, for a serious feral that uses Glyph of Rip and 2xT7 for a 20 seconds Rip). Best to use low energy cost moves (like Mangle, Rake and Savage Roar) that generate the best DPE in trash mobs situations.

Post by 144872

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Post by Thuya

awesome input guys, thanks very much for all the info. I've been trying the various things and i think i found something that works for me. :).

Post by 109094

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Post by Slimda

I just toss on my spell damage gear and cast hurricanes until they're all dead. Works fine in naxx :P (I'm a lazy git)

Post by Thuya

Well, I've found that using a combination of what Parrazell and Aadramelekh suggested works best for me. Ignoring the pounce/ravage, and going right to the mangle > Rake > Shred spam, with TF and SR thrown in. and a FB near the end.

Another thing I kinda realized on accident and seems to work really well, is using Berserk everytime it's off cooldown. I'm not quite sure why, but I was saving the berserk for the bosses exclusively. But on a 3 minute cooldown, there's plenty of time to use it frequently and still have it ready for the boss!

All in all, your guys' input has really helped me refine how to be "epix cat deepz" going from ~1200-1300 to ~1800-1900 on overall, and my Boss dps is up to ~2500 now!

Edit: On a semi-related note, is there a cap on how fast I can get my white attacks? I'm currently at .96 unbuffed, but with procs and buffs I can get it around .56. Is this a waste?

Post by 109094

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Post by Thuya

Sounds good. I guess I'll just take it where I can get it, and just see where it goes from there. Hehe. I think I'm ALMOST ready to start looking to dps in 10 man naxx. All I need is the staff from Heroic VH and I'll be set.

Cyanigosa: 7 - Me: 0 ; ;

(Another) feral dps question

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