Druids and numbers.
End-game is complicated, and I’m not referring exclusively to the difficulty of finding five to ten players for end-game instances, let alone the nightmare involved in organizing 40 people for World of Warcraft’s (WoW) raid instances.
I oft wondered, “What is there to do at level 60 but to keep the lands peaceful from Horde aggression?” Then it came upon me that there are but two options: PvP like a mad fool, or participate in end-game instances. Both options provide invaluable loot in the long-run, and both require different builds, though arguably, one could spend their character’s talent points in such a way so as to balance the character to be capable of surviving both PvP battlegrounds as well as PvE instances.
Not long ago did I re-spec my druid. Prior to the 1.7 “druid patch”, which made the druid not suck in melee combat, I was restoration-specced, which means that I was a bad priest with better melee survivability. I don’t like to be a heal-bot, however, so the 1.7 patch was a godsend, in that it made a character I already loved that much better.
Tweaking my now-feral druid was an interesting change, because prior to 1.7, I would regularly fight in bear form, and switch to caster form to heal and DoT, while only using cat form to sneak around. With 1.7 in full-swing, I initially built my druid to be able to off-tank, still neglecting much of what the feral tree had to offer. Now, however, I’ve settled on a more typical cat-form build, using Shred as I never have before.
Then I realized, during a UI reconfiguration on my laptop, that I have Ravage, a better Shred. Finally, I did what only the hardcore do: I ran the numbers.
It turns out that Ravage is ultimately better than Shred in every possible way, even with the 12-point energy reduction by way of talent points. Given 100 energy, a Ravage attack followed by a Claw (assuming a base damage of 50), earns one 706 damage, while two Shreds back to back earn one a mere 585 damage. While the two Shreds keep four energy points in the bank, that reserve is negligible, especially when one considers that a Ravage followed by a Rake leaves one with five energy points in the bank, and assuming the Rake DoT lasts the duration, equates to 702 damage.
Even scaling the base damage down to 25, the Rake/Claw combination is better than two Shreds (593.50 damage compared to 472.50 damage), leaving me with the conclusion that my two feral talent points are better spent elsewhere than to reduce Shred’s energy expenditures by a mere 12 points. In fact, running the numbers has made me decide that I will ultimately ignore Shred altogether when a Ravage makes more sense. In fact, using a base damage of 50 as a baseline, and keeping in mind the 12 energy difference in Ravage compared to Shred, one can see that the 12 energy left over equates to an approximate damage potential of 73.08, that even if added to a Shred’s base damage, does not come close to a normal Ravage attack.
Now, with a new talent re-spec and some decent feral gear, my druid will be deadlier than I even thought he could be, and, ultimately, a better party-member than any Rogue, despite a small DPS differential.
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While your analysis is certainly interesting, sir, you have relied too much on numbers and made a fatal error. You should not have specced such that your feral forms are better. You should, in fact, have gone Moonkin. It’s perfect for PvP and Instance runs, because the Moonkin dance is an effective distraction, causing confusion and hilarity that would allow you to inflict serious damage on the offending player or creature. I hang my head in disappointment at your choice.
I ought amend this analysis with the revelation that Shred is a backstabbing ability that can be used sans the Prowl ability. That is to say, Shred is used routinely, while Ravage is used only as an opener from Prowl, ala Ambush.
With this in mind, it is impossible to build a solid feral druid with the 30/21 archetype in mind, seeing as one is forced to either focus on cat-form or bear-form but not both. One could build a decent overall feral druid by forgoing the restoration tree, but without an instant heal, any ability to solo is removed.
As for Moonkin, aside from the comedy value, I maintain it is the worst of the druid builds.