Druid - Cat

Purpose

A Cat Druid is a melee damage dealer. They can off-tank if necessary, but real raid tanking should be left to the bears. NOTE: It is possible to create a hybrid spec that allows one to both tank and DPS effectively.

Talent Builds

Standard: 0/55/16∞
Hybrid Bear/Cat: 0/60/11∞

Ability Rotation

A Cat Druid does not have a set rotation; rather, it has several buffs/debuffs/DoT effects that must all be kept up on the target.

Single-Target:
Priority 1: Maintain Savage Roar∞ buff
Priority 2: Maintain Mangle∞ debuff. Note that Arms warriors (trauma, same debuff) and Bear druids keep this up as part of their rotation, so Mangling is not necessary if these classes are present.
Priority 3: Maintain Rake∞ DoT
Priority 4: Maintain a 5-point Rip∞ DoT
Priority 5: Shred∞ when you have extra energy and all of the above is in good shape
Priority 6: Maintain Feral Faerie Fire∞ debuff if no bear druids/moonkin.

Sample ST Opening Rotation (adjust based on misses, etc. according to the above priority list):

1. Mangle (if needed)
2. Rake
3. Savage Roar
4. Shred
5. TF
6. Berserk (if up)
7. Shred
8. Rake (Re-apply)
9. Shred to 5cp
10. Rip

AOE Rotation:

1. Rake/Mangle/Ravage something for a CP
2. Savage Roar
3. Swipe spam
4. TF when you can't Swipe anymore
5. Berserk (if not saving for an upcoming boss)
6. Rake/SR when it drops

Key Cooldowns

• Tiger's Fury∞ - use every time the cooldown is up and you have less than 25 Energy
• Berserk∞ - use every time the cooldown is up and you have more than 75 Energy (generally after a Tiger's Fury)
• Barkskin∞ - use to help mitigate raid/AOE damage; 1m CD and not on GCD, so does not reduce DPS

Key Stats

Cat Druids are in an interesting place stat-wise, with the buff to Armor Penetration in 3.1. Armor Penetration is currently the best stat for cat druids, but only if you have a good bit to start with, due to scaling (i.e. an +ArPen trinket). Generally, focus on gemming +Agi, and only switch to +ArPen if you have over 300 ArPen. Also, do not combine 2 +ArPen trinkets, as it is now impossible to reduce armor below 0%. Also, druids are one of the few classes where stacking hit is sub-optimal, dps wise. However, if you have trouble recovering from misses in your DPS rotation, then prioritize Hit.

Stat Weightings:

1.0 - Armor Penetration - Reduces enemy armor, causing you to hit harder. As noted above, worth a bit less when first gearing up, a bit more when stacked.
1.0 - Agility - Core stat.
.95 - Strength - Core stat, slightly inferior to Agi.
.80 - Hit Rating - up to cap of 263 (8%), then worth nothing.
.80 - Expertise Rating - up to a cap of 132 (16 Expertise or 4%), due to Primal Precision, then worth nothing, except when DPS'ing a mob from the front.
.80 - Crit Rating - Crit is slightly better than Haste, due to the extra CP recieved from crtis.
.65 - Haste Rating
.50 - Attack Power

Recommended Glyphs

1. Glyph of Savage Roar
2. Glyph of Rip
3. Glyph of Shred

Recommended Enchants

Enchants are listed from best and most expensive to least expensive. If you have a crafting profession, you may have access to crafter-only enchants which are better than these recommendations.

• Head: Arcanum of Torment∞
• Shoulders: Greater Inscription of the Axe∞ or Lesser Inscription of the Axe∞
• Cloak: Major Agility∞ or Superior Agility∞
• Chest: Powerful Stats∞ or Super Stats∞
• Wrists: Greater Assault∞ or Striking∞
• Hands: Crusher∞ or Major Agility∞ or Greater Assault∞
• Belt: Eternal Belt Buckle∞
• Legs: Icescale Leg Armor∞ or Nerubian Leg Armor∞
• Feet: Icewalker∞ or Greater Assault∞
• Weapon: Berserking∞ or Massacre∞ or Accuracy∞ or Greater Potency∞

Recommended Gems (UNDER REVISION)

Gems are listed from best to worst, assuming you stay under the caps for Hit Rating and Expertise Rating. If you are at or over the cap, move down the list.

• Meta: Relentless Earthsiege Diamond∞
• Red: Accurate∞ or Etched∞ or Precise∞ or Bold∞
• Yellow: Rigid∞ or Accurate∞ or Etched∞ or Deadly∞
• Blue: Enchanted Tear∞ or Vivid∞ or Guardian's∞ or Sovereign∞
• Prismatic: Rigid∞ or Accurate∞ or Etched∞ or Precise∞ or Bold∞

Recommended Consumables

• Flask: Flask of Endless Rage∞
• Food: Blackened Dragonfin∞ or Fish Feast∞ or Hearty Rhino∞

Additional Tips

• Always attack from behind or from the side. If you attack a mob from the front, it can parry your attacks.
• Don't forget you can Innervate/Rebirth- these abilities are raid savers.

Sources and Other Resources

• Elitist Jerks: Cat DPS Rotation∞
• Rawr∞ - Windows application that lets you import your armory profile and ranks your gear. You can view items per slot to see all available upgrades for your character.
• FaceMauler∞ Wow Addon that helps show you a proper DPS rotation. Highly recommended.