[PvE Guide] A comprehensive guidebook to WotLK for the wandering feral cat

**Kovachut** · June 14, 2022

This guide is based on the original script from Retail WotLK and is supported by Rawr, formulas from evowow, and personal playtesting on warmane (+ the Classic feral simcraft for some sections). Everything I've said here has or could have behaved the same way as in the original 3.3.5 patch. If Classic WotLK has a different script for certain interactions - now or in the future - those won't be documented here. If you have difficulties navigating here, just use "CTRL" + "F" and type your preferred keyword. kthx

Table of contents

Honourable mentions
Brief introduction
List of abbreviations
General analysis of playing as a cat
Add-ons
Macros
Recommended talent build and glyphs
Omen of Clarity, aka the MVP for a feral cat
BiS lists, stats, and simcrafts
Professions
Consumables
Positioning as a feral cat
Feral cat's piority list 101
How to open as a cat?
What's the value of a CP?
FB. Energy investment and proper timing
Different playstyles for a feral cat
Pre-pull Savage Roar
Swapping idols during combat
Tips for all 25-man instances
Miscellaneous
Music suggestions
Used formulas for my calculations
Sources
Changelog

1. HONOURABLE MENTIONS

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Before I begin, I’d like to make a quick shout-out to some community members, who have helped me become a better cat player and a better raider over the years. This guide was made possible thanks to them and their feedback:

a nameless Bulgarian in the former XxxxxxXxxxBG private server, who introduced feral’s priority list to the 15 y.o. braindead me back in 2011. I may have forgotten your name, but certainly not your help. You have my sincerest gratitude, whoever you were and wherever you are now;
Cancerina - my former Icecrown guild master, who helped me get better in ICC and RS (on NM and on HC);
Mastija and Drudoto - two other Bulgarians on Icecrown, who gave me a lot of helpful tips for playing as a cat in those instances;
Nap, DarkenedHue, wtfzomglol, Blunta, Sand1dark, adios113, and Beanlord - forum users, who gave me their feedback regarding my GotVV-shift theorycraft in the warmane druid forums;
Aldtharios, Nobuemon, and BlueAo - warmane staff members, who answered my technical questions regarding the GotVV-shift;
Spreang - improving the previous macro for the "GotVV-shift with idol swapping" and coming up with an entirely new one, which allows the players to mash the keybind w/o getting punished by the game;
Nap and Chatonchaton - sharing their thoughts on bearweaving with me. Special thanks to Nap for providing me with a lot of stuff to read and for expressing his opinion on many topics concerning feral cat;
Owlbama and Chatonchaton - informing me that idol swapping should be done the moment a person casts an ability in order to overlap the GCDs;
mep2481 - informing me about the "recent" discovery of http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=11565 in Classic Wrath on discord;
Zaytex and dominokid - giving me food for thought regarding Swipe;
Baluo, Ashclaw, Dindro, Mesculid, and Sami - Classic players that gave me food for thought regarding some trending topics;
Nap, Spreang, Garddon, Ivpal, Yavor, Soanok and countless other players from both Lordearon and Icecrown - helping me test various in-game mechanics;
Palutena, Repost, Mercy, and Arbiterone - warmane moderators, who resolved some technical issues concerning this guide and my other thread;
Morganrose and Zdendajede - two guildmates of my former Frostmourne guild, who gave me their feedback on what to add or remove in this very guide. Morgan came up with the emote name "SadgeRoar", which I now use whenever possible.

Screw it - shout-out to <Storm> (Icecrown), <The Fallen Legion> (Frostmourne), <Blood and Glory> and <Order of the Horde> (Lordearon), so far the only guilds I raided seriously with and enjoyed WotLK to its fullest. I feel lucky that I was able to join them, and I hope I have the same success in finding like-minded players in the future as I have had in the past. Now, enough with the slushy Hollywood opening. Let the Kater* begin.

*Kater, m (German) - 1) male cat, 2) hangover.

2. BRIEF INTRODUCTION

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3. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

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AA = Auto Attack
AFK = Away From Keyboard
AH = Auction House
AKA = Also Known As
AoE = Area of Effect
AP = Attack Power
Arp = Armour Penetration
ASAP = As Soon As Possible
BDK = Blood Death Knight
BiS = Best in Slot
BL = Bloodlust
BoE = Bind on Equip
BoK = Blessing of Kings
BoM = Blessing of Might
BPC = Blood Prince Council
BQL = Blood-Queen Lana'thel
Bress/Cress = Battle/Combat Ress (aka Rebirth)
BS = Blacksmithing
CC = Clearcasting
CD = Cooldown
CP = Combo Point
DBW = Deathbringer’s Will
Demo = Demonstration
DoT = Damage Over Time (aka our bleeds, aka Rake & Rip)
DPE = Damage Per Energy
DPS = Damage Per Second
DR = Diminishing Returns
EoC = Emblem(s) of Conquest
EoE = Eye of Eternity
EoF = Emblem(s) of Frost
EoT = Emblem(s) of Triumph
EoV = Emblem(s) of Valour
FB = Ferocious Bite
FC = Feral Charge
FF/FFF = Faerie Fire (Feral)
GCD = Global Cooldown
GotW = Gift of the Wild
GotVV-shift = a playstyle revolving around “Gift of the Wild”
IC = Iron Council
ICC = Icecrown Citadel
ICD = Internal Cooldown
ILotP = Improved Leader of the Pack
ILVL = Item Level
IMHO = In my honest opinion
IMotW = Improved Mark of the Wild
JC = Jewelcrafting
HC = Heroic (Mode)
HM = Hard Mode
HoF = Hand of Freedom
HoP = Hand of Protection
HoS = Hand of Salvation
HotW = Heart of the Wild
HP = Health Points
LDW = Lady Deathwhisper
LK = (the) Lich King
LoD = Light of Dawn (aka LK HC)
MC = Mind Control
MD = Misdirection
LoS = Line of Sight (i.e. when you’re hiding from something)
LotP = Leader of the Pack
LW = Leatherworking
Naxx = Naxxramas
N.B. = Nota Bene (An abbreviation for the Latin phrase nota bene, meaning “note well” It is used to emphasize an important point.)
NE = Night Elf
NG = Nature’s Grasp
NGL = Not gonna lie
NM = Normal Mode
NPC = Non-Playable Character
OoC = Omen of Clarity
OoM = Out of Mana
OS = Off-Spec
OS2d/OS3d = Obsidian Sanctum with 2 or 3 drakes
PoV = Point of View
PP = Professor Putricide
PPH = Procs Per Hit
PPM = Procs Per Minute
PS = Predatory Swiftness
PvE = Player vs Environment
PvP = Player vs Player
R&T = Rend and Tear
RDF = Random Dungeon Finder
RL = Raid Leader
RNG = Random Number Generator (aka the algorithm, which causes randomness in any game)
RP = Role-Play (not to be confused with ERP which stands for Erotic Role-Play)
RS = Ruby Sanctum
SI = Survival Instincts
SJW = Social Justice Warrior
SotF = Survival of the Fittest
Spec = Specialisation
SR = Savage Roar
Strat = Strategy
STS = Sharpened Twilight Scale
TBH = To be honest
ToC = Trial of the Crusader
ToGC = Trial of the Grand Crusader
ToT = Tricks of the Trade
VoA = Vault of Archavon
2pt7 = Two pieces of tier 7, aka the first set bonus from the Naxxramas set
2pt8 = Two pieces of tier 8, aka the first set bonus from the Ulduar set
4pt8 = Four pieces of tier 8, aka the second set bonus from the Ulduar set
2pt9 = Two pieces of tier 9, aka the first set bonus from the ToC set
4pt9 = Four pieces of tier 9, aka the second set bonus from the ToC set
2pt10 = Two pieces of tier 10, aka the first set bonus from the ICC set
4pt10 = Four pieces of tier 10, aka the second set bonus from the ICC set

4. GENERAL ANALYSIS OF PLAYING AS A CAT

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Basic overview:
- energy-based, CP-generating assassin (= we specialise in single-target);
- our damage requires time to ramp up (= putting our strongest attacks into play doesn't happen immediately);
- constant awareness is required for:
* our energy,
* our CPs,
* the duration of our buffs on us (SR, trinket procs, potions etc),
* the duration of our debuffs on our target/s (Mangle, bleeds),
* the downtime of our abilities (Berserk, TF),
* the presence of OoC procs,
* dead or OoM teammates,
- good energy management is required as we constantly starve for it;
- quick decision making is required when getting CC procs;
- this is the spec with the most combat-related abilities, and it's really dynamic.

Buffs and helpful spells:
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48469 (+51 boost to everyone’s Strength, Agility, Stamina, Intellect, and Spirit);
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=17007;
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=34297;
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=66068 (minor threat increasing buff for tanks);
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=29166 (7866 mana for a healer every 3 minutes);
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48477 (you can revive a Pepega during combat once every 10 minutes; it’s an instant cast when combined with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=69369);
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=33786 (makes an MCd player immune to all attacks for 6/3/1.5 seconds with the 1st/2nd/3rd cast due to DR; mostly used on Kel'Thuzazd in Naxx and on Lady Deathwhisper in ICC);
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=67976 (party-wide channeled healing spell with an ICD of 8 minutes; it’s mostly used on XT HM in Ulduar and on Blood-Queen Lana'thel in ICC and should be combined with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=22812 for an uninterrupted effect);
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=2782 (mostly used on yourself during the Halion fight in RS).

Debuffs:
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=16857;
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48566.

Pros:

excellent single-target dps;
good AoE, especially in combination with CCs and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=50334;
very mobile spec.

Cons:

almost no utility with the exception of a lonely http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48566 for rogues, warriors, and hunters => a cat is not optimal for 10-man progression raids, especially in Ulduar and in ToC/ToGC, where Crowd Control and target switching matter a lot;
no passive cleave and huge energy and CPs sanctions when switching targets;
no threat dump (and before you ask - no, http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48575 doesn’t count. It’s garbage since it removes a small flat amount from the threat table);
if our target rotates for whatever reason, we cannot use our main damaging ability optimally (http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48572 requires us to stand in the rear 180 arc of our target);
the CCs are very inconsistent (this is bad because they greatly impact our dps, and they have a 6% chance to be procced by an AA);
since there's usually one spot for a feral in raids, the competition for guilds and pug events is high. We fight tooth and claw for them.

Commentary:
Although I've mentioned a lot of useful buffs and abilities in the "raid utility" list, in actuality cats lack raid utility in comparison to the other druid specs. That’s because in every self-respecting raid out there you’d have at least one boomie, which not only offers almost the same benefits as we do, but some of them are even superior. For example, Boomie’s FF provides extra 3% spell hit on top of the armour reduction, and they also offer 5% crit to all healers and caster rdps, 3% haste to everyone, and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=61384, which acts as a Crowd Control and makes fights like Deathbringer Saurfang substantially easier. If a RL has to choose between a feral cat and a boomie for their raid, they are not going to favour us, I can tell you that much. Yes, this also regards melee-heavy groups - the balance spec is just that overtuned.

Moreover, the 5% crit from LotP can be provided by fury warriors (via http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=29801), and that spec is quite popular post ToC. The healing from the improved feral talent is such a joke that I'm sorry for even mentioning it.

This leaves us with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48566, http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=29166, and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48477. Here I’d like to note that under normal circumstances bress is not worth mentioning as well, as good players generally avoid dying to stupid ****. Healers might love you for the mana replenishment if you constantly use it in fights, but the buff itself is not game-changing since it affects only one person. As I’ve said before, in reality a feral cat mostly brings http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48566 to raids, which could also be provided by arms warriors. Fortunately for us, you won’t see any in most endgame raids as they’re outshined by their fury brethren. So, yeah - one spec, one unique raid buff. Do you feel important now?

But, Kova, what about bear druids?

I’m saving the worst for last. Usually, people want only one feral druid in their 25-man raids because two don’t really stack that well. But the most devastating fact is that feral tanks provide the same utility as we do, and they are more valuable to the raid simply because they play as tanks (and we all know how underrepresented this role is). In other words, should you compete alongside a bear for a raid spot, well… I have some grim news for you.

N.B.: I’m aware that this analysis sounds a bit gloomy, and it’s not something you’d find in a normal guide, but I wanted to be objective here and warn newcomers that a raid or a guild spot is not always guaranteed. Regardless how much effort someone puts in playing this spec, it remains niche no matter what. In HM or HC boss encounters, its presence alone doesn't tip the scales in favour of the raid group (unlike a shadow priest on Algalon or a boomkin on Deathbringer Saurfang). Only by seeing the full picture surrounding the feral cat spec and comparing it to the rest, can you truly realise the vital importance of impressing the RL with good dps and giving them a reason to invite you in their raids in the first place.

5. ADD-ONS

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6. MACROS

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If you’re playing your cat traditionally, and we’re not taking any specific scenarios into consideration, then I’m glad to say that you don’t need any macros at all. Still, I’d like to suggest some:

#showtooltip Rebirth (Rank 7)
/stopmacro [nohelp,nodead]
/run c="Resurrecting %t"if UnitInRaid("player")then SendChatMessage(c, "RAID")elseif GetNumPartyMembers()>0 then SendChatMessage(c, "PARTY")end
/cast [combat] Rebirth ; Revive

(This script combines the druid's resurrection spells, and it announces in /p or /raid chat whenever you bring someone back to life. Depending on whether you are in combat or not, it uses either the normal revival spell or the bress.)

#showtooltip Innervate
/cast [help] Innervate
/script SendChatMessage("innervated.", "WHISPER", nil, UnitName("target"))

(When you innervate a person, you let them know.)

#showtooltip Innervate
/cast [@>>>name of your healer<<<] Innervate

(When you innervate a specific person often, and you don’t want to search their name in the raid frames.)

#showtooltip Berserk
/cast Berserk
/w >>>Your blood DK tank<<< Give me Hysteria, please.

(This helps me coordinate http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=50334 with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=49016.)

#showtooltip >>>Name of your boots<<<
/use 8

(This is my macro for the http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=55004.)

/cast >>>name of the feral ability<<<
/use 10

(This is how I’ve combined https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=54758 with my feral cat attacks like Mangle, Shred etc)

#showtooltip >>>Your current cloak<<<
/use 15

(This triggers your parachute. I find it mostly useful in the Sindragosa encounter in ICC.)

#showtooltip Gnomish Battle Chicken
/use Gnomish Battle Chicken
/equip >>>name of your usual trinket<<<

(This is how summon the http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=10725 and re-equip my other trinket. I put the chicken item on myself and use the macro during the DBM pull timer.)

/castsequence Crystal Yield, Saronite Bomb

(This macro is useful for players who use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=11565 on bosses. The first cast will use the crystal, whereas the second - http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=41119)

7. RECOMMENDED TALENT BUILD AND GLYPHS

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I. Cookie-cutter build

wowhead link

Disclaimer: Let’s be honest for a bit - different builds perform better depending on the encounter. On some boss fights, we tend to swipe a lot, and on others we only resort to single-target only. I don't want some people here to be left with the wrong impression that the proposed talent build outperforms all others. However, I recommend it because it’s generally useful regardless of circumstances. It's applicable to traditional cats and GotVV-shifters, but not for bearweavers. That playstyle needs 5/5 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=17061 and 3/3 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=57877.

II. Short commentary

I won't describe each and every single talent in the screenshot above because most of them fall in one of the following categories: 1) stat boost, 2) damage increase, and 3) energy reduction. Of course, I still encourage you to open your in-game talent tree or the one in the link above and to acquaint yourself with their effects, though FYI I've already dedicated separate sections in this guide to the most noteworthy ones (like OoC). Same goes to the glyphs. The greyed out talents in the feral tree, on the other hand, are more suitable for tanking or for pvp, i.e. topics that are not covered by the guide.

Here, I’d like to talk about the marked talents for a bit (from most to least important):

- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=16949 - increases the damage of our Swipes => helps us clear trash faster, useful in fights with adds like Lord Marrowgar (spikes), Lady Deathwhisper, Valithria Dreamwalker, Halion 25HC. Obviously, this isn’t useful in every single boss encounter, but personally I wouldn’t create an OS just for single-target.

- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=61336 - despite being a defensive CD (associated with tanking and pvp-ing), I actually consider it to be excellent for a pure dps build. Why? That’s because we can use our defensive CDs aggressively and ignore incoming damage in order to inflict more onto the boss. One quick example is Sindy when you have a bunch of http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=70106 stacks. Instead of waiting for the debuff to expire, you can just use this ability and continue dps-ing her. Not to mention, alive kitty >>> dead kitty. We don't have 9 lives in a fight, so anything that keeps us alive and kicking is welcome.

- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=34300 - Look, under normal circumstances I wouldn’t have recommended it. It heals us and other melees (incl. hunters) for 2%/4% of our total health with an ICD of 6 seconds. The healing is **** [let’s assume I have around 40k health in ICC (with all of my buffs); 4% would be 1600 HP or 2080 HP with the 30% buff, and it will most likely end up being an overheal]. However, the reason why I use this talent is because it returns mana, which goes extremely well with my aggressive GotVV-shifting strategy. If you aren’t interested in this technique, then please ignore this as http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48938 would cover all of your mana needs.

- 4/5 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=17060 - Some people might wonder why I am even mentioning it here. Well, tbh puting one extra point in that talent isn’t bad. I consider it more beneficial than investing talent points into Improved Mangle because it has the potential to grant us more energy. Let me explain: feral cats regenerate 10 energy per second regardless of stats and form, but Furor determines the maximum cap when we're outside of cat form. Having 4/5 Furor minimises the penalty when you shapeshift out of cat form, in order to Innervate or Bress someone (*cough* or to use *cough* the GotVV-shift *cough*). If you have 4/5, you’d “gain” 20 energy as opposed to 3/5 because your main resource has more room to regenerate. Don't put 2 talent points in this! If you have 5/5, upon shapeshifting your energy could cap at 100, but due to the GCD caused by the shapeshift you won't be able to utilise it immediately, resulting in you overflowing that resource. 5/5 Furor only makes sense in the context of bearweaving.

- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48491 - it can decrease the energy cost of our Mangle ability by 2/4/6. I don’t recommend it, unless you want to have another spec just for bosses without adds, and you don't Bress or Innervate your guildmates that often. Don’t forget that the first usage is usually free thanks to a CC from a GotW prior to the pull timer. Most fights last ~3 minutes, some ~4, so throughout the course of a fight we’d spend actual energy on Mangle three or four times, which would save us 6/12/18 or 8/16/24 energy. Compare it to Furor, which can "grant us" 20 energy just by investing one talent point in it, and you can see my point.

III. Off-spec

In order to increase your odds of getting a raid spot, I recommend an OS different from pve cat. Here you can find guides for the other druid specs:

- Boomie by Arawethion: (EJ guide);
- Boomie by Lastcares: (wowhead guide);
- Boomie by Clovis: (warmane guide);
- Resto dudu: (wowhead guide);
- Resto dudu by Funkymusic: (warmane guide and youtube channel);
- Feral tank by NerdEgghead: (wowhead guide);
- Feral tank by Raenel: (warmane guide);
- Feral pvp by Meow: (irrelevant for raids, but still an amazing guide).

8. OMEN OF CLARITY, AKA THE MVP FOR A FERAL CAT

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I. General overview

Talent

Proc

The CCs are our Most Valuable Procs. Since we regenerate only 10 energy per second, and TF is on a 30-second timer, we can easily become energy-starved after 2-3 abilities. In situations like this, receiving the blue proc feels like actual Manna, i.e. a blessing from RNGeesus. The main purpose of this section is to shed light on the backbone of feral cat's dps and to defend the mindset of shaping your playstyle around generating as many CCs as possible at any given situation.

II. The CCs not having an ICD is not a warmane-specific bug or feature

Indeed it has happened on retail WotLK, and I'm listing my sources here just so people, who are unaware, would finally realise it:

With no cooldown and a 3.5 procs per minute, what this really means is that your melee attacks have a 5.83% (3.5/60) chance of proccing omen of clarity. Capping hit and having expertise makes sure you don't fail to land attacks that might have been hits that proc omen of clarity, and haste means you land more attacks per minute.

PPM isn't a mechanic where its only possible to have it proc 3.5 times a minute, it means it'll do that on average.

Source: http://wowthinktank.blogspot.com/200...-302wotlk.html

Excerpt from a log clearly showing this shouldn't have an ICD:

[12:18:13.213] Julzz gains Clearcasting from Julzz
[12:18:13.822] Julzz's Clearcasting fades from Julzz
[12:18:17.062] Julzz gains Clearcasting from Julzz
[12:18:17.264] Julzz's Clearcasting fades from Julzz
[12:18:18.310] Julzz gains Clearcasting from Julzz
[12:18:18.395] Julzz's Clearcasting fades from Julzz

Notice how there's 2 Omen of Clarity procs about a second apart.

http://www.worldoflogs.com/reports/i...3D+%22Julzz%22

Source: https://www.warmane.com/bugtracker/report/39642

In the next data push, you will find Omen of Clarity has been changed a bit. The 10 second cooldown has been removed, the procs per minute has been raised from 2 to 3.5, and melee abilities no longer trigger it.

What this means is that more auto-attacks landing on the target will increase the benefit from Omen of Clarity. Haste, increased hit chance, and expertise will all make Omen of Clarity better.

Source: https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...arity-in-WOTLK

III. The CCs have a 6% chance to be procced by AAs and 8.75% from instant-cast spells

The 6% comes from the estimated 3.5 PPM for the talent. The abbreviation stands for "Procs per Minute", and the number shows how many procs a player could obtain on average within the span of one minute by using a specific ability. This determines the probability for a proc from a weapon swing or a spell (aka PPH or "Proc per Hit"), which is further affected by the original weapon speed or by the duration of the spellcast respectively.

PPH = unmodified weapon attack speed*3.5/60

For other melee classes, this is important to know because slow weapons have a higher chance to generate the desired effect, whereas fast weapons - a smaller one. For ferals, the 3.5 PPH is consistent (= can neither be increased nor decreased) because our weapons are our bare paws, and their original attack speed is one AA per second. This means that on average we'd see a CC proc after every 17th white attack. However, the more Haste we have, the more AAs we can inflict during a fight, which means that the overall probability for a CC proc within a specific time frame increases.

3.5 PPM is written as 3.5/60, which is 0.05833 or 5.833%. This is where the common 6% stems from, and I use that number in many sections of this guide only for simplicity's sake. Though, you might encounter this formula:

x amount of AAs*Shred damage*3.5/60

(This is how I calculate the damage gain or loss from CCs in case we gain or sacrifice AAs.)

Spells also have a high proc chance to trigger CCs due to their original casting speed. Since instant-cast spells don't have a casting speed of their own, their PPH is determined by the 1.5-second GCD like so:

1-(1-3.5/(60/1.5)) = 0.0875 or 8.75%

The reason why I'm bothering you with this is because the probability for a CC proc from AoE spells is calculated ON EVERY SINGLE TARGET. This is why GotW is so valuable especially when it's cast in a 25-man group. Btw, PS with a Nature instant-cast also has an increased proc % (58.33%), and this is not a bug as well.

Source 1: https://web.archive.org/web/20101110..._rotation/p54/
Source 2: https://www.warmane.com/bugtracker/report/70641
Source 3: https://www.warmane.com/bugtracker/report/112354
Source 4 and 5: https://i.imgur.com/L8mVQpW.png and https://i.imgur.com/bVqnI2s.png

IV. If you cast an ability with CC, which ends up being a "miss" or a "dodge", the proc is consumed

(0:04 Mangle with a CC proc -> miss -> no damage was inflicted, no CPs were gained, and I lost the proc)

This should be clear enough, and I think that most feral cats realise this during leveling. This is the reason why we don't go below the estimated hit and expertise caps. Moreover, since we don't go over 26 expertise, standing in front of the boss and getting parried also consumes the CC, which is another reason why we should always be behind the boss's back.

9. BIS LISTS, STATS, AND SIMCRAFTS

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10. PROFESSIONS

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I. General overview

All non-gathering professions provide us with exceptional stat boosts and/or with battle-related goodies:

Engineering: - http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=54999, http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=55016, http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=55002, and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=41119. This profession has 2 specialisations with additional combat-related bonuses - Gnomish (http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=10725) and Goblin (http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=42641);
JC: 3x http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=42225, which offer 2.125x the stats of the rare gems (http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=42143 vs http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=39997) and 1.7x of the epic ToC ones (http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=42143 vs http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40112), and this translates into 54 extra stats in Naxx and Ulduar and 42 - in the remaining patches;
BS: 2 extra gem sockets, which can earn you 32 (2xhttp://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=39997) or 40 (2xhttp://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40112) additional stats depending on the patch;
Tailoring: http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=55777 (84 AP net gain vs http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=44457);
Alchemy: http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=53042 + http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=46377 (82 AP);
LW: http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=57683 (80 AP net gain vs http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=44484);
Enchanting: 2xhttp://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=44645 (80 AP);
Inscription: http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=61117 (80 AP net gain vs http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=44871).

II. Recommended primary professions

JC and Engineering are considered the best for cats. JC is amazing not only because it provides us with the highest amount of stats, but it also helps us reach certain thresholds easier (e.g. hit rating, expertise, and arp). Engineering gives us a lot of goodies (from plain stat enchants to a new mobility tool, which is extremely useful in endgame boss encounters).

When it comes to Engineering specialisations, my personal tip is to go Gnomish and acquire the http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=10725. It’s a trinket with an on-use effect, which you need to activate 45 seconds prior to engaging the boss. Afterwards, you swap it with your usual one (don’t use it on DBW as it has a longer ICD!). If the chicken uses its http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=23060, ALL party members get a 5% melee haste buff for 4 minutes. The trinket has a 20-min CD, but only one person in the respective party group needs to use it at a time - you can talk to the RL in order to rotate people with chickens. Keep in mind that the proc is based on RNG (1% per hit), so you're not actually guaranteed to get it. You could increase your chances by having multiple people use it at the same time, but it could be seen as wasteful as on Icecrown/Lordearon the Battle Squawk doesn't stack with itself (proof). In this train of thought, I’d like to briefly mention a wowhead article that clarified how we can trigger http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=23060 on a more consistent basis. I’ve tested the author’s suggestions, and they don’t work here, unfortunately.

One last thing regarding Engineering - while it's true that you need Gnomish Engineering to obtain the recipe for the chicken and to craft it, you don't actually need that spec to use it. This means that after you obtain the trinket, you can go to Steamwheedle Port in Northern Tanaris and switch to Goblin Engineering in order to use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=42641. Keep in mind that you have to pay 150g for the service, and you'll lose all Gnomish-specific recipes as a result.

I'd like to finish this section by mentioning BS as a worthy alternative to JC in the last patch. Even though we get less stats from it in comparison to JC, the damage difference between both professions is practically non-existent. I would dare say that BS is even better than JC in the sense that the 2 less stat points are compensated by the 264 ilvl recipes we get from ICC because they're a fantastic money-maker. Just keep in mind that where money flows, there's also competition.

III. Recommended secondary professions

While I’m still on the topic of professions, I highly, highly recommend you get Cooking and Fishing as well, so that you’re independent of other people when preparing your food. You can still consume stat-specific meals without leveling those professions, but your guild might only prepare http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=43015s, and outsiders might put said meals for a huge price on the ah.

With Fishing, you can also do the daily quests (starting from pacth 3.1) and potentially obtain Stormjewel gems. In terms of stats, they are comparable to the epic gems from ToC which makes them very valuable during the Ulduar content phase.

11. CONSUMABLES

Spoiler: Show

12. POSITIONING AS A FERAL CAT

Spoiler: Show

I. General overview

Generally speaking, the basic principle of finding the correct spot to stand on is maximising performance and minimising (un)foreseeable downtime. I worded it like so because this doesn't concern only us, feral cats, but also other dps players, healers, and tanks. Going back to the main topic, it's common knowledge that melees need to attack mobs from behind in order to prevent their abilities from getting parried. However, if those creatures turn around, players can still use their abilities normally, albeit with a risk of getting punished by RNG. Feral cats, on the other hand, are an exception. Our http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48572 gets completely shut down if we don't stand on the correct spot. That doesn’t mean that we need to stick our heads in the asses of our foes - we just need to be behind their frontal 180 arc. Check the following diagram for a better understanding:

If the big gray circle depicts the targeted mob/boss and the black dot shows its center, we can draw a line through it in our heads and distinguish the frontal 180 arc from the rear one. As long as we are standing behind that imaginary line, we're able to shred. As I've stated above, in some cases we won’t be able to stand precisely at the boss’s back and will be forced to reposition ourselves and attack from the side. Example?

This fellow right here, and he’s not the only one. Most dragons* fall into this category too because their tails have a knock-back or a stun effect. But dragons aren’t the only case where we have to attack from a rear angle. Here are a few honourable mentions: Blood Prince Council (small vortexes are nearby and force us to reposition), Blood-Queen Lana'thel (standing on her legs, in order to decrease the damage from her abilities), Festergut HC (switching legs in order to dodge the malleable goo and to stack for spores) etc.

Standing at max melee range, i.e. 5 yards away from the hitbox, is also utterly important as this allows us to minimise unnecessary movement and thus to shorten an unavoidable idle time when dealing with certain mechanics. Using Halion as an example again, if we get the fire/shadow debuff, then we need to run far away from others and dispel ourselves. By standing at max melee range, we shorten the distance between the boss's hitbox and the edge of the platform, and doing so we resume dps sooner.

Note*: Cyanigosa in Violet Hold, Malygos in Eye of Eternity, the three mini-drakes in Obsidian Sanctum, and Saviana Ragefire in Ruby Sanctum are the only exceptions.

II. Mobility

As mentioned in the first paragraph, finding the optimal spot to stand on increases our performance. However, when certain boss mechanics take place, we're forced to leave it, and as a result we stop dps for a while. This is where our superior mobility comes in - it allows us to minimise the forced downtime and to quickly recover our ground. Simply put, knowing the distance we need to travel, how much time we have at our disposal, and how fast we run can help us stay a bit longer on the boss before we move out. Here's how our velocity changes depending on the abilities we use:

Normal running speed (as a Tauren/Night Elf) = 7 yards per second;
Cat form (30% speed increase) = 9.1 yards per second;
Dash (70% speed increase) = 11.9 yards per second;
Nitro Boots (150% speed increase) = 17.5 yards per second.

Most movement speed modifiers DON'T STACK. Rather, the superior one overwrites all others. For example, it doesn't matter if I play as a feral cat or shapeshift to cat as a boomie, i.e. I lack http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=24866 - I'd travel with the same speed if I use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=33357 in both of these cases. In other words, it's pointless to use Dash and Nitro Boots at the same time. With this in mind, here are some examples of boss AoEs and how much time we can afford to dps before moving out (just so you get an idea how you can use this knowledge in practice):

XT nm/hm [Dark bomb - 12 yards, 9 seconds till explosion] -> dps for 7 seconds or for 8 with Nitro
IC nm/hm [dwarf boss's AoE - 20 yards, 6-sec casting time] -> dps for 3 seconds or for 4 with Dash/Nitro
Mimi nm/hm [Shock Blast - 15 yards, 5-sec casting time] -> dps for 3 seconds or for 4 with Nitro
BPC [Empowered Shock Vortex - 12 yards, 4.5-sec casting time] -> dps for 2 seconds or for 3 with Dash
Sindragosa [Blistering Cold - 25 yards, 5-sec casting time] -> dps for 2 seconds or for 3 with Nitro

This doesn't consider the possibility of standing at max melee range, which would further extend the dps window, or human error, which would decrease it a bit. Let this give you an idea how you can implement this knowledge in your raids.

Last, but certainly not least, it's time to talk about https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=49376 as it's our best mobility tool. If velocity is concerned, this ability allows us to close the gap between us and our target even faster than the Engineering enchant. It also puts us behind the targeted mob which means that we can immediately start shredding it. As an added bonus, the cat charge works mid-air, which opens up a lot of opportunities to attack flying enemies and to do fancy https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=72762 shenanigans in the LK encounter. As you can see, this leap ability acknowledges all points I've made concerning the topic of "optimal positioning". Now, unlike the other mobility tools, this one costs 10 energy. However, if you're forced to use it, it would mean that you have already left the optimal dps zone and thus stopped doing damage, in which case you should definitely use https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48470 for a CC proc. The feral charge won't consume it, so you can take advantage of the downtime to gain resources.

13. FERAL CAT'S PRIORITY LIST 101

Spoiler: Show

I. General overview

In this subsection, you can find a whole list containing the various offensive abilities we use during combat with a short description, just so you can get a quick overview of them. I've purposely included some spells that trigger OoC, so that you can see the bigger picture, as they too help us gain damage in fights.

A) Finishers (aka CP-consumers):
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=62071 (our biggest damage buff and therefore the finisher with the highest priority in general)
- https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=49800 (our strongest bleed and attack overall and therefore the finisher with the highest priority after SR)
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48577 (situational filler; only used when it doesn't hinder the maintenance of the other two finishers)

B) Builders (aka CP-generators):
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48566 (debuff that makes bleeds & Shreds stronger and therefore the builder with the highest priority in general)
- https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48574 (small bleed but stronger and cheaper than Shred and therefore the builder with the highest priority after Mangle)
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48572 (spammable filler; only used when it doesn't hinder the maintenance of the other two builders)

C) Offensive CDs:
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=50334 (aka our big CD; halves the cost of our cat abilities for 14 active seconds (14 and not 15 cuz of the GCD upon usage); used during burst phases with a lot of energy beforehand)
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=50213 (aka our small CD; grants us 60 energy thanks to http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48495 and a small buff to our next AAs, Shreds, Swipes, and Mangle for 6 seconds; used off cooldown and with low energy)

D) AoE:
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=62078 (amazing synergy with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=62071)

E) Frequently spammed spells that proc CCs:
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48470 (8.75% chance to proc the CC per affected friendly target, incl. pets)
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=53312 (6-8.75% chance to proc the CC)
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=22812 (6-8.75% chance to proc the CC; however, since it reduces damage taken by 20%, sometimes the ability itself is more valuable than the CC, so it shouldn’t be spammed in every fight carelessly)
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=69369 (58.33% chance to proc the CC if used alongside http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48461/http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=67969/http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=27527/http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48477/http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=33786. If you're in a raid, PS should only be used alongside Bress or Cyclone and nothing else as it’s very risky to leave cat form midfight only for the CC to whiff. If you're doing RDF or solo content, you can use whatever and whenever)

II. Learning the priority list step by step

In the previous subsection, I briefly went over each ability that is part of the rotation. Here, I'll go into further detail.

Owing to the fact that we use a lot of abilities during combat, whose priority changes depending on the circumstances, if I were to explain feral cat's rotation in the form of a list with a descending priority order, I would only confuse new players. This is imho the wrong approach when introducing the cat's gameplay to beginners because a) there is a lot of information to remember, b) there are many timers to keep track of, and c) people don't know where and how to begin. This is why I prefer to break it down into smaller cycles, just so newcomers can understand the logic behind them and slowly but surely build on their knowledge as they read further. After all, there is only one way to eat an elephant - one bite at a time.

A) Single-target

You start with the following abilities on the nearest target dummy:
1) Mangle
2) SR
3) Rake
4) 2-3 Shreds till 4/5 CPs -> SR again
5) Continue dps-ing whilst maintaining SR, Mangle, and Rake all the time
6) Repeat

practice video

Commentary:
The point of this exercise is to get used to the CP-generators and to the first finisher.

Since SR impacts our dps the most, it needs to be cast ASAP, i.e. right after the first builder (in most cases, after the first Mangle). Afterwards, you should try refreshing it with 4/5 CPs before it runs out for maximum efficiency and should always keep it active. If you've already gathered enough CPs, but the buff doesn't expire any time soon, then you need to pool (= preserve) your energy as much as possible while not going over 100 (example). In case there's a risk of overflowing your energy, then you need to use a builder and prevent this from happening. Even though some CPs will be wasted this way, this exercise also aims to teach you to hold onto your current CPs for an important finisher later on. This will become more apparent when you start using FB in your rotation, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

When it comes to the CP-generators, they fall into the following hierarchical order:

Mangle (inactive) > Rake (inactive) > Shred

Just like SR, Mangle should always be kept up no matter what and therefore you have to refresh it a few moments before it expires, whereas Rake needs to run out completely before you recast it. If either of those abilities is about to expire, make sure that you have enough energy for when that happens. If both are about to run out at the same time, and you're wondering which to prioritise first, depending on the circumstances here's what you need to do:

There's more than 1 second difference between the remaining durations of Rake and Mangle -> refresh the ability which expires first (example);
There's less than 1 second difference between the remaining durations of Rake and Mangle -> refresh Mangle one second before Rake expires (example).

Since Shred acts as a filler, it needs to be used only when a) Mangle and Rake are active, and b) you want to build more CPs for an upcoming finisher or there's a risk of overflowing your energy if you don't do anything.

In summary:

- cast SR ASAP and always keep it up;
- Mangle (inactive) > Rake (inactive) > Shred;
- always keep Mangle up;
- let Rake expire before you refresh it;
- make sure that you have enough energy for Mangle and Rake - avoid using Shred if need be;
- don't overcap your energy - use Shred or another builder if necessary.

Once you do that a couple of times, do this:
1) Mangle
2) SR
3) Rake
4) TF + 2-3 Shreds till 4/5 CPs -> SR again
5) Continue dps-ing whilst maintaining SR, Mangle, and Rake all the time
6) Repeat

practice video

Commentary:
Yes, it's pretty much the same exercise, but now you add TF to the mix. Since it grants us additional 60 energy, it will help you cast some abilities sooner. Use it when that resource is no more than 30 in order to prevent overcapping it in case of a sudden OoC proc (more on that later). Lastly, knowing that the ability triggers a 30-sec CD, it's usually a good idea to use TF ASAP in order to potentially obtain one extra in the long run during a boss encounter.

In summary:

- use TF below 30 energy;
- try to use TF off CD.

Once you do that a couple of times, do this:
1) Mangle
2) SR
3) Rake
4) TF + 2-3 Shreds till 5 CPs -> Rip
5) acquire 4/5 CPs -> SR
6) Continue dps-ing whilst maintaining SR, Rip, Mangle, and Rake all the time
7) Repeat

practice video

Commentary:
I would like to start by saying that Rip is our strongest offensive ability, and as such it should be your top priority once SR is online. Afterwards, maintaining both finishers alongside Mangle and Rake will be the key to your success.

Since Rip is a bleed, you need to refresh it after it expires. Unlike SR, casting Rip with less than 5 CPs is a misplay. There are exceptions to this rule, of course, however those are so far and between that it would be easier for you to accept the mantra that this finisher requires the maximum amount all the time. Where am I going with this?

You might fall in a situation where both SR and Rip are about to expire soon, and you are limited in time and resources (i.e. remaining energy, TF, OoC procs) to refresh both of them efficiently. So, what do you do? As stated above, SR is the most impactful ability in our arsenal, so letting it drop is out of the question. Instead, you can refresh it with 3, 2, or even with 1 CP, so that you have enough building blocks for Rip. Moreover, you might not always have the opportunity to use the full duration of SR in which case refreshing it prematurely is not only NOT A MISPLAY, but the only correct play in those situations. If both finishers are about to expire soon, and you're wondering which to prioritise first, depending on the circumstances here's what you need to do:

If both finishers are desyncronised and the difference is at least 5-6 seconds, refresh the finisher that expires first (example1, example2).
If both SR and Rip are going to run out at the same time, you should refresh SR 5-6 seconds prior to Rip (example1, example2).

Last, but certainly not least I want to talk about the synergy between Shred and Rip. Apart from the fact that Shred helps us obtain CPs for Rip, this builder also extends its duration by 2 seconds thanks to https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=54815. Most of the time, you won't have to worry about it as you will have plenty of opportunities to cast Shred during the fight, especially when CC procs are at hand (more on that later). However, as stated above, there will be situations where you will be limited in time and resources to maintain both finishers properly. If 1) both SR and Rip are running low, 2) SR has a longer duration than Rip, 3) and you try to extend Rip's duration with Shred just for the sake of it, you will limit your options even further. This is especially true if you're already sitting at 5 CPs, because you stop generating more at that point (example). What I'm trying to say is that sometimes it's better to let Rip expire prematurely - even if you lose a bit of trinket proc value - in order to have an easier time maintaining both finishers (example).

In summary:

- SR (inactive) > Rip (inactive);
- let Rip expire before you refresh it;
- always refresh Rip with 5 CPs;
- if you're struggling to refresh Rip on time, refresh SR sooner and/or with fewer CPs than usual;
- extending Rip's duration with Shred is not always a good thing when you're limited in CP-generation.

Once you do that a couple of times, do this:
1) Mangle
2) SR
3) Rake
4) TF + 2-3 Shreds till 5 CPs -> Rip
5) acquire 4/5 CPs -> SR
6) You prioritise maintaining SR and Rip all the time. If they have like 12+ seconds on their timers, go for a 4/5-CP FB.
7) Repeat

practice video

Commentary:
Do you remember when I said that among all CP-generators Shred was the filler ability? - yeah, same thing goes to FB. It's really the least impactful finisher in our arsenal in terms of dps, as it deals slightly more damage than an average Shred. Just so you get a better understanding of what I mean, here are a few examples: With typical Naxx gear and with 5/5 https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=16862 FB deals around 14k damage, whereas Shred - 7.6k. With 3.3.5 endgame gear, FB becomes more rewarding in terms of raw numbers (29k vs 16k from Shred) but not in ratio (1.8:1). Unlike Shred, however, having the "finisher" tag makes FB quite risky as it consumes all remaining CPs stored on the main target in order to deal damage in the first place. That wouldn't be a bad thing per se if it weren't for the fact that it has the potential to backfire greatly if the player is unable to regain those building blocks for the next SR and/or Rip cycle on time. This doesn't mean that FB shouldn't be considered at all, as it does help the player convert any excess CPs past 3 into useful damage, but it should be used with caution between Rip and SR cycles. Now, this is closely related to the subject of timing FB correctly, and while the player could guesstimate if the situation is optimal for that sort of play, at the end of the day RNG has the final word. After biting the boss, you could get multiple CC procs in a row and feel like you're on top of the world, or you could get none of those and instead be cursed to cast non-critical abilities, which only generate a single CP. As you can see, there’s no strict rule that can be applied to any given situation or to any cat player whatsoever. There are many factors which influence the player's decision when to bite the boss, and luck doesn't play a small role there either. For more information, please read "FB. Energy investment and proper timing".

For now, you could consider biting the dummy when SR and Rip last 12+ seconds, your energy amounts to 35-52, and you have a TF at your disposal. Speaking of TF, here's a pro tip - if that ability is active when you're about to cast FB, save it for later so that you have a way to regain the sacrificed CPs (example1, example2). Should you throw TF right into FB, you'd need to pray to Bastet to bless you with multiple OoC procs in a row. This is why if you have less than 35 energy, you should just wait patiently until it reaches the aforementioned threshold. If it's more - use Shred and lower it. If TF is not available, then FB should be cast 17-18 seconds before Rip expires. Alternatively, you can play it safe and resort to shredding the boss, so that you'd be able to keep your building blocks for SR and Rip.

In summary:

- use FB when the other finishers have a healthy duration (12+ sec with TF or 17+ sec w/o it);
- avoid using TF prior to FB;
- if you're struggling to gather enough CPs for SR and/or Rip, skip FB and use Shred instead;
- hope for good RNG.

Once you do that a couple of times, do this:
1) The things I wrote above.
2) Use Mark of the Wild on yourself until you get a CC proc before attacking the dummy.
3) Use NG and Barkskin off CD while pooling energy in order to force CC procs.

practice video

Commentary:
As you already know, the OoC talent plays a key role in the feral rotation, as it helps us deal with energy starvation at any given moment. This is why it's essential that we force those procs by all means necessary. In the section titled "Omen of Clarity, the MVP for a feral cat" I've explained the mechanics surrounding this talent, but here I'll explain on which abilities you should use the CCs (their priority changes depending on the situation):

1) Most of the time, you will want to use them on Shred as it’s the most expensive yellow ability in single-target encounters. However, the same way Shred acts as a filler under normal circumstances, so too it is the case here, and you'll understand what I mean when you continue reading the next paragraphs.

2) Untalented Mangle is the next candidate. The CC should be used on this ability only if it has expired, or there's less than one second remaining of its duration. Preserving 2 energy points doesn't justify delaying the 30% bleed buff, in which case you would not only f*ck yourself, but your fellow teammates as well (here's an example of what NOT TO DO and why using CCs on Shreds blindly is not always the correct play).

3) Rake is not your typical CC consumer, but there are two somewhat common scenarios when this should be the case: {1} the Mangle debuff is already active, but the boss is still not bleeding (neither from you, nor from your teammates), {2} you're trying to generate the last 1-2 CPs for a finisher, and you need to pick between Shred or Rake. In the second example, the correct sequence is always "Rake -> finisher -> Shred" with 4pt10, whereas without it - only if there's a risk for Rake to be inactive for 3+ seconds (i.e. prior to casting FB). Going "Shred -> Rake -> finisher" would be a misplay in those cases because you'd waste CPs unnecessarily. That scenario is only good when you suspect that you won't be able to reach 4-5 CPs for SR/FB or 5 for Rip just by casting one ability. For example, if you have 0-2 CPs, it's impossible to obtain the maximum amount just from one special attack, so you'd naturally cast Shred first and follow it up with Rake. On the other hand, should you have 3 CPs, then casting Rake with 4pt10 would be the optimal play even if you end up getting a 4CP SR or FB. If, however, you're planning on refreshing Rip, then Rake might not always grant you 2 CPs consistently. As you can see, in situations like these going for the "optimal play" would involve taking risks, and it would be up to the player to decide to what extent they would be willing to rely on RNG.

4) Using a CC on Rip is oftentimes a misplay due to its cheap cost. However, just like above there are two exceptions when this needs to be the case: {1} you don’t have 2pt10 (sacrificing CP-value doesn’t compensate the energy difference between Rip and Shred); {2} http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=54590/http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50363/http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=49016 has less than one second remaining of its duration, and you would lose the snapshot if you don’t refresh this DoT.

5) FB and CC is a misplay in 99.999% of the cases. This is because only the initial cost (35 en) is discounted, but the ability's second effect bypasses the proc and continues to drain your energy up to 30. Even though you get "compensated" for it, in reality you're better off spending that wasted energy on Shred which is why the proc should be used on it instead. The only niche exception I can think of is when the boss is one GCD away from dying, and your choices are either Shred or a 3/4/5-CP FB.

N.B.: SR doesn’t consume CC procs, but if you wait too long so that you get maximum value out of it, your OoC proc might get overwritten by an unfortunate AA. This is caused by RNG, and people react to it differently. Personally, if SR has less than 5-6 seconds duration, I refresh SR and immediately make use of that CC proc. If the timer on our buff is longer than that, then I respect the aforementioned priority list. This is because the likelihood of getting a CC proc within the next 2 or 3 AAs is smaller in comparison to having 10+ AAs before refreshing SR.

In summary:

- most of the time (but not always), the best application for a CC proc is in conjunction with Shred;
- use the CC proc on Mangle, if you need to refresh it ASAP and you're low on energy;
- use the CC proc on Rake, if you need to refresh it ASAP and you follow it up with a finisher like FB;
- avoid using the CCs on Rip and on FB (unless your case is mentioned above);
- SR doesn't consume CCs, but don't be greedy with the proc as it might get overwritten.

Once you do that a couple of times, do this:
1) Pick an opener and use Berserk accordingly.
2) Use all aforementioned abilities while respecting the priority list.

The topic of feral's openers is discussed more thoroughly in "How to open as a cat?".

B) AoE

In boss fights:
1) Make sure that your SR has a healthy duration before the AoE phase begins
2) Cast GotW 1-2 seconds before the AoE phase begins
3) Spam Swipe

Commentary:
Swipe is our only tool to deal with large packs. Since it costs a lot of energy but doesn't generate any CPs, it makes it harder for us to maintain our single-target rotation. This is why you need to use this ability only if you have 3+ important targets to attack at the same time, and the adds die relatively fast. You can afford to lose some bleed ticks if this is the case. Keep in mind that just because you see a lot of red nameplates in a boss encounter, that doesn't mean that you should swipe everything down. There are cases, where we need to ignore the adds and concentrate on our single-target rotation. This is just a general overview. For more specific info, please refer to "Tips for all 25-man instances".

In order to ensure that you have a smooth AoE phase, your SR needs to last long enough, so that you don't waste a GCD to refresh it while swiping down the adds. If it's going to expire during that time, try gathering 4-5 CPs for it and refresh it a few seconds beforehand. In addition, consider keeping TF for that phase as well, as not only will it give you the much needed energy boost to continue swiping, but it will also increase the damage of this attack which will be multiplied the more targets are affected by it. In this train of thought, you need to position yourself in the middle of the pack so that all mobs can be in range of your AoE. Lastly, if you're running low on energy, you are encouraged to cast GotW mid-fight for a CC proc. It doesn't matter if you're a dedicated GotVV-shifter or not, the loss of 1-2 AAs will be greatly compensated by the damage you'd get from swiping multiple enemies. Here, you can find two examples how to use Swipe (with Berserk and without it).

In summary:

- use Swipe if you have 3+ targets to attack simultaneously;
- don't worry about losing some bleed ticks;
- stay in the middle of the pack so that the mobs can be in range;
- make sure that your SR doesn't expire during the AoE phase;
- use TF and GotW whenever you're low on energy.

Trash mobs (incl. RDF):
1) Cast GotW before the pull
2) Mangle (in case you have http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=47668) or Rake
3) If you suspect that the trash mobs won't die within 20 seconds, cast another CP-generator
4) SR
5) Spam Swipe

Commentary:
Same as before, honestly. With minor exceptions, most of the trash packs can be swiped down.

If the trash pack lasts 20+ seconds, then make sure you have a lot of CPs for SR from the get go. It's fine that you use unbuffed CP-generators for a longer SR duration - this is better than going 1-2 CPs -> 1-2 CPs and wasting 25 energy, which could have let you cast another Swipe. If the trash pack doesn't last long, then use only one CP-generator per pack. My favourite starter is Mangle in combination with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=47668 because the proc is consistent. Rake alongside http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50456 is better damage-wise, but I am rarely able to maintain the buff due to two main reasons: 1) either tanks take short breaks while waiting for their defensive abilities to come off CD or 2) there's a big distance between the trash packs, and by the time I get to cast Rake again, the buff has already expired.

In raids, I use Berserk for clearing trash mobs only when I'm certain that it will come off CD by the time I engage the next boss. In RDF, it depends on my mood and on the instance of course, but I usually use it on huge trash packs.

In summary:

- the rules for swiping down trash packs are the same as swiping down adds in boss fights;
- generate enough CPs for SR in advance so that you don't refresh it a second time;
- (personal preference) consider using the ToC idol alongside Mangle for a consistent buff.

14. HOW TO OPEN AS A CAT?

Spoiler: Show

I. Introduction

Although the topic of feral cat's openers has been discussed with a lot of detail since the release of retail WotLK, there is a lot of contradicting information on the internet regarding which opener is the best, and people don't seem to agree upon one being generally good. Regardless if it's a guide from warmane, from another private server, or even from an official source like gamefaqs, mmochampion, wowhead (original Wrath, not Classic*) etc, you'll find different suggestions on how to start a fight as a cat. This can be quite frustrating as a newcomer, as you don't know which source to trust. For that reason, I tried to have my own take on this topic by analysing different opener types.

In this section, you are about to encounter some calculations around the formulas of our abilities. Even though this is prolly a mistake, taking into consideration the fact that newcomers might read it, hoping to get a quick glimpse of feral's openers and start practising them immediately, only to be left confused and overwhelmed with information, I'm only doing it so that you can understand the logic. If I just write a few sentences, reminiscent of a TL;DR without any further clarification, can that truly be convincing? No, at least in my book it cannot. It would just contribute to the pile of contradicting information concerning cat's openers. So, I'll keep this section as it is. That said, if you're not in the mood to go through any of that, you can find a short summary at the end.

I'll start with the simplest conundrums and cover the more complex bits as I go along:

II. The basic principle of Berserk

As mentioned in the previous section, this ability halves the energy cost of our abilities for 15 seconds, but only 14 of which can be used effectively, and lasts 3 minutes. This makes it our big CD, and as such it's vitally important to make the most out of it. In order to achieve this, one should stick to the following rule of thumb:

Quantity > Quality

Q: What does this mean?
A: The following:

- Quantity: How often do we use Berserk and how many attacks do we inflict during its uptime?
- Quality: How efficiently do we use Berserk? Do we combine it with trinket procs and with raid buffs?

Q: Why does "quantity" play a bigger role than "quality"?
A: Being able to inflict more abilities brings more damage than buffing existing ones.

I'll give you a small example: Imagine having the proc from https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=54590. With our talents and with raid buffs, we can increase the damage of our Shreds by around 1.6k. If, hypothetically speaking, we deprive ourselves of an additional Berserk before the fight ends due to our desire to sync that ability with STS's uptime at all cost, then we'd suffer a tremendous loss as every potential Shred even w/o the trinket proc would have inflicted 15k on average.

The same is also true when we take into account the energy amount during Berserk. You see, in addition to halving our energy this ability also prevents us from using TF. This means that any energy we have prior to using our big CD coupled with the one we regenerate during its uptime (+ any extra we get from a resto druid's https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48539 and a disco priest's https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=47537) is the only energy we can spare with until that ability ends. Having more of that resource allows us to inflict more abilities, which as described above is more significant than missing out on trinket uptime. In order words, if your trinket procs are already ticking, but your energy is low, then you need to pool more and be passive for a bit before popping Berserk.

Of course, that's not to say that we should never try to satisfy both aspects at the same time if we have the opportunity to do so. For example, using Berserk early on addresses them quite well:
- Quantity - you give yourself the possibility to get an extra Berserk in the long run;
- Quality - you synchronise your first Berserk with your trinkets' uptime, thus increasing the damage of your attacks.

Q: What if the boss fight doesn't last long enough for me to get a second or a third Berserk?
A: In that case, your main concern would be to use your existing Berserk(s) as efficiently as possible.

Again, most of the time this can be achieved when you pop that ability at start, so that you benefit from your trinkets. In certain situations, however, you might need to delay it in case you're forced to deal with annoying boss mechanics that stop you from attacking. In other cases, you can strategically postpone Berserk so that you get more value from it later (e.g. the game gives you a stronger buff or a bunch of enemies for you to AoE down).

As you can see, there're a lot of nuances surrounding the timing of our big CD, and those are covered in the section "Tips for all 25-man instances". I just wanted to explain the logic behind the proper usage of Berserk because everything I said here also concerns https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=49016 (provided by BDKs) which should always be coupled with our big CD.

In the following subsections, I'll concentrate only on the most common scenario surrounding Berserk, i.e. popping it at the beginning of single-target boss encounters.

III. Berserk immediately at start

Pros:
- STS is perfectly synchronised with Berserk.

Cons:
- You don’t utilise your energy efficiently during Berserk.
- You risk overwriting your initial CC proc by using Berserk instead of Mangle.
- In case you obtain only one CP for your first SR, it will also be perfectly synchronised with Berserk.

Commentary:
Of all possible ways one can open as a cat, using Berserk as the very first GCD is the least productive approach. Some people prefer it due to the perfect sync between STS and Berserk, but that’s irrelevant when we take into account the suboptimal energy management that comes with it. In order to express myself better, I'd like to analyse the two different ways to perform this opener - you either pre-cast Berserk one second before the fight begins, or you cast it at the very beginning. Let's start with the latter scenario as it's easier to understand:

A) Berserk is not pre-cast

This opener starts off like this:

<fight starts> -> Berserk -> Mangle -> SR -> Rake -> Shred -> Shred -> Rip -> ....
/demonstration/

Every self-respecting feral druid casts GotW prior to the pull timer for a free CC proc, thus reducing the cost of the first ability down to 0 energy. If the player starts with Mangle w/o Berserk, he overcaps 10 energy but gains 40 extra, making the overall net gain 30 energy. Should the cat player use Berserk as the very first ability, he would also trigger a 1-second GCD and overcap 10 energy. The difference there is that Berserk is already ticking, and since energy has double value, the player loses de-facto 20 energy (i.e. 10 more in comparison to the first hypothetical scenario). Then the cat player uses Mangle for 0 energy, another GCD is triggered, and he misses out on 10 additional energy points (or 20 under the effect of Berserk), effectively nullifying the benefit of the pre-cast GotW. All of this for what? Just a few seconds of STS?

Let me explain once again what Berserk does - it reduces the energy cost of our cat attacks by 50%. It doesn't increase damage dealt by X%, it doesn't amplify trinket procs or reduce the duration of the GCD for that matter. In other words, when we pop our big CD, the only thing we need to keep in mind is "proper energy management". Just to illustrate what I mean, here's a clip of my preferred opener (which I'll talk about more thoroughly later):

Do you see how I utilised almost every single second of that trinket proc even without casting Berserk at start? Even though I only managed to inflict 11 offensive abilities before the trinket ended, it's important to point out how productive I was with my energy and with my CPs. Remember what I said earlier about the "quantity > quality" rule? - it's better to have more abilities during a fight than fewer, slightly buffed ones.

Now I’m going to show you why proper energy management matters more than having a few extra seconds of STS. The only things the "Berserk-first" opener might enhance more consistently are some Shreds and a FB. I’ll do the math and show you the damage increase from the STS proc:

Shred (hit) = [(paw damage determined by AP + 54.8)*2.25 + 666]*glyphed SR*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48566*R&T*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=17073

Shred (crit) = [(paw damage determined by AP + 54.8)*2.25 + 666]*glyphed SR*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48566*R&T*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=17073*2(critical strike)*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=33867*Meta gem

Shred (hit) = [{(AP/14)+54.8}*2.25+666]*1.33*1.3*1.2*1.1
Shred (crit) = [{(AP/14)+54.8}*2.25+666]*1.33*1.3*1.2*1.1*2*1.1*1.03

FB 5CPs (R&T increases the crit chance by 25, so I’ll might as well concentrate on the critical strike):
FB = (190+290*5+0.35*AP)*FA*glyphed http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=62071*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=17073*2(critical strike)*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=33867*Meta gem

FB = (0.35*AP+1640)*1.15*1.33*1.1*2*1.1*1.03

AP from STS hc = 1781 with our HotW talent and with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=31519

In the video above, I didn't utilise 4 seconds of STS - I received the proc effect after Mangle, and I cast two SRs and Berserk during its uptime. However, had I used Berserk as the very first GCD, I would have also cast SR at least once during the trinket's uptime. Therefore, I consider the actual loss only 3 seconds which is the equivalent of one buffed FB and two buffed Shreds. With BiS ICC and RS gear, feral cats have 76% crit (I'm also considering the 4.8% crit suppression), and thus in that scenario the numbers would look like so:

2*Shreds (average damage) = 2*(1781*2.25*1.33*1.3*1.2*1.1*0.24/14) + 2*(1781*2.25*1.33*1.3*1.2*1.1*2*1.1*1.03*0.76/14) = 2564
1*FB (critical) = 0.35*1781*1.15*1.33*1.1*2*1.1*1.03 = 2376

If you want, I can add http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=49016, https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=58413, and https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=31869 just for good measure:
(2376+2564)*1.2*1.04*1.03 = 6,350

Now, let's compare that number to the Shred damage we have deprived ourselves of as a result of the the wasted energy. I am going to use a typical haste build with raid buffs and remove the trinkets just so I exclude their AP procs. According to Rawr, a Shred would inflict 15,346 damage on average without Hysteria which is more than the calculated 6.3k above.

This concerns the scenario when the initial SR is cast with 2 CPs and is therefore able to outlast STS's proc effect. If a person acquires only a single CP for that finisher, then its duration would be 14 seconds, and the Halion trinket wouldn't be the only thing "perfectly synchronised with Berserk". In that situation, SR would inevitably be cast a second time during STS's uptime which would minimise the benefits of this opener even further and effectively eliminate its initial purpose. Before someone asks - no, using two CP-generators prior to the first SR is not a solution. It's an even bigger misplay, as not only would the second ability be weaker, but Rip would be delayed unnecessarily.

This doesn't even consider the possibility of getting a CC proc during Berserk's GCD and overwriting your existing one. The probability of that is small, but on average this is an additional "shred*3.5/60" damage WITH the non-haste procs from DBW. If that cat player gets the haste buff, then the probability to overwrite the CC within the first few seconds increases.

As you can see, using Berserk as the very first GCD hinders you from utilising your energy and CC procs properly which is more devastating than losing a few seconds of STS. By playing energy inefficiently during Berserk, you only play yourself.

B) Berserk is pre-cast one second prior to the pull timer

This opener starts off like this:

Berserk is used 1 sec prior to the pull timer -> <fight starts> -> Mangle -> SR -> Rake -> Shred -> Shred -> Rip -> ....
/demonstration/

In terms of penalties, this is better than the previous version, but it still has a lot of flaws. Let's observe the energy management more closely:

0) GotW + Berserk 1-second pre-pull - you have 100 energy
<fight starts>
1) Mangle - you have 100 energy (with the GCD you overcap 10 due to the CC proc)
2) SR - you have 87 energy (with the GCD you reach 97)
3) Rake - you have 79 energy (with the GCD you reach 89)
4) Shred - you have 68 energy (with the GCD you reach 78)

In comparison to the previous variation, this doesn't overcap energy with the second ability, and the druid immediately utilises the CC from the pre-cast GotW. For now, the energy penalty is only 10. However, please check the energy amount of the first three abilities after the pull timer. Since the player uses SR and Rake with their costs halved, the player's energy is very close to 100. This still opens a potential risk of overcapping energy in case of 1) latency/slow reaction time, 2) sudden CC procs from AAs, 3) sudden energy from http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48545. It only takes 4 additional energy points to be sacrificed (= 8 under the effect of Berserk) in order for this play to lead to a loss:

one FB and two Shreds buffed with Hysteria and STS = 6,350
Shred (average) = 15,346
18 wasted energy points = 15,346*18/42 = 6,577

6,577 > 6,350

Once again, this only concerns the case if SR is cast with 2 CPs, i.e. its duration is 19 seconds. If it's 14, you would still need to refresh it during STS's uptime, in which case the 10 overcapped energy points I mentioned earlier would be more than enough to nullify the benefits of this opener.

Unfortunately for it, the penalties don't end there. The core concept of this opener revolves around pre-casting Berserk one second prior to the pull timer. On paper and in some scripted fights like DBS and the LK, this could probably be achieved. However, in other encounters the tank aggro-s the boss when that person comes near him. If the boss moves or needs to be repositioned, the cat player won't always cast Berserk exactly one second prior to the boss fight. Should Berserk be cast with a small delay (i.e. <= 0.9 seconds prior to the boss fight ), then overcapping energy would be inevitable. If the delay is greater than one second, then this would waste precious seconds of Berserk unnecessarily. Normally, a person can utilise 13-14 yellow abilities under the effect of this CD depending on their latency, their reaction time, and the energy amount:

Failing to squeeze in a GCD during Berserk would reduce the value of your energy by half (e.g. if Berserk ends, and you're left with 21 energy due to a missed Shred, then you need to gather 21 additional energy to cast it).

In conclusion, starting a fight with Berserk bears many risks and downsides. It's not worth it just to get a few seconds of STS.

IV. Using the CC proc from the pre-cast GotW on Shred/Mangle/Rake

Honestly, I wouldn't have written this section had I not stumbled upon a video from Wrath Classic where the commentator advised players to use Shred as the very first GCD with the CC proc from the pre-cast druid buff. Not going to lie, I was speechless after hearing that because I thought that it was obvious why this is a misplay. To the commentator's credit, he did correct himself in the comment section, but recently I also read some misguided Reddit posts claiming that "starting with Shred is BIS", so I'm just going to write a few lines why this is bad. I'm also going to address the topic of Rake vs Mangle.

A) Starting with Shred

Although I've already written the formula for Shred above, I'm going to mention it here once again:

Shred (hit) = [(paw damage determined by AP + 54.8)*2.25 + 666]*glyphed SR*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48566*R&T*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=17073
Shred (crit) = [(paw damage determined by AP + 54.8)*2.25 + 666]*glyphed SR*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48566*R&T*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=17073*2(critical strike)*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=33867*Meta gem
Shred (hit) = [{(AP/14)+54.8}*2.25+666]*1.33*1.3*1.2*1.1
Shred (crit) = [{(AP/14)+54.8}*2.25+666]*1.33*1.3*1.2*1.1*2*1.1*1.03

Now, I'd like to draw your attention to three specific points: 1) http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=51269, 2) http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=52610, and 3) http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48572's tooltip itself. In order to get those multipliers for Shred, we need to have SR on us, and the boss needs to have either http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48566 or http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=46857 and some kind of a bleed debuff. At the start of a boss fight, we usually have neither, so the first Shred is 2.0748 times weaker. Let me show you its damage and the one for Mangle and Rake by using the same BiS list from above:

Shred (with all buffs, average according to Rawr) = 15346
Shred (w/o Mangle, SR, and a bleed) = 7396

Mangle (w/ SR, average according to Rawr) = 10397
Mangle (w/o SR) = 7817

Rake (w/ SR, average according to Rawr) = 19483
Rake (w/o SR) = 14649

So, what happens when we start with Shred instead of Mangle? Well...

1) Shred -> SR -> Mangle -> Rake
7396 + 10397 + 19483 = 37276

2) Mangle -> SR -> Rake -> Shred
7817 + 19483 + 15346 = 42646

42646 > 37276

Q: But, Kova, Shred costs more than Mangle, doesn't it?
A: Yeah, just by 2 energy.

If we consider that every gained energy is a potential Shred, then the first hypothethical scenario would get an additional 2*15346/42 = 731 damage, which is not enough to beat the Mangle approach. Btw, I could mention that Rake is delayed by one second, which translates as 1/3 missed Rake ticks, and you cannot snapshot the first Shred with either DBW or STS - they go to Mangle, which has less multipliers than Shred. So, here's some food for thought for you.

B) Starting with Rake

Starting with Rake was also suggested in the past (e.g. in EJ), where it was specified that the cat player should do it if either Mangle or Trauma are present. Although the player doesn't cast Rake with SR, he trades a Mangle for a Shred, which makes up for it:

1) Rake -> SR -> Shred -> Shred
14649 + 15346 + 15346 = 45341

2) Mangle -> SR -> Rake -> Shred
7817 + 19483 + 15346 = 42646

45341 > 42646

However, in that Wrath Classic video Rake was also recommended to be used as the very first ability even if Mangle isn't active. The person suggested going "Rake -> SR -> Mangle", and his argument was that Rake's delayed tick would still be enhanced by the prior debuff. While this statement was and still remains true, it's not some kind of a revelation that suddenly invalidates all arguments in favour of Mangle. After all, one shouldn't ignore the fact that using the CC proc on Mangle nets us more energy and that a delayed Mangle negatively impacts the dps of fury warriors especially in the later content phases where you might have 2-3 representatives of that class in your raid group (FYI, https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=12849 ticks every second). I'm not going to do any math here in order to keep things simple, though I will say that the damage difference between "Mangle->SR->Rake" and "Rake->SR->Mangle" is miniscule, but the more fury warriors you have in your group, the better Mangle becomes as the very first ability.

N.B.: The feral simcraft also starts with Shred if I enable both "Assume Bleed Always Active" and "30% Bleed Damage" options. Ye, under those circumstances beginning with Shred would be logical, but in an actual real-life scenario you would have to wait for other people to apply those debuffs first. If you delay attacking the boss because of this, you might deprive yourself of an AA, which would make this opener pointless. If only the "30% Bleed Damage" option is selected, the simcraft suggests beginning with Rake which is my tip for you regarding the prior situation as well. If someone can apply this debuff on the boss as their first or second GCD, cast Rake at start and don't think about the 7 energy difference between this ability and Shred. If neither debuff is present, the simcraft also advises cat players to begin with Mangle.

V. Timing TF

Q: Should I cast TF prior to Berserk or afterwards?
A: Depends.

Indeed it does. Before I bring up the conditions, I'd like to explain the logic behind timing TF differently - what you gain and what you lose.

A) The "TF-Berserk" approach

This opener starts off like this:

<fight starts> -> Mangle -> SR -> Rake -> Shred -> TF -> Berserk -> ....
/demonstration/

Pros:
- TF is used early on, and therefore you might cast it an additional time throughout the boss encounter.
- it goes really well with the GotVV-shift.

Cons:
- you lose the buff from TF.
- if you bite the boss right before Berserk ends, you'll have difficulties generating 5 CPs for Rip before it expires.

Commentary:
This is how I usually start boss fights. Some people don’t like it because they are afraid to sacrifice the 80 damage from TF. Here I’ll stop for a bit and point out once again the importance of knowing how the damage of feral cat's abilities is calculated. In reality, the damage gain from TF is really, really small, and here’s why:

TF provides 80 flat weapon damage, and only four attacks are based around it - AAs, Mangle, Shred, and Swipe. Since I’m discussing single-target rotation, Swipe is not going to be considered. Mangle will also be excluded because we don’t use TF at start. This leaves us with AAs and Shred. Here are their respective formulas:

AA (hit) = (paw damage determined by AP + 54.8)*glyphed SR*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=17073

AA (crit) = (paw damage determined by AP + 54.8)*glyphed SR*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=17073*2(critical strike)*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=33867*Meta gem

AA (glancing) = (paw damage determined by AP + 54.8)*glyphed SR*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=17073*0.75(glancing blows penalty)

AA (hit) = {(AP/14)+54.8}*1.33*1.1
AA (crit) = {(AP/14)+54.8}*1.33*1.1*2*1.1*1.03
AA (glancing) = {(AP/14)+54.8}*1.33*1.1*0.75

Shred (hit) = [(paw damage determined by AP + 54.8)*2.25 + 666]*glyphed SR*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48566*R&T*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=17073

Shred (crit) = [(paw damage determined by AP + 54.8)*2.25 + 666]*glyphed SR*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48566*R&T*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=17073*2(critical strike)*http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=33867*Meta gem

Shred (hit) = [{(AP/14)+54.8}*2.25+666]*1.33*1.3*1.2*1.1
Shred (crit) = [{(AP/14)+54.8}*2.25+666]*1.33*1.3*1.2*1.1*2*1.1*1.03

The 80 weapon damage from TF isn’t affected by AP, and it doesn’t affect it either. It’s simply extra flat paw damage:

AA (hit) = {(AP/14)+54.8+80}*1.33*1.1
AA (crit) = {(AP/14)+54.8+80}*1.33*1.1*2*1.1*1.03
AA (glancing) = {(AP/14)+54.8+80}*1.33*1.1*0.75

Shred (hit) = [{(AP/14)+54.8+80}*2.25+666]*1.33*1.3*1.2*1.1
Shred (crit) = [{(AP/14)+54.8+80}*2.25+666]*1.33*1.3*1.2*1.1*2*1.1*1.03

In other words, if we want to consider the damage loss from the sacrificed TF buff, the numbers would look like so:

AA (hit) = 80*1.33*1.1
AA (crit) = 80*1.33*1.1*2*1.1*1.03
AA (glancing) = 80*1.33*1.1*0.75

Shred (hit) = 80*2.25*1.33*1.3*1.2*1.1
Shred (crit) = 80*2.25*1.33*1.3*1.2*1.1*2*1.1*1.03

It looks absurdly simple and small, but this is how the buff is scripted. If we assume that we lose the opportunity to buff 12 critical AAs and 4 critical Shreds with the 80 paw damage (I just want to make a point here), we would lose:

12 AAs (crit) = 12*(265.2) = 3,182.4
4 Shreds (crit) = 4*(930.896) = 3723.585

Let’s add http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=49016, https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=58413, and https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=31869 for good measure:
(3,182.4 + 3723.585)*1.2*1.04*1.03 = 8877

15346 (average Shred damage) > 8877 (missed critical damage from TF's buff)

This lost damage is compensated as long as you get an extra TF in the long run and utilise its energy on a Shred.

N.B.: Should you cast FB at the end of Berserk, you might have difficulties generating 5 CPs for Rip. This opener requires the player to get a CC proc after Berserk either from a lucky AA or from the GotVV-shift. Since the latter technique is a staple in my gameplay, I never have difficulties refreshing the second Rip when it expires. However, if you don't want to use it or take any risks with AA-RNG, then the "Berserk-TF" opener might be better for you.

B) The "Berserk-TF" approach

This opener starts off like this:

<fight starts> -> Mangle -> SR -> Berserk -> ... -> Berserk ends + TF
/demonstration/

Pros:
- you get full value from TF.
- generating 5 CPs for Rip after Berserk is guaranteed.

Cons:
- TF is delayed the most, and with this so is the energy-replenishment CD.
- if the player gets CCs after Berserk, he would sacrifice CPs in order to keep 5 for Rip.

Commentary:
I mean, read my commentary on the previous approach, but now with the opposite arguments. However, this doesn’t mean that I’m dismissing the "Berserk-TF" opener. Quite the opposite. I consider it as relevant as the other one, and here I’d like to explain why.

If you use TF at around the 6th second mark (sometimes it’s 5th or 7th depending on whether you get a CC proc at start), you would use it as early as every 30 seconds from that moment onwards:
6 sec -> 36 sec -> 1min 6 sec -> 1min 36 sec -> 2min 6 sec -> 2min 36 sec -> 3min 6 sec -> 3min 36 sec, etc

Let’s observe the case with the "Berserk-TF" opener:
17 sec -> 47 sec -> 1min 17 sec -> 1min 47 sec -> 2min 17 sec -> 2min 47 sec -> 3min 17 sec -> 3min 47 sec, etc

If we imagine that a fight lasts EXACTLY 3 minutes, then "Berserk-TF" will undoubtedly be superior simply because the amount of TFs will be the same in both cases, but this opener will benefit from TF's weapon damage buff. Conversely, if the encounter lasts 20 seconds shorter, or if TF is consistently used with a small delay, then the numbers will shift in favour of the "TF-Berserk" approach. Tbh, this isn't something impossible. Nothing prevents players from killing bosses in unequal time intervals, not to mention sudden CC procs can discourage us from using TF off CD if there's a risk of overflowing our energy.

For a better visualisation, I recommend watching these two clips - 3-min fight and 2:40-min fight. As you can see, the "quantity > quality" rule I mentioned at the very beginning applies to the timing of TF as well. The more TFs you cast in a boss fight the better, but if "more" is not an option, then aim for "better". Btw, the simcraft doesn't show "Berserk-TF" the same way I described it above. In its stead, we only get to see the variation with the pre-cast Berserk which I even criticised. Despite this, the simcraft does an amazing job depicting the trend in the performance of both "TF-Berserk" and "Berserk-TF" openers at different fight durations. This should help you get a clear picture of what to expect when you time TF differently.

N.B.: Should you cast FB before Berserk ends, you'll be left with 0 energy and 0 CPs afterwards. By going with "Berserk-TF", you can follow up that play with TF in order to regain the missing CPs for the next Rip cycle. The problem is that Rip expires 11-12 seconds after Berserk with this approach, and a lot can happen in the meantime. Any sudden CC proc will bring you one step closer to reaching 5 CPs. You can decide to play it safe and keep them for Rip, but you'll be forced to sacrifice some in order not to overcap your energy.

C) CC procs and energy overcapping

It should be noted that neither "TF-Berserk", nor "Berserk-TF" are exempt from minor energy overcapping in case of a sudden CC proc during Berserk's GCD:

TF-Berserk

0) GotW pre-pull - you have 100 energy
<fight starts>
1) Mangle - you have 100 energy (with the GCD you overcap 10 due to the CC proc)
2) SR - you have 75 energy (with the GCD you reach 85)
3) Rake - you have 50 energy (with the GCD you reach 60)
4) Shred - you have 18 energy (with the GCD you reach 28)
5) TF + Berserk - you have 88 energy (with the GCD you reach 98)

In case you get a CC proc, you overcap 8 energy.

Berserk-TF

0) GotW pre-pull - you have 100 energy
<fight starts>
1) Mangle - you have 100 energy (with the GCD you overcap 10 due to the CC proc)
2) SR - you have 75 energy (with the GCD you reach 85)
3) Berserk - you have 85 energy (with the GCD you reach 95)

In case you get a CC proc, you overcap 5 energy.

In contrast to the "Berserk-first" opener, where energy overcapping caused by the pre-pull CC proc is inevitable, these two try to avoid it whenever possible. If someone gets a sudden CC proc while popping Berserk, that would just be bad RNG. If, however, a CC proc takes place prior to Berserk, these two openers can react to it accordingly, as they aren't confined to a fixed ability order. The player can use the proc on an ability, follow it up with another and then pop Berserk:

TF-Berserk

0) GotW pre-pull - you have 100 energy
<fight starts>
1) Mangle - you have 100 energy (with the GCD you overcap 10 due to the CC proc)
2) SR - you have 75 energy (with the GCD you reach 85)
<CC proc>
3) Shred (assuming the boss is bleeding from https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=12867) - you have 85 energy (with the GCD you reach 95)
4) Rake - you have 60 energy (with the GCD you reach 70)
5) Shred - you have 28 energy (with the GCD you reach 38)

The energy can either be used on Shred (after a bit of pooling) or on Rip (assuming 5 CPs). With TF + Berserk, it will become 80 and 98 respectively.

Berserk-TF

0) GotW pre-pull - you have 100 energy
<fight starts>
1) Mangle - you have 100 energy (with the GCD you overcap 10 due to the CC proc)
2) SR - you have 75 energy (with the GCD you reach 85)
<CC proc>
3) Shred (assuming the boss is bleeding from https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=12867) - you have 85 energy (with the GCD you reach 95)
4) Rake - you have 60 energy (with the GCD you reach 70)

If Berserk is used immediately afterwards, the energy will become 80.

This is another reason why I respect these two openers - they give us more control in case of bad RNG.

D) Factors affecting the timing of TF

As stated earlier, there are certain factors that can affect our choice of when to time that ability, those being:
- fight duration (based on raid dps with or without any deaths);
- boss mechanics (synchronising the downtime of this CD with them);
- RNG (sudden CCs that change our playstyle and deny us from using TF exactly off CD).

In other words, if you don’t care about small numbers like me, then pick either opener and stick with it. If you want to min-max, then you need to get accustomed to using both in raids as each shines in its own way depending on the circumstances.

VI. Energy management during Berserk

As I've clarified in the third subsection (i.e. regarding the "Berserk at start" opener), this CD should be used with the thought that you need to utilise your energy efficiently as you only have s few seconds to spare with. Although the tooltip mentions a 15-second duration, in reality it's 14 because upon casting Berserk you trigger a GCD. In my other thread, I've analysed the following openers:

- FB-less Berserk (demo): SR -> Berserk -> Rip near the beginning -> only Shred -> SR near the end -> Berserk expires;
- FB-last Berserk (demo): SR -> Berserk -> Rip near the beginning -> SR -> FB near the end -> Berserk expires;
- FB mid-Berserk (demo): SR -> Berserk -> Rip near the beginning -> FB -> SR near the end -> Berserk expires.

Now, I'm not going to copy/paste the whole post, but I've come to the following conclusions:

TF-Berserk:
- 0-1 CCs during Berserk -> the "FB-less Berserk" opener is the best, if CP generation is an issue
- 0-1 CCs during Berserk -> the "FB-last Berserk" opener is the best, if CP generation is not an issue
- 2+ CCs during Berserk -> the "FB mid-Berserk" opener is the best

Berserk-TF:
- 0-2 CCs during Berserk -> the "FB-less Berserk" opener is the worst
- 0-2 CCs during Berserk -> the "FB-last Berserk" opener is the best
- 3+ CCs during Berserk -> the "FB mid-Berserk" opener is the best

Commentary:
In a nutshell, what you do in Berserk depends on:
- how many abilities you can inflict during its uptime;
- how fast you can generate CPs afterwards.

A) The "FB-less Berserk" approach

I would like to begin with the "FB-less Berserk" method, as it's the absolute safest way to utilise the big CD. This is due to the fact that this opener spends the CPs only on Rip and SR, i.e. the two most valuable finishers in our arsenal, and skips FB. This allows users to have 5 CPs even after Berserk, so that they have an easier time refreshing Rip when it expires (example). While this could be seen as something positive, in reality the aforementioned opener underperforms exactly because it skips FB, and as a result it deprives itself of additional damage.

I've described the value of the CP in a separate section, but I'd like to mention briefly that these building blocks act as stored damage which requires finishers to materialise. If someone finishes Berserk with 5 CPs and decides to keep them for Rip, that person will inevitably waste some due to the following factors: 1) Rake expires after Berserk and needs to be refreshed, 2) the player has a lot of energy and might reach the cap if they don't use Shred or any other builder, 3) the player obtains sudden OoC procs which of course need to be utilised ASAP. The last part is especially true, as CCs don't have an ICD, and a person can get multiple within a short time period. The point I'm trying to make here is that in situations where we use a lot of builders, we can profit more if we actually gain CPs from them unlike what this opener is doing.

Therefore, I don't recommend it at all, or rather I only recommend it to those of you who have difficulties generating CPs after Berserk, i.e. people with low crit, who also don't have TF at their disposal and only rely on AAs to obtain CCs. In other words, this opener would mostly satisfy the needs of players who don't have access to end-game items, who use "TF-Berserk" and follow the "monocat" playstyle. So, basically new players.

Off-topic: In boss fights with a lot of AoE, this opener is actually preferable due to how Swipe works. This ability is neither a builder, nor a finisher - it neither generates, nor consumes CPs. If someone has 0 and starts swiping, that person will not advance in terms of CP-generation and will have difficulties refreshing SR and/or Rip on time. This coupled with the fact that Swipe deals more damage than FB is the reason why the latter needs to be skipped, and therefore the "FB-less Berserk" approach should be the go-to opener for everyone (unless CC procs are involved, but more on that later). This was a small deviation from the main topic; I want this section to be entirely dedicated to single-target boss encounters, so now I'll continue with the next opener w/o addressing AoE-heavy fights:

B) The "FB-last Berserk" approach

"FB-last Berserk" is what I'd like to describe as the golden mean. Just like the "FB-less Berserk", this opener also shreds a lot and it also utilises the first couple of CPs on Rip and SR. What sets it apart is the inclusion of FB as a way to spend the excess CPs, so that it can start generating them anew. The thing I want to point out here is the fact that this opener is still able to leave Berserk with some CPs left (example). In other words, it benefits from the additional burst while also allowing the player to regain some of the spent CPs for the next Rip cycle. This is why I consider it as the golden mean, and it's the reason why I recommend it to everyone.

Now, the thing about FB is that it needs to be cast with as low amount of energy as possible, 18-24 to be precise. This is because FB's second effect is not affected by Berserk's energy reduction aura, and therefore any additional drained energy is equal to twice that amount outside Berserk. You can imagine how devastating it would be to cast that ability whilst having a lot of energy. Now, I know what you're thinking:

Q: If FB has the potential to drain me dry, why do you recommend "FB mid-Berserk"?
A: Because it's the best opener when you obtain a lot of CC procs during Berserk. Let me explain:

C) The "FB mid-Berserk" approach

Ok, so imagine for a moment that you have infinite energy during a boss encounter. How would you utilise it? Would you save it and for what? If you have an unlimited amount of energy, can we say that this resource stops being a factor worth considering? What would be your main concern then? Damage, right? Exactly, you would use it only on the abilities that bring you the most damage regardless how much they cost. Well, something similar occurs with the last opener, but it's highly dependent on your luck. You see, if you have at least 2 CC procs during Berserk with "TF-Berserk" or 3 with "Berserk-TF", you cannot utilise your energy fully within that 14-second time span. CCs give you extra on top, so you need to find a way to spend it because once Berserk ends, the resource will lose half of its value. "FB mid-Berserk" is that way.

Now, I need to clarify something. If you get a lot of CC procs during Berserk, you can still inflict a ton of damage by sticking to the "FB-last Berserk" method; you will simply cast FB with a bit more energy than usual before Berserk ends (example). The reason why "FB mid-Berserk" fares better is due to the fact that you will have leftover CPs when Berserk ends (example). They will make it easier for you to refresh Rip once it expires. Since acquiring enough CPs for that finisher will no longer be a necessity, you don't have to use any CP-generators at that point anymore, meaning you can save your energy for later. However, this assumes that you don't get any CC procs after Berserk, in which case the leftover CPs will be wasted. If you suspect this outcome, you can go for another FB (example). This would put you in the same situation as in "FB-last Berserk", if you were to cast FB in the last moment, but here you will do more damage because you will inflict two FBs instead of one.

Once again, this is only possible when you have a lot of CC procs during Berserk which can justify such an aggressive playstyle. Without them, you will be energy starved faster than you can say "Thistle Tea for cats".

Q: Doesn't this require foreknowledge of my luck? How can I possibly know how many CC procs I will get during Berserk?
A: You can't know this for sure, but you can increase the odds in your favour by stacking Haste.

I've already explained Haste's synergy with the OoC talent in another section ("Omen of Clarity, aka the MVP for a feral cat"), but here I would like to show you how you can calculate the number of presumed CC procs during Berserk. For this purpose, I will once again refer to the BiS list from the last patch, but you can do the same with your current gear (simply add up the haste rating of your items, incl. your gems & enchants, and adjust the numbers in the corresponding equations):

- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50653 - 68 haste rating
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=54580 - 73 haste rating
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50633 - 60 haste rating
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50675 - 74 haste rating
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50604 - 65 haste rating
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40211 - 500 haste rating
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=54999 - 340 haste rating
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=2825 - 30% melee haste
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48396 - 3% melee haste
- http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=55610 - 20% melee haste

25.21 haste rating equals 1% for us.

=> 1/ ((1+(1180/2521))*1.03*1.2*1.3) = 0.424 attack speed

if Berserk lasts 15 seconds with the GCD, then:
15/0.424 = 35.38 AAs during its duration
35.38*3.5/60 = 2.06 CCs on average during Berserk

adjust these numbers

In other words, the odds are already in favour of this approach. I am aware that the speed potion and the haste enchant expire before Berserk ends, but this doesn't change my conclusions that much. Also, I purposely didn't include http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71560 (700 haste rating from DBW) and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=23060 (from the http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=10725) because they don't always proc, but they still deserve to be mentioned. Also, we can use Barkskin during Berserk to increase those odds even further.

That said, we can't predict with 100% certainty whether our next AA would trigger OoC. So, my personal advice is to go with the "FB-last Berserk" opener. If you obtain a lot of CCs in the meantime, you can always transition to "FB mid-Berserk".

Warning: I've already covered all important aspects of Berserk. Before I continue with the summary and finish the topic entirely, I would like to say a few things about STS and how we can actually improve its uptime during Berserk. Please bear in mind that the information in the next subsection isn't all that important as the damage gain from the proposed ideas is really miniscule. Therefore, the contents there are not intended for practical use, but rather for informational purposes only.

VII. Solving the syncing issue with STS

I would like to start this subsection with some general information about STS hc. This trinket provides feral cats with 1,781 AP (assuming https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=24894 and https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=19506) for 15 seconds with a 45-sec ICD, and this proc effect has a 35% chance to be triggered from any source of damage.

A) The syncing problem

The "problem" stems from the fact that not all abilities make use of the AP proc, namely SR and Berserk, because they don't inflict any damage on their own. Obviously, I'm not talking about their respective "buffs", but rather the GCDs we are forced to sit through after casting them. These GCDs last one second and prevent us from using offensive abilities that do benefit from STS's proc effect.

Then there's Mangle or, rather, the first CP-generator necessary for us to have SR in the first place:

<fight starts> -> Mangle -> SR

Since any source of damage triggers STS, this includes the initial Mangle as well. The thing to keep in mind is that its damage takes place before the proc, which means that this ability doesn't benefit from the AP buff, but it still starts a GCD that wastes STS's uptime. For a better visualisation, I recommend watching this clip and paying attention to the combat log.

In other words, we always miss out on a couple of seconds of STS due to how our opening works.

B) The solution

Understanding that the first two yellow abilities don't utilise STS's AP buff at all, we can try to postpone the proc effect so that it can "bypass" them. We do this by unequipping STS and equipping it 44 seconds prior to the boss fight. For a better explanation, please watch this video. As you can see, the damage gain is very small and not worth doing, but if someone wants to benefit more from STS, this is the proper way to do it. The same tip applies to DBW, but that ability has a much longer ICD (1:45), and most RLs won't bother setting up 2-min pull timers.

Btw, the suggestion of swapping out trinkets was present in Blunta's guide. Unfortunately, he took it down some time ago, so now I'm honouring his contribution. I believe that this topic deserves to be mentioned.

VIII. Summary

A) General overview

There is no one way to open as a feral cat that is best for everyone in every given situation. In fact, there are various approaches to do it depending on the following factors:

- Who needs to put Mangle on the boss? Is it you or someone else?
- How long does the boss fight last on average? Can you get an additional TF if you use it early?
- How many abilities can you inflict during Berserk? Would that number decrease if you use FB mid-Berserk?
- How fast can you reach 5CPs if you have none? How many CPs do you get on average per builder?
- How important it is to refresh Rip when it expires after Berserk? What will you lose if you don't refresh it on time?

For a better understanding, picture the feral opener as a puzzle that consists of many small pieces. These small pieces are the answers to the questions you see above, and how you answer them will determine what kind of opener would be most suitable for you.

B) Assembling the pieces

Generally speaking, the feral opener can be broken down into three major phases:
1) the phase prior to Berserk;
2) the phase during to Berserk;
3) the phase after to Berserk.

In the next paragraphs, I will explain my personal interpretation of how the feral opener is usually structured. For that purpose, I'll use terminology from theory of literature. In this train of thought, I don't expect you to memorise the names of each of the phases, instead try to understand the logic behind them and what you need to do there. Of course, if you don't agree with my structure or if you think it's too complicated, you're more than welcome to come up with your own by acknowledging the three major phases I mentioned above. With all that said, I'll continue.

I like to view the feral opener as a Freytag pyramid:

Where:
1) the prologue marks the preparation phase prior to the boss fight (i.e. casting GotW for a CC proc);
2) the exposition marks the active period prior to Berserk (i.e. casting Mangle + SR);
3) the inciting incident is the moment you pop Berserk;
4) the rising action marks the early stage of Berserk (i.e. casting Rip + SR again);
5) the climax is the pure burst before Berserk ends (i.e. spamming Shred and casting FB);
6) the falling action marks the time when Berserk ends (i.e. gathering CPs for Rip);
7) the resolution is the moment when the opening ends (i.e. refreshing Rip);
8) the epilogue marks the remaining duration of the boss fight (i.e. following the priority list).

I'll now explain each of these elements in further detail. Whilst reading, think about your current situation. Afterwards, what kind of exciting story you tell, or rather experience for yourself, is up to you (and up to RNG, of course).

Prologue
Aka the preparation phase prior to the boss encounter. Now, I won't tackle the topic of consumables, as there's already a dedicated section for that, but in terms of abilities what you need to do here mostly boils down to casting GotW for a CC proc.

Technically speaking, you could get a pre-pull SR as well, but this trick isn't covered here for the sake of simplicity. If you're interested in that topic, I advise you to read the section titled "Pre-pull Savage Roar".

Exposition
What you do prior to Berserk needs to answer the following questions: 1) Who needs to put Mangle on the boss? Is it you or someone else? and 2) How long does the boss fight last on average? Can you get an additional TF if you use it early?

Beginning a fight with either Mangle or Rake depends on whether or not someone else can apply the "30% bleed damage" debuff. If that's the case, using Rake at start is vastly superior. If the cat player needs to do it, then Mangle is better raid-wise. Regardless which ability you use, it's mandatory that you follow it up with SR (assuming that it's not active).

As far as TF is concerned, using it prior to Berserk could potentially net you one extra in the long run, but you miss out on the opportunity to buff a couple of AAs and Shreds. Conversely, using it after Berserk would bring you a guaranteed, albeit rather small buff to those abilities, but you might deprive yourself of casting an additional TF before the fight ends. If I ignore CP-generation post Berserk for a bit, I would like to inform you that the damage difference between "TF-Berserk" and "Berserk-TF" is somewhat small, so if you don't care about small numbers, you can pick either of these approaches and stick with it. Otherwise, you need to get accustomed to timing TF differently in raids.

That said, using TF after Berserk can help you generate CPs for Rip faster, but more on that later.

Inciting incident
As stated above, this is the moment when you use Berserk. There isn't much to be said here, except that you need to make sure that your energy doesn't overcap when Berserk's GCD ends. This includes the presence of CC procs. If you get one prior to Berserk, try to use it and to lower your energy (in case you overcap it).

Rising action
Also a fairly simple phase to explain. Once you are in Berserk, you need to start gathering CPs for Rip and for SR after that. You use either Shred or Rake (if the latter has expired).

Climax
This is where the opener will differ for most of you. What you do here needs to answer the following questions: 1) How many abilities can you inflict during Berserk? Would that number decrease if you use FB mid-Berserk? and 2) How fast can you reach 5CPs if you have none? How many CPs do you get on average per builder? As you can understand, this phase is not just some mindless burst, but also a preparation for when Berserk ends and you need to acquire CPs for Rip.

If you're undergeared or playing on Frostmourne/Onyxia, you won't have access to ICC and RS items, in which case your crit might be low and you might have difficulties generating 5CPs fast enough. If this describes you, then you ought to skip FB unless 1) you either get a lot of CC procs post Berserk (e.g. with the GotVV-shift), or 2) you follow up Berserk with TF. Your burst is only Shred and you save your CPs for Rip.

For the rest of you, FB shouldn't be neglected. Usually, the best energy threshold for that ability is 18-24 because it costs almost as much as Shred (21). This concerns the case when you have few CC procs (0-1). If you have more, you ought to cast FB sooner because otherwise you won't utilise your energy fully during Berserk. If you have leftover CPs because of this, you either keep them for Rip or, preferably, use them on another FB before Berserk ends.

The things I mentioned in the previous two paragraphs concern single-target boss encounters. In AoE-heavy boss fights, you should definitely skip FB in favour of Swipe unless you get a lot of CC procs during Berserk, in which case you can afford to cast a single FB in the middle of Berserk.

Falling action
This is the point at which Berserk ends, and you have limited time to gather 5 CPs for Rip. What you do here needs to answer these questions: How fast can you reach 5CPs if you have none? How many CPs do you get on average per builder? How fast you generate them depends on your gear (more precisely, on your crit), the presence/absence of TF, and CC procs. The latter, in turn, depends on whether or not you're a GotVV-shifter or you just rely on AAs to obtain them.

For more information about the GotVV-shift, please read "Different playstyles for a feral cat" and the third post in this guide.

Resolution
I'm saving the best for last. Here comes the plot twist: How important it is to refresh Rip when it expires after Berserk? What will you lose if you don't refresh it on time?

I mean, obviously we should always try to cast Rip the moment it fades so that we don't lose its uptime. However, it's not like we instantly become bottom dps if we delay refreshing it by one or two seconds. Rip and its bleed ticks in particular are quantifiable damage. What else can we describe in the same way? Everything, really, but CPs is what I have in mind. If you remember, I labeled as "stored damage" which is materialised in the presence of finishers (like FB). That damage is wasted when the cat player reaches 5 CPs and continues to use builders like Shred and Rake.

Let me ask you a question - would you waste 5 CPs only to preserve a single Rip tick? What about two Rip ticks? Now, the answer to this conundrum is a bit more complicated as various factors tip the scales in favour of either ability:

- gear (our current Arp, Idol of Worship);
- talents (the number of talent points we have invested in Feral Aggression);
- snapshots (trinket procs, Hysteria).

I want to keep this section as clean as possible, so I will just describe the situation with bis ICC and RS gear. When Rip fades after Berserk, we usually have 1-2 seconds to refresh it before DBW and Hysteria run out. If we don't do it on time, not only do we miss out on a couple of bleed ticks but also on the snapshot. Assuming we get "700 Str", snapshotting Rip with those two buffs would net us 16k damage or 21k with the 30% ICC buff. This is the equivalent of an average Shred, so it's not something miniscule. I'm not even counting the lost tick damage, in which case those numbers would increase by 5k per each Rip tick we miss out on (a single tick registers once every 2 seconds).

Therefore, I advise you to try refreshing Rip the moment it expires right after Berserk. For the rest of the "Rip vs FB" debacle, please read "FB. Energy investment and proper timing".

Epilogue
Once you refresh Rip, you continue dps-ing whilst respecting the single-target priority list.

C) Actual showcase

Now that you understand how to build your opener, here are my suggestions:

"TF-Berserk" + "FB-less Berserk"

Spoiler: Show

"TF-Berserk" + "FB-last Berserk"

Spoiler: Show

1) Characteristics

- About TF:
*this ability is used prior to Berserk, causing it to lose its weapon damage buff, but allowing players to cast it an additional time before the fight ends (assuming the boss encounter lasts long enough).

- About FB:
*FB is used at the end of Berserk (more precisely, as soon as the player reaches 18-24 energy);
*as a result, the player is limited in time and resources to generate 5CPs before Rip expires shortly after Berserk.

=> Therefore, this opener is mostly suitable for players that don't have any difficulties generating CPs fast enough (i.e. players with a good gear or GotVV-shifters in general).

2) Suggested ability order

GotW prior to the pull timer;
Mangle;
SR;
Rake;
Shred;
TF+Berserk;
Shred spam till 5 CPs;
Rip;
Shred spam till 5 CPs;
SR;
Shred spam + refresh on Rake;
FB @18-24 energy;
Shred (in case you have enough energy);
Berserk ends, and you acknowledge the priority list.

Note 1: If someone else can apply the Mangle/Trauma debuff, go Rake -> SR -> Shred.
Note 2: If by chance you get a CC proc before popping TF, cast Shred again and then follow it up with Rip into TF+Berserk. You can increase these odds by casting Barkskin. If instead of a CC proc, you just have over 30 energy, cast Shred into "TF+Berserk".
Note 3: You don't need to refresh the second SR the moment you get 5 CPs. You can delay it a bit, in order to get more value from the first one.

3) Demonstration

Spoiler: Show

Commentary:
In this video you'll see me spamming FFF a lot. I want to clarify that the spell is still nerfed - it doesn't proc OoC at all. Spamming this spell is just an old habit of mine.
- 0:05 I used Barkskin in order to trigger a CC proc and potentially follow it up with 2 Shreds and a Rip before casting "TF+Berserk". I didn't get it in this video, but this is my current way of playing if I don't get a CC proc the first few AAs.
- 0:07 overcapped 2 energy, which is a bit unfortunate, but a small price to pay.
- 0:22 no luck with NG.
- 0:31 ye, this is why I said that we need a CC proc after Berserk in order to refresh Rip on time.
- 0:39 I could admit that the FB might have been a bit risky, but I counted on getting at least one CC, and I got two at 0:45-0:46.
- 0:46 I don't recommend doing what I did here, i.e. casting Shred and refreshing SR with 5CPs instead of 4 because I limited my options to generate 5CPs for Rip. Fortunately for me, I got another CC proc a bit later (0:54) which allowed me to refresh bleed on time, but w/o it I would have cast Rip with a delay and quite possibly struggled to refresh Mangle and Rake as well.
- 1:08 no luck with Barkskin.
- 1:21 In hindsight, that Rake was perfectly timed with that CC. Under normal circumstances, this would have been a mistake, but right after casting Rake, I got another CC which I used on Shred. So, by casting Rake early, I managed to preserve its uptime.
- 1:38 no luck with NG.
- 1:52 I dropped SR for a bit. Normally, this would have been a misplay, but not in this particular scenario because I already auto-attacked a few milliseconds prior to SR expiring, so nothing was lost.
- 2:13 no luck with Barkskin.
- 2:17 in this particular case, I should have refreshed SR with 2 CPs, followed it up with Rake and gathered CPs for Rip.
- 2:26 I shouldn't have cast Shred. Rake would have been better because it would have benefited more from the trinket proc.
- 2:41 in hindsight, the FB was timed poorly. What I should have done was to cast SR with 4CPs and with a small delay. That way, I would have started generating CPs again for a potential 4CP FB prior to Rip. Moreover, had I refreshed SR with 4CPs, I wouldn't have cast it for a second time at 2:58. Instead, I would have started generating CPs for one last bite.
- 3:03 no luck with NG.

Spoiler: Show

Commentary:
- 0:06 I used Barkskin in order to trigger a CC proc and follow it up with 2 Shreds and a Rip before casting "TF+Berserk". I got it in this video. :P
- 0:10-0:11 I had to lower my energy a bit before popping Berserk. This is why I said that neither "TF-Berserk" nor "Berserk-TF" are confined to a fixed ability order. If the player sees something like this happening prior to Berserk, they can react accordingly. Since I wasn't doing anything productive, I decided to cast NG for a potential CC proc (which I didn't get).
- 0:23-0:28 I acquired 5CPs for Rip before Berserk ended. This is why we should cast FB with as little energy as possible during Berserk (like what I did at 0:22) and not necessarily at the last moment.
- 1:06 I contemplated on the possibility to cast Shred, in order to generate enough CPs for SR. During the practice run, I decided to play it safe, but in hindsight I should have gone for it as you're about to see why.
- 1:08-1:16 even though I managed to refresh Rip on time, I didn't get the full duration. I didn't want to cast Shred because I would have wasted CPs, but this is why I should have cast it on that SR.
- 1:10 no luck with Barkskin.
- 1:17 no luck with NG.
- 1:29 I wanted to do the very same thing I should have done with the previous SR (at 1:06). I had a lot of energy, and I counted on getting a CC proc before Rip expired, but as you're about to find out things didn't go as planned.
- 1:38 I couldn't refresh Rip on time. Tbf, had I refreshed SR with 3 CPs instead of 4, this wouldn't have changed anything because the Shred at 1:35 was also a non-critical, so I would have had 4CPs with that Shred at 1:29. In an actual raid scenario, refreshing SR with 3 CPs would have been the safer approach.
- 1:54 I contemplated on the possibility to refresh SR in order to have an easier time generating CPs with that CC proc. Honestly, I don't think that what I did here was a misplay because I had plenty of energy. I was unlucky that both Rake and Mangle ended up as non-criticals.
- 2:21 my "NG + Barkskin" macro triggered OoC.
- 2:22 this time around my energy bar was half full, so refreshing SR immediately was the correct play.
- 2:44 I cast Shred only because I got a CC proc. Had I not received it, I would have refreshed SR sooner.
- 2:53 both SR and Rip were perfectly synchronised with the "kill timer", aka Berserk's CD in my case.

"TF-Berserk" + "FB mid-Berserk"

Spoiler: Show

"Berserk-TF" + "FB-last Berserk"

Spoiler: Show

"Berserk-TF" + "FB mid-Berserk"

Spoiler: Show

15. WHAT'S THE VALUE OF A CP?

Spoiler: Show

Attention: In this section, I've explained the value of our CPs and their impact on our finishers. My goal is to visualise the potential damage loss when we utilise them poorly, so that it becomes clearer what's going on.

Be warned, this section contains more personal calculations than practical tips, so if you don't want to be overwhelmed with too much information, you can close this spoiler. Having said that, understanding the logic behind the utilisation of the CPs would imho help you get a better view of the nuances of the feral cat spec, so I recommend giving it a read.

I. General overview

Before I clarify the nuances of using FB in combat, I must tackle the ever so important topic of its building blocks - the CPs, aka our second primary resource. This deserves its own separate section as it's not something minor or simple that can be explained briefly in one or two words. In reality, a lot of our in-game decisions revolve around managing this resource properly, especially when we try to maintain both SR and Rip.

Unlike our energy, we don't passively generate CPs. We need to use builders to obtain them in the first place, we can gather up to 5 at a time, and we can only use them on finishers. This is where the main challenge surrounding our CPs comes from - they are not as easy to obtain and use as our energy. In order to express myself better, I'd like to give you a quick example:

Let's say that our energy is close to reaching the maximum cap (100), after which point we stop regenerating it. In order for us to continue doing so, we cast Shred and lower it. The energy is not lost, as we still gain damage from that play, but the same cannot be said for our CPs. The problem here is threefold: {1} None of our finishing moves can be spammed like Shred (FB comes close, but is more situationally applicable due to its second effect). {2} Once we spend all of our CPs, we need to cast builders to generate them anew. For this we need a lot of energy and therefore time to accumulate it. In other words, we can't go FB -> Rip in one GCD like we can with Shred -> Rake. {3} If we continue casting builders while we are already sitting at 5CPs just so we keep them for Rip and SR, we're wasting this resource.

By wasting CPs, we deal with heavy repercussions in the long run, so we need to have a clear idea of what we are actually missing out on. Obviously, I don't mean us knowing that we deprive ourselves of X amount of CPs, as this doesn't tell us much. We need to convert that resource into a measurement for comparison, i.e. a number, referencing potential damage.

II. My hypothesis

In order to give you a better idea how much CPs are actually worth, I need to explain the value of our energy first. For this purpose, let's observe a hypothetical 2-min boss fight with a simple "tank and spank" strategy. Under such circumstances, we'd normally have on average:

- 2 Mangles;
- 13 Rakes;
- 5 Rips;
- 5 SRs;
- X amount of Shreds;
- Y amount of FBs.

Now let's imagine two different players, one of whom has 100 energy more than the other throughout the entire encounter. Should that person decide to utilise it on either Mangle, Rake, Rip, or SR, he wouldn't achieve a "double dip" - he would just clip their effects. The only remaining abilities he can use the extra energy on are Shred and FB. If we ignore FB for a bit, we can say that every extra point of energy would mean potential Shred damage. Because of this, Shred is my main reference point when it comes to managing energy in boss fights. If I ignore trinket procs affecting its damage, then in the context of my Icecrown cat this is how much damage Shred would inflict on average with raid buffs according to Rawr:

Shred (average damage with 14724 AP, 1397 Arp, and almost 74% crit) = 15095
1 extra point of energy = 15095/42 or 359.4

Overcapping X amount of energy points due to one reason or another would result in me depriving myself of X*359.4 potential damage. Conversely, gaining 8 energy from http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48545 or 60 from http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48495 would result in me getting 8*359.4 and 60*359.4 respectively.

In addition to the aforementioned damage gain, we also get some CPs from that ability. As I've already clarified, we cannot use them on Rip and SR and double their effects. If we want to utilise that resource, then the only remaining finisher would be FB. For the sake of simplicity, I will only observe its 5-CP version w/o addressing its second effect (i.e. the part that drains up to 30 extra energy). According to Rawr, this is how the damage would look like if I were to cast it in a boss fight:

FB (average damage with 14724 AP, 1397 Arp, and almost 74% crit) = 27554

=> 35 energy + 5CPs = 27554 damage

Now I just need to isolate the variable. Since I have already declared the value of energy by using Shred as a reference point, I can substitute the "35 energy" part with the DPE for Shred and see how much damage those 5 CPs would net me:

35 energy + 5CPs = 27554 damage
(35*359.4) + 5CPs = 27554
5CPs = 27554 - 12579
5 CPs = 14975

=> 1CP = 2995
=> 2 CPs = 5990

However, with my current gear I have almost 74% crit in boss encounters. This means that in 26% of the cases my builders provide me with one CP, whereas in the remaining 74% - with two. In other words, I get 1.74 CPs on average per Mangle, Rake, and Shred. If I want to convert that amount into actual damage, I need to multiply 2995 by 1.74 which equals 5211. Everything I said thus far can be expressed with the following formulas:

one CP = (FB-(35*Shred/42))/5
two CPs = 2*(FB-(35*Shred/42))/5
CP-value (average per builder) = 1.CurrentCritProbability*(FB-(35*Shred/42))/5

These formulas can help you find out how much your CPs are worth with your current gear.

III. Elitist Jerks's stance on this topic

An EJ user shared a similar opinion in the past:

Originally Posted by Melthu

You must be placing very little value on combo points for the break-even point to be so low. I made a very rough estimate of the value of a combo point by subtracting the DPE of Shred from the DPE of a 5 CP Ferocious Bite and dividing by 5.

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20101110..._rotation/p52/

Reading this was quite exciting as it showed that I wasn't the only one with that conclusion. Now, Melthu's formula revolved around the DPE values of FB and Shred, but regardless how you view it - it's the same logic. I'll keep my approach just because it shows actual stored damage during a fight.

IV. The fluidity of CP's value

Even though FB can give us a very consistent reference point for the value of our CPs, this approach doesn't fully describe how much they are worth when either Rip or SR are involved. Or, does it? Although I also support the idea that the value of our CPs changes depending on the type of finisher we're casting, my previous approach also acknowledges this conundrum quite well as you're about to understand why.

As I explained in the second subsection, if two players have different amounts of CPs, the one that has more will use the bonus CPs for FB, but both will use the same amount for SR and Rip when they expire. Since these two impact our dps the most, they have priority over FB. This means that the CPs intended for FB are expendable and can be sacrificed (to some extent) in favour of the other two finishers. With this in mind, I would like to observe different situations concerning the maintenance of SR and Rip, where players lose some of those expendable CPs in the process.

A) Using the CP-value to analyse the 4-CP and 5-CP Rip

14724 AP, almost 74% crit
5-CP Rip (average) = 53679
4-CP Rip (average) = 43274

Let's imagine a scenario, where we decide to refresh Rip with 4 CPs instead of 5 just so we don't lose one in case our next builder ends up being a critical strike. If I once again refer to the values of my Icecrown cat, using any CP-generator would provide me with 2 CPs 74% of the time which is the equivalent of 5211 stored damage with my current gear. In that hypothetical example, I can add that number to the damage of a 4-CP Rip and compare it to a 5-CP Rip:

43274 (4-CP Rip) + 5211 (stored CPs for later) vs 53679 (5-CP Rip)
48485 < 53679

By using FB to determine the rough value of a CP, we can still observe how going for a 5-CP Rip and wasting a bit of CPs yields higher numbers than prioritising its inferior counterpart. If so happens that we miss out on a single 5-CP Rip tick in case we have difficulties building the CPs, then that finisher still remains superior:

53679 - (53679/11) = 48799
48485 < 48799

A 4-CP Rip would only then outperform its 5-CP equivalent if we miss out on two or more bleed ticks. Now, I would like to open a parenthesis and clarify that such a scenario should generally be avoided, as it's oftentimes the result of poor CP-management when the other two finishers are involved. So, if anything, this is the exception that proves the rule.

B) Using the CP-value to analyse the 4-CP and 5-CP SR

Unlike Rip, SR doesn't do any damage on its own so I can't proceed with the same analysis I used in the previous subsection. Instead, I need to take a different approach.

As you already know, this ability increases our physical damage in cat form for a short period of time. We don't get this effect for free, rather we spend or, better said, invest energy and CPs in it. Key word here is "invest", and what is the common desire when we deal with investments? We want our investments to be as small as possible and our profits - as high as possible. This is exactly how I want to view SR - a mandatory investment of resources.

This ability costs 25 energy, and it grants us 5 seconds for each CP we invest in it. If we use SR too often in fights, then we would have less energy for Shred. Therefore, spending 25 energy on this finisher would "cost" me 8985 damage on average. In addition to that, we also invest CPs, which under normal circumstances could be used for a 5CP-FB. In my case, this would mean 2995 per CP or 5211 on average per builder (with 74% crit). With all that said, here's the full picture:

14 seconds: 8985+(1*2995) = 11980 (an investment of 855.7 dps)
19 seconds: 8985+(2*2995) = 14975 (an investment of 788.1 dps)
24 seconds: 8985+(3*2995) = 17970 (an investment of 748.8 dps)
29 seconds: 8985+(4*2995) = 20965 (an investment of 722.9 dps)
34 seconds: 8985+(5*2995) = 23960 (an investment of 704.7 dps)

So, the more CPs we spend on SR, the smaller the dps investment for it becomes. This shows why we should aim to refresh this finisher with 4/5 CPs whenever possible. What about going from 4-CP to 5-CP SR?

4CP SR + 1.74 CPs = 5CP SR with extra spending
20965 + 5211 = 26176 (an investment of 769.88 dps)

The numbers show that under normal circumstances it's not a good idea to go from a 4-CP to 5-CP SR. We need to wait for our current SR to expire first before we refresh it with 4 CPs, and only then can we start generating them anew. As you can tell, this conclusion is not always applicable as there are situations where we cannot afford to wait for SR to expire first before we cast another CP-generator. Here are some examples:

Berserk is active;
our energy is close to the maximum cap (100);
we have a CC proc.

These three common scenarios have three things in common: {1} we lose energy or energy-like resources if we wait for SR to expire first before we cast another ability; {2} in order to prevent that from happening, we use Shred or any other builder whilst {3} disregarding the current amount of our CPs. Since CPs are lost in the process either way, it's better to go from a 4-CP to a 5-CP SR in order to still benefit from them. Of course, this is only true if Rip is not a factor worth considering. In the next subsection, I will examine that scenario.

C) Using the CP-value to analyse refreshing SR to the detriment of Rip

Once, I received constructive criticism on discord that basing the value of CPs on FB wouldn't give the player a clear picture when both Rip and SR expire simultaneously. As I've pointed out in "Learning the priority list step by step", it's better to cast SR even with 1 CP if it means that Rip would be refreshed with 5 CPs on time. Here, you'll see why this is still the case.

Let's assume that a person has 3CPs, and they decide to cast another builder, so that their SR would last longer. They get a lucky critical strike and obtain 5CPs. However, the player struggles to refresh Rip on time and loses a whole tick as a result. If I use the damage values of my Icecrown cat in order to analyse this situation, here's how the outcome would look like:

- 5CP SR = 23960 dmg investment
- sacrificed Rip tick = 4880 lost damage

=> 23960 + 4880 = 28840 (an investment of 848.23 dps)

This is worse than what he would have had, had he refreshed SR with 3CPs. This goes to show that while we should aim to refresh SR with as many CPs as possible, we should do so by respecting Rip's uptime. In other words, the amount of CPs we can afford to invest in SR shouldn't hinder us from refreshing Rip with 5CPs on time.

D) Using the CP-value to analyse casting FB to the detriment of Rip

Let's forget about SR for a bit and imagine the following scenario - we have 5CPs, and Rip is going to expire relatively soon (like, in 10+ seconds). When do we cast FB?

There are two ways to approach this conundrum:

1) We keep the CPs for Rip and once it's refreshed, we go for the FB.
2) We go for the FB first, and then we try to gather 5CPs ASAP for Rip.

Now, I intentionally mentioned 10+ seconds in order to imply that our energy would reach the maximum cap if we only pool it. Therefore, in the first example we would be forced to use Shred at least once in order to lower our energy, but we would miss out on some CPs as a result. In the second example, we won't have that issue, but there might be a risk that we cast Rip with a delay and miss out on some bleed ticks. For a better understanding, let me illustrate those examples for you:

(5 CPs) -> Shred -> Rip -> 3x Shreds -> FB + bleed ticks {223 energy}

(5 CPs) -> FB -> 3x Shreds -> Rip -> Shred + 1-2 CPs {223 energy}

As you can see, the energy is the same and so are the abilities. Therefore, I will only focus on the differences:

In the first example, we have more bleed ticks. With my current gear, each Rip tick would inflict 4880 damage on average. In the second example, we have more CPs. Since I have 74% crit on my character, I expect to get 1.74 CPs on average per Shred which constitute 5211 damage. Prioritising FB over Rip would be worth it in that scenario, but only if I miss out on 0-1 Rip ticks. Anything more, and FB would be a misplay. However, if I were to cast two Shreds prior to Rip in the first example, I would sacrifice more CPs, and the scales would tip once again in favour of FB.

This example right here explains the main logic behind usage of FB prior to Rip - how many (expendable) CPs we utilise and how many bleed ticks we sacrifice determines how beneficial or detrimental FB is prior to Rip.

It should be noted that the "CPs : Rip ticks" ratio depends on a person's gear. This is due to the fact that a boss's armour reduces FB's damage, and we need a lot Arp to negate that damage reduction effect, whereas Rip remains unaffected because it ignores armour by design. As a result, the number of Rip ticks we can afford to sacrifice in favour of FB is different in each content phase. For more information on the matter, please read "FB. Energy investment and proper timing".

E) Using the CP-value to analyse the 4-CP and 5-CP FB

5-CP FB = 27554
4-CP FB = 22323

Now comes the final scenario. Let's imagine that neither Rip nor SR are a major concern, and we intend to cast FB, but we only have 4 CPs currently. Is it better to cast FB with 4CPs or should we go for a 5-CP FB?

If I go Shred -> FB, my finisher will inflict more damage, but I might waste a CP in case that Shred ends up being a critical strike. If I decide to cast FB with 4CPs and follow it up with Shred, I keep 1.74 CPs for later which constitute 5211 stored damage. I can add that number to the damage of a 4-CP FB and compare it to its 5-CP equivalent:

22323+5211= 27534
27534 (4-CP FB with extra CP value) < 27554 (5-CP FB with wasted CP value)

Even though the numbers still go in favour of the 5-CP bite, I cannot help but point out how small the difference is. I also want to point out that by sacrificing CPs, we make it harder for ourselves to maintain Rip and SR. If we go Shred -> FB, we would have 42 less energy for the next cycle, which could result in us losing a couple of Rip ticks or having less CPs for SR. Not to mention, the more we prolong the bite, the higher the chances of getting a CC proc in the meantime. If we get a CC proc while at 5CPs, we cannot use it on FB due to its second effect, so we'd be forced to respond with a 0-CP Shred. Due to the GCD caused by Shred, we'd pool some energy. If we still aim to bite the boss, we'd invest more resources in that ability than what we have initially planned, and we'd really go behind our cycles. A 4-CP FB might not inflict as much damage as its 5-CP counterpart, but it makes us flexible in unfortunate situations which is the reason why I promote it.

Just like the 4-CP SR, there are exceptions here:

Berserk is active;
we have a CC proc while at 4CPs;
our energy is beyond the optimal threshold for FB;
Mangle and/or Rake are about to expire soon.

In situations like these, we waste CPs either way so it's better to invest them in FB in order to still benefit from them.

16. FB. ENERGY INVESTMENT AND PROPER TIMING

Spoiler: Show

I. Energy investment for FB

A) General overview

Feral druid’s FB is quite reminiscent of rogue’s Eviscerate in the sense that both abilities are finishers, they cost 35 energy, and they inflict burst damage which increases the more CPs we invest in them.

However, FB’s biggest drawback stems from its second effect. It consumes extra energy (up to 30) and is unaffected by energy-reduction effects such as Berserk and OoC procs. While it's true that we get some damage from it, in reality it's quite miniscule and not worth the trouble (for reference, the DPE value of FB's second effect is half that of Shred). The problem is not just the practically non-existent damage but also the fact that the sacrificed resource could've been used on a future ability (Shred) that might have granted us CPs, which we could have then used either for another FB or for another finisher.

All of this begs the question - what is the energy threshold when biting our targets is still considered beneficial?

B) Energy threshold for FB in the context of its second effect

Before I present my conclusions, I would like to explain briefly how I came to them. If you want to see the whole math, you can check this post. Obviously, the closer you are to 35 energy when casting FB, the better.

5-CP FB
The way I calculated the thresholds was by analysing the following two scenarios with different amounts of energy:

(5CPs) + X energy -> Shred -> pooling Y energy -> FB

(5CPs) + X energy -> FB -> pooling Y energy

My reasoning behind the usage of Shred was based on the necessity to lower our energy as a way to counter FB's second effect. For example, if I have 60 and use Shred (42), I'd have 28 after the GCD, at which point I'd just need to pool 7 before I cast FB. I compared that to simply using FB right from the get-go, and the leftover energy was converted to Shred damage with CP-value (the latter is described in the section titled "What's the value of a CP?").

The reason why the first scenario includes a single Shred stems from my assumption that we aren't forced to cast more while we have 5CPs. If so happens that we do end up casting more, then delaying FB would be a misplay simply because we'd deprive ourselves of CPs. This is possible when CC procs are involved, and we have too much energy to spare already.

This is the cornerstone of my logic - that CC procs should not be a factor worth considering. After all, they only have a 6% chance to proc from AAs, which makes them unpredictable and thus very unlikely in small time windows. Going back to my previous example, if I were to cast FB whilst having 60 energy, and I don't get any CCs immediately afterwards, then I'd only shoot myself in the foot. This is the reason why I preferred to treat "casting a single Shred at 5CPs" as the most common/probable scenario, which is what I based my calculations on. Having clarified that, here are my conclusions:

5CPs. FB vs Shred

Out of Berserk
- The boss isn't dying any time soon - do you have a CC proc?

Yes. Shred > FB
No. Is your energy 53 or more?
1. Yes. Shred > FB
2. No. FB > Shred.

- The boss is going to die soon - can you squeeze in two FBs within the last remaining seconds?

Yes. Read the previous algorithm.
No. Shred > FB and cast FB at the last second.

In Berserk
- Berserk has just begun - do you have a CC proc?

Yes. Shred > FB
No. Is your energy 25 or more?
1. Yes. Shred > FB
2. No. FB > Shred.

- Berserk is about to expire soon - can you utilise all of your energy?

Yes. Read the previous algorithm.
No. FB > Shred and you blow your energy as much as possible (aka the "FB mid-Berserk" opener).

4-CP FB
I already explained the logic behind the usage of the 4-CP FB in "What's the value of a CP?", but here's a quick recap - it saves us 1-2 CPs which we use for an upcoming finisher. It doesn't matter that it deals less damage than its 5-CP counterpart, what matters is that it allows us to be flexible in unfortunate situations. This is further proven by the fact that we use fewer abilities and thus less energy to reach 4CPs as opposed to 5. Ideally, we will reach 4CPs with just two builders, but to generate 5 we need no less than three.

For a better understanding, imagine that you have 4CPs and you cast Shred, so that your FB would cause more damage. However, by doing so, you'd have 42 less energy for the next Rip or SR cycle. If you don't obtain 5CPs on time, you'd cast Rip with a delay or SR with less CPs than initially planned. At the end, that 5-CP FB would come with a trade-off.

This is the logic behind the following two scenarios:

(4CPs) + X energy -> Shred -> pooling Y energy -> FB

(4CPs) + X energy -> FB -> pooling Y energy + Rip tick

Of course, in an actual raid environment things are not always that simple, as RNG will determine which play is correct. If I grant a couple of CC procs to both examples after them casting FB, both will be able to refresh Rip on time, but the first will be superior due to the damage difference between the 4-CP and the 5-CP FB. At the same time, it's also possible that these CCs pop up when the first player is still sitting at 5 CPs. In that case, either the 5-CP FB would be delayed even more, further shortening the time window to obtain 5CPs for the next Rip cycle, or it would be skipped, meaning the CPs are wasted for nothing. Regardless of outcome, the 4-CP FB will be the only correct play under such circumstances.

This is once again the reason why I decided to leave out the CC procs from my calculations. At the same time, I wanted to acknowledge the flexibility factor and the low energy investment surrounding the 4-CP FB which is why I gave it a single Rip tick in addition to the extra CPs from the leftover energy. Having said that, here are my conclusions:

4CPs. FB vs Shred

Outside of Berserk: If you have 35-50 energy, FB > Shred. If you have more, Shred > FB.
Outside of Berserk: If you have 18-24 energy, FB > Shred. If you have more, Shred > FB.
Presence of CC procs: Shred > FB.

Disclaimer: Those conclusions are true if biting the boss wouldn't negatively impact maintaining your other finishers. The latter concerns the correct timing of FB, which is discussed in the next subsection. FYI, the aforementioned energy thresholds are also affected by http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=16862. Having less points in that talent lowers the aforementioned caps.

II. Timing FB alongside your other finishers

A) General overview

Timing FB is not simply saying "SR and Rip need to last X seconds in order for FB to be safe". No, such statements are horribly oversimplified. 15 seconds of Rip duration could be more than enough for person A to squeeze in a FB before his next cycle, but too short for person B. In actuality, there are various factors that influence your decision of timing FB properly, those being:

duration of SR and Rip
1. Rip expires prior to SR
2. SR expires prior to Rip
3. both expire at the same time
presence of TF
number of CCs you might potentially get
1. procs from lucky AAs, Barkskin, and NG
2. procs from the GotVV-shift (discussed in the third post)
your current crit%
remaining time before the boss dies

Depending on these factors everyone defines their own "deadline" when to bite the boss, which they wouldn't feel comfortable crossing. Is that the time when Rip has 15, 12, 10, 8, or even 6 seconds? How often do you get critical strikes? To what extent do you trust RNG to give you CC procs? If you want a more definite answer about when you can afford to bite your target, here are some equations. These can give you an idea how much time it would take you to refresh Rip under certain circumstances. You can either refresh Rip when it expires or sacrifice a tick or two (check the table below). If during combat the timer of your Rip is below the calculated one here, you ought to save your energy for refreshing that finisher. If it's higher, you can safely cast FB.

B) FB vs Rip in the climax of a boss fight

Sacrificing Rip ticks in favour of a 5CP-FB

Patch phase	Maximum sacrificable Rip ticks with 0/5 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=16858	Maximum sacrificable Rip ticks with 5/5 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=16862
Naxx	0 (0)	1 (0)
Ulduar	1 (0)	1 (0)
ToGC	1 (0)	1 (0)
ICC & RS	1 (0)	2 (1)

Disclaimer: The numbers can give you a rough idea how many ticks you can afford to sacrifice and still see positive results. Keep in mind that this is just a general estimation, and in reality the amount of wasted CPs when you cast Mangle/Rake/Shred at 5CPs, determines how many Rip ticks you could possibly sacrifice.

It should be obvious that the more Rip ticks you miss out on, the smaller the gain is (like 2-digit in some cases). Keep in mind that sometimes delaying your Rip in favour of FB could potentially desynchronise it with your trinkets, which would lead to a missed opportunity to snapshot your entire bleed with AP procs. The numbers in the brackets show how many ticks you can sacrifice if you do end up losing the snapshot. If https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=49016 is involved, treat everything as 0.

As I've said, the table should only give you a general idea how aggressive you can or cannot be with FB.

Both SR & Rip are about to expire soon

Time needed to refresh Rip = 5 GCDs {1 second each} + remaining time for pooling energy - 6 seconds {if TF is present} - (4.2seconds*number of CC procs from AAs)

Note 1: Replace 5 GCDs with 6, if the critical strike is less than 67% or around that number, or you want to generate more CPs for SR.
Note 2: You could consider NG and Barkskin proccing CCs during the pooling time, in which case you should increase the number of GCDs.

Only Rip is about to expire soon

Time needed to refresh Rip = 3 GCDs {1 second each} + remaining time for pooling energy - 6 seconds {if TF is present} - (4.2seconds*number of CC procs from AAs)

Note 1: Replace 3 GCDs with 4, if the critical strike is less than 67% or around that number.
Note 2: You could consider NG and Barkskin proccing CCs during the pooling time, in which case you should increase the number of GCDs.

Explanation and examples:
If you're contemplating on whether you have enough time for FB, you first need to determine how much energy it would cost you to obtain enough CPs for the other two finishers. Note that we passively regenerate only 10 energy per second.

Let's say that {1} Rip and SR are synced, {2} you don't mind refreshing SR with one CP-generator, {3} and you can obtain 5 CPs from 3 yellow abilities on a regular basis. Rip costs 20 energy with 2pt10, SR -- 25, Rake - 35, and Shred - 42. All of this would require 42+25+(35+2x42)+20 = 206 energy or roughly 21 seconds. From here onwards, you need to ask yourself how many CCs you anticipate to obtain from AAs. Let's say that we get one CC. So, we remove 42 energy and get 164 or around 16 seconds of pooling time. Add the presence of TF, and the pooling time is brought down to ~10 seconds. This means that if Rip's duration is shorter than that, FB would be ill-advised. However, the story doesn't end there. If you decide to sacrifice a tick, you can bite the boss ~8 seconds before our DoT expires. Alternatively, you decide to cast an additional Shred and generate more CPs for SR. We add 4.2 seconds to the aforementioned, and the “deadline” becomes ~14 seconds (in case you don't want to miss out on a Rip tick) or ~12 (if you don't care about the small sacrifice).

Do you see how many different thresholds I was able to determine just by observing one very specific scenario?

Of course, such precise calculations will never be done in the heat of the battle, but you can do it prior to your raids so that you memorise the most optimal timing for you. Before I end this subsection, I should mention that every yellow ability triggers a 1-sec GCD, which cannot be minimised any further. This is somewhat important to note because if Rip has a relatively short duration, and you anticipate to use TF alongside many lucky CC procs, the GCDs might prevent you from refreshing Rip on time. This concerns the GotVV-shift a lot more, but it's still worth mentioning here.

TL;DR: By using the aforementioned formulas, you can determine your personal timing for FB.

C) FB vs Rip in the denouement of a boss fight

If a boss encounter reaches its end, and X seconds remain from it, then refreshing Rip might not grant you enough damage to justify the CP-investment. In the following table, you can see how much time a boss needs to stay alive in order for the bleed to beat FB.

Patch phase	The boss dies in exactly X seconds (you have 0/5 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=16858)	The boss dies in exactly X seconds (you have 5/5 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=16862)
Naxx	8 (6)	8 (8)
Ulduar	8 (8)	8 (8)
ToGC	10 (8)	10 (10)
ICC & RS	10 (8)	12 (10)

Disclaimer: Pay attention to the kill timers from TimeToDie or WA and decide from there. Keep in mind that they're not perfect because they calculate the time based on the current flow of raid damage. Some classes do additional burst when the boss is below a certain HP%, which would speed up the kill time. Because of this, my personal advice is add like 3-4 seconds to the numbers shown above. If the time on your addon is shorter than the calculated here, you should prioritise FB over Rip. The numbers in the brackets show the time if you consider the energy difference between Rip and FB, though the spared energy might not always allow you to squeeze in an extra Shred and it might be part of FB's second effect. Yes, you would still get damage from it, but it wouldn't justify Rip.

D) FB vs Rip when we kill adds

Imagine a boss fight, where you'd need to hard switch to adds (oozes on Professor Putricide, raging spirits in LoD etc). Some mobs don't last long, and Rip might be ill-advised there. In the next table, you can find the information about how long a mob needs to last, in order for Rip to be worth it.

Patch phase	The add dies in exactly X seconds (you have 0/5 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=16858)	The add dies in exactly X seconds (you have 5/5 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=16862)
Naxx	6	8
Ulduar	8	8
ToGC	8	10
ICC & RS	8	10

Disclaimer: Yes, it contains almost the same values as the previous table, but this time around I've acknowledged the energy difference between Rip and FB. This is because after you kill the add, you'd immediately switch to the boss, i.e. you'd immediately make use of that saved energy. Once again, pay attention to the kill timers from TimeToDie or WA and proceed from there.

17. DIFFERENT PLAYSTYLES FOR A FERAL CAT

Spoiler: Show

18. PRE-PULL SAVAGE ROAR

Spoiler: Show

Warning: This subsection contains rather niche stuff which would mostly be of interest to dedicated min-maxers. If you're (relatively) new to this spec, and/or you want to play it rather casually, you can do yourself a favour and close this spoiler.

I. General overview

A) SR as the first finisher

As pointed out already, SR is the most impactful finisher in our arsenal, and for that reason it should be used ASAP. However, since CPs are required to enable it in the first place, the player is forced to cast a builder like Mangle or Rake in order to meet that requirement. As a result, the first yellow ability and the first two AAs inevitably end up being unbuffed. However, the story doesn't end there. Since casting SR triggers a 1-second GCD, and it doesn't inflict any damage on its own, not only does it waste valuable seconds of our trinket procs but also of Berserk. Lastly, knowing that Rip is our strongest bleed which needs to be cast right after SR, going "builder -> SR -> builder -> builder -> builder -> 5CP Rip" delays that finisher by two seconds. All of those negative consequences describe the ACTUAL price of the first SR in addition to its 25 energy cost, and yet all of them can be addressed by the presence of a pre-pull SR.

In order to start a boss encounter with SR already enabled, we obviously need to possess CPs in the first place. We can generate and store them on enemy mobs, which from now on I'll refer to as "punching bags", prior to pulling the boss. Before I get to the practical examples, I want to explain some mechanics surrounding the setup. Those are important to note in order for the dear readers to get a better understanding of why I've promoted only a handful in the next subsections.

B) Mechanics surrounding the setup

The first and most influential mechanic is the so-called "leashing", or rather the lack thereof as you're about to learn why. Under normal circumstances, should a player attack a creature in the open world and run away from it, after a while it stops chasing the player and returns to its original state. As a result, the player's threat resets, and the mob becomes immune to damage and fully regenerates its HP. However, in a raid instance leashing doesn't work. It doesn't matter if the player attacks an enemy near the entrance, immobilises it and heads towards the final boss - the combat state lasts indefinitely until either the player or the mob dies (example). This doesn't narrow down only to the natural inhabitants of those instances - any artificially summoned attackable creature also follows this rule. However, while it's impossible to "outrun" the combat state, there are various ways to cancel it.

The absolute easiest, fastest, and safest way to clear your threat is to play as a night elf and use https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=58984 (example). Even though there's a neutral equivalent for Engineers in the form of an item (https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=4397), it cannot compete with Shadowmeld, because that racial has a 2-min CD, whereas the trinket - 1h. Since not everyone has access to said ability, I'll continue describing the other mechanics.

The simplest, non-race specific approach is to simply leave the instance and re-enter it. The most optimal environment for such manoeuvre is to have both the boss and the trash mobs located near the entrance but not too close to one another. That way, the player can keep his potential punching bag at hand and cast SR at a safe distance before engaging the main baddie. All of this perfectly describes the current situation in Ruby Sanctum (example).

The other approach which, I guess, also revolves around exiting and re-entering raid instances, is the usage of warlock summons. They play a key role in helping the player travel long distances, greater than SR's 100 yard range, in order for that person to benefit from the 33% buff. Although this leads to a more demanding setup, as a warlock is required to assist us, this is the simplest solution for when a boss is located far away from the main entrance... which is exactly the case in Icecrown Citadel (example). In order for someone to summon another player or to accept a summon themselves, they need to be out of combat in the first place which is made possible thanks to the aforementioned entrance-strat. Interestingly enough, mage portals, the Dalaran portal in ICC, Wormhole Generator: Northrend from Engineering, and hearthstones can help us in this regard as well, as there's no requirement to be out of combat to use them. In this train of thought, I want to mention that gathering CPs OUTSIDE the instance, casting SR and accepting the summon DOESN'T work, as the buff fades when we change the zone. This is why SR should be cast WITHIN the instance if we want to benefit from the summon. The portals, the engineering wormholes and the hearthstones only help us reset our threat and nothing else.

The third approach revolves around strategically despawning bosses. While it's true that trash mobs follow us everywhere, bosses are limited to their designated places. If they cross those limits, their position resets, but we still keep our CPs on them. Although this may sound simple from our PoV, we need assistance from tanks to soak the upcoming damage (example).

The fourth approach requires the usage of https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=19752 from paladins (example). However, given the fact that the paladin player dies in the process, this trick only makes sense during unsuccessful pull attempts where the entire raid group is wiping to the boss (example). That way, no one dies unnecessarily.

Lastly, there is always the option to kill the mob that caused the combat in the first place. Most of the enemies in the instance (if not everyone) are elite and stay in groups, so it is unreasonable to think that a lonely cat can kill them all by himself. This is where the "special" summons come into play. There are a few mobs that can be artificially summoned and won't pose any danger to the cat player. The ones I'm currently aware of are: https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=46780, Doomguard from https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=47867, and https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=27388. Of the three options, the pinata is the easiest to use, but it cannot be obtained in-game through conventional means - it can only be purchased on the Lordearon store for 15 coins, making it quite exclusive.

Regardless which approach you take, keep in mind that you'll need a long pull timer prior to the boss encounter. This is because trinkets have an ICD, and while it depends on the particular item how long that cooldown will last, for STS it's 45 seconds, whereas for DBW - 1:45. The other thing to keep in mind is that once you obtain 5 CPs, you must stay logged in. If you relog, you will lose the accumulated resources, and you will also reset the ICD of your trinkets.

C) Other members interfering with the setup

The following is well-known information, but I'll say it nonetheless. Entering the enemy's threat table is not limited to just attacking it - healing and/or buffing the person in combat also puts his "assistant" in that state. If the cat player leaves the instance or uses Shadowmeld, the trash mob won't evade - it will head towards its new target. If that person is standing next to the rest of the raid members, you can kiss your punching bag goodbye. This is why having good communication with your teammates is vitally important. You need to inform them what you're doing so that they don't buff/heal you before you clear your threat. If others want to assist you in this endeavour, they need to leave the instance when you're done.

Having clarified all of that, it's high time I jump right into the practical tips and tricks.

II. Having a longer pre-pull SR

Here's the duration of SR depending on how many CPs you acquire:

Let's assume that you manage to store 5 CPs on your punching bag. Knowing that SR triggers a 1-second GCD, the best timing for that ability would undoubtedly be 1-2 seconds prior to the boss encounter which would net you a healthy 33-32 seconds-long duration. If you were to cast Rip as the fourth GCD in those conditions, it would expire 7-6 seconds prior to the pre-pull SR. Depending on the energy amount and the player's luck with OoC procs, this small time gap might only allow the usage of a single CP-generator. However, there's a way to extend the duration of SR and thus to increase that gap.

With the presence of 4pt8, i.e. the Ulduar tier set, the player can make SR last 8 seconds longer. The trick is 1) to create two equipment sets with the ingame "Equipment Manager" - the first containing your current gear, whereas the second - 4pt8 - 2) to equip your Ulduar set, 3) to refresh SR, 4) and at the end to swap back to your main items (example). It doesn't matter if the items you use are 219 or 226 ilvl, however if you're an Engineer, then you are limited to the following item slots:

This is due to the fact that swapping out your gloves would reset the ICD of https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=54999 as shown in this clip. You can buy the chest and the head tokens from the EoC quartermaster in your respective faction, but to get the rest you need to participate in killing some bosses in Ulduar 10 (Thorim for the shoulders, Hodir for the legs), Ulduar 25 (Yogg for the shoulders, Freya for the legs), or VoA 10/25 (Emalon for the legs).

For Icecrowners, I have some good news: You don't need to clear any bosses in Ulduar or spend any emblems in obtaining 4pt8 if you don't want to - you can use the point shop for that purpose and save yourselves some time (pic1, pic2).

III. Ruby Sanctum

A) Picking a suitable target

Of all trash mobs in RS, two can be used as a punching bag - the Charscale Elite & the Charscale Invoker. Which one you use is up to you, but they both satisfy different needs, and so I suspect that there may be a difference in choice depending on your faction.

1. Charscale Elite

There are four Charscale Elites in the instance, two on each path leading to General Zarithrian (map). By design, one pair is meant to be cleared, so that players can get to the miniboss. However, an alternative way was discovered that skips this requirement. What we do now is despawn General Zarithrian and then simply climb the hill, where he stands. As a result, the Charscale Elites are ignored and left alive which is perfect for us. Here's why:

Even though there's a duo guarding each pathway, attacking one of the Elites doesn't aggro the other. This means that killing one of them is not necessary, which saves time and effort for the entire raid group. As great as it sounds, using this mob as a punching bag comes with a small challenge - its location.

You see, General Zarithrian and his minions in particular are stationed on the opposite side of the instance, i.e. far from the main entrance. As a result, executing the entrance-strat requires more (travel) time than usual. Tbh, it doesn't take that long to reach the entrance from the Charscale Elite's location (about 30s in travel form), but no doubt this mob is best for Shadowmeld-users, because they skip this requirement.

2. Charscale Invoker

In contrast to the Charscale Elites, the Invokers are much closer to the entrance, making them ideal for players who rely on this strat. However, the challenge there is separating one from the rest of the group. You see, the issue with these spellcasters is that if you aggro one of them, the other(s) will follow suit (example). There are various ways to solve this conundrum, but all require assistance from your teammates.

The best Invokers are the ones closest to the main entrance, but they stay in groups of three and are therefore the hardest to separate (map). If you intend to use them as punching bags, you must fulfil the following setup: Use https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=66070 on one of the Invokers, so that the other trash mobs start chasing you. You can either bring them to your tank, or they can be MD'd/ToT'd. Once the tank picks them up, you need to leave the instance, so that you clear your threat. If you're the only person in the threat table of the rooted Invoker, it will return to its original position.

There's a way for your teammates to kill the unwanted trash mobs one by one. This approach also requires you to root an enemy and leave the instance. The difference is that you wait for the non-rooted dragonspawn to come close to you before you clear your threat. That way, you desynchronise their evasion phases. This will allow you to bring the rooted mob to the tank without worrying about the rest (example). Rinse and repeat for the second enemy.

Alternatively, you can engage one of the groups shown on the map. The way you can separate the Invokers from each other is by aggro-ing a patrolling Assaulter when he's near one of the spellcasters (example). Then you and your teammates just need to kill them. This is easier to implement because one Invoker will remain passive by default.

As you can imagine, implementing each of these setups will take time and participation from your fellow teammates. The only reason I'm suggesting them in the guide is due to the fact that this preparation phase can be done prior to the official start of the raid, i.e. while the group is still assembling. In other words, it won't waste any precious time during the raid. Despite this, NE players might not be interested in fulfilling the setup, as they don't benefit from it all that much, which is why imho the Invokers are mostly suitable for non-Shadowmeld users, i.e. for Horde players.

Ok, so you have successfully isolated your punching bag from the other enemy mobs. What now?

B) Obtaining CPs

Regardless whether you end up attacking a Charscale Invoker or an Elite, both hit like a truck and both can kill you within seconds in melee range. Your personal survival is your main priority, and therefore your task is to prevent them from hitting you in the first place. For this purpose, you execute the following "stun and run" strategy:

Actions in a chronological order

Go in stealth with https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=9913.
Go behind the enemy mob.
Use https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=49803.
Use 2 CP-generators.
Go in bear form.
Use https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=8983.
Go in cat form.
Gather more CPs if need be.
Use https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=33357 and run away.

I recommend doing this trick right after killing the General. That's the most optimal time to gather CPs, as you can do it while the RL explains the tactics for Halion (hc). This completely removes the need of a long pull timer and fits naturally into the raid progression of every group out there (unless yours wipes on Halion and needs to attempt it again).

C) Clearing your threat

As an Alliance player, you ought to follow this path so that you can engage the Charscale Elite from behind. If you attack the one facing you, you'd risk being spotted and killed (example). Afterwards, you use https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=58984.

As a Horde player, you can follow the same path. To clear your threat the fastest way possible, either you need to place down a wormhole near the targeted dragonkin, or a mage needs to do it with one of their portals. You obtain CPs the way I described above and you click on the big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff. Afterwards, you accept a summon.

If that's not the case, you need to make your way to the entrance. I highly recommend that you use speed boosts (like https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=33357 or https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=55016) in order to escape the deadly grasp of the elite enemy mob. When heading for the entrance, you will see a slope in the middle of the hill. Don't be tempted to climb it because you might get stuck. Instead, you should follow this path.

D) Casting SR

Since you're in the vicinity of the boss and the punching bag, you can cast SR 1-2 seconds prior to the pull for maximum efficiency. By design, SR doesn't consume the OoC proc, so there's no need to rebuff the raid again (example).

IV. Icecrown Citadel

A) Picking a suitable target

In comparison to RS, ICC offers a greater variety of trash mobs, however only two can be used as a punching bag - the most accessible being Servant of the Throne, followed by the situational Vengeful Fleshreaper. There's no difference in choice this time around, as the skeleton spellcaster is the only "universal" option available from the very beginning, but the skulking geist can be used as an alternative in the Plagueworks by anyone who can afford it.

Disclaimer: Trash mobs aren't the only storage for free CPs. As mentioned before, we can despawn some bosses in order to preserve our building blocks for later. However, this requires active participation of the main tank in our setup, which not everyone is willing to do. This is why, in this subsection, I will focus only on the usage of trash mobs as storage for free CPs.

1. Servant of the Throne

This trash mob can be found virtually in any room on the first floor of ICC, however the most suitable candidates for a punching bag are located right after "Light's Hammer", aka the merchant area (map). Since these skeletons stay near the corner, they don't attack anyone walking down the middle path towards Lord Marrowgar, unless that person enters their aggro range. As a result, they are ignored and left alive, thus becoming free real estate for us.

This is great news for us because these trash mobs are the best candidates for a punching bag. Here's why:

their melee damage is negligible;
their magic damage is not fatal for us;
their cast is slow and can be LoS'd;
they are relatively close to a teleporter;
they are relatively close to a portal;
they are not that far from the entrance.

In other words, they pose no real danger to us and thus our survival is no longer an issue. Furthermore, we can always take the nearest teleporter to "Light's Hammer" when we intend to obtain free CPs, and then clear our threat in seconds. As perfect as it sounds, this punching bag is not without flaws, and in the next paragraphs I'd like to elaborate on that.

I'll start with the minor inconveniences and address the more serious issues as I go along.

If we attack either Servant and we allow them to chase us in "Light's Hammer", they will be killed by the friendly NPCs occupying that area (example). The answer to that is really simple - we just need to use https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=66070 on them (example).

Because the spellcasters are located on the first floor, they are far from most bosses. We can engage LM without receiving any summons, but for the other bosses the assistance of a warlock is necessary.

Before we actually store CPs on either skeleton, we need to clear the trash on the doorway and in the corridor. The good news are that we can use the friendly NPCs in "Light's Hammer" to help us in that regard (example). In addition, we can do this prior to the raid so that we don't waste valuable time. In so doing, we also help the rest of the raid members because the group can engage LM right from the get-go. However, the bad news are that {1} the trash respawns every two hours, meaning we need to clear it a second time during the raid if we still want to obtain CPs.

Now comes the biggest drawback surrounding this punching bag - the absence of convenient teleporters in ICC. Although the Servants themselves are in close proximity to a teleporter, the same cannot be said for most bosses. After defeating DBS, players enter the Upper Reaches where there's only one available in the entire area (map). While it's neither mentally nor physically difficult to travel from your current boss's location to that teleporter, {2} this wastes a lot of precious time and is therefore not something every RL would allow.

=> Bearing {1} and {2} in mind, the only boss encounters where obtaining CPs from the skeletons can be considered practical, are LM and DBS. We can do this trick prior to the raid (LM) and during DBS's role-play, so that we don't waste anyone's time. LDW (hc) and Sindy (hc) could also be considered due to their proximity to a teleporter.

Note: Currently, the "Servants of the Throne" are bugged. While it's normal for them to inflict very low amount of damage, apparently they're supposed to call the nearby Damned for help. This can be observed on the following clip from retail WotLK. Now, this doesn't mean that the whole trick would have been impossible w/o that bug, rather it would have required a bit more time to clear the additional trash (example). This would have been in line with my third argument.

2. Vengeful Fleshreaper

There are many geists in the Plagueworks, but the only suitable candidates for a punching bag are the two running on the pipes (map). Unless someone uses some kind of AoE (*cough* https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=53195 *cough*), they remain passive, players ignore them, and as a result we are free to do whatever we want with them.

What makes them appealing is their proximity to Rotface, Festergut, and PP. Having said that, players usually engage those bosses without delay, and it's unlikely that they would be keen to spend time waiting for the cat player to obtain free CPs. This is why I said earlier that the geists are only for the people who can afford them. This, and the ability to clear one's own threat without relying on the entrance-strat (i.e. Shadowmeld).

B) Obtaining CPs

In contrast to RS, none of the suggested punching bags can one-shot us in melee range. Because of this, we're no longer required to stun anything anymore which greatly simplifies the CP-generation process:

Spam https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48566.
Use https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=66070.
Run away.

At the same time, we face a new challenge related to the setup, which is time itself and time cannot be stopped.

As mentioned before, players usually engage bosses without delay, which means we don't have that many opportunities to obtain free CPs as far as the rest of the team is concerned. If we still want to do it, we need to accommodate the setup with the natural progression of the raid group. In other words, we can only perform the setup as long as it doesn't grieve others. How do we do that?

- by obtaining CPs prior to the raid;
- by obtaining CPs during the pull timer.

1. Prior to the raid

The fist example only concerns LM because he's the first boss in the instance. If we obtain CPs prior to the raid, we have all the time in the world, and the setup can be as simple as I described it above (you can refer to this clip).

2. During the pull timer

The second example concerns all other bosses. Regardless if said boss features a fixed roleplay event (like DBS or LK) or nothing of this sort, there's always some kind of timer after which players start the encounter. If you want to obtain CPs for a pre-pull SR, you need to acknowledge that pull timer and you need to fulfil your setup within that small time window. Unfortunately, this doesn't just mean you have to do it quickly. You also need to make sure that all of your abilities will be ready to use when your team starts the fight, which involves your trinket procs as well.

By attacking the punching bag, you trigger the effects of your trinkets. If they don't come off CD by the time you start the encounter, you will miss out on valuable snapshots. To prevent this, you need to reset their ICDs and overlap them with the pull timer, which you achieve by unequipping and re-equipping them beforehand. This downtime varies from trinket to trinket, but since I'm discussing ICC, I'll assume that you have DBW whose ICD lasts 1:45 minutes. Bearing this in mind, here's what you need to do when you're on a tight schedule:

Actions in a chronological order

1:45 minutes before the fight, re-equip https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50363.
Use https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=61138.
Spam https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48566.
Use https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=66070.
Go in cat form.
Use https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=33357 and run away.

Admittedly, having a near 2-min pull timer won't be approved by every RL out there, but that's not necessary. The RL can start the pull timer in advance, i.e. when everyone is heading to the boss, so that no time is wasted unnecessarily. Better yet, they can overlap it with the boss's roleplay event. The best example for this is DBS as a Horde player because the RP lasts 1:40 minutes, and a mere 5-sec pre-warning is needed. For Alliance players, the RP lasts 50 seconds, and thus a longer pull timer is required, but the RL can start it when everyone is still on the Gunship. At least, on theory.

C) Clearing your threat

As an Alliance player, you only use https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=62199. As a Horde player, it really depends on what you're attacking:

- If you are generating CPs on a Servant, you can either exit the instance through the main entrance or use the portal near the merchants (refer to the video above). Keep in mind that by choosing the prior option, you expose yourself to ganking because the ICC hallway is a popular pvp zone. The safer approach is taking the portal to Dalaran, but then you need two summons: 1) you go to Dalaran -> you return to ICC, 2) you go to Light's Hammer and cast SR -> you rejoin the group (clip).

- If you are generating CPs on a Fleshreaper, then your only options are mage portals, engineering wormholes, and hearthstones. This also requires the usage of two summons.

D) Casting SR

I would like to break this subsection into two smaller parts:

1. Prior to LM

LM is an interesting case because we have the opportunity to use SR at the last possible moment. Just like in RS, we can position ourselves between the punching bag and the boss, and in so doing we can be in range of everyone and everything (for a better visualisation, refer to this clip). This allows us to cast GotW near our group, obtain a CC proc, and cast SR a few seconds before the fight begins (example w/o a summon, example with a summon but also a misplay).

2. Prior to other bosses

The problem with casting SR prior to the other bosses is that we are far from them, and in this train of thought we are also far from our fellow team members. As a result, we cannot expect to get a guaranteed CC proc from GotW when we are all alone. On theory, we could try to force it by casting https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48469 on ourselves, but that's not reliable (remember that CC procs have 8.75% proc chance from instant-cast spells per affected target). Instead, we need to cast SR sooner, so that we can rejoin our group and still have time to cast GotW before the fight (Servant & Fleshreaper).

V. Old WotLK content (honourable mention)

Here, I'll briefly describe the situation on Frostmourne/Onyxia:

EoE and ToC/ToGC don't provide us with any options for a punching bag because those instances lack trash mobs in general. I'd argue that OS falls into the same category because if players attempt 2 or 3 drakes and don't clear the trash, then upon engaging Sartharion everything gets pulled. Should the raid group fight the trash mobs, the three mini bosses, and the main one simultaneously, then the raid would inevitably end with a wipe.

The problem with Naxx is that the enemies near the entrance are jam-packed, and we can't really separate them. This coupled with the fact that this instance can be cleared in less than two hours, means that most groups would rather breeze through it rather than spend unnecessary amount of time waiting for a cat to acquire CPs for SR and not even be top dps.

This leaves us only with Ulduar, but fortunately for us there's a way to earn CPs there - we can use the Steelforged Defenders to achieve this goal (map). By design, they are NOT elite mobs, and as a result they don't have a lot of HP and don't do fatal damage. For that reason, you can easily separate 1-2 from the rest by rooting them and swiping down the extras without any worries. Keep in mind that the trash mobs don't respawn in that instance, so try leaving 1-2 Defenders alive. Since they have 12k HP, I recommend attacking them only with https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=52472 because it's the weakest CP-generator (example).

VI. Ogre Pinata

A) General overview

As mentioned before, this item can only be purchased on the Lordearon store for 15 coins and cannot be obtained through conventional means. It has very low HP and a 30-min CD upon usage, and it despawns 3 minutes after being summoned. The only reason I'm promoting it is because it can be used EVERYWHERE WITHOUT ANY RESTRICTIONS.

B) Obtaining CPs

To explain how exactly we are supposed to store CPs on the https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=46780, I need to address its in-game characteristics, i.e. stats and mechanics.

Starting off with its low HP. Owing to the fact that the structure is quite fragile, we need to lower our damage as much as possible. Unfortunately, just casting https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=52472 is not good enough - we need to go the extra mile by unequipping our items beforehand. I should clarify that it's necessary to keep the trinkets on ourselves, so that we can reset their ICDs prior to the CP-generation process. Before you ask - yes, this requires the usage of the in-game Equipment Manager.

Speaking of trinkets and ICD resets, time is once again our greatest enemy (Death to Chronos). Just like the case in ICC, we need to make sure that all of our abilities and items are ready to use when the pull timer ends. Unfortunately, the pinata leaves no room for error - not only on our part, but also on the part of the other players. You see, unlike the other punching bags, this item has an expiration date which is 3 minutes after being summoned. If we don't utilise the CPs during that time, we lose them and we can try again after 30 minutes. This means that you can only use the pinata during the pull timer and you need to hope that the latter doesn't get cancelled and postponed when the pinata is already placed down.

Speaking of pinata placement, let's address this final factor. As mentioned above, this structure can be placed everywhere without any restrictions - ideally, near the boss / the raid, so that we get more value from SR. While this sounds as something positive, we must not forget one important detail - how threat affects us and others. Once we're in combat, we shouldn't receive any buffs or heals otherwise the responsible player(s) will also enter the pinata's threat table. If so happens, then it's unlikely that they will respect our setup. What will transpire in that situation will most likely be the early destruction of the pinata before we get the chance to utilise our CPs. In other words, should you place the pinata near your fellow team members, you must warn them in advance that you're in combat and they should remain passive until you clear your aggro.

Whew! That's a lot of information to swallow, so here's a short summary:

Actions in a chronological order

Before the pull timer is announced, go naked.
Warn others what you're doing.
1:45 minutes before the fight, swap your trinkets.
Summon the https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=46780.
Spam https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=52472.
Run away.

C) Clearing your threat

Even though breaking the pinata is a possible solution to the threat problem, the best approach remains the standard "hit and run" strat. Interestingly enough, neither https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=62199 nor the https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=4397 work here. Thus, your only options are mage portals, engineering wormholes, and hearthstones. Afterwards, you accept a warlock summon.

D) Casting SR

Since you can place the pinata near your group, you should cast SR 1-2 prior to the boss fight.

VII. Impact on our openers

A) General overview

As one can imagine, being able to start a boss encounter with SR already ticking influences the way we burst. However, this doesn't narrow down to us skipping a buff, going straight for Rip, and having one extra offensive ability during Berserk. In reality, our feral openers vary greatly depending on how long the pre-pull SR lasts, and the reason for that is the (de)sync with the big bleed.

You see, if the first finisher we cast in a boss encounter is Rip (with 5 CPs obviously), then it would be cast no sooner than 3-4 seconds into the boss encounter. With https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40902 and https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40901, it would last 22 seconds, meaning that it would expire around the 26th second mark. If the duration of the pre-pull SR is shorter than it or almost the same, then we would need to refresh our buff prior to Rip. As a result, we would be discouraged to utilise our CPs on FB and keep them only for those finishers. Conversely, if SR expires long after Rip, then we only need to worry about refreshing our big bleed on time, meaning that we can be greedier with our building blocks before that time comes.

Why can't we have the same duration of a pre-pull SR on every boss encounter? As I've said earlier, the most optimal timing for that buff is to cast it 1-2 seconds before the fight officially begins. However, in instances like ICC this is not really possible as the cat player needs time to accept a warlock summon, to cast the druid buff until a CC procs, to regenerate the missing energy due to having 3/5 https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=17059, and finally to pre-pot in peace. Of course, in an ideal situation SR would be cast as late as possible so that the player can get the most out of it when the fight begins. Realistically speaking, that would be around 8-10 seconds. Let's stick with this example for a bit. If the player casts SR with 5 CPs 10 seconds prior to the pull, his buff would last 24 seconds and would expire 2 seconds before Rip. Since it's impossible to obtain 5 CPs within that small time frame, SR should be refreshed sooner. With the presence of 4pt8, that person would extend the 33% buff's duration by 8 seconds and would create a slightly bigger gap between the expiration of both finishers, allowing him to be more efficient with his resources.

In the next subsections, I'll describe how TF-Berserk and Berserk-TF would look like in the context of a shorter and a longer pre-pull SR.

B) "TF-Berserk"

The pre-pull SR lasts 30 seconds or less

Spoiler: Show

GotW and SR prior to the pull timer;
Mangle;
Rake;
Shred spam till 5 CPs;
Rip;
TF + pool energy until you reach 80
Berserk;
Shred spam + refresh on Rake till 5 CPs;
SR 4-5 seconds before Berserk ends;
Shred spam;
Berserk ends, and you try to refresh Rip.

Note1: If someone else can apply the Mangle/Trauma debuff, go Rake -> SR -> Shred.
Note 2: If by chance you get a CC proc prior to popping TF, cast Shred twice and then follow it up with TF+Berserk. If instead of a CC proc, you just have over 30 energy, cast Shred into "TF+Berserk". If you're lucky with the CC procs, you can go for a 4/5-CP FB between Rip and Berserk. You can increase the chances of having that outcome by casting https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=22812 prior to Shred.
Note 3: As you've probably noticed already, "FB @18-24 energy" is not mentioned here. If you want to cast FB during Berserk, it needs to be BEFORE SR and Rip, which is only possible with 2+ CCs.

Spoiler: Show

Commentary:
In this video you'll see me spamming FFF a lot. I want to clarify that the spell is still nerfed - it doesn't proc OoC at all. Spamming this spell is just an old habit of mine. Also, this clip was recorded back when the pre-pull SR was in its infancy stage, and I thought that killing the https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=46780 was mandatory. In other words, I advise you to not to pay too much attention to what I did pre-pull. kthx

Setup
- 0:00 I used the in-game stopwatch in order to track the ICDs of my trinkets. Knowing that DBW's ICD lasts 105 seconds, whereas STS's - 45, I decided to trigger their ICDs when the stopwatch showed 00:00 and 01:00 and engaged the dummy at around 01:45.
- 1:04 simulated a player using the Gnomish Battle Chicken and equipping STS in its stead. Although I have the actual chicken in my bags, I preferred to use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=37254 because the chicken would have kept attacking the dummy until it despawned, keeping me longer in combat.
- 1:13 I attacked the dummy for CPs. In a real fight, I would have only used Claw.
- 1:25 Lacerate for 5/5 Agile.
- 1:30 I equipped my items again. In an actual boss encounter, I'd be able to do that only after killing the pinata. Since target dummies cannot be killed, I decided to equip my items after leaving combat.
- 1:45 SR. I followed it up with Regrowth because this gave me 58.33% chance for a CC proc. In a real encounter, I would have used GotW instead, but since I was the only target for the druid buff, the probability for a CC proc from that spell would have been 8.75%.

Gameplay
- 2:06 Although my energy was low enough for a FB, I decided to refresh SR instead. This is because both SR and Rip were synced and they would have expired shortly after Berserk. Casting FB wouldn't have allowed me to generate enough CPs on time especially considering the fact that TF was on CD.
- 2:52 I decided to skip FB because SR's and Rip's durations were synced yet again.
- 3:32 If you look closely, you can see that Shred registered prior to SR expiring, which allowed me to gain 4 CPs in the last moment. :P
- 3:39 the game decided to punish me for the FB by not giving me any CCs prior to Rip's expiration.
- 4:23 The FB was risky, but I got rewarded at the end. This also goes to show just how good 4CP FB is - not necessarily due to its damage but rather due to the flexibility it offers in comparison to 5CP FB.
- 4:27 Rake alongside the CC was the correct play because it helped me reach 5 CPs.
- 4:36 Rake alongside the CC wasn't the correct play here BECAUSE I had to follow it up with a Shred anyway, else my energy was going to overflow. If the latter hadn't been the case, Rake would have still remained the best play.
- 4:58 I was spamming FB in case of a lucky CC. 3CP FB is usually better than a Shred because it's more likely to end up being a critical strike.

The pre-pull SR lasts 31 seconds or more

Spoiler: Show

GotW and SR prior to the pull timer;
Mangle;
Rake;
Shred spam till 5 CPs;
Rip;
TF + pool energy until you reach 80
Berserk;
Shred spam + refresh on Rake till 5 CPs;
FB @ 18-24 energy;
Shred spam;
Berserk ends, and you try to refresh Rip.

Note1: If someone else can apply the Mangle/Trauma debuff, go Rake -> SR -> Shred.
Note 2: If by chance you get a CC proc prior to popping TF, cast Shred twice and then follow it up with TF+Berserk. If instead of a CC proc, you just have over 30 energy, cast Shred into "TF+Berserk". If you're lucky with the CC procs, you can go for a 4/5-CP FB between Rip and Berserk. You can increase the chances of having that outcome by casting https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=22812 prior to Shred.
Note 3: In this situation, you can safely go for FB mid-Berserk even with a single CC proc. If you have enough time (and lucky CCs), you can follow it up with yet another FB @ 18-24 energy before preserving your CPs for Rip. If you suspect that you might not have enough time to squeeze in a second FB, then just keep the CPs for the bleed.

Spoiler: Show

C) Berserk-TF

The pre-pull SR lasts 30 seconds or less

Spoiler: Show

GotW and SR prior to the pull timer;
Mangle;
Rake;
Berserk;
Shred spam till 5 CPs;
Rip;
Shred spam + refresh on Rake till 5 CPs;
FB @18-24 energy;
Shred (in case you have enough energy);
Berserk ends, you cast TF and acknowledge the priority list.

Note 1: If someone else can apply the Mangle/Trauma debuff, go Rake -> SR -> Berserk.
Note 2: In case of 3+ CCs during Berserk, you can go for a FB mid-Berserk.

Spoiler: Show

The pre-pull SR lasts 31 seconds or more

Spoiler: Show

GotW and SR prior to the pull timer;
Mangle;
Rake;
Berserk;
Shred spam till 5 CPs;
Rip;
Shred spam + refresh on Rake till 5 CPs;
FB @18-24 energy;
Shred (in case you have enough energy);
Berserk ends, you cast TF and acknowledge the priority list.

Note 1: If someone else can apply the Mangle/Trauma debuff, go Rake -> SR -> Berserk.
Note 2: In case of 2+ CCs during Berserk, you can go for a FB mid-Berserk.
Note 3: If you have unused 4-5 CPs after Berserk, use them on FB first and then pop TF.

Spoiler: Show

D) Comparing both openers

In the section "How to open as a cat", I stated that TF-Berserk is usually better if the player is able to obtain an additional TF in the long term. While this opener still offers the same advantage in the presence of a pre-pull SR, I need to point out its major flaw. In the first demonstration video, I refreshed SR around 5 seconds before engaging the heroic dummy without the presence of 4pt8, and as a result not only did I shorten its duration, but I also synced it with Rip. The problem with that kind of situation is that both finishers expire shortly after Berserk, and we don't have TF at our disposal. This means that you could struggle to refresh Rip on time unless you have a lot of CCs from AAs. In order to ensure that you have enough CPs for both finishers, casting FB during Berserk even while having 18-24 energy should be avoided. Instead, you'd need to refresh SR sooner than you'd normally do. This is why Berserk-TF is better in those circumstances.

Having said that, I want to repeat that this concerns the situation when the pre-pull SR lasts 30s or less. If it's longer than that, then TF-Berserk should still be considered due to the potential gain of an extra TF.

Regardless if the player goes for TF-Berserk or Berserk-TF, if the duration of the pre-pull SR is not close to 40, I'd recommend considering performing the GotVV-shift after Berserk in order to ensure that you'd have enough CPs for the second SR.

The math behind those conclusions can be found here and here.

19. SWAPPING IDOLS DURING COMBAT

Spoiler: Show

Warning: This subsection contains rather niche stuff which would mostly be of interest to dedicated min-maxers. If you're (relatively) new to this spec, and/or you want to play it rather casually, you can do yourself a favour and close this spoiler.

I. Definition

Just like FB, this topic also deserves its own section since this manoeuvre is quite beloved by Frostmourne players and by some members of the already progressed realms. Idol swapping, as the name suggests, is when you replace your relic with another in order to benefit from the effects of both. Before I go in more detail, I've made a list of all idols which benefit us:

http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40713 (obtained in patch 3.0)
http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=39757 (obtained in patch 3.0)
http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=45509 (obtained in patch 3.1)
http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=47668 (obtained in patch 3.2)
http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50456 (obtained in patch 3.3)

II. Combining different effects

Despite me mentioning 5 relics above, you can combine the effects only of three of them. Those are 1) increased Shred damage, 2) increased Rip damage, and 3) the agility proc (either from Corruptor, Mutilation, or Crying Moon) respectively. If you swap the representatives of the last category with each other, the buff will be replaced constantly.

Proof that you only need to snapshot Rip with the rip idol in order to increase its damage:

III. Price to pay

All of this may sound really alluring, but as always there’s a catch. When you equip the new idol, you trigger a 1.5-second GCD, which delays your next cat ability for so long, and your attack swing is also reset. The good news are that this can be performed immediately after a cat ability, in order to overlap with its GCD to a certain extent. For a better visualisation, I’d like to show you the following video:

(Loud music; be warned!)

This clip is quite educational, as it shows the things which can **** you up during the swap:

1) AA reset: Do you see how my AAs have a hiccup at 00:08 and 00:10? I admit, I haven't calculated the duration of that small delay, but since it exists, it means that throughout the course of a fight you would have less AAs and thus less opportunities to get CC procs. It's also explained in a forum thread in ElitistJerks. Even if you time the idol swap perfectly after the swing every single time, the miniscule delays would pile up and lead to sacrtificed AAs. In other words, the reward from your efforts becomes smaller and smaller.

2) Presence of a GCD: I used a macro for the Shred and for the Rip idols. Whenever you combine an ability with the idol, the ability pops up first, followed by the idol swap (00:07). However, if you spam your ability or cast it before the cat GCD ends, you will replace your idol before sequencing the ability, and the latter would be delayed. Even though I thought I waited for the GCD to end, I got screwed at 00:09. Here's another example which illustrates this interaction more clearly. So, if you’re going to attempt idol swapping, you should wait a bit longer and make sure that no GCD is present.

If you decide not to use any macros, you’d need to manually swap the idol immediately after casting an ability. If you don't do it fast enough, you’d suffer a longer lock-out from the GCD. This is particularly bad when it comes to CCs for two reasons: (1) During the lock-out period, your AA could proc a CC and replace your current one, (2) dealing with so much micromanagement could overburden you with information and lead to you screwing up the "CC priority list". Another GCD-related penalty concerns our Berserk. When we normally pop our big CD, we can use up to 13-14 abilities (depending on one's latency). Idol swapping would prevent us from using Berserk efficiently, resulting in us missing out on an ability or worse - overflowing our energy.

(swapping out the idol at 0:12 prevented me from going Shred -> FB with 18 energy at 0:23-0:24)

IV. Conclusions

When can you actually afford to swap idols?

after the first Berserk and outside the next ones;
when you don't have a CC proc;
when a boss mechanic (AoE, fear etc) is not taking place any time soon;
when SR has >1.5-second duration;
when Rip has >1.5-second duration;
when you have less than 75-80 energy.

Regardless how careful you are, you'd inevitably lose some AAs due to the swing reset.

You can already guess that I’m not doing it - I hate small numbers, especially when the reward-effort ratio is very light on the actual gain. I also consider human error a factor for this manoeuvre, and making a single mistake (i.e. having one less ability in the fight or not utilising your CCs) nullifies all of your previous work. This is imho the biggest reason why you don’t want to be locked out or be overburdened with too much information - you want to have a clear mind and fast reflexes when you get a CC proc, because those bring more damage. At least, this is my opinion when it comes to idol swapping as a traditional cat. In the context of the GotVV-shift and bearweaving, this manoeuvre is a nice inclusion because 1) the "swing reset" mechanic is used to shorten the long swing timer from a bear AA or an AA in caster form, and 2) both playstyles trigger a 1.5-sec GCD after shapeshifting back to cat form, so the delays overlap almost completely. The topic of idol swapping continues in the next post (please read "Extras - super niche tips for dedicated minmaxers").

20. TIPS FOR ALL 25-MAN INSTANCES

Spoiler: Show

Decision making during boss fights (general overview)

The following diagram can give you a rough idea of what you should do during boss fights in case you 1) tunnel vision the boss 24/7, 2) stop dps-ing for a brief period of time due to a mechanic, 3) need to attack more than one target.

Keep in mind that this is just a (simplified) general overview and doesn't cover any specifics which is why I'll explain each boss encounter more thoroughly in the following subsections:

I. Classic Wotlk instances

Spoiler: Show

II. Ulduar instances

Spoiler: Show

III. ToC instances

Spoiler: Show

IV. ICC instances

Spoiler: Show

21. MISCELLANEOUS

Spoiler: Show

Or as the phrase goes: “The more you know”. Here, I’m just going to describe some random stuff for those of you, who love learning something new.

I. Killing elites in the open world (for solo-levelers)

Whenever I level as a feral and need to kill elites on my own, I go bear, attack said elite for a bit, and then I use NG. Once the mob gets rooted, I heal myself and spam FFF. It doesn't remove the roots, and it also damages the mob. When the roots expire, I let the mob hit me once again, so that I refresh them and continue doing this. If the foe is a caster, I also try to use the environment to my advantage and LoS them.

II. Soloing Anzu

Commentary:
You can solo the Raven Lord w/o much gear as an 80 (you need to have 280% flying speed to start the quest chain). I don't know what the lowest gear requirements are, but in the past I've managed to do it with 4k gs on Frostmourne with its buffed content. This video shows me killing him on Lordearon with much higher gear, but if you follow the tips in the next paragraph, you can down him easily even with weaker items:

Kill the first two waves of trash to the right side of the room, then the one near the sarcophagus, and the mob in the centre. Summon the boss and heal yourself. Before the pull, make a focus target of the boss and put HoTs on yourself. Drag Anzu to the right side of the sarcophagus and attack him, until he starts casting his stun, and then you LoS him. You have a small time window to heal yourself and to put HoTs on yourself. When you get attacked by the small ravens, gather a CP for SR and swipe them down. Be mindful that the Raven Lord can stun you as well - this is why I told you to create a focus target of him. When he starts casting the stun, go in bear form and pop Barkskin. If you want, you can use your demo roar too. When the stun ends, go in cat form and finish off the adds. You have a small time frame to heal yourself. You get stunned, and you repeat everything you've done so far. During the last phase, you only stay in bear and kill the boss.

Obviously, with icc gear you can solo him as a cat, but this video was made with the intention to guide people with Naxx and Ulduar items.

III. Infiltrating the Dalaran bank vault

Video footage can be found here.

IV. Flying in Dalaran as a bear/cat

In the Dalaran sewers, you can find bottles of https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=44012 scattered around all over the place. After drinking it, you can get one of the following three different outcomes - 1) the outward appearance of all players and NPCs becomes that of mages, 2) you turn into a Tuskarr or 3) a wasp. The latter is the main subject of this subsection as there's a fun and innocent visual bug connected to it. After drinking the elixir, you can shapeshift in whatever form you want, and the game will allow you to fly in Dalaran with your new appearance (video 1, video 2). Yes, stuff like https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=43499 and https://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=6657 also work.

22. MUSIC SUGGESTIONS

Spoiler: Show

Everyone has their own personal taste, and I don’t want to force mine. However, I find (Touhou) Eurobeat particularly fitting when I play as a cat and perform the GotVV-shift or spam dungeons. You can feel the beat pumping in your veins and go with the rhythm. For that reason, here’s what I recommend (in no particular order):

- Behind The Mask- Source
- Little Flare Source
- Night'n'NIGHT Source
- Shanghai Fantasia Source
- Think of You [Bad Apple!!] Source
- Melo Melo Meltdown Source
- Massive Super Girl Source
- Endless, Sleepless Night Source
- Tiger Dance Source
- Secret Eyes Source
- Time Will Tell Source
- Right or Wrong Source
- Leave Me In The Dark Source
- Endless Seeker Source
- No Guardian Angel Source
- Anything For You Source
- NJK Record - Crazy Hot Source
- Final Breath Source
- Purest Source
- Beasts Shower Source
- UFO Lover Source
- Love the BEAT Source
- Everyday Everynight Source
- Precious Steps Source
- Initial D - Don’t stop the music Source
- Spiral Flection Source
- God Bless You Source
- Bamboo Dance Source
- My Destiny Source
- Wanna be my dream Source
- Stardust Puzzle - Aki Source
- Search for Butterfly Source
- Break the Hierarchy Source
- Fall into the Magic Source
- Flowering Fantasia Source
- Dancing in the Fire Source
- Drive my Life Source
- PERFECT CHERRY BLOSSOM Source
- Dreamin’ Girl Source
- The Fantasy Won’t Stop Ringing Source
- Call of Truth Source
- Deja Vu Source
- Gas Gas Gas Source
- Night of Fire Source
- Wanna be my geisha? Source
- Nana Takahashi - PRESERVED VAMPIRE Source
- Rain Dance Source
- Loud Faith Source
- Gate Source
- Tear you up Source
- Machiazz - One Destiny Source
- Hell's Sun Source
- On the moon Source
- No Life Queen Source
- Too love to love Source
- Spectre of Love Source
- IT IS SO Source
- Hotel Labyrinth Source
- Eternal party Source
- Love Revolution Source
- Magical Girl (Marisa's Theme) - Odyssey Source
- WARNING! - 3L MariaPolo Source
- Chase Me, Catch Me! Source
- Sarving Raven Source
- Tiny Hero Source
- Black Cat Lounge Source
- Let it be Source
- Princess of the Reich Source
- Another card Source
- bEAT GATHER Source
- Break through the night Source
- Virtual Dream Source
- Dragon's Veil Source
- Endless night Source
- Romantic Children Source
- EXTRA LOVE Source
- Twinkle, Twinkle Source
- To the Limit Source
- Spring of Dreams Source

There are, of course, more music videos to be heard. This was just a selected favourite. If you want to find more, then I recommend these channels:

A-One Source
Alexvgz Source
Phoenix Kappashiro Source
Tenshi Hinanawi Source

23. USED FORMULAS FOR MY CALCULATIONS

Spoiler: Show

Bonus AP:
-> AP (new) = AP (original)*1.1(Heart of the Wild)
-> AP (from agil) = Agility (original)*1.02 (Improved Mark of the Wild)*1.06 (Survival of the Fittest)*1.1 (Heart)
-> AP (from str) = Strength (original)*2*1.02 (IMotW)*1.06 (SotF)*1.1 (Heart)

Crit cap for white attacks (behind the target): 100% - 24%(Glancing hits) - X(Dodge chance) - X(Miss chance) +4.8%CSUPP
Crit cap for yellow attacks (behind the target): 100% - X(Dodge chance) - X(Miss chance) +4.8% CRIT SUPPRESSION

White attack (mean value) = (0.24*glancing dmg) + [(0.X-0.048)*crititcal strike dmg] + [(1-0.24-0.X+0.048)*hit dmg]
Yellow attack (mean value) = [(0.X-0.048)*crititcal strike dmg] + [(1-0.X+0.048)*hit dmg]
where X is your current critical strike %

cat AA = ((AP/14)+54.8)*Naturalist*SR
cat AA (non-crit) = ((AP/14)+54.8)*1.463
cat AA (glancing) = ((AP/14)+54.8)*1.09725
cat AA (crit) = ((AP/14)+54.8)*3.315158

Shred = (AA*2.25 + 666)*Naturalist*Mangle*SR*Rend and Tear
Shred(non-crit)= (((AP/14)+54.8)*2.25+666)*2.28228
Shred(crit)=(((AP/14)+54.8)*2.25+666)*5.17164648
Shred (base damage with Shred Idol) = (((AP/14)+54.8)*2.25+869)

Mangle cat = (Autoattack damage*2+566)*Naturalist*Savage Fury*Savage Roar
Mangle cat (non-crit)= (((AP/14)+54.8)*2+566)*1.7556
Mangle cat (crit)=(((AP/14)+54.8)*2+566)*3.9781896

FB 5CPs (Rend and Tear increases the crit chance by 25, so I’ll might as well concentrate on the critical strike):
FB = (190+290*5+0.35*AP)*Feral Aggression*SR*Naturalist*2*Predatory Instincts*Meta Gem
FB = (0.35*AP+1640)*3.8124317

Rake = (AP/100+176+3*358+AP*0.18)*Savage Fury*Mangle*SR*Naturalist
! For Frostmourners and people w/o 4pt10 - (AP/100+176) is the thing that crits. Everything else - doesn't. !
Rake (non-crit, 4pt10 or no 4pt10) = (AP/100+AP.18+1250)*2.28228
Rake (crit, 4pt10) = (AP/100+AP.18+1250)*5.17164648
Rake (crit, no 4pt10) = ((AP/100+176)*5.17164648)+((AP*0.18+1074)*2.28228)

Rip (no additional bonuses) = (36+93*5+0.05*AP)*11*SR*Mangle*Naturalist
Rip (-//-) = (AP*0.05+501)*20.9209
Rip (-//-, crit) = (AP*0.05+501)*47.4067594
Rip (multiplier with 2pt7) = 24.7247 or 56.0261702 (in case of a critical strike)
Rip (base damage with Rip Idol) = (AP*0.05+606)

Swipe = Autoattack damage*2.5*Naturalist*Feral Instinct*Savage Roar*X (number of targets within the 5-yard 180 frontal arc)
Swipe (non-crit) = ((AP/14)+54.8)*4.75475*X
Swipe (crit) = ((AP/14)+54.8)*10.7742635*X

CP value (1 CP) = [FB - (Shred*35/42)]/5
CP value (2 CP) = 2*[FB - (Shred*35/42)]/5

Sacrificing Rip ticks in favour of FB
FB -- (Shred*35/42) = X
X/(Rip/11) = maximum number of sacrificable ticks {divide it by 13 if you have t7}

Rake + CC proc -> finisher -> Shred vs Shred + CC proc -> finisher -> delayed Rake
2/3 or 3/3 Rake tick vs 7/42*(Shred + CP-value) {in case the finisher is SR or Rip}
4.5*Rake tick vs 7/42*(Shred + CP-value) {in case the finisher is FB}

Rip vs Shred with CCs at 5 CPs
1/2*Rip tick + CP-value vs (Shred energy - Rip energy)*(Shred + CP-value)/42

FB vs Rip in the denouement of a boss fight
FB/Rip tick
OR
[FB - (FB energy - Rip energy)*(Shred + CP-value)/42]/Rip tick

bear AA (non-crit) = ((AP/14)+54.8)*Naturalist*Master Shapeshifter*2.5 (unmodified weapon speed)
bear AA (non-crit) = ((AP/14)+54.8)*2.86
bear AA (glancing) = ((AP/14)+54.8)*2.145
bear AA (crit) = ((AP/14)+54.8)*5.8916

Maul (non-crit) = ((AP/14)+54.8+578)*Naturalist*Savage Fury*R&T*Master Shapeshifter*2.5 (unmodified weapon speed)
Maul (non-crit) = ((AP/14)+632.8)*4.1184
Maul (crit) = ((AP/14)+632.8)*8.483904

Mangle bear (non-crit) = (((AP/14)+54.8)*1.15+119.6)*Naturalist*Savage Fury*Master Shapeshifter*2.5 (unmodified weapon speed)
Mangle bear (non-crit) = (((AP/14)+54.8)*1.15+119.6)*3.432
Mangle bear (crit) = (((AP/14)+54.8)*1.15+119.6)*7.06992

Lacerate (initial burst, hit) = (88+AP*0.01)*1.04 (Master Shapeshifter)*1.1 (Naturalist)
Lacerate (initial burst, crit) = (88+AP*0.01)*1.04 (Master Shapeshifter)*1.1 (Naturalist)*2*1.03 (Meta Gem)

Lacerate (DoT, hit, 1-stack) = (64 + AP*0.01)*1.04 (Master Shapeshifter)*1,1 (Naturalist)*1.3 (Mangle)
Lacerate (DoT, hit, 2-stack) = (64 + AP*0.01)*1.04 (Master Shapeshifter)*1,1 (Naturalist)*1.3 (Mangle)*2(stack size)
Lacerate (DoT, hit, 3-stack) = (64 + AP*0.01)*1.04 (Master Shapeshifter)*1,1 (Naturalist)*1.3 (Mangle)*3(stack size)
Lacerate (DoT, hit, 4-stack) = (64 + AP*0.01)*1.04 (Master Shapeshifter)*1,1 (Naturalist)*1.3 (Mangle)*4(stack size)
Lacerate (DoT, hit, 5-stack) = (64 + AP*0.01)*1.04 (Master Shapeshifter)*1,1 (Naturalist)*1.3 (Mangle)*5(stack size)

Lacerate (DoT, crit, 1-stack) = (64 + AP*0.01)*1.04 (Master Shapeshifter)*1,1 (Naturalist)*1.3 (Mangle)*2*1.03 (Meta Gem)
Lacerate (DoT, crit, 2-stack) = (64 + AP*0.01)*1.04 (Master Shapeshifter)*1,1 (Naturalist)*1.3 (Mangle)*2(stack size)*2*1.03 (Meta Gem)
Lacerate (DoT, crit, 3-stack) = (64 + AP*0.01)*1.04 (Master Shapeshifter)*1,1 (Naturalist)*1.3 (Mangle)*3(stack size)*2*1.03 (Meta Gem)
Lacerate (DoT, crit, 4-stack) = (64 + AP*0.01)*1.04 (Master Shapeshifter)*1,1 (Naturalist)*1.3 (Mangle)*4(stack size)*2*1.03 (Meta Gem)
Lacerate (DoT, crit, 5-stack) = (64 + AP*0.01)*1.04 (Master Shapeshifter)*1,1 (Naturalist)*1.3 (Mangle)*5(stack size)*2*1.03 (Meta Gem)

Additional Lacerate (DoT) multipliers: 1.05 (2pt7, 2pt9) or 1.2 (2pt10)

modified version of "a civilian"'s suggested formula in the EJ forum page

0.923(shred damage) + 0.077*[0.9941(shred damage) - (number of missed AAs with the second GotVV cast)*(AA average damage) - (missed AAs with the second cast prior to Shred)*(3.5/60)*(shred damage)] - 0.923*(number of missed AAs)*(AA damage) - 0.923*(number of AAs prior to Shred)*(3.5/60)*(shred damage)

my version (incl. the CP values)

0.923(shred damage) + 0.923*(average amount of CPs per ability)*(damage output of 1 CP) + 0.077*[0.9941(shred damage) + 0.9941*(average amount of CPs per ability)*(damage output of 1 CP) - (number of missed AAs with the second GotVV cast)*(AAaverage damage) - (missed AAs with the second cast prior to Shred)*(3.5/60)*(shred damage) - (missed AAs with the second cast prior to Shred)*(3.5/60)*(average amount of CPs per ability)*(damage output of 1 CP)] - 0.923*(number of missed AAs)*(AA damage) - 0.923(number of AAs prior to Shred)*(3.5/60)*(shred damage) - 0.923(number of AAs prior to Shred)*(3.5/60)*(average amount of CPs per ability)*(damage output of 1 CP)

Attack speed = 1/ (("Percent increase or decrease" / 100) + 1) /((current haste rating/2521)+1)

Arp affects our AAs, Shreds, FBs, and Mangles. This is what I use to determine the "damage applied" multiplier.
Armour = 8088.68
Arp cap = 7773.73

Originally Posted by Basasjoblu

EffectiveArmor = Armor – ArP rating / 1399.6 *Arp cap
DR% = EffectiveArmor / (EffectiveArmor + 15232.5)
DA% = 1 – DR%

Additional information if you want to take into consideration the buffs in a 25-man raid environment:
-> 10% AP increase (MM's aura)
-> 10% Str/Agility increase (BoK)
-> 687 AP (Improved BoM; I haven't included our talents or MM's aura)
-> 155 Str + 155 Agil (DK horn; I haven't included our talents, BoK, or MM's aura)
-> 55 Str + 55 Agil (our improved druid buff + talents; I haven't included BoK or MM's aura, though)
-> 180 AP (flask; I haven't included our talents or MM's aura)
-> 400 AP (Berserking; I haven't included our talents or MM's aura)
-> 220 Agility (Idol; I haven't included our talents or other modifiers)
-> 40 arp/40 agil/40 str (food; I haven't included our talents or MM's aura)
-> 4% damage increase (CRogues) to our abilities
-> 3% damage increase (Ret Paladins) to our abilities
-> 40% damage increase for 30 seconds (Hysteria) to our abilities
-> 20% melee haste (Blood DKs)
-> 3% melee haste (Boomies)
-> 30% melee haste for 40secs (Bloodlust)
-> 500 haste rating (speed pot)

24. SOURCES

Spoiler: Show

25. CHANGELOG

Spoiler: Show

15/06/2022
- Removed the link that caused an auto-block by the site;
- Corrected the BB codes for the intro picture and for the one in the talents section;
- Deleted a BB code in the "Table of Contents" and increased the size of the words there;
- Changed the title of the section "General description of playing as a feral cat" to "General analysis of playing as a feral cat";
- Improved the first five sections visually by colouring the sentences and by adding cavernoftime links to some abilities. Also, I added a bit more information there for a better clarification;
- Worked a bit on the section "Stats, BiS lists, enchants, gems, professions, consumables":
*added spoilers;
*coloured the disclaimer at start.

16/06/2022
- Added the section "Omen of Clarity, aka the MVP for feral cat";
- Formatted "Stats, BiS lists, enchants, gems, professions, consumables";
*added cavernoftime links;
*added colouring;
- Corrected some minor spelling mistakes and deleted unintended signs.

17/06/2022
- Changed the position of "Macros" and "Add-ons" in this guide for the sake of a better structure;
- Updated "Stats, BiS lists, enchants, gems, professions, consumables", "Feral cat's piority list 101",
"How to open as a cat?";
*added a full list of crafting professions and their bonuses;
*added a list of stat-specific food for each patch
*added cavernoftime links;
*added colouring;
*copy/pasted the video descriptions in the guide.
- Added minor BB codes in the "formulas" section;
- Added links to the music videos in the respective section.

18/06/2022
- Updated "FB. Energy investment and proper timing", "Idol swapping during combat",
"Miscellaneous":
*added quotes;
*added colouring;
*structured them better;
- Moved the section concerning the GotVV-shift to the second post and made it into its own thing. When I update something there, I will document it in the changelog there.

21/06/2022
- Added Bebechica's grammar corrections.
- Swapped the places of "Brief introduction" and "List of abbreviations" for the sake of a better structure.
- Added an ElitistJerks link in the "Omen of Clarity" section, which described that the spell could proc CCs on multiple targets.
- Added the formula for calculating the CP values in the section "Used formulas".

23/06/2022
- Corrected the "TF-Berserk" opener in the respective section.

26/06/2022
- Removed the aforementioned "correction" and made a whole disclaimer for the feral openers.
- Added a few more abbreviations in the respective list.
- Did some minor stylistic corrections to the first three sections + talent one + stats one + priority list one.
- Added a bit of text in the "Furor" talent break-down for the sake of better explanation.
- Renamed "Omen of Clarity, the MVP for feral cat" to "Omen of Clarity procs, the MVP for feral cat".
- Corrected the white crit cap (80.8% because 100%+4.8% crit suppression - 24% glancing).

27/06/2022
- Corrected a broken link, a wrong BB code, and a typo.

02/07/2022
- Updated the section "How to open as a cat?".

03/07/2022
- Updated the section "How to open as a cat?".
- Added 2 more songs in the section "Music suggestions".
- Corrected some minor spelling mistakes.
- Removed the +40 Strength food from the list of consumables since it's not relevant anymore.

07/07/2022
- Added some stylistic changes (colouration, bullet-lists etc).
- Added one more song in the section "Music suggestions".
- Corrected some minor spelling mistakes.
- Corrected a broken link in the "stats subsection" for the ToC patch.
- Added a slightly better clarification for some abilities in the section "Feral cat's priority list 101". I've explained the part about SR a lot better.
- Separated "What's the value of a CP?" from "TF. Energy management and proper timing".

08/07/2022
- Updated "What's the value of a CP?"

09/07/2022
- Updated the energy investment part for FB with the new information.
- Corrected the part about sacrificed rip ticks when we're timing FB.
- Deleted the "quick notes" in the section "Swapping idols during combat" because I deemed the information to be unnecessary.
- Added colouration and changed the size of some texts for the sake of a better structure and better readability.

11/07/2022
- Corrected the energy threshold for FB in the section "Feral cat's priority list" (it was 48, and I changed it to 52).

18/07/2022
- Added a few more music suggestions.
- Updated the tips concerning the Ulduar boss encounters.

31/07/2022
- Added a few more music suggestions.
- Added links to more sources in "Omen of Clarity procs, aka the MVP for feral cat" and in "Sources".

31/08/2022
- Updated the "Omen of Clarity" section for spells (used the formula, which was approved by the warmane staff).
- Updated the OoC proc % for some spells in "Feral priority list 101". Removed FFF as it's not working anymore on warmane and added a small clarification for the PS-Wrath combo.
- Deleted 3 posts in the comment section because I don't deem the information to be relevant for this guide anymore. The contents can be found here.
- Updated the formulas concerning the GotVV-shift in the respective section.
- Added another video in the "Miscellaneous" section.
- Added another music suggestion.

01/09/2022
- Removed FFF from some sections, where it was accounted as an OoC enabler, because this interaction is no longer present on warmane.

03/09/2022
- Halesk70 wanted me to refer to him as Nap (his discord avatar) from now on. I also changed his WAs links to the wago site.

05/09/2022
- Added my discord tag on the top of the guide.

08/09/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Updated the section "tips for 25-man raid instances".

11/09/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Added an EJ guide for boomies in the "talent build" section.
- Replaced a broken link to an EJ page with a functioning one.
- Minor stylistic edits.

12/09/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Added colouration and Rawr builds for Naxx. Ulduar, and ToC in the section "BiS list".
- Changed the text for "Ulduar BiS list" a bit.
- Added three more sentences in the "ToC BiS list" part.

14/09/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Updated the "feral's priority list" and "opening as a cat" subsections by acknowledging the 4-CP FB.
- Minor edits (mostly correcting typos).

15/09/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Added more videos in "how to open as a cat", more specifically in the TL;DR part at the end.
- Removed the old "Berserk-TF" video from that section, as it doesn't reflect on my current playstyle.
- Explained the reason why we might miss out on 1-2 Shreds in the "TF-Berserk" opener in the same section.
- Explained 4/5 Furor in the talent section a bit better.
- Minor stylistic edits.
- Added more text in favour of the 4-CP FB in the section "what's the value of a CP?".

21/09/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Added another video in the "Idol swapping" section and corrected a mistake there.

22/09/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Updated the white text at the beginning of the guide.
- Updated "Honourable mentions".
- Added a few links in "Sources".

24/09/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Added a few links in "Sources".
- Removed the TBC idol in the "idol swapping" section.
- Added a couple of links in "Sources", proving that the actual proc chance for the icc rep ring is 1.66%.

26/09/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Updated the BiS list for patch 3.3.5.
- Added a few links for Black Magic in "Sources".
- Updated "Honourable Mentions".
- Modified the initial white text a bit.
- Explained PPM a bit better.
- Deleted an idol in "idol swapping" as it's not relevant anymore.
- Updated the thresholds for the stats in the "stats, professions etc" section.
- Minor edits.. again...
- The symbol for degree is bugged, and I decided to remove it.

27/09/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Added a few more music suggestions.
- Minor edits.

21/11/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Added a TLDR algorithm for the energy threshold in the context of FB.
- Minor stylistic edits.

16/12/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Updated the Haste build for patch 3.3.5:
*corrected the gemming options;
*added more text to explain the changes.
- minor edits.

17/12/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Updated the Naxx BiS list.
- Updated the Ulduar BiS list.

18/12/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Added a second Horde BiS build for the ICC patch.
- Finished the Naxx build.
- Finished the Uld build.
- Temporarily removed the ToC build.

19/12/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Finished the ToC build.

20/12/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Minor edits.

21/12/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Deleted redundant text from the section "FB. Energy management and proper timing".
- Added a shorter explanation of the factors that affect the timing of FB.
- Added a table in the subsection "Timing FB".
- Added the formula for sacrificing Rip ticks in the respective section.
- Added another music suggestion.

22/12/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Added a table for Rip in "Miscellaneous".
- Minor edits.

26/12/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Minor edits:
*changed the 60% critt to 67% in the section for timing FB.

28/12/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Added a disclaimer in the "stats" subsection.
- Added a better clarification for the priority list of our abilities when CCs are involved.
- Added the formulas for certain bear abilities in the "Formulas..." section.
- Added the links to said formulas in "Sources".
- Corrected a few grammar mistakes.

29/12/2022 (post-retirement update)
- Corrected the formula concerning the Mangle bear in the respective section.

02/01/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Added a wowpedia and a youtube link concerning haste in "Sources".

09/01/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Updated "Stats, bis list...":
*corrected the Ulduar BiS list;
*corrected a wrong gem in the Haste build;
*added the subsection "Useful cat resources";
*added stylistic changes;
- Minor edits to the Ulduar subsection in "Tips for all bosses in 25-man raids".
- Mentioned the energy thresholds for a 4-CP FB in the respective section.
- Added several links in "Sources".
- Added two additional sentences in the "Recommended talent build and glyphs" section.
- Added another music suggestion.
- Corrected several grammar mistakes.
- Minor edits.

10/01/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Fixed the original undercapped gem list for Horde and added a second one {Haste build}.
- Deleted redundant text from the same subsection.
- Fixed the original undercapped gem list for Alliance and added a second one.
- Added a bit of text concerning the changes to the food.

11/01/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Added a bit of text in the subsection dedicated to the Ulduar BiS list.
- Added an extra sentence for Black Magic.
- Minor edits.

26/01/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Updated the CC priority list in the section "Feral cat's priority list 101".

31/01/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Added "Feral's priority list in boss fights (general overview)" in the section "Feral cat's priority list 101".
- Corrected false info in the commentary of my videos in "How to open as a cat?".
- Added 2 more music suggestions.

02/02/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Replaced the old algorithm in "Feral's priority list in boss fights (general overview)" with a better one.

05/02/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Replaced the old algorithm in "Feral's priority list in boss fights (general overview)" with a better one.
- Added more text in that subsection.

10/02/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Replaced the old algorithm in "Feral's priority list in boss fights (general overview)" with a better one.
- Changed a sentence in that subsection.
- Minor stylistic edits in the same subsection.

11/02/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Replaced the old algorithm in "Feral's priority list in boss fights (general overview)" with a better one.
- Added a few sentences in that subsection.

17/02/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Added a few sentences in the subsection "Feral's priority list in boss fights (general overview)".
- Minor edits.

01/03/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Updated the part about the feral openers.

02/03/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Updated the part about Rake with CCs in "Feral cat's priority list 101".

04/03/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Removed the information concerning feral cat's movement speed from "Miscellaneous" and put it in "Positioning as a feral cat".
- Added some wowwiki links in "Sources" concerning the range of some boss AoEs.

05/03/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Added the section "Clipping DoTs".
- Replaced the old algorithm in "Feral's priority list in boss fights (general overview)" with a simpler one.
... returned the previous algorithm

06/03/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Replaced the old algorithm in "Feral's priority list in boss fights (general overview)" with a simpler one.
- Added more general information in "Learning the priority list step by step".
- Added a few paragraphs for Swipe in that subsection.
- Added a few sentences on why I consider 450-500 to be the threshold for Arp.
- Added more players in "Honourable mentions".
- Added a few abbreviations in the respective section.
- Added a reference to another video game (somewhere (-;).
- Corrected some grammar mistakes.
- Minor edits.

07/03/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Added new values for "maximum sacrificable Rip ticks" in "Timing FB".
- Added "FB vs Rip in the denounement of a fight" in the same section.
- Removed that info from "Miscellaneous".

08/03/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Added another table and subsection in "Timing FB".
- Updated "Clipping DoTs":
*added more text for the sake of a better explanation;
*added numbers in brackets, in order to account the energy difference between Rip and FB in some situations.
- Updated "Tips for all 25-man instances" (mostly mentioned the section for clipping DoTs).
- Updated the commentary under my videos in "How to open as a cat?".
- Added a few formulas in "Used formulas".
- Minor edits.

10/03/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Updated the text for Rake in "Feral's priority list 101".
- Minor edits.

13/03/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Added the subsection "Both SR and Rip expire during the idle period" in "Clipping DoTs".

15/03/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Minor tweaks in "Learning the priority list step by step".
- Deleted redundant text from "List of all abilities and procs, which ferals utilise during combat" (concerning PS with a Nature spell).
- Added a few abbreviations in the respective section.

17/03/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Minor tweaks in "Clipping Rip".
- Added two extra sentences in "Feral's priority list in boss fights (general overview)".
- Edited some sentences regarding the BQL boss fight (obvious humour should be obvious).

17/03/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Edited some sentences regarding the BQL boss fight (obvious humour should be obvious).
- Added a few sentences regarding the Twin Valk boss fight (obvious humour should be obvious).
- Minor edits.

25/04/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Updated the white text at the beginning of the guide.

21/06/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Updated the BiS list for ToGC.

10/09/2023
- Updated the white text at the beginning of the guide;
- Added "Spreang" in the section for credits;
- Added a few more songs in the respective section.
- Added a "mostly concerns bearweaving" tag near the link to the wowhead guide.

16/09/2023
- Added a video showcasing the "TF-Berserk & FB mid-Berserk" approach in "How to open as a feral cat?".

24/09/2023
- Updated the "clipping DoTs" section:
*added a small paragraph explaining that a person cannot clip an already buffed Rip with a weaker one;
*removed the part about 4-CP Rip;
*deleted a reduntant and prolly very confusing commentary regarding the short idle time;
*deleted a redundant text concerning the situation where both SR and Rip would expire (I just considered the tips too niche);
*deleted redundant commentaries regarding the scenario where people can decide to clip Rip before switching to a diff. target;
*deleted the section concerning clipping Rip at the very end with snapshots;
*since clipping Rake at the end of a boss fight rarely offers positive numbers, I deleted everything except the part stating that this is a misplay;
*minor stylistic changes.
- Minor edits to the section concerning idol swapping + added a wowwiki link concerning idol swapping in "Sources".
- Replaced the first video showing the feral opener in the respective section. Also removed another.
- Minor edit to the subsection regarding Swipe in "feral rotation 101".
- Added Crystal Yield in the list of consumables.
- Deleted "Videos concerning the GotVV-shift" from Sources because rn I have newer ones, and I change them constantly.
- Added the quest for Crystal Yield in "Sources".
- Added another person's name in the "hall of fame".

27/09/2023
- Added a macro for Crystal Yield in "Macros".
- Removed the link to Blunta's guide since he deleted its contents.
- Updated "OMEN OF CLARITY PROCS, AKA THE MVP FOR FERAL CAT":
*mentioned PPH in the subsection concerning PPM;
*added stylistic changes;
*added a better description for spell PPH;
*corrected a grammatical error.
- Added the "bugged" tag for Black Magic.
- Updated "Tips for all instances".
- Minor edits.

29/09/2023
- Minor edits to "Tips for all instances" (just added links to clips for better visualisation).
- Added one extra sentence in "Idol swapping" + removed two videos (they were redundant).

30/09/2023
- Updated "How to open as a cat":
*redid my calculations concerning the "Berserk at start" opener;
*added another subsection, where I addressed the "pre-cast Berserk" opener;
*added another subsection, where I addressed using "Shred" at start;
*added another subsection, where I addressed using "Rake" at start;
*added a yellow text in the subsection concerning "Timing TF";
*changed the text in the "summary";
*minor stylistic improvements.

01/10/2023
- Updated the "Opener" section:
*removed the DBS video, where I perform the GotVV-shift, because the rotation there is outdated;
*replaced the second video concerning the "Berserk-TF" opener with a newer one and updated its commentary.

02/10/2023
- Updated the "Opener" section:
*added a second video concerning the "TF-Berserk" + "FB mid-Berserk" opener;
*added another video concerning the "TF-Berserk" opener;
*replaced the first video concerning the "TF-Berserk" opener with a newer one and updated its commentary.

03/10/2023
- Update the section concerning the CP-value:
*added a more detailed clarification behind my hypothesis;
*added an extra sentence in "The fluidity of CP's value", where I explained why using FB as a reference point to CPs is a good idea;
*added a disclaimer in the last subsection;
*changed the calculations in the subsection concerning SR.
- Updated the "Opener" section:
*removed the Hysteria buff from my calculations for the sake of consistency and just mentioned its influence on the openers in my conclusions;
*mentioned the part about warriors and deep wounds;
*minor stylistic improvements.

04/10/2023
- Added a video in the subsection concerning the "Berserk-TF"+"FB mid-Berserk" opener.
- Added another pop-cultural reference.
- Deleted a redundant sentence from "What's the value of a CP?" and removed the second video concerning the "TF-Berserk" + "FB mid-Berserk" opener.
- Minor edits.

06/10/2023
- Added a bit better description concerning the situation when the player can afford to sacrifice Rip ticks in favour of FB in the section "FB. Energy management and proper timing".
- Readded the case when the person can clip Rip with STS before the end of the fight (in "Clipping DoTs").
- Added a subsection concerning all diff. playstyles in "Feral cat's priority list 101".

08/10/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Minor edit to the white text of the beginning of the guide.
- Mentioned Wrathweaving in "Different playstyles for a feral cat".
- Added another yellow text in "How to open as a feral cat" (in the subsection concerning starting with Rake/Mangle/Shred).
- Added the source to the pic in "bearweaving".
- Added another guild in the list for credits.
- Minor edits.

19/10/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Updated the ICC BiS list:
*removed Black Magic;
*replaced Flexweave Underlay with Greater Speed;
*concerning the Horde SAFE build - removed two glinting gems in favour of one rigid and one deft.

20/10/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Updated the ICC BiS list:
*changed the commentary prior to the screenshot with the suggested build;
*replaced the screenshot with the old enchants and gems with a newer one;
*updated the imgur links to the screenshots featuring different gemming options;
*updated the commentary concerning the ICC BiS list;
*removed the second dish for the Alliance cat and the paragraph, where I commented on it, in order to make that section a bit cleaner and less confusing.

28/10/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Removed redundant (and prolly confusing) text concerning "Rake at start" from the opener section.
- Added a music video at the beginning in order to set the mood.
- Updated the "Different playstyles for a feral cat" subsection:
*replaced the first screenshot under "damage output" with a more accurate one;
*added screenshots for each content patch;
*deleted the link to the theorycrafting thread (I mean, the screenshots proved my point).
- Added the link to the simcraft with bearweaving and flowershifting in "Useful cat resources".

29/10/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Removed the false info that bearweavers benefit more from Haste than from Strength in ToC and in ICC.
- Mentioned using the simcraft in the white text at start.

01/12/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Added a new section "Pre-pull preparation".
- Updated the table of contens.

02/12/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Updated "Pre-pull preparation":
*removed the "preface" and turned it into a disclaimer;
*added more info in "general overview";
*added commentaries under the "TF-Berserk" videos and added chapters in the videos themselves;
*removed the chronological sequence of events from "general overview" and made it its own subsection;
*added commentaries under the "Berserk-TF" videos and added chapters in the videos themselves;
*corrected the information about Lacerate.

04/12/2023 (post-retirement update)
- Updated "Pre-pull preparation":
*minor tweak to the disclaimer (I removed the links to the pinata and the mech and just referred to them as "punching bags");
*removed the video with the vulgar music at start and added a better one;
*explained how long DBS's and the LK's RP events last;
*added a video showing the easiest way to benefit from the pre-pull rotation in RS;
*renamed "Demonstration" to "Burst phase after the preparation";
*replaced the second video in the "Berserk-TF" category with a better one w/o flowershifting for the sake of consistency.
- Updated the white text at start.

08/01/2024 (post-retirement update)
- Removed the section "pre-pull preparation" from the guide since the 110G repair bot is no longer attackable.

12/01/2024 (post-retirement update)
- Removed the warmane discord link from the white text at the beginning.
- Added the BiS gear for patch 3.3.
- Added two more music suggestions.

14/07/2024
- Re-added the section "Pre-pull Preparation" with updated information.
- Acknowledged its presence in the table of contents.
- Since I already reached the 25 video limit, I had to remove two minor ones in favour of the new clips.
- Added yet another music suggestion.
- Added the wowpedia links concerning "leashing" and "mage portals" in "Sources".

16/07/2024
- Separated "Professions" from "BiS list..." and dedicated a separate section for this topic.
- Added more information there.
- Separated "Consumables" from "BiS list..." and dedicated a separate section for this topic.
- Added more information there.
- Changed the name of the section concerning the BiS lists.
- Differentiated the links to the download versions and the browser versions of the simcrafts in the subsection "useful resources".
- Added more players' names in the hall of fame.
- Minor edits.

18/07/2024
- Added more information and videos in "Learning the priority list step by step". I also structured my thoughts better.
- Minor edits.

19/07/2024
- Minor edits to "Learning the priority list step by step".

20/07/2024
- Added more info about the usage of FB in "Learning the priority list step by step".
- Added a couple of videos links in "Learning the priority list step by step" for the sake of better visualisation of some described scenarios.
- Changed the title of "Pre-pull preparation". Now it's "Pre-pull Savage Roar".
- Added more info in "Pre-pull Savage Roar".
- Minor edits.

21/07/2024
- Added a disclaimer and two subsections in "What's the value of a CP?".
- Added a disclaimer in "Swapping idols...".
- Minor edits.

27/07/2024
- Updated "Pre-pull Savage Roar":
*added more information;
*added an extra video in the subsection concerning RS.
- Removed "Clipping DoTs" from the guide.
- Removed all mentions of "Clipping DoTs" from the other sections.
- Updated "How to open as a feral cat?":
*added an extra paragraph in "Mangle vs Rake vs Shred";
*changed the title of the fifth subsection (from "Importance of Berserk" to "Energy management in Berserk");
*made the summary a lot more coherent;
*minor tweaks to the commentaries below the videos.
- Minor edits.

28/07/2024
- Removed "different playstyles for a feral cat" from "feral cat's priority list 101" and dedicated a separate section for it.
- Minor edits.

14/08/2024
- Added another subsection in "Miscellaneous".
- Updated "Pre-pull SR":
*separated "General overview" in smaller points;
*added a separate subsection concerning obtaining a longer pre-pull SR;
*corrected the outdated information in ICC and added new videos;
*added a separate subsection concerning obtaining a pre-pull SR in Ulduar.

15/08/2024
- Updated the subsection concerning the feral openers in "Pre-pull SR":
*added a point called "General overview";
*distinguished both openers based on the duration of the pre-pull SR;
*added new videos for TF-Berserk and Berserk-TF;
*updated the comparison commentary.

16/08/2024
- Updated "Pre-pull SR":
*added a video, where I showcased what happens when someone buffs us when we're in combat;
*corrected the number of CC procs needed for a FB mid-Berserk concerning Berserk-TF with SR lasting less than 31s;
*added my commentary regarding the remaining three demonstration videos;
*minor edits.
- Added another video in "Miscellaneous" showcasing a visual bug with the wasp form from the Underbelly Elixir.

17/08/2024
- Updated "Pre-pull SR":
*added a paragraph in "Ruby Sanctum" where I explain how to separate an Invoker from the squad;
*added a paragraph and a picture which explain the correct path towards the exit;
*minor edits.

18/08/2024
- Updated the tips and tricks concerning Halion in the section "Tips for all 25-man instances".
- Added two more music suggestions in the respective section.
- Minor edits.

21/08/2024
- Changed the name of the guide (with the help of a moderator).

24/08/2024
- Updated the info concerning the Battle Squawk.
- Removed two redundant disclaimers in "Tips for all 25-man instances".
- Added detailed information about the optimal usage of Berserk in the section "Feral cat priority list 101".
- Minor edits.

25/08/2024
- Added "bdk" in the list of abbreviations.
- Moved the general overview of Berserk from "Feral cat's priority list 101" to "How open as a cat?".
- Added a better explanation in "How to open as a cat?".
- Minor edits.

27/08/2024
- Added the fel taffy in "Consumables".

13/09/2024
- Minor edits to "Pre-pull Savage Roar".

22/09/2024 (post-retirement update)
- Updated "Tips for all 25-man instances":
*LM boss fight - added more information and a couple of links to some clips;
*LDW boss fight - "2nd wave of adds" -> "1st wave of adds";
*DBS boss fight - added a paragraph concerning the pre-pull SR;
*swapped the commentary of Festergut's and Rotface's boss fights;
*Festergut boss fight - added a paragraph concerning the pre-pull SR;
*Rotface boss fight - added more information and a couple of links to some clips;
*PP boss fight - added more information and a couple of links to some clips;
*BPC boss fight - added a better clarification about Rip vs FB;
*Sindy boss fight - added a better clarification for the ice tombs on her last phase.

02/04/2025
- Added a disclaimer in the "Icecrown Citadel" subsection in "Pre-pull SR" where I briefly explain the opportunity of obtaining CPs from bosses by strategically respawning them.
- Added a clip in the "Consumables" section where I showcase my farming routine for the Crystal Yield.

09/04/2025
- Minor edits to the starting white text.
- Updated "Honourable mentions":
*removed "Bebechica" from the main list, as the guide has massively changed since the original word document, and no one else (beside me) proofreads it;
*removed "Frenzied Flame" from the list of guilds (even though I had fun playing w/ them, my time spent with them was relatively short);
*added "Yavor" to the list of names who helped me playtest some mechanics;
*changed the order of some mentions and made other minor stylistic changes.
- Minor edits to "Brief introduction".
- Minor edits to "List of abbreviations".
- Minor edits to "General analysis of playing as a cat".
- Removed "feralbynight" from the list of add-ons, as the page for it got taken down.
- Minor edits to "Macros".
- Removed invalid links from "Music suggestions".
- Minor edits to "Miscellaneous".
- Updated "Consumables":
*added info about a discount for reagents based on the current rep with the respective faction;
*mentioned the usage of the Orgrimmar card during "Love is in the air" event.
- Minor edits to "Positioning as a feral cat".
- Updated "Professions":
*added a better description of the Stormjewel gems;
*made some minor stylistic changes.

10/04/2025
- Removed "Rip clipping" formulas from "Used formulas for my calculations".
- Removed broken links from "Sources" and from "Add-ons".
- Updated the bis list concerning the Naxx patch:
*removed the text concerning the OS 10 ring;
*removed the orange "+8 hit, +8 exp" gem and replaced it with "+16 expertise";
*added a new screenshot showcasing the enhanced stats.

11/04/2025
- Removed the links to the music videos in "Sources", as they were redundant (after all, ppl can also find them in the music section).

13/04/2025
- Updated the Ulduar BiS list:
*removed one blue and one orange gem in favour of two delicates (this concerns the Horde build with 3 Stormjewels and the Alliance build with 0);
*added a gemming build for the Alliance cat featuring a yellow Stormjewel gem.

15/04/2025 - 18/04/2025
- Added "NE" in the list of Abbreviations.
- Updated the Ulduar BiS list:
*removed all Agility gems and replaced them with Arp;
*added Cloak of Icy Intent for the Horde build;
*added a more thorough description, explaining the recent changes.

19/04/2025

- Updated the Ulduar BiS list:
*added more links to Rawr and to the simcraft in the paragraphs concerning Arp vs Agility;
*added a paragraph where I talk about reaching the Hit and Exp caps.

22/04/2025
- Added a link to my latest comment in the "Ulduar BiS list" section.
- Updated the "ToC BiS list" section:
*added faction-specific items for the Alliance build;
*added a paragraph, where I explain the difference between my proposed BiS list and the Classic one;
*updated the paragraph concerning the gemming options;
*added more screenshots.

28/04/2025
- Updated the "3.3 BiS list" section:
*deleted redundant text concerning WotLK Classic;
*added the information that one yellow gem needs to be socketed in the neck.
- Updated the "3.3.5 BiS list" section:
*deleted redundant text concerning the feral simcraft;
*added "Flexweave" in the list of enchants;
*changed the paragraph where I talk about the discrepancy between Rawr and the feral simcraft.

29/04/2025
- Added general info about the feral talents in the "Recommended talent build and glyphs" section.
- Added OoC in the list of abbreviations.
- Updated the "3.3.5 BiS list" section:
*added a better explanation as to why I now promote both back enchants.
- Updated "Feral priority list 101":
*added a "mobility" subcategory;
*changed the clips for Mangle and Rake;
*changed the clips for SR and Rip;
*removed the tip "repeat" and replaced it with "practise maintaining..." in the subsection "learning the priority list 101";
*removed the tip "TF + 2-3 Shreds + Rake" and replaced it with "acquire" in the subsection "learning the priority list 101";
*changed the info about Mangle - it should always be kept up;
*added the information that Rip needs to expire before it's refreshed;
*minor stylistic changes.
- Minor stylistic changes.

30/04/2025
- Updated "Feral priority list 101":
*removed the engineering-specific perks;
*deleted redundant text.

01/05/2025
- Updated the talent build section:
*added a link to wowhead;
*added categorisation;
*added a sentence describing the greyed out talents in the feral tree.
- Removed the word "procs" from "Omen of Clarity procs, the MVP..." for stylistic reasons.
- Updated the part "general overview" in the section concerning OoC.
- Removed the sentences concerning OoC in the "stats cap" subsection in "BiS lists, stats, and simcrafts", as the information was redundant. In its place, I added the info that there's no haste cap for AAs.
- Added a link to the proc chance of Battle Squawk in "professions" and in "sources".
- Updated "positioning as a feral cat":
*added categorisation;
*added few more sentences where I provide general information about the importance of optimal positioning;
*added a whole paragraph describing the feral charge.
- Added a link to wowhead concerning the "feral charge - cat" ability in "Sources".
- Minor stylistic changes.

03/05/2025
- Updated the BiS list section concerning patch 3.3.0:
*removed the ToGC cloak and added the Gunhip one;
*changed the gemming options;
*changed the screenshots in the paragraph where I compare Str builds to Haste ones;
*added a paragraph where I commented on the change;
*added a paragraph where I commented on the Ashen band's ring proc rate.

04/05/2025
- Updated the BiS list section concerning patch 3.3.0:
*added the ToGC cloak again;
*added more text explaining the requirement of having specific professions.
- Updated "Professions":
*added a paragraph where I mentioned BS as an alternative to JC;
*added links to Alchemist Finklestein and to Marcia Chases's quest rewards.
- Added a picture of the CC proc in "Omen of Clarity, the MPV of a feral cat".

12/05/2025
- Updated "Feral cat's priority list 101":
*deleted redundant information in the first subsection;
*updated the ability description in the first subsection;
*added a paragraph in the first subsection, where I explain the purpose of it;
*minor stylistic changes.

13/05/2025
- Added "ilvl" in the list of abbreviations.
- Added "Order of the Horde" and "Soanok" in the "Honourable mentions" section.
- Updated "Feral cat's priority list 101":
*changed the name of the first subsection for the sake of consistency;
*added a paragraph in the second subsection, where I explain the purpose of it.
- Changed the colour of the commentary paragraphs in the "BiS list" sections to match the usual one for the sake of consistency and added a horizontal line for the sake of readability.
- Minor stylistic changes.

14/05/2025
- Updated "Feral cat's priority list 101":
*changed the colour of the explanation text in the second subsection to match the usual one for the sake of consistency;
*changed the colour of the practice list to white for the sake of better readability;
*added practice videos under each practice list;
*added summaries after each phase;
*added another sentence explaining the reason behind the usage of builders are 5 CPs;
*updated some previous video links;
*added a paragraph where I explain the synergy between Shred and Rip.

15/05/2025 - 16/05/2025
- Updated "Feral cat's priority list 101":
*added a small paragraph under the point concerning "OoC procs" where I explained that we need to force the CCs by all means necessary;
*changed the format of the priority list - no longer with BB codes, rather with separate paragraphs - for the sake of better readability;
*split the information under the point concerning AoE in two paragraphs - one with general info, and the other with more specific and practical tips;
*added videos in those paragraphs as well;
*removed the third subsection (feat. the algorithm).

17/05/2025
- Updated "How to open as a cat?":
*added videos under each opener;
*changed the colour of some paragraphs;
*added paragraphs in the subsection concerning "Berserk at start" where I explained the case with a 1CP SR at start;
*added a paragraph in the subsection concerning "Timing TF" where I explained the possible penalty of overcapping energy with either TF-Berserk and Berserk-TF openers.

18/05/2025
- Updated "How to open as a cat?":
*deleted redundant information;
*added videos showcasing the damage difference between TF-Berserk and Berserk-TF;
*minor tweaks.

18/05/2025
- Updated "How to open as a cat?":
*added another paragraph in the subsection concerning "Berserk-TF";
*minor tweaks to the previous paragraphs.

21/05/2025
- Updated "How to open as a cat?":
*minor tweaks to the section concerning our energy management during Berserk.

23/05/2025
- Updated "How to open as a cat?":
*added a subsection, where I discussed the solution to the syncing issue with STS.

24/05/2025 -26/05/2025
- Updated "How to open as a cat?":
*added links to more videos;
*added a paragraph in the subsection concerning the energy management during Berserk, where I talked about the advantage of "FB mid-Berserk";
*changed the colour of the ability order in some subsections;
*minor tweaks.

27/05/2025
- Updated "How to open as a cat?":
*removed the paragraph, where I briefly mentioned "Shred spam", "SR mid-Berserk", and "FB mid-Berserk";
*added two paragraphs dedicated to "Shred spam" and to "SR mid-Berserk" respectively;
*added a paragraph, where I clarified the energy investment for FB during Berserk.

29/05/2025
- Updated "How to open as a cat?":
*added colouration to the adjustable numbers in the quote window, where ppl can calculate the average CC proc amount during Berserk;
*added categorisation in the subsection concerning "Shred spam", "SR mid-Berserk", and "FB mid-Berserk";
*changed the names of "Shred spam" (to "FB-less Berserk") and "SR mid-Berserk" (to "FB-last Berserk");
*changed the "warning" transition between this section and the one concerning STS;
*minor tweaks to the subsection concerning STS;
*complete overhaul to the summary (added categorisation, a picture depicting a modified Freytag pyramid, and separated the information in smaller subcategories)
- Changed some "disclaimers" to "warnings".
- Changed the colour in "Consumables".

31/05/2025
- Updated "How to open as a cat?":
*updated the Freytag pyramid;
*split "general overview" into two separate subsections;
*added information for the "prologue" and the "epilogue" phases;
*added a more thorough description for the "resolution" phase.

01/06/2025
- Updated "How to open as a cat?":
*added two paragraphs where I described the necessity to skip FB in favour of Swipe (i.e. in AoE boss fights);
*updated the demonstration videos in the summary.

03/06/2025
- Updated "How to open as a cat?":
*updated the descriptions concerning the demonstration videos in the summary;
*added categorisation for each suggested opener;
*added a subsection where I described the characteristics of each suggested opener.

04/06/2025
- Updated "What's the value of a CP?":
*updated the subsection concerning 4-CP SR (I added more information about the situations where we need to go from a 4-CP to a 5-CP SR);
*minor tweaks to the other subsections.

06/06/2025
- Updated "What's the value of a CP?":
*added more information in the "general overview" subsection;
*added a second paragraph in the section titled "The fluidity of CP's value" where I explained that the CPs for FB are expendable;
*added a paragraph in the subsection concerning SR, where I explain the logic behind investments;
*minor tweaks to the other subsections.

07/06/2025
- Updated "What's the value of a CP?":
*deleted the redundant information in the subsection concerning the 4-CP and 4-CP SR;
*completely restructured the subsection where I compare FB with Rip;
*minor tweaks to the last subsection.
- Updated "FB. Energy investment and proper timing":
*minor tweaks to the "general overview" subsection.

08/06/2025
- Updated "FB. Energy investment and proper timing":
*added a few paragraphs where I explained the logic behind the optimal energy thresholds for the 5-CP and the 4-CP FBs.

10/06/2025
- Minor tweaks to "FB. Energy investment and proper timing".
- Updated "Different playstyles for a feral cat":
*added categorisation in the second subsection;
*added a paragraph where I discussed threat generation;
*added a paragraph where I discussed difficulty;
*minor tweaks.

11/06/2025
- Updated "Different playstyles for a feral cat":
*minor tweaks to the difficulty factor concerning bearweaving and flowershifting;
*minor stylistic tweaks to the paragraph concerning Wrathweaving;
- Updated "Pre-pull Savage Roar":
*minor tweaks to the warning text at the beginning;
*minor tweaks to the subsection where I explained the mechanics surrounding the setup for the pre--pull SR;
*added a small paragraph in the same subsection, where I mentioned the trick with despawning bosses;
*added a small paragraph in the same subsection, where I mentioned the trick with Shadowmeld;
*updated the video link in the subsection concerning the longer pre-pull SR;
*in the same subsection, I added a paragraph where I explained which items need to be obtained and from which boss;
*in the same subsection, I added a paragraph where I explained the specifics surrounding the hands slot;
*minor tweaks and stylistic changes in the other subsections.

12/06/2025
- Updated "Pre-pull Savage Roar":
*added a paragraph where I explained the usage of Divine Intervention;
*added the information that relogging resets one's CPs and trinket ICDs;
*added more videos;
*updated the subsection regarding RS (added proper categorisation, deleted redundant information);
*minor stylistic changes.

13/06/2025
- Updated "Pre-pull Savage Roar":
*changed the information in the paragraph concerning the Ogre Pinata, the Doomguard, and Mr. Pinchy.

14/06/2025
- Updated "Pre-pull Savage Roar":
*added categorisation in the subsection concerning RS;
*added more information.

16/06/2025
- Updated "Pre-pull Savage Roar":
*added categorisation in the subsection concerning ICC;
*added more paragraphs where I described the flaws of the Servants of the Throne;
*added two paragraphs, where I described the Fleshreapers;
*changed the video in the subsection where I describe how we can obtain CPs (still work in progress).

20/06/2025
- Updated "Pre-pull Savage Roar":
*added the part "Obtaining CPs" in the subsection concerning ICC;
*minor tweaks to the previous subsections.

21/06/2025
- Updated "Pre-pull Savage Roar":
*offered a better explanation concerning the scenario, where trinkets proc during the CP-generation process;
*added two paragraphs in the subsection concerning ICC (one for clearing the threat, the other - casting SR);
*deleted redundant information;
*added a dedicated subsection to the ogre pinata;
*minor tweaks to the other subsections.

22/06/2025
- Updated "Pre-pull Savage Roar":
*added more video links;
*added more information concerning the pinata.
- Removed the Midsummer "3% crit" from "Consumables".

24/06/2025
- Updated "Pre-pull Savage Roar":
*minor tweaks to the subsection concerning the feral openers.

26/06/2025
- Updated "Pre-pull Savage Roar":
*changed one of the "Berserk-TF" videos and added new commentary;
*added categorisation in the commentary of the videos with a shorter SR.

02/07/2025
- Updated "Tips for all 25-man instances":
*added a subsection where I explain general decision making during boss encounters;
*removed the disclaimers (due to aesthetics).

03/07/2025
- Updated "Pre-pull Savage Roar":
*added links to my theorycrafting thread.

**Kovachut** · June 14, 2022

BEARWEAVING
(SUPPLEMENT)

Table of Contents

Definition
Pros and Cons
Requirements
Talents
Add-on
BiS list for this manoeuvre
Mangleweaving vs Lacerateweaving
Utilising OoC procs in combat
Changelog

1. DEFINITION

Spoiler: Show

2. PROS AND CONS

Spoiler: Show

3. REQUIREMENTS

Spoiler: Show

In order to reap positive numbers, you need to fulfil the following requirements:

TF and Berserk are on CD;
in case of a CC proc:
-> if it's in cat form, stay a bit longer and utilise it on Shred before shapeshifting in bear form;
-> if it's in bear form, go back in cat form and utilise it on Shred;
before you shapeshift in bear form, your energy needs to be no more than:
-> 45 (in case you use one bear GCD like Mangle or Lacerate alongside bear and cat form);
-> 30 (in case you use two bear GCDs like Mangle or Lacerate alongside bear and cat form);
-> 15 (in case you use three bear GCDs like Mangle or Lacerate alongside bear and cat form);
Rip needs to expire before or after the bear cycle (depending on how many bear GCDs you plan on using alongside bear and cat form). E.g.:
-> Rip's duration needs to be longer than 4.5 sec if you go: bear form -> GCD -> cat form;
-> Rip's duration needs to be longer than 6 sec if you go: bear form -> GCD -> GCD -> cat form;
-> Rip's duration needs to be longer than 7.5 sec if you go: bear form -> GCD -> GCD -> GCD -> cat form;
if energy or CC procs are not a factor worth considering, and your rage is:
-> 15+, cast Mangle (assuming it's off CD);
-> 10+ and/or Mangle is on CD, cast Maul;
-> less than 10, shapeshift out of bear form and immediately back in it in order to get more rage from http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=17061. You can then follow it up with a quick Maul.

Disclaimer: Keep in mind that those are the general requirements for bearweaving. If you want to integrate Lacerate into your rotation, then the list becomes a bit more complicated.

After dumping your energy in cat form with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=50334, your goal is to go in bear form and get 5 Lacerate stacks as fast as possible. If you get a CC proc while in bear form, and Lacerate isn't maxed out yet, you need to use it on the bear bleed. After exhausting your rage and/or reaching 75 energy in bear form, you need to go back in cat form and utilise the energy. From that moment on, you need to fulfil the following, additional requirements:

with 13+ rage and Lacerate expiring in 6 sec or less, refresh Lacerate. This is your number 1 priority in bear;
never let Lacerate fall off unless:
-> the boss dies soon (try to get the 5th tick one or two seconds before that happens);
-> the boss fight lasts longer than 3 mins, and you need to use Berserk. If possible, use the second Berserk in the last 15-20 seconds, so that you get more Lacerate ticks between both Berserks;
you don't have a CC proc in bear form, but there are two exceptions:
-> Lacerate will expire in 6 seconds or less (I'm accounting human error);
-> Lacerate is not at 5 stacks yet.

4. TALENTS

Spoiler: Show

5. ADD-ON

Spoiler: Show

6. BIS LIST FOR THIS MANOEUVRE

Spoiler: Show

7. MANGLEWEAVING VS LACERATEWEAVING

Spoiler: Show

I. General overview

Advantages of Lacerateweaving:

Lacerate inflicts more damage than Mangle due to the fact that:
-> it can ignore armour which is really good for people with low amount of Arp;
-> it has more multipliers and thus it benefits from AP/"% damage increase" snapshot effects a lot more.

Disadvantages of Lacerateweaving:

Requires long ramp-up time to reach 5 stacks:
-> failing to refresh the bleed on time would force the player to build it anew;
-> getting a CC proc beforehand could force the player to spend it on Lacerate, effectively depriving him of a Shred with CPs;
-> This playstyle is very susceptible to boss mechanics, from which the player loses control over his character.
There's a risk of cat bleeds being synced with Lacerate.
The additional micromanagement can overburden the player with information and lead to mistakes.

Commentary:
There are two variations of bearweaving: One is centered around Mangle, while the other - around Lacerate, and the latter has the potential to offer more damage. The explanation for why this is the case is simple - it beats Mangle in the long term. The longer the fight lasts, the more 5-stack ticks you'd reap from the bear bleed, and the damage would just snowball from there. Moreover, during Naxx and Ulduar Arp is not a stat worth gemming for, which makes Lacerate's ability to bypass armour even more alluring. All of this might sound quite amazing for Lacerateweaving, however I'd like to point out the potential "issues" surrounding this technique.

First of all, it cannot be used in every single boss encounter. Unlike Rake and Rip, the bear bleed should never be dropped - doing so would force the player to build it from scratch. At most, you can only get four ticks from the bleed before you refresh it - the fifth should register when the boss is about to die. For reference, it takes four 3-stack ticks from Lacerate to do the same amount of damage as Mangle (bear). This means that in boss fights, where certain mechanics could disrupt this DoT, Lacerate would be illadvised. Here's how I'd categorise them:

fights with target switching - think of Professor Putricide (oozes), the Lich King (raging spirits, valks), and many encounters in ToC/ToGC. Since tunnel-visioning would lead to important adds not being killed on time and thus to wipes, you cannot afford to stay on the bosses and maintain Lacerate. Moreover, the adds themselves don't last that long, so your Lacerate on them would never gain any value over Mangle.
fights with temporary boss immunity/fleeing - think of Razorscale (air phase), Mimiron (transition phases), Sindragosa (air phase), and the Lich King (transition phases and the Frostmourne chamber). Again, you won't have the possibility to refresh Lacerate before it expires.
fights with Crowd Control - think of Maexxna, Lord Marrowgar (HC), Lady Deathwhisper (HC), Sindragosa (getting tombed in the last phase). This actually has two negative effects -- not only are you unable to use cat abilities for a specific amount of time, but your energy also continues to regenerate. Even if such temporary incapacitation phase doesn't last that long, and you desperately try to refresh Lacerate after regaining control of your character, you'd inevitably lose valuable energy by postponing your cat cycles.

The story, however, doesn't end there. Since Lacerate is a bear ability and since each bearshifting cycle lasts at least 4.5 seconds, refreshing the cat bleeds would prove to be difficult if by chance they're synced with the bear DoT. Prior to obtaining 4pt10, loss of a Rake tick might not be something devastating (it's equal to one 5-stack Lacerate tick), however a Rip tick is equal to two 5-stack Lacerate ticks regardless of patch. With 4pt10 present, a loss of a single Rake tick also nullifies the damage gain from two 5-stack Lacerate ticks. Now, it's true that the cat player can refresh Lacerate after 2-3 ticks (6-11 seconds) and not necessarily after 4 (12-14) if the conditions aren't optimal, though this minimises the benefits of the current Lacerate iteration and doesn't prevent the same happening again later.

I'd like to talk about the presence of CC procs for a bit. If a person obtains one from the first bear swing, he would be in an awkward situation. Using it on Lacerate, just so he keeps it going, would mean wasted energy and would defeat the purpose of the bear cycle. Like, the point of going bear is to fill passive, AA-ing time with bear abilities. If one uses a CC proc on Lacerate, then he trades potential energy for rage. This might not be an issue for low-geared people, who could get an extra Mangle or Maul from the newly acquired resource, but people with ICC gear wouldn't need it because their first bear AA would be a critial strike more often than not which would grant them all the rage they could ever need. Using the CC proc on Lacerate wouldn't encourage those players to stay longer in bear form because they would swap back to cat form in order to avoid overcapping their energy anyway. In this sense, a misused CC proc would mean wasted Shred damage with CPs. For reference, with ICC gear a Shred is equal to 15k, average CP-value - 5k (assuming those are used on FB in the long run), whereas four 5-stack Lacerate ticks - 12k. Though, I should mention that that even with ICC gear bearweavers are discouraged from biting the boss too often, so CPs lose their value anyway (compare using FB at 10 seconds of Rip and SR duration vs 6 seconds vs not using FB at all).

My point is that Lacerate, despite offering more damage to the player than a plain Mangle (bear), makes him less flexible in case of:
- boss mechanics;
- synced duration of the cat bleeds with the bear DoT;
- sudden CC procs and/or energy from TF.

Now you're starting to see why I was never a fan of Lacerateweaving in the first place. It just goes against everything we're used to doing while playing as a cat. Unlike Mangleweaving, which stays true to its roots with occasional shifting in bear form, Lacerateweaving warps the entire cat playstyle around the bear bleed. Here comes the factor of personal preference once again - by knowing the advantages and disadvantages of this playstyle, you can decide for yourselves what you'd prefer - an ongoing bleed that should never be dropped or plain burst, which can be timed whenever you deem the conditions to be optimal. The good thing about Mangleweaving is that you can delay it by a few seconds, in order to preserve a Rip tick and the CC proc, whereas Lacerateweaving doesn't give you such flexibility.

II. Actual tips

Lacerateweaving w/ Enrage:

go to 10-30 energy;
turn bear and immediately cast Enrage + bear AA;
Lacerate;
Maul;
Lacerate (or Mangle if your Lacerate is already at 5 stacks);
Maul;
go back in cat form.

Lacerateweaving w/o Enrage:

go to 10-45 energy;
turn bear and swing with a normal bear AA;
Lacerate;
Maul;
/if your rage and energy permit it/ queue a Lacerate+Maul or Mangle+Maul combo;
go back in cat form.

Note: If you're in bear form and get a CC proc, you can use it on Lacerate if it's not at 5 stacks already and/or it would expire in less than 6 seconds. This goes to people with Naxx and Ulduar gear; personally I don't recommend Lacerateweaving to players with better gear.

Mangleweaving w/ Enrage (can only be achieved with 1/3http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=17106 if you have low amount of crit or w/o that talent but with ICC gear):

go to 10-40 energy;
turn bear and immediately cast Enrage + Maul so that you align it with the first bear swing;
Mangle;
Maul;
go back in cat form.

Note: The main reason why the bear cycle needs to be that short is to minimise the ordinary bear AAs as much as possible, since they resemble the weakest part of that rotation. Normally, ordinary bear swings are your only source of rage outside of Enrage, but with this manoeuvre you can bypass this requirement. Moreover, this cycle packs only the necessary abilities and is quite short. Because of this, you can go back in cat form, dump your energy and follow it up with another Mangleweave right afterwards. Lastly, this minimises the risk of unwanted CC procs midway through the bear cycle.

Mangleweaving w/o Enrage (remaining cases):

go to 10-40 energy;
turn bear and swing with a normal bear AA;
Mangle;
Maul;
go back in cat form.

Note: If you have enough rage, you can follow it up with Lacerate. In the next bear cycles, you can repeat this and try to get your Lacerate to 5 stacks and play a Lacerate game from there, but the moment the conditions become suboptimal, continue with plain Mangleweaving.

Enrage AoE (min. 3 targets):

go to 10-40 energy;
turn bear, cast Enrage, and inflict a bear AA;
Swipe;
Maul;
Swipe;
Maul;
go back in cat form.

Note: If there's a Fury Warrior or another Feral Druid in the raid, cast GotW instead. Save Enrage for single-target. Any CC procs should be used on the cat Swipe.

8. UTILISING OOC PROCS IN COMBAT

Spoiler: Show

9. CHANGELOG

Spoiler: Show

**Kovachut** · June 18, 2022

GOTVV-SHIFT
(SUPPLEMENT)

How it feels:

Stimulate your parses.

Table of Contents

Definition
Pros and Cons
Requirements
Demonstration
Talents
Add-on
Macros
BiS list for this manoeuvre
Practice makes better
Utilising OoC procs in combat
Attack speed modifiers
Timing FB with the GotVV-shift
Extras - super niche tips for dedicated minmaxers
Not an exploit
Final thoughts
Changelog

1. DEFINITION

Spoiler: Show

2. PROS AND CONS

Spoiler: Show

Pros:

We gain a CP or two (in case of crit)
-> in the long run, this can be used to squeeze in a FB;
-> in the short run, this can help us refresh SR or Rip faster if either of those abilities are about to expire.
Shred is stronger than one AA, and on average it can even compensate 3 lost AAs.
The probability to proc a CC is higher with GotW than relying on AAs to do the job. Sometimes waiting for AAs to proc a CC would result in less damage if those end up whiffing.

Cons:

Casting GotW doesn't guarantee a success 100% of the time. If this powershift ends up whiffing, we'd have to spend another GCD to do this again. As a result, more AAs would be sacrificed, and we might lose some energy if the latter reaches the caps declared by http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=17059 while we're in caster form.
Getting a CC proc before or after the powershift would result in us losing AA damage for nothing.
By exiting cat form, other members lose our 5% melee crit aura.

Unsolved drawback in the old 3.3.5 client:

Spoiler: Show

The conclusions in this subsection are explained in full detail here (general pros and cons), here (displaying the chance for a CC from an AA via /rolling), and here (the post concerning the 5% melee crit aura + the following two posts afterwards).

3. REQUIREMENTS

Spoiler: Show

4. DEMONSTRATION

Spoiler: Show

I. Variations in terms of difficulty

Easy

Quick description:

/cast Gift of the Wild
you don't need to worry about syncing the druid buff with the cat swing all that much;
once in neutral form, you autoattack with your current weapon (= you trade de-facto 2.4 cat AAs for a swing with a staff or 3.6 in case of Oathbinder)
the weakest variation.

Medium

Quick decription:

/cast Gift of the Wild /stopattack
timing the druid buff matters here because this determines how big the damage gain will be;
a small reaction window is necessary in case you get a lucky CC proc after the cat AA;
2nd strongest variation.

Hard

Quick description:

/cast Gift of the Wild
timing the druid buff matters here because this determines how big the damage gain will be;
a small reaction window is necessary in case you get a lucky CC proc after the cat AA;
you need to swap your idols the moment you go back in cat form (read "Extras" for more info);
the strongest variation.

Disclaimer: In terms of damage output, the hierarchical order remains "swing reset" > "/stopattack" > "uninterrupted swing" from Naxx all the way to ICC & RS. However, should you have a 2.4-speed weapon (e.g. http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40388, http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=45613, http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=47463 etc), the delay caused by human error cannot be longer than 0.4 seconds, otherwise both the "/stopattack" and the "swing reset" variations become worse than the "uninterrupted swing". For example, if you attack in cat form, /cast GotW 0.3 seconds later and immediatelly shapeshift back the moment the GCD ends, you can perform anything you desire, but the damage gain from the first two types wouldn't be that high. If you cast it with a bigger delay, then you'd be better off sitting through the long swing timer. With http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50735, on the other hand, the player is actually encouraged to interrupt the swing (timer). Doing so grants them a generous reward and offers them a lot of leeway for human error (0.7-0.8 seconds).

The math behind those conclusions is posted here and here.

II. Actual showcase

Disclaimer: I want to make something perfectly clear. I don't consider myself the best pilot for this technique or for the cat spec in general. You are going to see some misplays, and I'm going to comment on them. However, just because you are about to see suboptimal execution from me, that doesn't mean that the GotVV-shift is bad. The entire criticism should be directed towards the pilot, not the technique! Having clarified that, I will continue: