PvE Feral Tank Druid Best Professions

PvE Feral Tank Druid

Gems, Enchants & Consumables

Stat Priority & Reforging

Best Professions

Pre-Raid Gear

Rotation & Cooldowns

Talents, Builds & Glyphs

Best in Slot (BiS)

Addons & Macros

Professions in Cataclysm aren’t just about gold making endeavors or some rare BoP recipe that might get replaced in no time. Each profession now has its own impacts on stats, specialized cooldowns, or other effects that can impact your DPS in a significant way! The buffs from said professions are fairly standardized, though, and so outside of the top or bottom few picks they’ll all be very similar in terms of output gained.

Best Professions

• Engineering is going to be the strongest option by a mile for impacts on your DPS as well as giving you certain utility options as well. Synapse Springs is going to be enormous for when we’re in cat form as we scale particularly well from raw agility. Further, being able to control when this happens lets us amplify our damage output during Bloodlust or other burst windows. You’ll also have Nitro Boosts to give you yet another personal movement speed buff.
• Leatherworking is going to be a fairly rock solid option as you have the benefit of being able to craft some of your own gear as well as apply Draconic Embossment – Stamina for an extra 75 Stamina over other professions.
• Alchemy is another good money-maker, as what’s going to produce more demand than consumable product that’s necessary for high-end content? It will also offer the standard +120 Stamina bonus with Mixology as well as an increase to the length of flasks – saving us money. If you want to invest in yourself a little bit in the early-game you’ll also have the option to craft a Lifebound Alchemist Stone, which is a decent starter trinket for a tank.

Useful Professions

• Blacksmithing is a notable entry as it gives us two extra gem slots with Socket Gloves and Socket Bracer. This offers a standard bonus In terms of stats for now, but when better gems are released later on in the expansion it might be worth revisiting as the bonus will be slightly larger. If you want to go with it for now that’s a perfectly fine decision as it’ll produce decent intro gear and items other players/crafters will find useful.
• Enchanting is usually a pretty safe bet early on in an expansion’s life as people are upgrading gear on a fairly regular basis. The downside being it can be a bit expensive or frustrating to level to the very top early on as it requires blue/purple items disenchanted to reach its peak. Whether you choose to make use of this profession for a bonus to stamina or agility, it’ll net out to a standard amount.
• Inscription got a big buff in Cataclysm that made it offer actual necessary power bonuses to classes/specs through their glyphs. This is basically the only time in the history of the game where the profession is somewhat relevant, sadly, so if you have a soft spot for the profession – now would be the time to try it. You’ll get a standard +80 agility bonus with Swiftsteel Inscription or +120 stamina with Inscription of the Earth Prince.
• Jewelcrafting definitely belongs a mention on this list for its sheer money-making capabilities as well as offering a quirky little bonus over other professions. You’ll be able to craft special gems for your own use from Chimera’s Eye, and have a total of 3 of these slotted into your gear at any one time. You can cut these into either Delicate Inferno Ruby or Solid Chimera’s Eye for +81 agility or +123 stamina respectively.
• Tailoring is going to offer another strong option with their cloak enchantment procing a massive 1000 attack power buff for 15 seconds! Swordguard Embroidery is only able to be used by a tailor, and the downside is it isn’t a proc that can be controlled, sadly. That said, it is definitely a large amount of burst damage when it does proc, and it lasts awhile.
• Mining offers a buff to survivability with Toughness. So, you get a decent survivability buff as well as money making opportunities with being able to harvest sought after ore and gems!

Sub-Par Professions

• Herbalism has the Lifeblood ability, which grants a flat haste buff when used. Sadly, haste is one of our worst stats, and it in no way compares to a raw +80 agility like the other professions offer as a basline.
• Skinning is another one where it offers a secondary stat instead of primary, and it’s one we don’t particularly want to boot. Master of Anatomy gives us +80 crit rating, which is nothing to write home about. Plus, doesn’t it feel a bit rude to be skinning animals for profit when we’re Druids?