Feral Druid DPS Stat Priority – WoW Classic: Season of Mastery

Finding DPS stat weights

The most common way of balancing stats is to compare them to one common stat, setting the scale for all of them. This is usually done with Attack Power. Thereby, we consider Attack Power to equal 1, and every other stat is compared to it. For example, 1 Strength gives 2.4 Attack Power in Cat Form (including Heart of the Wild) so Strength = 2.4 Attack Power. Note that, on Alliance, Blessing of Kings increases your Strength by 10%, so Strength = 2.64 Attack Power.

With other DPS stats, this is a little bit less clear-cut; Agility increases your Critical Strike chance as well as your Attack Power. For stats like these, we use simulation tools. These tools use maths to determine how much DPS is increased by 1 attack power. Then, they determine how much DPS is increased by 1 Agility. They then determine the equivalent Attack Power (or eAP) of these stats by comparing these values; if 1 Attack Power increases your DPS by 1, and 1 Agility increases your DPS by 3, then 1 Agility = 3 equivalent Attack Power (note these numbers are made up for ease of understanding). I should note here that the simulation tool we use for Feral DPS, and therefore the source of the information in this guide, is developed by Nerdegghead from the Druid Classic Discord. Big props to them for all their hard work!

Feral Druid DPS stat weights for Season of Mastery Phase 1

Putting that all together, we come to a list of stat weights that show us the value of each stat relative to Attack Power. These weights are for a Feral DPS using Pummelers and a Bite-only rotation in Phase 1 BiS gear on a 3 minute fight. This list is designed for Alliance players with Blessing of Kings, meaning the value of Strength and Agility are 10% higher than for Horde. Credit for these weights again go to Nerdegghead, who designed the simulation tool I used to produce them.

• Attack Power = 1
• Strength = 2.64
• Agility = 2.76
• 1% Hit Chance = 32.04
• 1% Crit Chance = 30.16
• 1% Haste = 13.87

Do note that while Stamina does not add any DPS, it can be very useful on DPS classes to survive certain AoE or other raid damage mechanics. I personally add a 1 Stamina = 0.2 AP weight when looking at gear, just to show it has some value. I recommend everyone does something similar, but the numerical value is completely subjective and can be adjusted.

Also note that there is no need to reach hit cap. Many people believe that all DPS players must reach 9% hit so that their abilities no longer miss. However, missing your abilities every now and then has a quantifiable average DPS loss, which can be outweighed with an average DPS gain from other stats. There is no reason for a DPS player to value hit chance more than its calculated DPS contribution. So just wear your best gear, and remember that hit cap is a limit, not a goal; wearing hit above 9% has no value whatsoever. The only relevance of hit cap is that it can restrict your gearing as some strong pieces will not be usable due to having too much hit chance in other places.

For the very best results, you should use these simulation tools yourself for your character, with the buffs, debuffs, consumables and gear you have access to. Since stat weights depend on your character’s current stats, finding personalized stat weights will always be more accurate. These tools are available freely on the Druid Classic discord server.

Still, simply using reliable BiS lists is not likely to put you at any disadvantage, particularly since there are very few strong gear choices for Ferals. If you are not interested in using simulation tools and spreadsheets to make ultimately inconsequential gearing decisions, that’s up to you!