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Feral Druid Tank Statistics Priority and Reforging (WoW 4.3.4)

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In this article, we explain what the best statistics are for Feral Druids (WoW 4.3), how the class benefits from each of them, and what your reforging strategy should be. We also detail what the various caps are and why they should be attained. The statistics priority is important as it influences reforging strategies as well as itemisation choices (gear, enchants, and gems).

Make sure to check our Gear Optimisation Guide, which serves as a support guide for this article. The other articles of our Feral Druid guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

1. Basics↑top

The stat priority for a Feral Druid tank is:

  1. Stamina (until you have about 9,000);
  2. Agility;
  3. Dodge Rating = Mastery Rating;
  4. Critical Strike Rating;
  5. Hit Rating (until cap) and Expertise Rating;
  6. Haste Rating.

If you are unsure what the optimal reforging strategy is for this priority, please refer to the reforging section of our Gear Optimisation Guide.

2. Getting a Better Understanding↑top

You should have enough Stamina to allow you to survive any unavoidable and unmitigatable attacks (mostly magic attacks). Before any raid buffs or consumables, 8,000-9,000 Stamina is sufficient for this, in most cases. This means that, at any decent gear level, you will not have to go out of your way to get Stamina. The Stamina which is present on your gear, and that which you gain through Stamina enchants (which have no other viable alternative), should be sufficient.

Stamina also indirectly boosts the benefit of Savage Defense Icon Savage Defense, since it increases the amount of attack power you can gain from Vengeance Icon Vengeance, which in turn increases the size of the shields from Savage Defense.

Agility is by far your best survival and threat statistic. Agility increases your attack power (which boosts your gain from Savage Defense Icon Savage Defense), your critical strike chance (which increases the proc rate of Savage Defense) and your chance to dodge attacks.

Dodge Rating is an excellent statistic and it represents your only form of damage avoidance (since you cannot parry). As a Feral Druid tank, you should always seek to increase your chance to dodge.

Mastery Rating is also an excellent damage mitigation statistic. Additional Mastery Rating increases the size of the shields from Savage Defense, making the damage you take more predictable and making it easier for you to be healed.

Critical Strike Rating increases the proc chance of Savage Defense, but you should never prioritise this statistic. This is because, point for point, both Agility and Mastery Rating are more valuable in improving your Savage Defense. Dodge Rating will offer better damage reduction than the increase to Savage Defense that Critical Strike Rating provides.

Hit Rating and Expertise Rating improve your threat generation as well as your absorption from Savage Defense (the more attacks you land, the greater the chance of proccing Savage Defense). Despite this, you should never prioritise these statistics.

Haste Rating is your worst statistic. It increases your attack speed, theoretically improving your chance to proc Savage Defense, but its benefits are not worthy of consideration.

2.1. Dodge Rating Versus Mastery Rating

The choice between prioritising Dodge Rating or Mastery Rating is not very simple.

The drawbacks of Dodge Rating are two-fold:

  • After a certain level, your chance to dodge (whether it be increased by Dodge Rating or Agility) begins to suffer rather heavy diminishing returns. This means that the higher your chance to dodge is, the less each point of Dodge Rating will increase it further.
  • Dodging attacks makes it hard for healers to predict the damage you take, and can often lead to either overhealing or to you dropping dangerously low on health (in the case of a string of no dodges).

Mastery Rating's drawback is that, unlike the masteries of other tanking classes, the amount of damage that you mitigate through it does not scale at all with the damage you are taking. That is to say, no matter how hard the boss is hitting you for, your absorbs from Savage Defense Icon Savage Defense will always be capped by your own statistics. This puts you at a disadvantage in truly difficult encounters.




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