Post AV - Feral DPS BiS List

[Grayclaw]

BiS Feral DPS gear of latest patch:

Head: Mask of the Unforgiven (Strat)
Neck: Onyxia Tooth Pendant (Ony)
Shoulders: Truestrike Shoulders (UBRS)
Back: Cape of the Black Baron (Strat)
Chest: Cadaverous Armor (Scholo)
Wrist: Wristguards of Stability (MC)
Hands: Devilsaur Gauntlets (Crafted)
Belt: Cloudrunner Girdle (LBRS)
Legs: Devilsaur Leggings (Crafted)
Feet: Swiftwalker Boots (BRD)
Rings: Quickstrike Ring (MC), Band of Accuria (MC), Don Julio's Band (AV-Exalted)
Trinkets: Blackhand's Breadth (Quest), Hand of Justice (BRD)
Weapon: The Unstoppable Force (AV-Exalted)

Discuss!!! Also, let me know if you think there are any items I missed here that should be included/replaced.

[mindbullets]

I agree with this list for the most part. A few thoughts:

Best in slot weapon? I think it's probably Bonecrusher (DM West quest). It gains 11 Strength for 1% Crit over The Unstoppable Force. That 11 Strength is worth 26.6 AP in cat form, which, if we value crit the same as rogues (1% Crit ~ 20 AP), then Bonecrusher should be slightly better.

Since, as far as I know, feral druids do not benefit from the 2% extra attack chance on Hand of Justice, wouldn't Counterattack Lodestone (DM North Tribute) be better since it has 2 more AP?

Also, Rune of the Guard Captain (Hinterlands quest) should be added to trinkets for Horde only since you only hit cap with this list if you have Band of Accuria. That 1% hit and +20 AP makes it a strong piece to mix in to reach 9% hit. I have a feeling Rune of the Guard Captain + Mark of Fordring is about as good as Onyxia Tooth Pendant + Counterattack Lodestone, since you should be using Blackhand's Breadth in the 2nd trinket slot (unless you took Mark of Tyranny for tanking, of course). I don't really see any other gear combinations that make the neck better, even though statwise it beats everything else available.

[Grayclaw]

On the weapon point: I'm currently testing Unstoppable Force vs. Bonecrusher right now, but my thinking is that the extra 1% crit for -26ap may be worth it as it would account for more yellow crits, faster combo point generation, more 5pt ferocious bites.

On trinket point: Hand of Justice proc does work for feral druids, i've confirmed that it procs in cat/bear form. While it doesn't give the same benefit it would for a weapon wielding rogue/warrior, the extra white hit still does up feral dps.

On neck point: I've heard feral hit cap is around 8% or 9%, so I think having the +hit on neck would allow you to equip a potentially better item in another slot that you currently use for just the +hit benefit.

[mindbullets]

That's interesting about Hand of Justice; I didn't know it worked for druids in form. That means it should be better than everything else available except maybe Blackhand's Breadth and Rune of the Guard Captain.

I also think you're right that druids value crit a little more than rogues because of the extra combo point generation. I imagine the overall difference in PvE DPS for these two weapons is marginal and maybe even negligible.

[Lorilay]

That's interesting about Hand of Justice; I didn't know it worked for druids in form. That means it should be better than everything else available except maybe Blackhand's Breadth and Rune of the Guard Captain.

I also think you're right that druids value crit a little more than rogues because of the extra combo point generation. I imagine the overall difference in PvE DPS for these two weapons is marginal and maybe even negligible.

It does work, although it technically shouldn't (just like +weapon damage enchants). So just keep in mind that it might get fixed at some point in the distant future.

[tunguska]

The +weapon damage enchants also worked in retail! Though it could have been a bug then too. I also remember this being quite good for a feral in retail, and farming for it at that time:

http://www.wowhead.com/item=21189/might-of-cenarius

[Stalk]

That's interesting about Hand of Justice; I didn't know it worked for druids in form. That means it should be better than everything else available except maybe Blackhand's Breadth and Rune of the Guard Captain.

I also think you're right that druids value crit a little more than rogues because of the extra combo point generation. I imagine the overall difference in PvE DPS for these two weapons is marginal and maybe even negligible.

It does work, although it technically shouldn't (just like +weapon damage enchants). So just keep in mind that it might get fixed at some point in the distant future.

It technically should. The trinket does not modify the weapon with its buff. It is an aura on the player such that whenever a melee hit occurs there is a chance for the occurrence of an extra attack. The real problem is that it does not generate the extra attack like it should on special attacks.

[Lorilay]

The +weapon damage enchants also worked in retail! Though it could have been a bug then too. I also remember this being quite good for a feral in retail, and farming for it at that time:

http://www.wowhead.com/item=21189/might-of-cenarius

Actually, it didn't work in retail. I tested it extensively at the time, and you won't find it mentioned in the elitist jerks feral thread until well after TBC was released. The first item that did increase weapon damage in feral forms came out in TBC (crystalforged trinket) and was ridiculously overpowered for being such a low item level, leading to its nerf (also note that the trinket had different wording than +weapon damage items, saying +melee attack instead). Think about it...+9 damage to weapon would be 126AP for an enchant, which is stupidly overpowered. You'd think someone would have mentioned it if it actually worked, rather than listing +strength as the best dps enchant available.

Evidence: http://thedruidsgrove.org/archive/wow/t-11401.html

[Stalk]

The +weapon damage enchants also worked in retail! Though it could have been a bug then too. I also remember this being quite good for a feral in retail, and farming for it at that time:

http://www.wowhead.com/item=21189/might-of-cenarius

Actually, it didn't work in retail. I tested it extensively at the time, and you won't find it mentioned in the elitist jerks feral thread until well after TBC was released. The first item that did increase weapon damage in feral forms came out in TBC (crystalforged trinket) and was ridiculously overpowered for being such a low item level, leading to its nerf (also note that the trinket had different wording than +weapon damage items, saying +melee attack instead). Think about it...+9 damage to weapon would be 126AP for an enchant, which is stupidly overpowered. You'd think someone would have mentioned it if it actually worked, rather than listing +strength as the best dps enchant available.

Evidence: http://thedruidsgrove.org/archive/wow/t-11401.html

The +weapon damage from weightstones in feral forms were an addition of patch 2.4 in TBC when all of the Haste rating gear was normalized. Server emulation is currently a backport of TBC private server core so it probably exists in this state due to being a relic that was never investigated. All the other +weapon damage bonuses had existed in TBC ever since feral weapons received the +AP in Cat and Bear Form modifiers.