Angry Cat Noises
Ok, so at level 77 I’m probably a little late on this. My only defense is that I’ve been training skills whenever I feel like it and usually not until I start having trouble killing things.
Anyway, last night I had the pleasure of running Violet Hold and then completing the Amphlitheatre of Anguish quests… and I ran as DPS. It’s been a while since I’ve run as DPS and there was one very telling difference to my rotation.
Angry cat noises.
If you’re feral, and you’ve reached at least level 75 you’ve probably noticed you have a sparkly new skill you have to make room on your cast bar for (I think I ditched Pounce so I could make room). This skill would, of course, be Savage Roar.
Savage Roar Rank 1
25 Energy 100 yd range
Instant
Requires Cat Form
Finishing move that increases attack power by 40%. Lasts longer per combo point:
1 point : 14 seconds
2 points: 19 seconds
3 points: 24 seconds
4 points: 29 seconds
5 points: 34 seconds
Now, I’m not much for crunching raw numbers and making magic pop out. I’ll leave that to those with the patience to do so. The way I enjoy theorycrafting has absolutely nothing to do with theory.
I enjoy going out and seeing what happens!
Last night was the first time I ever worked Savage Roar into my attack cycle. My first impressions were giddy laughter at the sound effect. Like the title states, it’s angry cat noises, sounds that harken back to my days spent glued to the Discovery Channel… I sounded like a savage wild kitty out of deepest Africa!
So, about halfway through Violet Hold I decided to bring my Recount up. I always have it running, but I don’t always have it showing. I figured, hey, as fun as this skill sounds, if it’s hurting my DPS I don’t really want to be using it. So I brought up Recount.
Savage Roar was not hurting my DPS. It was very much doing the opposite. I was, specced somewhat will-he nill-he in a messy hybrid leveling build, pulling 1,300 solid dps at lvl 77.
I also dominated the DPS chart.
Let me repeat, for the first time in my entire furry feral life I was dominating DPS. It felt good. It felt damn good.
Now, I was running with a warrior, a priest, and two warlocks. Warlocks are supposed to be monsters when it comes to DPS. One was 77 like me and the other was 74. I don’t know what specs they were running, but I do know that after last night they’re re-tooling to see how they do.
That’s fine, I’m not looking to get into any epeen contests at this point in the game. I am simply reveling in the fact that, specced messey hybrid as I am, I’m finally able to pull out a respectable amount of DPS when called for.
A few notes on my spec and attack sequence:
- I’m specced for mangle spam. I haven’t invested many (if any) points into the skills that make Shred worthwhile. I’m usually grinding mobs on my own, tanking, or in PvP. In all those situations I can’t really be bothered with proper positioning, so mangle-spam is best for me at this point in time.
- I don’t pounce, I don’t ever really use Ravage either. It’s just personal playstyle that, and if I start to DPS in 10 and 25-man dungeons Ravage will probably become my opener of choice.
My attack sequence usually looks like the following:
- Mangle
- Rake
- Mangle to 5 combo points
- Savage Roar
- Rake
- Mangle to 5 combo points
- Ferocious Bite
- Insert Tiger’s Fury whenever it’s off Cooldown and I’m low on energy
- Berserk whenever I feel like it
- Repeat
You’ll notice the omission of Rip. This isn’t because I think Rip isn’t worthwhile. Honestly, I have no idea if it’s better or worse than Ferocious Bite. I just use Ferocious Bite because when I’m grinding by myself one good FB crit will finish off whatever I’m fighting. I have it arranged on my cast bar so that it’s convenient and I didn’t feel like re-arranging things for that instance. Now, if I get to go DPS something else I’ll replace FB with Rip and see what that does, but I’m not going to sit and crunch numbers.
Suffice to say, Pre-Savage Roar I was piddling about at 700-800 DPS. Now I’m pulling 1,200-1,300 DPS.
So roar kitties! Roar to the skies! *myao-waaah-yoooow!*
I will be spending Thanksgiving with my family. WoW time will be limited and most likely blogging will be non-existant. I hope everyone has a happy holidays and drive safely!