Gear
Onyx Annulet and Primordial Stones
Patch 10.0.7 introduced the Onyx Annulet, a Ring with no Secondary Stats that you can socket Primordial Stones into to get a variety of different bonuses based on what Stones you opt into.
The ring starts off at a base Item Level of 405, but scales with the Item Level of the Stones socketed into it, making it Item Level 424 with maxed out Stones socketed. This only increases the Stamina it gives, as the effects of the Primordial Stones themselves only scales with their own individual Item Levels.
It is worth noting that the effects of the Primordial Stones essentially do not scale at all with target count, so their value is diminished the more targets that are present when compared to other Rings that simply give you Secondary Stats.
The 3 Stones that are currently best for Feral are:
- Freezing Ice Stone: A very straightforward damage proc which also slows your target (though that is essentially entirely irrelevant).
- Desirous Blood Stone: A damage proc that also heals you.
- Prophetic Twilight Stone: The most interesting stone, this one causes your healing effects from your other Stones to trigger one of your damaging effects. The reason this is so good is that
- Desirous Blood Stone’s damage proc also counts as a heal, meaning that whenever either of your Stones proc, the other one is guaranteed to as well, effectively doubling your DPS gains from your first two Stones, giving you the value of four Stones for the cost of three.
Tier Set
In the second Raid Tier, Tier Set Bonuses still do not affect gameplay for Feral Druids. The 2-Set Bonus is a stacking main Stat buff proc chance on auto-attacks that has an increasing chance to reset the higher you go. The 4-Set Bonus grants a buff that gives you a small amount of main stat and occasional free Combo Points when the buff granted by the 2-Set resets. This Tier Set Bonuses is currently underwhelming both in terms of gameplay and output. Ideally, you’d want to track the 4-Set Bonus and make sure to not be capped on Combo Points whenever you’re about to get a free one, which is every 1.5s. The ideal pieces we want this time around are Head, Shoulders, Chest and Gloves.
In the first Raid Tier, Tier Set Bonuses do not affect gameplay for Feral Druids. The 2-Set Bonus increases the damage of Ferocious Bite and Rip by 5%, and the 4-Set Bonus grants 1% Critical Strike per Combo Point spent for 5 seconds when using finishers. To maximize the 4-Set Bonus, it's best to pool Energy before using finishers and fit as many GCDs as possible within the 5-second buff window. Priority should be given to obtaining the 4-Set Bonus, and the ideal pieces to aim for are Chest, Shoulders, Gloves, and Legs, as a crafted helm will be discussed in the next section.
Crafted Gear
With the new Dragonflight expansion, there is an overhauled crafting system that includes powerful crafted gear. Players can obtain a Spark of Ingenuity every two weeks to craft a piece of Epic quality gear from one of the crafting professions. Some of these items have their own unique Embellishments, while others can have one of a set list of Embellishments added to them, with a maximum of 2 being able to be equipped at once. The initial item level cap is 392, but it can be increased to 405 or 418 with Primal Infusion or Concentrated Primal Infusion, respectively, making them useful for a long time.
There are a few ways to approach crafting, such as crafting your BiS pieces early on and simply sitting on them for the entire patch, perhaps recrafting them at some point to increase their Item Level. The approach I would recommend, for the sake of progression, is to craft the most significant upgrade you can every single time you have a craft available. This approach will ensure you’re as strong as possible at every given point while naturally guiding you toward your BiS pieces. It's important to note that while these pieces are technically "Best in Slot," the Embellishments have relatively minor gains and the item level upgrades will generally have more impact.
I will discuss several noteworthy pieces of gear and provide a recommended crafting order below.
Notable Crafted Gear
Slimy Expulsion Boots and Toxic Thorn Footwraps: are two pairs of boots that have a damage proc and a downside. Both options have similar values, but Slimy Expulsion Boots slightly outperforms the other. The main difference between the two is that Slimy Expulsion Boots reduce your Haste, while Toxic Thorn Footwraps reduce your Stamina. Slimy Expulsion Boots is technically considered the "Best in Slot" option, but either pair is acceptable, and the difference in performance is minimal.
Embellishments
Fang Adornments: A small generic damage proc.
Bronzed Grip Wrappings: A small generic damage proc.
Blue Silken Lining: Gives you Mastery while above 90% health.
Toxified Armor Patch: Mirrors the embellishment of your boots.
The choice between the 3 first options isn't critical when crafting a weapon. While the 2 damage procs are nearly identical in value, they are both safe choices. Blue Silken is slightly better but requires consistent uptime, which depends on the type of content you will be engaging in.
Recommended Crafting Order
Reminder: It is a safe choice to craft the item that sims the highest for you at any given point.
- Weapon: This is technically the highest impact craft you can make, however it is very replaceable by Djaruun, Pillar of the Elder Flame from any difficulty, making it far from a safe first craft, especially considering it costs 2 sparks.
- Boots: This is one of the two Embellishments you want to use long term, making it a great craft if you’ve already gotten the weapon from the raid.
- An off piece with Toxified Armor Patch: The ideal piece here is Legs, but any high main stat off piece that doesn’t break your 4-Set bonus would work.
- Whichever off piece is the biggest upgrade for you: After completing both of your Embellishments, you should use the crafting system to fill in any gaps in your gear, regardless of the slot.
Notable Gear Pieces
Djaruun, Pillar of the Elder Flame: Our new Best in Slot Weapon from the Raid, it comes at a high Item Level and with an on-use that does a flat amount of damage while also causing your melee abilities to do further damage split between all enemies hit. The best way to utilize this Weapon’s active ability is to pool Energy before using it, ensuring you can get as many abilities off as possible during the buff’s duration. This is our highest priority piece of Gear for the Season.
Voice of the Silent Star: This Tier’s special cloak. It steals Stats from your allies but has no Stamina in exchange. It’s a very rare drop that everybody will want, including us.
Harlan's Loaded Dice: A very solid stat-stick and the main M+ Trinket to aim for.
The Raid Trinkets this time around are extremely straightforward, all are either stat sticks or on-use damage effects, so I would recommend running a Droptimizer sims to see what would be best for you.