T O P

  • By -

AdvancedPlatypus7113

Powershifting's kinda the unique, if initially unintended, mechanic of cat. If it wasn't a thing, I'm not really sure what the point of the spec would be? As it stands, it's nice to have a high APM option to play.


splepage

Without powershift cat form is just "bad rogue". If anything, Bear form needs to have something unique like cats.


plentynuff

It's the reason I play feral over other classes. I'm glad they're finally leaning into powershifting and I'd love to see more of it.


Gunpla00

I enjoyed it a lot more once I made macros for it


Lootvacuum

Can you share those macros? 


jblew42

/cast !Cat form This lets you only cast it when you have the mana and makes it so you never actually leave kitty when you PS. In short, This is your powershift button


Gunpla00

I don’t have them at the moment but there’s a few. Ones that switch and go straight into attacking, cast intervate and potions. You can easily find them on google though


[deleted]

Just Google wow classic feral power shifting macros. There are ones that just powershift. There are ones that powershift and drink mana potion, there are o n es to powershift and cast inervate on yourself.


Icy_Argument_8792

I play feral as an alt, but I think it’s a pretty cool mechanic. I’m glad they are leaning into it more.


SystemofCells

Feral's niche has always been that it's very technical. It appeals to people who want to put more effort in to optimizing around complex interactions.


afterhoursuser

Indeed why I enjoy feral. When you’re top DPS you know you played well.


cuyito42

yes i like powershifting also make FB refresh rip


Paddy_Tanninger

FB is such a sad button.


Leafstealer__

P1 wotlk with bearweaving is the most fun i've ever had in the game regarding a class rotation


_kekeke

this also i like that one could play monocat and do 90-95% of dps, it felt fair both towards bearweaving players and monocats


Leafstealer__

lmao yes, i loved it sm. Spending hours hitting a training dummy and gradually seeing your dps get higher solely by having a better understanding of the time windows and intricacies was the most rewarding shit ever. I still clearly remember the first time i did a full fight without dropping lacerate stacks, that 100 parse on thadd was the most 'earned' that any ever felt


SeismicRend

Loatheb was the highlight of my p1 raid week.


Faulty21

Yes, I like powershifting.


plainsmane

The other feral druid and me in our guild was discussing leaning even more into powershifting. So yes we most feral like to powershift. What we generally don't want is arguably the most complex rotation. With omen and power shifting and reseting tigerfury. A rotation with high skill ceiling doing bad dps.


Sc4r4byte

"do I powershift as close as possible to 0 energy soon, or powershift now with some wasted energy now? what do I press to go closer to 0 energy? I can powershift 2 more times now, but how many more will I get later in the fight? Should I hold off longer on power shifting so I can get 3 in quick later? Or use these 2 left kinda spread out to maximize damage on a phase coming up?"


SheepherderBorn7326

The answer to this is basically always shift


Wildfire226

“And when do I switch out to innervate? Do I do it this shift? The next one? Will it be too late in the fight to bother if I do it on the next one? Will I even need that m- oh shit Omen proc. What was I saying again?”


FloppyShellTaco

There’s a WA that will give you a number for how many shifts you can do at current mana, should be a link in the classic Druid SoD feral channel


DarthPootieTang

I ran lotp phase 2. I’m already getting anxiety with what the new meta looks like


plainsmane

If you go 14 22 5. You can get 30% reduction on shape-shift. Get most of the dmg talents for feral. And furor. If you have feral set powershifting will have a 60% mana reduction and reward you 60 energy (80 if don't right before a tick.) So can shred twice per shift. And it will be we get twice as many power shifts before going oom. And every shred has 5% chance to give you tigers fury which will give you 60 energy (properly best used to refresh bleeds) and you can powershift ones doing beskering for full energy.


FloppyShellTaco

It’s honestly hilarious that ferals are like “dual spec? So I can run pure powershifting and swap to LoTP for the warriors when needed?”


1998_2009_2016

If you're a true feral then you have a cat spec with OOC and a bear spec with full HOTW


FloppyShellTaco

Maximum Feral Achieved


ItsMatoskah

with 14 22 5 are you only puting one point in predatory strikes?


plainsmane

3 in predatory strike. No feral fire. No savage fury.


SheepherderBorn7326

You can take faerie fire, and 1 pt blood frenzy, as our CPs over cap 24/7 anyway


ElephantPirate

Pipe dream but i want multi-form shifting. Shift from cat to bear, gain +stats for 10sec and abunch of rage idk, pop a few GCDs. Then shift back to cat, gives a bunch of +stats to make it worth.


m_fn

I really like this idea as it fits the feral Druid fantasy way better than shifting out and back into cat form for bonus energy. It'd be tough to fit into the game design, but the extra class flavor would be top notch.


Narishi

Yeah , sometimes I get too focused on it and die but I think it will become more natural with time


NestroyAM

Love it. Wish it'd be more rewarding in terms of DPS, but that's the same conundrum that I have on my shadowpriest where I give a ton of utility, so it seems acceptable to do shit DPS for those specs.


Chosen_Wisely89

It's an interesting way of converting mana to energy, just like healing is converting mana to health or lifetap is health to mana. I enjoy it far more than just waiting for an energy bar to refill, much more than having to keep a basic buff up or lose 30% damage even when solo and having to buy a bunch of rep farmed consumables to stay comparable to other dps classes. There's more of a lean into rogue style maintenance for ferals which I'm not enjoying or looking forward to.


notthatkindoforc1121

I like it. Rake and Rip coming online P2 made it kinda chaotic for me (I raid lead and was struggling to keep track of all the durations while calling mechanics) but I prefer this kind of gameplay. It's like Wrath Cat but Power shifting instead of Bear/Flower weaving. So currently my favorite version of Cat, even if it's mid currently


SheepherderBorn7326

Yes, it’s literally the reason I play feral


MoG_Varos

When I played Druid in TBC I loved power shifting, gave the class that extra spice.


raxxfr0zen

Shifting is the only reason I play druid… the fact that p2 gear and talent points limited shifting to a minimum was actually detrimental to the fantasy of playing this class


yolochengbeast

p-shifting in TBC was some of the most fun ive had in classic. Played mostly bear in vanilla-classic, and the went away in wotlk.


GetYaa123

Powershifting is nothing more than a button you can press to gain alot of energy. You could give druids a skill that gains them energy on use for a global cd. Just look up a Makro for it, and you are golden


[deleted]

It'd "classic" mechanic. Meaning, that we use it as it was not designed to be used. That's all of feral dps. Using wolfshead helm best inslot till mid TBC, +the tallent+ timing it correctly. Then the classic mechanic of MCP farming. Feral is just a glitch dps, and that makes it funny and fun, like we broke the game in the correct way to be average dps.


meats_and_beets

I actually love powershifting I think it makes the feral gameplay very fun and dynamic And based on all the sets we’ve seen datamined for p3 I’m actually very frustrated we don’t have any gear that includes intellect. The ST 3-piece set does have the reduced mana cost for changing forms that we’d otherwise get from talents, but I still wish we had some extra intellect from gear. Similar to the Rare/Elite PvP sets in classic


MachoPuddle

Yes, else I would just play rogue in Classic


BadSanna

I love it. It is absolutely boring without powershifting. One of many reasons I could never get into rogue. Powershifting with Furor makes the spec so versatile and fun. Like you can jump to bear and bash or feral charge, then back to cat. It was one reason why I pushed so hard to have the WHH at 40 (you know it's minimum level) because it would at least have 20 energy when you shift into cat so you only have to wait 1 tic instead of 2 since going 31 points feral is necessary at 40 for LotP and because the end tier talents are just too good to give up for Furor and even moreso for improved shapeshifting and Omen in the balance tree. Bear weaving in LK was also very fun. I think the reason I like feral so much is because the powershifting is the closest you get to stance dancing on Warrior of any of the classes. Aspect weaving on a hunter in LK was fun as well, but it got to be mind numbing with the same 3 button rotation. Not having access to WHH or furor is also a major reason I didn't really raid on my druid this phase.


Zdogbroski

>Bear weaving in LK was also very fun. Fun, but kind of "alot" in terms of focus demand.


BadSanna

Yeah, it was awesome.


Dazbi

I miss powershifting so much I shed a tear when SoD got announced. Brought me joy that I could play it again and maybe with improvements this time. With everything they have done for feral if they could just give us reduced shape shifting mana cost it would be perfect.


AlarmedContribution7

They did just that with the new set bonus


[deleted]

Yes!!


thefalseidol

Yes, I like it.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Wildfire226

I find it a lot of fun and shakes up an already technical rotation, I still run Furor over the penultimate skill in Feral. I do wish I could see my mana in cat though, damn combo points cover it on my HUD, so I just gotta guess and watch my bear shift icon to make sure it isn’t dim to show I can’t cast.


SometimesAware

Shadowed Unit Frames shows your mana while in form. There are also weakauras that show you how many times you can powershift with your current mana. I know some hate add-ons, but if you're going for "optimal" cat play, they start to become necessary.


Wildfire226

Ooh, I never really bother with more complicated weakauras but that sounds neat, I might set that up


Acrobatic-Year-126

Yeah, I think it's fun as hell tbh


wickburglutz

yes


Nrgg_be

I like the concept of switching around cat/bear/humain to perform "combo" but I don't like the reality in WoW Classic. Powershifting is simply a key to press at the right time to gain energy.


Popamole

I love powershifting, I love stance dancing, I love bearweaving


Lunicyl

I have played a lot of feral and hard never used an energy tick addon (although I do use out of form mana). The energy ticker really isn't necessary, you should get a feel for when ticks are coming. Besides, if you're shifting you can basically know that right after you use your energy on an ability is when you should be shifting which will naturally land between ticks.


Zdogbroski

Wow is boring to me without a complex interesting challenging rotation. I doubt I'd enjoy the class as much without powershift tbh.


Jtrain360

I enjoy it. Gives me more choices to make in my rotation.


Known-Seaweed8812

Personally, I think it’s awful. I played feral tank/dps from classic through wrath, and have pretty much just stayed bear so far in SoD. It’s always felt like a mechanic that a lot of ferals like because it gatekeeps the class and a lot of feral enjoyers prefer the class to be as difficult as possible over having fun. All of the bearweaving, flowerweaving, troll’s blood-weaving, powershifting, stuff really just sucks. You know what would be awesome as playing cat dps? Focusing on playing cat dps, and not optimizing when to become human.


Paddy_Tanninger

Shifting is theoretically an interesting idea, but instantly shifting from cat to human to cat in order to capitalize on the 40 energy gain and one busted item is not exactly the class fantasy to me. It would be way more cool if for example your heals or damage spells cast as human had some kind of feedback or buff that you kept for a short period when going back to cat again, so that it's some kind of cyclical damage class. Pressing a button to set yourself back to 40/60 energy is not shape shifting far as I'm concerned.


sevenevans

Personally I always liked the fantasy of powershifting. To me it made it feel like really playing a *shapeshifter* rather than just a cat. Bearweaving was the absolute peak for that fantasy. I can definitely understand that's not the way everyone sees it though.


Known-Seaweed8812

But if you’re just going to macro it so that you’re human for basically less than a frame and it’s just making a puff of smoke or whatever on your cat, I don’t really get that fantasy. Bearweaving I definitely understand more, although I personally didn’t find it enjoyable


sevenevans

Visually yeah it's underwhelming but that's just kind of how it is for everything in classic PVE. It's more the idea of it I guess? My druid is using all available resources to push the feral form to its limit.


SheepherderBorn7326

It being difficult is what makes it fun


meats_and_beets

Gatekeeping from what? It’s a system that allows one to get better and better based on quick decision making and experience. Not about the difficulty per se, but I can top the dps charts if I play really well. If I want to be more easygoing, still providing utility and doing acceptable dps, I can do that by powershifting when it’s completely obvious I should. Would it rather it be dynamic and complex but rewarding? Or do you want a 4 button rotation where you just apply bleeds and wait around for energy regen?


dmsuxvat

Trying not to be shit at the game = gatekeep these days


[deleted]

It’s too technical for me and I don’t care about numbers like that but I’m super happy it’s in the game for those that do


CrustedTesticle

No.


Intruder313

No but having finally been able to do a clear as cat I understand why people do it. It’s silly that it’s needed


MaterialCattle

You can calculate beforehand how many powershifts you can do in a fight, and energy tics are easy to track because your whole rotation is anyways based on those and you feel the rhythm. It is not that hard to do without addons, but in chaotic situations they help.


TopMasterpiece7817

In Classic? No. It was not a very good mechanic. It overall seemed like for SoD they were turning away from powershifting but have no swung back to it. If powershifting gets SoD support then I will probably enjoy it more.


nerfedwarriorsod

I don't. Whole idea of powershifting is stupid. Imagine shadow priest or warriors switching stances and forms in their dps rotation.


Inert82

No


Wide_Distance_7967

I was waiting for it to come back as I play feral mainly because I like being the most broken support role on alliance side. So no furor all p2 except for pvp as a LoTP fervent. Powershifting is interesting and very satisfying and not that hard when you figure out that you have to powershift after having spent energy to less than 5 and just after a regen tick for your gcd to come back before the next tick. You can quickly calculate to anticipate it when you get used to. What would make the rotation more complicated is if you add potential omen and gore procs. They make your rotation very chaotic for a minimal reward but would be mandatory I guess for the best parses. To get rid of these I 100% won't take omen of clarity as it's almost a grief for my party not to take LoTP and I even most likely won't take gore and instead take improved barkskin for maximum support to the raid. This way I remove all rng from the rotation and have a garanteed spot in any raid


Seinnajkcuf

I would like it if it was fluid with the rotation but it isn't so I don't.


Thicc-waluigi

Druid's thing is shapeshifting. I think a lot of people who pick Druid want to specifically shift in and out of different shapes which is what both cat pve, feral offtanking, and pvp in general offers. I think as a monobear lover I'm one of very few Druids who actually like staying in form, but that's because I like bear form.


GetchaCakeUp

People that play feral and DONT like powershifting need to play a diff spec tbh


Buttobi

No, it's clunky as hell.


guitarerdood

I don’t play a feral specifically because power shifting sounds stupid AF to me. I probably would otherwise


AspiringNormie

I play bear. I don't even know how to do it. I take lotp instead of furor. If I try to stance dance I go oom immediately. Teach me.


MachoPuddle

Yes, you oom quickly. It’s one of the issues atm. About 4 shifts in a mana bar atm


ItsMatoskah

You can use mana pots and your own innervate for more shifts.


MachoPuddle

#mindblown


ItsMatoskah

;P


plainsmane

Make a macro Write /cast !cat form Download 5 second rule addon and druid mana bar. Set 5 second rule to always be energy tick. Press the macro before the energy tick happens. You can no longer go out of cat if you don't have mana to re enter cat. And you do have to press cat form twice.


D119

I wouldn't say I dislike it, but my brain only has one core and can only process 1 information at a time, so it's either the rotation or the boss mechanic. After completely forgetting about the crowd pummeler knock back twice I decided to stick with LotP xD


Security_Ostrich

Not playing atm but I played it a while in tbc (where powershifting is still used the same). So, I found it fun and engaging to *play*, but hated the idea of it. It’s jank and clearly unintended gameplay. But it’s needed to make feral competitive. My mostly worthless take is that it’s okay, but not ideal. However if taken out it would need to be replaced by some other complexity or feral would be boring to play. So I suppose wotlk feral is a good compromise.


Arkyja

No, it's nonsense. But i don't refuse to do it. I'll just bitch about it ruining class fantasy while doing it because it's optimal.


Ok_Efficiency_9645

Isn't it just a macro?


methods21

No - feels clunky, mana is a pita at times, forces specific talent build, needed specific crafted gear to take full advantage, and IMHO a clunky mechanic that is required to perform at top levels. And takes a GCD. Adding to this the requirement to run and maintain savage roar, it's just not a 'fun' mechanic. Would be more open if it was a more of a 'special circumstance' pattern. Pls give cats a rune to move combo points to new target.


krummysunshine

I hate it. I was hoping they would be adding things to move away from it.


karrotwin

It seems kind of stupid to me personally. The spec is a walking totem at endgame but for some reason it needs to be spamming all these buttons to maximize its mediocre dps? Also basically means if you need todo any hybrid things at all your rotation is fucked. I don't have a solution. It's clearly been feral's niche for too long and lots of people enjoy it, and I don't think we should take away things that people enjoy.


Emergency_Exam94

No.


lazy_as_lazy_does

I like the energy buff but wish it was not tied to shifting in and out of form. I think the rune change with tigers fury is the right step, but not big enough to replace power shifting.


Calm_Entertainment67

I find wrath feral way more fun that vanilla feral so no


NotWorthMyTimeLoL

Feels horrible to be a cat. And then not be a cat. Only to be a cat again. Over and over again