WoW The War Within: Druid of the Claw Druid Hero Talent Tree

We will be taking a look at an upcoming hero talent tree for the Feral/Guardian specialization Druid in the upcoming World of Warcraft The War Within expansion

WoW The War Within: Druid of the Claw Druid Hero Talent Tree
Blizzard

Blizzard has shown another set of brand new hero talent trees that will be coming in the next World of Warcraft expansion- The War Within. We will be taking a look as this hero talent tree will be centered around Feral and Guardian Druids so we will see how much the gameplay will be impacted.

Blizzard has set a lot of high expectations following their reveal of the three next expansions that will be rolled out over the following years. Although the concepts and ideas behind these hero talent trees share similarities with features from previous expansions, it is exciting to see how this will be integrated into retail WoW.

WoW The War Druid of the Claw Druid Hero Talent Tree
Blizzard

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WoW The War Within: Druid of the Claw Druid Hero Talent Tree

Since there is a lot to cover in the initial Hero Talent tree, we will be separately examining all of the nodes so we can get a better understanding of the core concepts.

WoW The War Within Druid of the Claw Druid Hero Talent Tree

Druid of the Claw Keystone

Massive Attack: Your auto-attacks have a chance to make your next Ferocious Bite (Feral) or Maul (Guardian) become Massive Attack.

  • Feral: Finishing move Dreadful Wound is not affected by Circle of Life and Death (Feral). If a Dreadful Wound benefiting from Tiger's Fury is re-applied, the new Dreadful Wound deals damage as if Tiger's Fury was active. 
  • Guardian: Slash through your target in a wide arc, dealing physical damage to your target and additional damage to all other enemies in front of you.

Bestial Strength: Ferocious Bite damage increased by 5% and Primal Wrath's (Feral) direct damage increased by 100% Maul and Raze (Guardian) damage increased by 10%.

WoW The War Within Druid of the Claw Druid Hero Talent Tree

Druid of the Claw

 Row 1

Found of Strength: Your maximum Energy and Rage are increased by 20. Frenzied Regeneration also increases your maximum health by 10%.

Dreadful Wound: Massive Attack also inflicts a Bleed that causes additional damage over 6 sec and saps its victims' strength, reducing damage they deal to you by 5%. Dreadful Wound is not affected by Circle of Life and Death

  • Feral: If a Dreadful Wound benefitting from Tiger's Fury is re-applied the new Dreadful Wound deals damage as if Tiger's Fury was active. 

Bestial Strength

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WoW The War Within Druid of the Claw Druid Hero Talent Tree

Druid of the Claw Row 2

 

Wildshape Mastery: Ironfur and Frenzied Regeneration persist in Cat Form. When transforming from Bear to Cat Form, you retain 80% of your Bear Form armor and health for 6 seconds. For 6 seconds after entering Bear Form, you heal for 10% of damage taken over 8 seconds.

Choice Node: 

Ruthless Aggression: Massive Attack increases your auto-attack speed by 20% for 6 seconds.

Killing Strikes: Massive Attack increases your Agility by 5% and the armor granted by Ironfur by 20% for 6 seconds.

  • Feral:  Your first Tiger's Fury after entering combat makes your next Ferocious Bite become a Massive Attack.
  • Guardian: Your first Mangle after entering combat makes your next Maul become a Massive Attack.  

Pack's Endurance: Stampeding Roar's duration is increased by 25%.

WoW The War Within Druid of the Claw Druid Hero Talent Tree

Druid of the Claw Row 3

 

Choice Node: 

Empowered Shapeshifting: Frenzied Regeneration can be cast in Cat Form for 40 Energy. Bear Form reduces magic damage you take by 4%. Shred, Swipe, and Mangle damage increased by 5%.

Wildpower Surge: Shred and Swipe grant Ursine Potential (Feral) and Mangle grants Feline Potential (Guardian).

  • Ursine Potential: When you have 8 stacks, the next time you transform into Bear Form, your next Mangle or Swipe deals 100% increased damage and generates 15 extra Rage.
  • Feline Potential: When you have 6 stacks, the next time you transform into Cat Form, gain 5 Combo Points and your next Ferocious Bite or Rip deals 50% increased damage for its full duration.

Aggravate Wounds: Every Finishing Move, Shred (Feral), Maul, Raze, Mangle (Guardian), Thrash, or Swipe you cast extends the duration of your Dreadful Wounds by 0.4 seconds, up to 6 additional seconds. 

Choice Node: 

Strike for the Heart: Shred, Swipe, and Mangle's critical strike chance and critical strike damage are increased by 8%.

Tear Down the Mighty: The cooldown of Feral Frenzy (Feral)  and Pulverize (Guardian) is reduced by 5 seconds.

WoW The War Within Rider of the Apocalypse Death Knight Hero Talent TreeWoW The War Within Druid of the Claw Druid Hero Talent Tree

Druid of the Claw Capstone

 

Claw Rampage: Berserk, Shred, Swipe, and Thrash have a 25% chance to make your next Ferocious Bite become a Massive Attack (Feral). During Berserk, Mangle, Swipe, and Thrash have a 25% chance to make your next Maul become a Massive Attack (Guardian).

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Summary

Overall, these are some very interesting design choices behind making Feral and Guardian Druids not only stronger damage-wise, but also give them a lot more tanking capabilities.

As more is being revealed regarding the newest World of Warcraft Expansion: The War Within, we are slowly starting to see just how much the scales have changed for Retail WoW. Here is the entire Hero Talent Tree as presented in the most recent blue post.

WoW The War Within Druid of the Claw Druid Hero Talent Tree
Blizzard

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