Note: Some aspects of this guide may not apply to your character until higher level. If are interested in getting your character to max level quickly, take a look at this leveling guide.
Feral Bear Tanking
This is probably the most popular Feral Bear Tanking build these days. Depending on the exact composition of your group you might want to move a couple of things around. This build takes 3 points in Perseverance, for example, which could be spent elsewhere if incoming spell damage is not an issue for you.
With the 4.3x changes threat should not be an issue so your focus should be on damage mitigation.
Feral Talents, 32 points
Restoration (9 Points)
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GlyphsPrime:
Major:
Minor:
Mists of Pandaria note: Prime glyphs are going away, you will have only Major and Minor glyphs, six total glyphs at level 90. Talents will be completely overhauled, as well. See our Druid page and scroll down for an early concept video of the new talents. Also, many of the Cata talents will be rolled into the abilities list and some of these will be unique to each spec.
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Glyphs come in three varieties, Prime, Major and Minor. Prime glyphs enhance core aspects of your class and generally provide the greatest benefit of the three types. Major Glyphs, while not quite as powerful as Prime Glyphs, are still useful and continue to provide a myriad of benefits. Minor Glyphs often times provide small quality of life improvements or visual changes, such as a reduction cooldown times, such as the Challenging Roar Glyph, which reduced the CD by 30 seconds.
Prime glyphs are going away in Mists of Pandaria, new glyphs will be introduced, and many older glyph will change in effect.
The most recommended glyphs are shown in the build above, here they are again, with links and options for alternates.
| Prime Glyphs: |
Major Glyphs: |
Minor Glyphs: |
Here are your highest priority abilities.
AoE Rotation
Your tanking strategy for multiple mob pulls is to utilize Swipe and Thrash as much as possible while also applying your Mangle and Lacerate debuff to each target.
Cooldowns
As a tank, your cooldowns largely relate to your own survival. Determining when and how many to use depends on a number of factors from fight mechanics to how much mana your healers have left, making it a sometimes difficult and important personal judgement call.
In smaller 5-man situations cooldowns make things easier on healers, but are generally not mandatory, whereas in raid settings there are mechanics that demand the tank use his cooldowns or die. Proper use of cooldowns requires anticipation of, or quick reaction to damage levels that your healers can’t keep up with or are incapable of handling at that moment due to being dead, mind controlled, etc.
Generally speaking if you feel threatened it’s better to blow a cooldown or two rather than potentially die, because if you do die your team will more likely than not follow soon after.
Your Stats Priority
- Agility: Increases attack power, critical strike chance, and dodge chance, providing you with more damage, and therefore more threat, as well as slightly greater damage avoidance.
- Stamina: Increases your total health, making you harder to kill and, specifically for tanking classes, increases the effectiveness of Vengeance (which further increases your damage.) The increase in Attack Power also increases the effectiveness of your Savage Defense ability which is also increased by your Mastery.
- Int, Strength, and Spirit are not useful.
- Dodge: Increases your chance to dodge and therefore avoid damage.
- Mastery – Savage Defender: increases the effectiveness of your Savage Defense ability, allowing you to absorb more damage.
- Expertise: Reduces the chance of your attacks being dodged or parried. A good threat stat if you need more threat.
Reforging
When reforging gear, it’s important that you look to reforge from your least effective stat into the most effective for whatever gear goal you are currently aiming for.
Reforge everything into Dodge & Mastery. As a feral tank your most important statistic to seek when reforging is dodge, followed by Mastery, and you should always look to reforge into these stats wherever possible.
Feral Bear Gems

- Yellow – Polished Ember Topaz
- Blue – Shifting Demonseye
- Red – Delicate Inferno Ruby
- Meta – Austere Shadowspirit Diamond
Feral Bear Enchantments
- 2H Weapon:
- Enchant Weapon – Windwalk: Sometimes increase Dodge by 600 and movement speed by 15% when striking in combat.
- Enchant Weapon – Mighty Agility : +130 Ag.
- Helm:
- Arcanum of the Earthen Ring: 90 Stam & 35 Dodge
- Shoulders:
- Inscription of the Earth Prince: 195 Stam & 25 Dodge rating, Requires Inscription 500
- Greater Inscription of Unbreakable Quartz: 75 Stam and 25 Dodge
- Cloak:
- Enchant Cloak – Protection: 250 Armor
- Chest:
- Enchant Chest – Peerless Stats: +20 to all stats
- Bracers:
- Enchant Bracer – Superior Dodge: 50 Dodge
- Enchant Bracer – Agility
- Enchant Bracer – Superior Dodge (Mists of Pandaria:) +170 Dodge
- Gloves:
- Enchant Gloves – Greater Mastery: 65 Mastery
- Enchant Gloves – Superior Mastery (Mists of Pandaria:) 170 Mastery
- Belt:
- Ebonsteel Belt Buckle: New gem slot for gem of choice.
- Leggings:
- Drakehide Leg Armor: 145 Stam, 55 dodge
- Ironscale Leg Armor: 430 Stam & 165 Dodge
- Boots:
- Enchant Boots – Earthen Vitality: 30 Stam, slight movement speed increase.
- Enchant Boots – Pandaren’s Step: 140 Mastery, slight movement speed increase.
- Rings:
- Enchant Ring – Greater Stamina: +60 Stam, requires Enchanting 475
- Enchant Ring – Greater Stamina (Mists of Pandaria): Requires iLevel 372+ ring and Enchanting 555



just a slight bit of information you forgot in regards to stam. because stam buffs your vengence stam actually helps raise AP and subsequently your SD as well.
[Good point, thanks. I'll update the page. -Rog.]