A novel method of fabricating Ni/WC coatings by laser deposition with a tubular cored wire was proposed and the feasibility was demonstrated in this paper. The wire transfer behaviors with different wire-beam distances and processing parameters were observed via a high-speed camera. A process map was developed to elucidate the dependence of wire transfer modes on the different combinations of operating parameters. The effects of process parameters including laser power, scanning speed and wire feed rate on the track characteristics were investigated separately. The wire plunging transfer could be obtained at appropriate parameters when the wire tip was front fed and positioned to the leading region of the molten pool, which producing a continuous coating with minimal dilution, low contact angle, good surface quality and high content of retained ceramic particle