Raiding 101

Ever since I started playing World of Warcraft it had always been my dreams to raid, to get online with a bunch of people and use strategy and coordination to take on something that one man alone can not. Don't get me wrong I do enjoy my days when I was an uber awesome Warrior in Diablo or my minion slavedriving Necromacer in Diablo II, and could take on Diablo solo. My fondest memories are watching my massive skeleton army get wiped out by one flame wave from Diablo and there I stand with only me and my golem thinking this is going to be a long fight.

But it wasn't until I started playing WoW that I had truly embraced MMORPG's, I mean battlenet on Diablo 2 was fun but it could not compare to WoW's online play. I choose to start playing WoW over Guild Wars because I had more friends that played WoW. Which looking back was a good choice because Guild Wars has kind of fizzled out after a while, or at least to me it did. But enough about me pre-WoW lets get on to the meat of the article: Raiding.

Although I didn't raid pre-BC and it wasn't until my sever transfer that I got into more raiding or at least into raiding more than just Kara, but it still has been a while ago that I started raiding. And for all of those who have been raiding for a long while, possibly and most likely on multiple toons, they may take it for granted. I hadn't realized until just the other day that there really are new players out there that have not had all the experience with raiding and therefore need to be briefed on the basics.

Step 1: The most importan part of any fight is listen to the RAID LEADER. The raid leader has most likely, except possibly in the case of a pug, done his/her research on the fight, by either looking up strategies, watching videos, or just learning from other raiders. This leaves them with at least a basic working knowledge of the fight. So when the raid leader asks if anyone has NOT done the fight do not be afraid to speak up. You are ten times, maybe even a hundred times more likely to be looked down upon for wiping because "you didn't know" than if you had told the raid leader, so they could explain the fight.

Step 2: If you do not understand the explaination of the fight, after it is given, do not be afraid to ask questions. It is a positive thing to ask questions for a better understanding so you are less likely to make a mistake that could cost the raid a wipe. Raid leaders will be more than happy to take a little extra time to further explain the fight.

Step 3: Come to raids prepared, early, and ready to go. This means have all your flasks, elixers, pots, food buffs, and reagents bought and in your bags. Be online and ready to raid an hour to half an hour before raid time. Most guilds hold a policy that when posting raid times the raid time corresponds to the time of the first pull. Have your gear enchanted, gemmed, and REPAIRED. Make sure you are spec'd to your main spec so the raid is not waiting for you to run to the old world to respec. And another note on spec's have your toon spec'd to there respective PvE spec. Do not come to raids with a PvP spec. You are gimping not only yourself but also your raid.

Step 4: Minimize the amount of time you AFK and how long you AFK for. Take into account that when you are raiding nine to twenty four other people are counting on you to be present and contributing to the raid. And don't think that just because it's trash it's okay to AFK; you can clear trash faster with everyone helping. In short commit to your raid come prepared in RL with drinks, snacks, etc.

Step 5: Don't stand in front of the boss. In general bad things will and can happen if you are standing in front of a boss. You may either get the tank killed or get your self killed. And a dead dps = 0 dps. It could cause a boss to parry and strike the tank more and also bosses commonly have some sort of cleave or cone like ability that hits anything in front of them. So stand to the sides or behind the boss.

Step 6: If it hurts you...MOVE! This can not be stressed enough. So many bosses and even trash have abilities that can be avoided by simply not standing in them. Yet more often than not people tend to lose focus and not pay attention and find themselves dead. Even if they do survive they are just wasting the healers time, focus, and GCD's to get their health back up.

Step 7: Maximize. This step actually goes hand in hand with being prepared to raid but stands to be emphasized. Maximize what you bring to the raid whether it's healing, damage per second, or tanking, be the best at what you do. Each person should know the ins and outs of their class if they want to be the best and if you don't know research it or ask a class leader or another player on your sever that knows. There is so much information out there you just have to take the time and read up on it. Also have a rotation that will maximize what you are doing. All the classes have lots of abilities but not all abilities are useful in maximizing. Same idea goes with spec, not all talents are good for raiding.

Step 8: Have a main spec. Sure it's nice to dabble in gear for different specs and its fine to collect off spec gear when content is on farm. But when it comes to progression stick to one set spec where the raid leader knows what you are and what they can count on you doing. And most importantly raid the spec you want to raid as. Do not feel confined to having to raid a certain way, because WoW is still a game and you need to have fun raiding and doing what you want to do.

This concludes the Raiding 101: first edition guide to raiding in WoW. Hope you enjoy and point new recruits to this post.