#0 - Nov. 11, 2007, 5:10 a.m.
This guide is ment to be a sort of an "initiation" for players who are joining the PvE raiding life for the first time. It is not directed to experienced raiders even if sometimes it is good to remember the good old basics.
1 - General Raid Overview
Raiding differs from 5men parties mainly because the encounters are much more demanding, both from gear and skills but also from coordination. Gear you can get easily by doing heroic 5men dungeons and eventually some PvP. Skill you aquire in the leveling process (checking the sticky "Informative and useful threads" that you can find on top of your class forum also helps). Coordination you can only get by practising, preferably with a similar group all the time. This is the main reason why guilds exist: to facilitate the organization of raid encounters in order to do them always with the same players.
2 - Choosing a guild
We would all like to jump straight into the best guilds, wouldn't we? Well those guilds didn't simply spawn in the game. They were created and a lot of people worked to lead them to their current progress.
Your first raiding guild will likely be a small or a brand new guild. There you will learn how to raid with more than one tank, play along with 20 more people than the usual, understand the importance of not pulling aggro (any trash mob can pretty much kill you in one hit and wipe the raid after) and learn your general role in a raid group.
Guilds usually have a specific daily time at which they require all the players to be inside the dungeon where the raid is happening. Being in time is fundamental since that by hanging around dueling outside a major city or checking the Auction House for five more minutes will delay 24 people. Therefore, it's important to know at what time and days the guild you are applying to raids and check if it fits your personal life. Remember that the more often you and every other member raids, the smaller the guild stays and the faster the progress is.
2.1 - Applying to a guild
Most guilds require you to send them an apply in a pre-made format where you are asked how is your character, what have you done previously in World of Warcraft, if you can attend their raid time and some other questions. This will be the first impression the guild members get from you so spend time writing it.
Also, make sure all your gear is enchanted and gemmed with the very best stuff available. Your character must be as powerful as possible in order to increase your damage, threat or healing.
2.2 - DKP - Dragon Kill Points
Is raids, the usual Need\Greed system isn't used, usually. You will award DKP each time you attend to a raid, kill a boss and\or for each raiding hour and spend DKP each time you loot an item. Each guild uses a different DKP system so I recommend that you see how it works when it come to loot to make sure that it's a fair system and not just an excuse to gear up the officers and the guild master.
2.3 - Guild forums
Guild usually have a forum where inside matters concearning the guild and the raids are discussed. It's advisable that you check these forums daily to make sure you are ready for the upcomming encounters and see if there's anyway you can help the guild (with mats, crafts, etc.)
3 - Raiding
And here we go!
3.1 - Preparing for a raid
Unlike 5men instances, raids require preparation from every player that will be in it. I'll now introduce you to what things you should get used to check before heading to the raid location.
- 3.1.1 - Tactics
As I said before, raid bosses require a lot of coordination from everyone in the raid. The basics of the fights as you know them (tank, spank, heal) sometimes don't apply at all to a raid encounter. Therefore, it's important that you check the boss tactics before joining the raids. You can read them at http://www.bosskillers.com for example and study how others have done it before you.
Bear in mind that the fact that your class can't heal or tank doesn't necessarily mean that your performance on a fight will be based on the damage meters.
3.1.2 - Consumables
Consumables - potions, elixirs, food buffs, weapon oils, etc. - are mandatory in most guilds, at least for progress fights. Before taking the flight path or the portal to the raiding location, make sure you have all general consumables that will benefit your role in the fight and also any extra consumables needed for a specific boss you will be fighting that day (see 2.3 - Guild forums). It is also important to bring enough gold for repairs.
3.1.3 - Packing your bags
Some fights require specific gear of some kind (see 3.1.1 - Tactics) and some classes need more than one set of gear to raid - such as feral druids and warriors. Make sure you have all the gear you will need, even if eventually, in your bags to avoid delaying the raid in order to get back to a city to pick it up. Make also sure you will have some bag space for eventual loot, water\food and for fight items (some rare fights require you to loot something during the fights as part of the encounter).
3.1.4 - Setting up add-ons and programs
Guilds usually have a "pack" of add-ons that is required. Most likely either Ventrillo or TeamSpeak (a Windows program that allows you to use voice chat), a threat meter and a raid assistant. Make sure you have all the required add-ons installed and working properly (see 2.3 - Guild forums).
3.2 - Performing in a raid
A raid differs a lot from a 5men dungeon when it comes to play your class. There are some aspects you need to bear in mind.
- 3.2.1 - Attitude
Raids last for quite more time than 5men dungeons. It is important that everyone is enjoying themselves while in the raid so you should avoid to begin dramas. Saying "PlayerX isn't using potions!" or "PlayerY's damage is pathetic" in public chat must be avoided. If you want to comment or give some advice to someone, make it in private. You are not raiding to proof anyone that you are better than someone. If you are, than you are doing it for the wrong reason.
Also, if you know you will have to go AFK at some point of the raid let the raid leader know in advance so that he can plan a replacement for you during that time.
Avoid going AFK during raids as much as possible since it only delays the raid. If you really need to do something, always let the raid leader know and use the /afk command. Some people tend to away during the trash which shows nothing but disrespect for the other players who will still have to deal with it and outnumbered.
3.2.2 - The difference between specs
Some specs are more directed to damage than to raid supporting than others. Most specs bring something useful to raids in different situations. WarlockX doing more damage than WarlockY doesn't necessarily mean that WarlockX is better.
Also, getting big numbers poping in your screen doesn't mean you are the best damage dealer. This might be true for trash mobs but when it comes to boss fights - the real challenge - damage per second is far more important than having those huge sticky numbers in your screen that take 5 seconds to cast. You must adequate your spells to your needs. At some points you will need to do fast damage in a short period of time, in others you have to manage your mana carefully to last the entire fight.
3.2.3 - Positioning
It's usually a good choice to stay behind the tanks (behind the boss, for boss fights) and not on the edge of the room or on top of objects since this sometimes might "bug" and make the mob reset to 100%. This does not happen often but should be avoidable at all cost.
3.2.4 - Dealing damage and crowd control
Mages (sheep), Warlocks (banish) and sometimes Hunters (trap) are usually assigned to crowd control mobs marked with a different raid target icons. Make sure you got your target right because a loose mob will likely start killing your healers.
Unless specificated otherwise by the raid leader, always assist the main tank. Do not damage and most important do not dot (apply a damage over time debuff) on a mob running loose. It's quite likely that it will get crowd controled and likely there won't be tanks available to take him off you.
3.2.5 - Engaging a boss
Keeping your class buffs up during the trash helps a bit... On a boss fight it helps a lot! Make sure you sorted with your fellow class mates who is buffing which raid group to make sure everyone gets every possible buff (Note for warlocks: Yes, Soulwells should be put down too at this time).
Make sure you used a battle and a guardian elixir (or a flask), a food buff and a weapon oil - for the classes it helps - before pulling the boss and also that they will last for the entire fight. This might make a small difference on your performance but if the other 24 players do that same it helps a lot the raid.
Most guilds have an "official" threat meter. Make sure you use the same as everyone else and that you keep it updated (see 3.1.4 - Setting up add-ons and programs). Let your tank build some threat before attacking the boss, since "it's better to be safe than sorry".
