#30 - Dec. 17, 2010, 2:13 a.m.
12/16/2010 5:17 PMPosted by AtavianTrial and error?
Hope someone else has been there before?
Study online sites?
Watching encounter videos?
My personal approach -- which is by no means canon -- is a healthy combination of "trial and error," "study online sites," and "hope someone else has been there before." While I prefer not to spoil the visual experience too much, if I'm about to take on more difficult content (like a new raid boss, for example), I'll sometimes watch encounter videos, too, just to make sure I'm as prepared as possible.
Trial and error is certainly my favorite method, though (provided that I've some base understanding of the encounter). I feel that I'm able to learn more by making mistakes, wiping, analyzing what went wrong, and then trying something new rather than simply walking into a dungeon and knowing all the mechanics outright. I can get a better feel for what I should be doing and, perhaps more importantly, what I
shouldn't be doing -- which I think makes me a better player and a more groovy person all around.
Again, that's just my personal preference, and the idea of wiping more than once may not always mesh well with the other players I group with -- especially if they have a greater understanding of an encounter than I do. If that's the case and they're able to just tell me where to go and what to do, I'm happy to defer to their wisdom, even if that means I don't get to learn the fight the way I prefer. For me, running dungeons is all about working together, and -- hey! -- I can always go and wipe with my friends some other time if I'm really jonesing for a repair bill. :P