Monday, April 27, 2009

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Divine Anguish

Right now, we're caught in what Seth Godin calls The Dip - that space right after the initial rush when you've first started something and you're still enthusiastic about it... when suddenly things are difficult and bleak and it's easy to slack off.

I can't say I saw it coming.

Last Saturday was one of our best raiding days ever. We downed Malygos in 5 attempts (down from 9) despite 2 weeks of not raiding. Then we marched into Naxxramas and one-shot all the bosses, getting Make Quick Werk of Him, The Hundred Club and Arachnophobia along the way. Then we gave Ulduar a try - and downed Flame Leviathan on the second attempt.

So far, so good.

We wiped around 6 or 7 times on XT-002 Deconstructor after that, but that was ok. We logged out on Saturday night with high hopes for the next day.

On Sunday we wiped to the trash leading up to Ignis no less than ten times. Then we wiped to Ignis another fifteen.

When the trash respawned, we made our way to XT-002 again and proceeded to wipe another thirty or so times.

At the end of the day, we logged out extremely dissatisfied. We'd learned a lot, but the cost was high - I spent nearly 600 gold on repairs, and that doesn't count consumables. I think we'll have to resort to raid stacking to kill XT-002, at least until we increase everyone's DPS significantly. I can't say I'm too happy about that.

I've been angry and irritable a lot lately (lots of things on my mind, including a pending issue at work). This doesn't really help.

The damn Dip hit at the worst possible time.

Healing QQ

I asked three of my raiders to brush up on their healing (they're currently DPS) over the past weekend, as the state of our healers is dismal: we're reduced to 2-healing instances since our second Resto Shammy is on burnout break and our Resto Druid has gone MIA.

To my face they said that they would gladly learn to heal. Then I find out later that there was much QQing going on about that.

It's not like I friggin' asked them to take over main healing Ulduar, either. With Naxx on farm, we're clearing bosses so easily that gearing up and training a fresh healer is easy; our main specs mostly need gear from Sapphiron and Kel'Thuzad.

My primary spec is Protection. It's to allow more people to raid that I throw Holy Lights around. Maybe I need to remind people of that.

Maybe it's time to go on strike.

edit: Or a break. I'm burned out-ish. Or headed that way.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Raidleading 101: Raid Composition

So you and nine of your buddies have formed a Guild. You're level 80, in blue gear and ready to step into Obsidian Sanctum/Naxxramas/Vault of Archavon in the hopes of some nice purple loot. You're about to lead your first raid.

This and the subsequent Raidleading 101 posts are for you. I'm going to assume that while you've had some group experience, you're not an expert on the different classes and what makes them tick. I hope that you've raided before, either as part of a larger Guild or in a PUG.

If you haven't raided before, I strongly advise you to do so before becoming a raid leader. If you really have no choice - no one else will take the role - then by all means read on.

No job, not even that of the main tank, is as stressful as that of the raid leader's. While you're leading a raid, you're not one of the guys - you stand above them, deciding right and wrong. When you're not raiding you will be watching videos, reading strategy guides, and encouraging people to be ready and available for the next scheduled run. Whether or not your Guild is hardcore, your time as a casual player has come to an end.

There are three things you'll need to address as a raid leader: (1) raid composition, (2) raid conduct (including boss fight strategies), and (3) loot distribution. Today I'll discuss the first of these three.

(In NiHao we've split up these roles: I set up the raid, Azmuth runs it, and Malago distributes loot. It's a system that's served us well so far.)

Raid composition, in theory, is simple - you fill up the raid with the appropriate mix of raiders. For 10-man raids, the configuration we work with for progression raids is 2T-3H-3/2D: 2 tanks, 3 healers, and 5 DPS (3 melee/2 ranged or vice versa). For farm raids we drop one healer and put in one more DPS, making it 2T-2H-3/3D. But 2-3-3/2 will get you through most fights.

(For 25-mans, which we don't run, I believe the composition is 4-7-14 for progression and 4-6-15 for farm raids. The fights are a little more forgiving, so you don't have to be so strict regarding melee vs. ranged DPS.)

You will need two tanks - one to be the "main tank" and one to be the "off tank". The main tank's job is to tank bosses during boss fights; the off tank's job is (usually) to pick up adds. Even in 25-man runs you will have just one main tank; every tank who isn't the main tank is an off tank.

Fill up your tank slots first. A good tank makes or breaks a raid - you can survive with noob healers but not a noob tank. Our policy is to run with at least one of our "official" tanks - Azmuth (DK), Calimdan (Druid), Malago (Warrior) or Avierra (Paladin). When we run with a tank who isn't one of these four, they are always the off tank. I wouldn't dream of setting up a raid without one of these four tanking.

Because tanking is such a high profile role, plenty of egotists try to become tanks. Avoid these people like the plague; the last thing you need is a prima donna in this highly sensitive role. In the best Guilds, tanking is a shared responsibility shouldered by a team.

Sometimes your off-tank is better for a fight by virtue of his class - for example, some fights need AoE tanking, so your Paladin offtank will be better suited than your Druid main tank. Don't hesitate to put your offtank on it, and be sure to head off any drama your Druid tank is tempted to cause.

In general, I don't like to run with two tanks of the same class. Different tanks have different strengths; having my tanks be different classes gives me more flexibility in conducting the run.

When you've filled up your tank slots, get to work on your healers.

In general you're looking at your healers to fulfill two functions: tank healing and raid healing. Tank healers focus on one target and heal him almost exclusively - if anyone else dies, that's not their problem. Raid healers take care of the rest of the raid. If the tank starts losing health faster than the tank healers can cope, however, they're expected to pitch in.

Got a priest? Good. Make sure he's specced Holy or Discipline, though. Priests are the best all-around healers, hands down - a great Priest can solo heal a raid, but of course you wouldn't subject your Priest to that kind of stress. Get all the Priests you can; don't be shy about filling both (or all three) healer slots with Priests.

As an aside, I consider Priests to be the best health managers. They have the most tools to address health - Fortitude to boost hit points, direct heals and heal over time spells, and a shield to absorb damage. They give up a lot to be the best at this role, however.

What about other classes? I find Resto Druids to be just as effective as Priests, although that may be because I play with a very skilled Resto Druid. Holy Paladins and Restoration Shamans are somewhat more problematic for me (and I play a Holy Pally!). In general, Holy Pallies are fantastic tank healers and poor raid healers, while Resto Shammies are the reverse. But player skill can often make up for class deficiencies - I've run Naxxramas with 2 Resto Shammies, no problem. I'd still balk at running with 2 Holy Pallies, though.

Now take a look at your available DPS.

Melee DPS take the fight to the boss - preferably from safely behind him to maximize damage and so the tank doesn't get parry gibbed. In most cases, melee DPS provide a stream of consistent damage that you can count on provided they can spend enough time on target. There are exceptions to this rule - Retribution Paladins, Enhancement Shamans and some Rogue specs do bursty damage.

The downside of melee DPS is that they are, in many ways, marked for death. Their aggro pull threshold is lower and there are more boss effects in the game that can kill them compared to ranged DPS. Melee DPS are also very sensitive to location and position - in fights like Kel'Thuzad and Thaddius, bad DPS positioning can kill the tank quickly. Melee DPS also have the most difficulty spending time on one target, especially on moving fights. Expect their DPS to be lower than usual on fights that require kiting or target switching.

Ranged DPS, on the other hand, attack a boss from a distance. Hunters, Mages and Warlocks are the most common ranged DPS around, but you may find yourself running with Shadow Priests, Elemental Shamans or Balance Druids as well. Ranged DPS in general do bursty damage, although Hunters tend to have more consistent damage outputs, and Warlock DOTs (remember those?) help smoothen out their DPS curve.

Why take melee DPS when ranged DPS doesn't have as many drawbacks? The answer is mana. Every ranged DPS class is dependent on mana. While mana isn't really a problem for short fights, longer fights can take their toll on a caster's (yes, Hunters are also casters) mana pool. Warriors, Rogues and Death Knights - all melee DPS classes - can carry on the fight long after the casters have run out of mana.

There are two more functions your DPS have to fulfill - crowd control, or CC, and area of effect damage, also known as AE, AOE, or AoE.

Crowd control is simple: when you encounter more mobs than you have tanks, and you don't want your tanks to pick up more than one mob each, you will want to CC something. What makes crowd control tricky is that there are restrictions to every type of CC. For example, Rogue CC ("Sap") only works on humanoids and can't be applied in combat. Mage CC ("Polymorph" or "Sheep") can affect humanoids and beasts in or out of combat. Hunter CC ("Freezing Trap") affects practically anything, but it's dependent on position.

Knowing what classes can CC and what classes can't, and the restrictions behind each type of CC, is essential to your career as a raid leader. If you don't know, ask - you're not expected to know the intricacies of each class (although that can be helpful).

The other thing you'll want to keep in mind is Area of Effect damage. This is much simpler - the best AoE'ers are Mages and Warlocks. Other classes have some AoE - Paladins have Consecration, Rogues Fan of Knives, and Hunters Volley, for example - but Mage and Warlock AoE work best. Fights with a lot of small non-elite adds usually call for a lot of AoE.

As with crowd control, learning which classes can AoE and the limitations of their AoE is essential in your career as a raid leader. Not having good AoE won't keep your raid from downing bosses, but having it for some fights will make your raid run more smoothly.

So now that you've got your raid together, it's time to march into the instance and take on some bosses. In the next installment I'll cover raid conduct - how to prepare for your raids and more importantly, how to deal with your raid as it's going on. Till then, may your fights be easy and your raids drama-free.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Noob Spec

So I'm specced Retribution.

This might not be an issue for other Paladins, but it certainly is an issue for me. Ret for me is noob spec - not that noobs play Retribution Paladins (although there are a lot who do) but that I'm a noob when it comes to playing Ret.

I've been specced Retribution for the past two weeks - during raid break, when it'll affect our runs the least. I'm getting a free respec anyway, and I had all this offspec gear stowed away in the bank.

So I specced Ret.

Here's the secret: I like it.

I don't like it enough to raid with it; we already run with two talented ret Paladins. But I like it enough that I've run dailies with it.

Thanks to Malago, last night I ran two Heroics in it as well. I didn't do too badly - 1,800 DPS at my lowest point.

The thing I dislike the most about Ret is how fragile I am. I don't die soloing mobs in Holy spec. I don't die in Prot spec. But I take dirt naps all the time in Ret spec.

But let me also say that I've never killed things as fast. One spell cycle is usually enough to down a mob. In Prot or Holy spec, I usually take two cycles.

Ret is awesome but it's not my spec. My hat's off to Ferraro, Megan and the many brilliant Ret paladin players out there.

Maybe someday I'll learn to do better than faceroll.