by SnowflakeFirstly I would like to say I don’t know everything when it comes to raiding. My guild has been on our server for a few months and we’re up to SSC, TK and Mag. There are other people who are sure to be more qualified than me to write a guide like this but I figured heck, why not? Some things will just be common sense and this is all mostly stuff I have experience with, things that have happened stuff like that.
1. Join a guild that is right for you – don’t join a guild that is raiding Black Temple and Mt Hyjal if you have only just got to 70 that day. Chances are they won’t even have Karazhan on the agenda and you won’t have much of a chance to prove yourself to them. Join a guild that is already in Kara or starting to move onto Gruul. They will have Kara on farm status (or almost) and they will be able to give you the best advice in regards to what gear and skills you should be working towards. If you join a guild that wants to start raiding Kara be expecting big regular repair bills and be set to enjoy the journey of learning the fights with your guild.
2. Don’t comprimise on gear – Get the best gear you can for your class and spec, don’t settle for second best simply because better gear will take a little longer. The best geared that you are the easier raids will come and the more time you will be able to spend learning your class. You will also have a better chance of getting into the group the better geared you are.
3. Learn your class – A friend once told me 90% of people use trial and error in the middle of a fight to learn a boss fight. 5% do hardcore thoerycraftying before a fight and the rest do their theorycrafting mid fight. I personally do a lot of reading about my class before a raid, general ideas. My brain doesn’t start ticking over into the more complex things until I’m in there doing it. If there is something I didn’t understand or something I didn’t get the hang of I spend a lot of time talking to people I respect afterwards.
4. Be on time – A lot of guilds complain their biggest downfall is members not turning up to raids on time. My guild failed as a raiding guild on our old server due to this. My best advice is to turn up ready to go half an hour before the raid is due to start. This applies whether your guild has set teams or it decides teams on the night. My guild advises people turn up to a raid at 4:30 (we raid at 5 pm on the oceanic servers), guild invites go out at 4:45 and then we do our first pull at 5 pm. You won’t get many raid invites if you haven’t been outside ready to go well in advance.
5. Show you have the guild’s interests at heart – This is something I have struggled with (unknowingly). Guildies started thinking I didn’t care about the group as a whole simply because I spent so much time talking about what gear I wanted, what gear I wanted to drop from that boss we were killing. It took a strong word from the officers to get me to realise my constant talking was a drainer.
6. Be quiet on vent – unless you are specifically being addressed try to avoid talking in a raid. Leave the vent channel clear for the raid leaders to talk. This is another problem I struggle with, my voice is more noticable than others (since I’m a girl). At the end of the day your group doesn’t really care that your lagging hard core and aren’t shooting.
7. Use all the consumables you can – If its a wipe night use Flasks and food, if you are really gunning for bosses use Elixirs, food, scrolls and stones or mana oil on weapons. It can make a real boost in how you perform your given role in the raid. The daily quests you can do at level 70 should pay for your repair bills, consumables and ammo, this is dependant of course on what armour you use (clothies can afford to forget a day or so of quests whereas plate wearers really shouldn’t).
8. Have fun and remember it’s just a game – Don’t let your real life suffer for the sake of raiding. If you find yourself not eating with your family or something like that find a guild that raids at a more agreeable time. Negotiate with your family as to when you should be raiding and take a step back when you feel its becoming more of a job that you pay to do and less of a time killer after work.
Feel free to make any comments, suggestions or additions below, I know there will be something I have missed out or conveyed badly.
Thankyou I’ve made theThankyou 🙂 I’ve made the change to the guide, for some reason I forgot about consumables.
Another tip is to keepAnother tip is to keep different sets of gear fo rspecs; as a hybrid class especially or a warrior, yo umay be asked to respec to fit a fight’s needs while yo ulearn it. Keep it enchanted, socketed and as epic as possible. Sure youll prolly hate it but its something that you need to be in agreement on
Aderthad Lothar Horde
Great starting post
OneGreat starting post 🙂
One thing I would say, that can make a huge difference when starting raiding, is use all the consumables you can.
If its a wipe night use Flasks and food, if you are really gunning for bosses use Elixirs, food, and stones or mana oil on weapons. Can make a real boost in how you perform your given role in the raid