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Guide for Your Class in an Instance
Brought to you by the loving members of the
Warrior - Written by Imios
Priest - Written by Imios
Rogue - Written by Vataro
Warlock - Written by Dedaroth
Hunter - Written by Lathais and Jarsua, Edited by Imios and
Omusa.
Mage - Written by Imios
Druid - Written by Jord
Shaman - Written by Imios
Warrior
Main Tank:
The main tank is the person who keeps aggro on most of the mobs.
How to tank.
A tank is the party member that controls aggro on the mobs you
are currently fighting, they are built to take very little
damage and keep mobs very angry at them. The tank is often the
puller of the group and should always be ahead of everyone else,
cept a rogue, but they are wierd.
Pulling:
When you pull first make sure you have a ranged weapon, Walking
towards the monsters is not an effective means of pulling. When
you pull you want to pull the least amount of monsters, to do
this you have to learn the link range of monsters, which the
only advice I can give to you on this is do it alot and you will
learn.
After pulling your immediate concern should be getting as much
threat as you can. Thunder clap and Demoralizing shout should be
your first action, this will gather enough threat on the mobs
that you are not directly attack so they won't run off if
someone heals you, after this you should sunder armor, tab,
sunder armor, etc. Do this until you have 1 sunder on all
enemies and you are back on the original target. Sunder him to
full.
Shield block is a nice ability to use if you are done sundering
the mob, shield block basically gives you a free block in the
next five seconds, This ability is not that important unless you
have improved shield block or you have your shield spiked.
If you have extra rage you can throw in a Whirlwind, Whirlwind
attacks 4 enemies for weapon damage, this will also keep the
hate up on your character.
If for some reason you lose a mob to another player, be it from
to much healing or someone attacking the wrong mob, this is
where your quick thinking needs to come it. If the mob is going
after a squishy (cloth wearer) then taunt it, sunder it and go
back to your main target. If it is going after a leather wearer
(Rogue, Druid) you just need to taunt and sunder it and tell
them to assist you after switching to the main target.
If it is going after your hunter, then don't touch it, Hunters
have about 35 million ways to get rid of hate, but pay attention
to it. If it goes to the shaman then taunt, sunder and tell them
to assist you.
IF THERE IS AN OFF TANK:
Often times there is an off tank, be it a Voidwalker(VW) another
warrior or shaman, these people usually only tank 1 maybe 2
mobs, you do not touch these mobs, they are just being tanked to
wait for you when you are done with your mobs.
Priest
Main healer:
The main healer is the one in charge of keeping the other 4 in
your immediate party alive. You do this with Greater heal, Flash
heal, Renew and Power Word: Shield
There are a few rules I would like to give Priests.
1. if there is a magic Debuff on any member, DISPELL it, dispell
is a cheap instant cast[IC] spell that can get rid of 1 to 2
magic debuffs or buffs.
2. Do not shield the warrior except in emergency situations.
Shielding the warrior before the battle can be very useful, it
will generate no aggro and you could regen the mana before you
have to heal again.
3. It is generally not a good idea to use Psychic Scream in
instances unless you have the area around the fight clear of
mobs.
When in a group, your main priority should be to keep the main
tank alive, If the main tank dies then more often than not your
party will wipe, and that is bad.
Make sure you let the Main tank (MT) gather some threat before
you start healing anyone. Mobs don't like people healing the
people that they are trying to kill, just make sure that they
are pretty pissed at the MT.
Always keep renew on your main tank, as it gives you almost no
threat and heals the tank about the same as a flash heal. If the
battle is going generally well, you can rely on Greater heal to
keep the tank alive, but if and when you get more adds, you
might have to switch to flash heal to keep the tank alive.
If the monster decides that you are next on the feed to self
list, then you should just fade, if that doesn't get rid of
aggro then add a PW:S to your self, I don't recommend healing
your self unless necessary, Run towards your MT, your warrior
will gallantly save you from your measly one mob. and you have
to still keep him alive with his 3 mobs that are still trying to
eat him.
If the monster decides to attack someone else then you should
slap a renew and a flash heal on them(and a PW:S if they are
squishy), the main tank should do the rest.
Rogue
DPS(Damage Per Second):
When a rogue is invited to a group, it is usually because of the
high damage we can put out. Things to keep in mind:
1) It can be very easy to pull aggro off a mediocre tank. Part
of compensating for this is gauging the skill of your tank after
a few fights, but there are steps you can take initially:
-Don't expend all your energy at once. Moves like SS and
Eviscerate which deal large amounts of damage are what cause you
to pull hate. By holding back just a little, and keeping your
energy around 30-50, you will be dealing less damage, but will
cause fewer problems;
-Use feint frequently. Feint is different from Fade (a Priest
ability). It permanently sheds aggro. This is very useful, and
you should use it at every opportunity (another reason not to
expend all your energy).
2) You are not a tank. You wear leather armor. Post-40, tanks
wear plate. That is a big difference. You aren't quite as
squishy as Mages or Priests, but you can't take very many more
hits. If at any time you forced to fight multiple things at
once, fight what the tank is fighting. An assist macro works
very well for this. Just open up a new macro, and type in
/assist [Name of Tank]. Put it on a hotbar somewhere, and use it
whenever a fight starts or a mob dies. Healers don't like rogues
who make them use all their mana. Plus, with everyone attacking
one mob, that mob will die quicker, reducing the number of
things hitting the tank. However, with this in mind, sometimes
the tank needs some extra help. If you see a mob go for one of
the casters, go all out on it and pull it off the caster. You
may not be able to last for a long time, but you can and will
last longer than they will. Make sure you let the tank know that
you have it so he can try to get it off you asap.
Pulling
Many times, a rogue's stealth and ability to use ranged weapons
makes him/her an excellent puller. These skills will be put to
the test many times throughout an instance, so it helps to know
what to do, on a normal basis, and also in an emergency. Please
note that the improved stealth capabilities of Master of
Deception (Stealth talent tree, tier 1) are a must-have in my
opinion. Also, for increased pulling capabilities, continue into
the stealth tree to get Improved Sap, one of our best skills for
pulling that makes things go much easier with multiple mobs to
fight. When you get Imp. Sap, you have a high chance to return
to stealth after using it, which allows you to sap, then return
to a range to pull (or letting the tank pull), reducing the
number of mobs that will be attacking you first.
So, how to do it:
Sap (2+ mob groups)
Go into stealth. Walk up to the mob you wish to sap. I prefer to
sap caster types, as they usually stand back from battle and
make things harder for the tank. Note that while in stealth,
things can only detect you 180 degrees in front of them. Stay at
their backs whenever you can. After you hit sap, immediately run
towards the tank, who should then quickly take the mobs off of
you. Note that sap can miss/be resisted. The best thing to do in
this situation is not to panic, but be aware that you may have
more problems then originally planned.
Ranged
Using ranged weapons is good to pull any number of mobs, and can
be a better alternative if there is only a slight risk of links,
as opposed to using sap to incapacitate one but probably aggro
multiple more. Bows or guns don't really matter, they are
basically the same, I just used bows because I thought they were
cooler. Throwing knives also work, but I also used bows for stat
bonuses, and arrows are cheaper and deal more damage. So, to
pull with a ranged weapon, target the mob closest to you, and
fire. Then run behind the tank, who should then pull them off of
you, very similar to your other pulling methods.
As with any other class, running up and aggroing mobs to pull is
about the worst thing I can think of to do. It is just stupid.
Also be aware that hunters will always be better ranged pullers
than you. It's not a big deal, learn to respect them for their
abilities.
- If you don't have a warlock using Curse of Recklessness, then
use Crippling Poison on one of your blades to slow runners. This
can save groups a lot of headaches.
- Stuns are good for saving healers. If a mob aggroes a healer,
build up a CP or two and Kidney Shot. The stun seems to generate
a lot of threat, and can give your tank enough time to get to
the mob and taunt it off of the caster. If they're still on the
healer and you can't pull them off, drop your Salvation blessing
(right-click on the buff icon) and start pumping out as much
damage as you can. Once the mob peels off of the healer, hit
evasion, and you have 15 seconds to tank them, during which time
you can either drop the mob, or pray that your tank gets over
there. Once the tank gets there and has time to build a little
aggro, vanish or feint to throw aggro onto him.
Warlock
Making group life easier
All classes have roles in a group. The warrior is the tank, the
priest/driud is the healer, mage/rogue is DPS, hunters are
pullers or DPS, and shamans are DPS or healers. Warlocks do not
really fit in any of these categories although they can function
as DPS, they are really just support. And the vagueness may be
why alot of groups don't understand warlocks. So how do warlocks
support? They use their tools.
Stones : Curses : Pets : Misc
Stones
Getting the party stoned
First off, your healer (exception of druids) should be Soul
Stoned(SS) at all times. Shaman if no ankh and you have no
priest. Next are your healthstones. Everyone in the party should
have one. Encourage their use and keep plenty of shards to keep
up with their use. You're not there for DPS, so don't worry
about draining soul on all the mobs till you're full of shards.
If you're doing any AoE, its handy to be carrying a spellstone.
While it does also add to your % crit chance, its really handy
for hellfire as well. Between that and a priest's shield and a
void's sacrifice, you can pull them off sometimes with no damage
to yourself.
Curses
My pox on you
Curses are the single most efficient way to aid in the party.
Properly used can shift a battle. Watch for what your party
needs. If they are dealing damage slowly - throw a curse of
elements(CoE0 or Curse of shadow(CoS). Only use shadow if your
mage is using arcane. The mage will be doing more damage than
you and will benefit more from the curse. Otherwise shamans,
mages and you benefit from elements. Be sure to talk with the
mage beforehand about the CoE, many times mages are able to
border the Threat level and having CoE will push them over that
lvl.
CoS is most often the way to go in this case.
If the mobs are trying to escape, land a curse of recklessness
to stop them from bringing back their friends.
Curse of Doom is quite effective against mezzed mobs and regular
mobs if you have another warlock applying CoS
Pets
Party's best friend
Use them wisely as they are great "situational" tools.
Imp - default pet, blood pact - stamina to all.
Also, if you are dark pact specced, the imp is your mana battery
on passive
Imios Edit: this pet will be the most common pet you will use
for instances.
Void - offtank for squishies and sacrifice for yourself.
Succubus - added DPS or seducing in humanoid dungeons
Felhunter - devour magic to remove bad things from you and good
things from them. Nice to take off "shields" on mobs that do
damage to everyone attacking. And spell lock - no spell for you
mages!
Misc
A few tricks left
So what else does a warlock have to do?
Damage - use your DoT unless asked not to due to debuff limit.
Always keep a curse on though. Throw shadowbolts. Don't run out
of mana - use dark pact / life tap to keep up if you get low.
Let the priest know not to worry too much about your life unless
you get below 50% or so. Drain life as needed. Don't drain mana
unless you know you will be able to let it go for the duration
or it just wastes mana. If the priest is being attacked and no
one is helping searing pain is the fastest way to get a mob on
you. Do not try to help a priest with undead. Chances are your
searing pain will just hit after his shackle finally is not
resisted and break it. That's bad as I have learned
AoE - as stated above, use a spellstone when you hellfire if you
can. Also use Rain of Fire in group type AoE at first as to not
completely grab all the aggro at first, then hellfire after two
rains.
Being a warlock is a fun class to play in a group. Communication
with your party is the key to make sure you know what out of
your arsenel to use. Also to know when people need stones. A
well played warlock can make an ok group really excel and an
excellent group top-notch.
Hunter
Ranged DPS, Crowd Control (CC)
Alot of people believe hunters are non-essential for a group,
but they are wrong. Hunters can pull some of the highest DPS
while gaining minimal aggro, They can CC most any mob.
If you are the puller:
Lay a Freezing Trap to Mez a mob, Cast Hunters Mark on the mob
for the main tank to target, this is alot more than just adding
ranged attack for you, this lets the less competent people in
the party to target the mob the MT is attacking.
Never pull with Aimed Shot, in fact I can't think of a time when
you should use aimed shot. Just pull with a sting. Make sure the
one with the Hunters Mark is not the one to hit the Freezing
Trap.
Since you are Ranged DPS you also have a wider veiw of the
battlefield than most of the classes, so it is also your job to
watch for sentries and close mobs, If someone aggros sentries or
other mobs, you need to pull them off of them and run them to
the MT.
Being at range and away from the nasty little monsters with
teeth gives you a change to use bandages when ever you want.
This will save the casters mana and keep the group going
smoothly
Pets, Pets are nice in 5 man instance, pets are bad in instances
where mobs fear. I do not recommend using pets in instances past
BRD unless you are better than Jesus playing a shaman at
micro-managing.
If you are using a pet, you should be using it for CC, tank the
caster mobs, since those usually like to pick at the tank from
far away, this can help the group greatly.
Stings, most of you are aware that hunters have stings, Stings
are nice, but make sure you using one that would benifit the
party. I would recommend using Scorpid Sting, this sting will
allow your party to hit the mob for more, and also lessen the
damage taken by the tank.
You can also sting the extra mobs on the MT with Serpent Sting
this will deal a decent amount of damage while generating very
little threat.
If you manage to get aggro from the MT, then you can Feign
Death(FD) to reduce all the threat and return the mob to the MT,
also try and macro it so that it says in party/raid chat that
you are doing that so you don't give the priest a heart attack.
If you pull aggro from a squishy character, do not FD, Hamsting
the Mob and run towards the MT. The tank will pull the mob off
you to save your sorry butt.
End Game Hunters get a nifty Spell called Tranquilizing shot,
This is where hunters become a necessity for MC. This shot makes
really pissed mobs(Berserked) become less pissed and less likely
to ruin your furniture.
Mage
Ranged DPS/Humanoid CC
Mages are seen as the top of the ranged DPS totem pole, and this
is mostly correct, mages can dish out some insane damage while
with talents not gaining to much threat. They are also used in
taking care of large groups of non-elites.
Crowd Control - Mages love Polymorphing Stuff, little sheep.
Polymorph is able to mez a humanoid or beast for a decent amount
of time, this is very useful for reducing the amount of mobs you
fight.
One thing to remember, you are in a group, you are not soloing,
so you are not trying to do as much damage as possible.
Ranged DPS - First thing you should do is find out how much
damage you can do without getting threat, if you are partying
with a warrior you party with alot you usually know this. Once
you find this out you can get a feel for what spells to use and
how often. Aslo, remember to target the mob the MT is tanking,
you can do this by targeting the tank and pressing the "F" key,
this will swicth to the mob the tank is targeting.
Frostbolt: This is probably one of the better spells to use in a
group. It does good damage and is slows down the enemy, so that
if someone gets hate then it will take longer for the mob to get
to the enemy. Also Note that most often Fire specced Mages will
use Scorch and Arcane Missiles.
If frostbolt doesn't get you hate, you can throw in some of your
more powerful spells in there, Fireball is a good spell that
deals a decent amount of damage. You can throw in some of your
fancy ICs if you want.
Arcane Missle Is the damaging spell you will be using in groups
with 10 or more people, the reason is that Arcane missle adds no
debuffs to the precious 8 debuff limit, and you will still be
doing decent damage.
If you manage to get hate, which I am sure you will when you
test the tanking abilities, make sure you get right next to the
tank, DO NOT RUN AROUND. the tank does not have a ranged taunt,
so get next to him.
Also times that you are going to AoE some mobs, make sure you
bring them to the tank, and make use you can get a shield from
the priest.
Lastly, Mages can make food and water that they can give to the
group. This will get your groups appreciation and also lessen
the down time between fights.
Druid
Healer/Tank/Support - As a Druid, your role in a party will
always be different, depending on the makeup of the party and
the demands of the instance
In order to be able to optimize yourself for any situation, a
Druid should always carry AT LEAST 2 full sets of gear. One set
for feral and one set for casting. Feral gear should include
Strength/Attack Power+ and Stamina +, which casting gear should
consist of Intellect, Stamina and a healthy dose of Spirit never
hurts. There very few items that will give both melee and caster
stats, so be prepared to have one of your bags full of gear at
all times.
One thing to note - There are so many possible ways to play a
Druid - so many different talent builds and so many effective
ways to use your abilities in any form. I dare not assert that
this guide outlines the *only* or *best* way to play a Druid.
What I am sharing here is some insight that I have gained from
my own experiences, and I welcome feedback.
Main Tank
If the party is lacking a Warrior, Druids in Bear form make fine
tanks. Before you can be ready to tank properly for a party,
however, you need to equip yourself with your melee gear.
For a tutorial on Tanking, see the Warrior section above.
To tank as a Druid, you have three main tools. First and
foremost is Growl. Growl has a ten second cooldown, but it will
convince a mob to attack you for at least five seconds. The only
downside to Growl is that it only hits one mob, and has a
10-second cooldown. The next important tool is Demoralizing
Roar. Demoralizing Roar not only angers mobs into attacking you,
but it significantly reduces their attack power, decreasing the
amount of damage you take. Finally, Druids have a damaging
ability called Swipe that hits up to three nearby targets for a
small-to-moderate amount of damage. Swipe is useful to keep the
attention of all nearby mobs.
Bear Form offers all sorts of other abilities, which can be used
effectively based on the situation. Frenzied Regeneration, which
heals you over time, can be useful, for example, if the healer
runs out of Mana, but it uses up all of your Rage, which can
make holding aggro more difficult.
Notes on Talents - There are a few Talents that will offer
significant help with tanking. The first is Ferocity, which
lowers the Rage cost of Maul (your bread and butter DD ability
in Bear Form) and also lowers the Energy cost of Claw (your
bread and butter DD ability in Cat Form). Next up the tree is
Sharpened Claws, which increases your chance to crit in both
Bear and Cat forms. Putting these ten points into Feral can
significantly aid you in tanking for a party as well as soloing.
Main Healer
Probably the most common role for a Druid in a party is the main
healer. Healing as a Druid can be a demanding task that will
require your constant attention. You don't have Power Word
Shield to save your tank if you slack off and miss a beat.
A good set of Intellect gear is absolutely essential for a Druid
who wishes to be an effective main healer. If you run out of
Mana, your party is as good as dead.
One important thing to consider is the efficiency of your
various healing spells. It works out that the slower the cast
time, the more efficient the healing. The following is based on
the highest rank of each spell, and does not factor in any
boosts from talents:
Rejuvination - (Instant Cast) 756 HP / 335 Mana = 2.26 HP/Mana
Regrowth - (2 sec cast) 2185 HP / 880 Mana = 2.4 HP/Mana
Healing Touch - (3.5 sec cast) 2060 HP / 790 Mana = 2.6 HP/Mana
The advantage of using Regrowth and Rejuvination instead of
Healing Touch is that if the main tank has both and the
situation is under control, you can stop casting for 15-20
seconds and regen some MP (this would be when a healthy amount
of Spirit comes in handy).
One important thing to note - when you are the main healer, you
would be ill-advised to use your damage spells. There are cases
when it's okay - generally when things are going easy and you
are confident that you won't run out of mana. In difficult
situations, spending Mana on damage spells could end up causing
your party to whipe.
Notes on Talents - The Restoration Tree is full of talents which
will aid with healing. One that is particularly useful is
Nature's Swiftness, which causes the next nature spell (which
includes ALL of your healing spells) to be instant. NS can be
very useful when the proverbial droppings hit the fan. The
ability to instantly cure your main tank with your mot powerful
Healing Touch spell can save the party from an otherwise certain
whipe. NS is also very useful in solo PvE and PvP, and I would
say it's probably worth putting 21 points into Restoration
regardless of where you put your other points.
Party Support
Druids are generally not the best tanks, not the best healers
and certainly not the best damage dealers. As a class, our
strength lies in our flexibility.
In some party instances and most raid instances, there will be a
Warrior as a main tank and a Resto/Divine Priest as main healer.
In this case, there are many useful ways that you can spend your
time and effort:
Off-tank - Main healers, Rogues and Mages (and others) do not
like having a powerful Elite mob beating the crap out of them. A
quick switch to Bear Form and you are very capable of holding
the mob's attention until the Main Tank can come take over. Just
throw a regrowth on yourself and Growl at the target and you'll
be fine until help gets there.
Off-healer - Even if you're not the Main Healer, you should
still monitor the Main Tank and help out when necessary. A
little bit of help form you can (1) divide up aggro so that the
mob will ignore the healer and (2) help the Main Healer keep
their MP up.
Debuffer, Status Curer and DD
Faerie Fire might not seem like an incredibly powerful spell,
but if 2-3 or more melees are whacking away at a target and you
help them hit that target 3-5% harder, you are helping deal a
good deal of damage, and the MP cost of Faerie Fire is minimal.
Remove Curse is very helpful in certain instances where mobs
cast a lot of curses. Mages can also remove curses, but allowing
Mages to save their MP for their primary duty (damage) is always
beneficial. Cure Poison and Abolish Poison are also very
helpful.
While Damage is not a Druid's strong point, if you don't have
anything else to do at any given time, it never hurts to add to
the damage. Make sure you don't blow all of your MP on DD,
though. Cat Form can be very helpful, as it allows you to deal
ongoing damage for a one-time hit to your MP. Moonfire is also
useful, and hitting multiple targets with it will add up to
significant DPS. Just make sure you don't do too much damage, or
you'll quickly become an off-tank
Innervate - Innervate is the final talent of the Restoration
Tree. In end-game instances, it is usually assumed that Druids
will have this ability. It is on a six minute timer, and it lets
you increase MP regeneration for you or one of your allies by 4x
(or regular full regen if they are casting). The typical use for
this ability is to help the main healer in boss fights to make
sure they don't run out of mana, but there are many other
possibilities for the effective use of this spell. !
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