This weekend, on twitter, @slowpoker said something that resonated with many of us:
STOP CHANGING THE MOTHERFUCKING STRAT. CAN’T PRACTICE WHEN YOU CHANGE IT EVERY FIVE ATTEMPTS
Amen.
When someone posts on twitter in all caps, and curses, you know it’s serious business. So raid leaders, please stop and reflect for a moment, before the the next time you utter the phrase “Let’s try a new strat…” and answer these questions honestly:
- Did you succinctly explain the strat?
No, I am not asking if you droned on for 5 minutes about all of the boss abilities. I don’t care about the boss abilities. I want to know what I am supposed to do, when I am supposed to do it, and where I should be. If you want an example of some well-written strategy descriptions, go check out Jaded Alt’s blog. - Did all of your raid members know their personal special role to be fulfilled, if any?
“OK, someone needs to kite the adds, and I need two of you to click the chains” does not fulfill the above. Why? Because it doesn’t assign a specific person to a specific task. Thus, no personal accountability. “Someone else will do it….” all your raiders think quietly to themselves. And then, no one actually does it. - Did your raid team actually execute the strat?
Now this is where things can get heated. But answer this honestly: did folks actually play out their roles as requested? Or did they do something sorta similar, but not quite the same? If the latter, then the strat hasn’t actually been tried out and deemed unworkable for your team. I saw a lot of this in ICC. FOlks claiming we needed a new strat for Rotface and Festergut when in fact, multiple folks were not even coming close to executing the decided upon and communicated strat. - Have you spent some time using the strat, and not gotten close?
OK you’re executing the strat perfectly, but you’re not getting closer than 35% on the boss, ever. That’s when it’s time to take 5 and evaluate what your issue is. Are your healers overtaxed? Is someone standing in the fire? Is there a sub-10k DPSer in the raid? Is someone talking on the phone while raiding? Try to isolate the failure points. And NOW, you’re ready to change up the strat. If you’re getting down to less than 10% each time, however, you need to work on your close, not change up the strat.
In my five+ years of playing this game, and coming up on my five-year anniversary of the first time I set foot in Molten Core, I’ve found that the most important factor in raiding success has been practice. Having the same folks playing the same role, over time, is what makes raids go more smoothly and efficiently. The more practiced we become in our roles, the better we get at them. What once felt like a chaotic fight eventually feels like a well-orchestrated ballet, with every raid member playing her part.
So the next time you get the itch to change up the strat for a fight your team is just learning, please just pause for a moment and determine if that’s really necessary, or if you are just unnecessarily stressing out your raiding team.
Resources
For my Alliance guild, I compiled a list of Jaded Alt’s posts on Cataclysm Raid strats, because they really are that good. Here it is for your reference:
BoT
- Halfus: http://www.jadedalt.com/2011/01/16/halfus-wyrmbreaker-normal-10-man/
- Valiona & Theralion: http://www.jadedalt.com/2011/01/16/valiona-theralion-the-twins-normal-10-man/
- Twilight Ascendent Council: http://www.jadedalt.com/2011/01/20/twilight-ascendant-council-normal-10-man
- Cho’Gall: http://www.jadedalt.com/2011/01/30/chogall-normal-10-man/
BWD
- Magmaw: http://www.jadedalt.com/2011/01/13/magmaw-normal-10-man/
- Omnitron Defense System: http://www.jadedalt.com/2011/01/13/omnotron-defense-system-normal-10-man/
- Maloriak: http://www.jadedalt.com/2011/02/18/maloriak-normal-10-man/
- Atramedes: http://www.jadedalt.com/2011/01/14/atramedes-normal-10-man/
- Chimaeron: http://www.jadedalt.com/2011/01/14/chimaeron-normal-10-man/
- Nefarian: http://www.jadedalt.com/2011/02/20/nefarian-normal-10-man/
Throne of the Four Winds
I really should have read that guide before trying ODC this weekend. 🙁
Wow Annexia. Thanks for all the links — I hope they’re helping your raid crew out!
“Someone else will do it….” all your raiders think quietly to themselves. And then, no one actually does it.
Even in a raid where people do take these jobs upon themselves, it’s good to be specific, or else you wind up with multiple people trying to do the same job.
One example I saw of this was from our early attempts on the Lich King — until we had a specific stun rotation for the Val’kyr, we had a lot of trouble with multiple stuns going off at the same time. Then, everybody was on cooldown, and the Val’kyr had fifteen seconds of diminishing returns immunity.
I seriously love your guides! I’ve peeked at them for each new boss I’ve worked on, and they’ve helped me immensely by giving me a concise overview of the fight.
Well, now you have a big list o’links to make it easy! I really like Omnitron– that’s a great example of a fight that becomes a dance after everyone understands the flow.
I totally agree on the importance of setting up a stun rotation. I’ve also been in those fights where everyone was on CD at the same time, and thus no one could interrupt.