Instance Running 101
After running many instances, and even at higher levels still having people that don't seem to understand how to run an instance, I will add basic instance running information here.
Lesson 1: Don't Be Haten'.
The first thing you must learn and the biggest mistake I've seen is aggroing. Aggroing is having enemies attack you. You must understand that the lower your level is from that of the enemy the farther away that it will attack you from.
Too many times have I've had someone run into the middle of a group of enemies and aggro all of them then die in two seconds and yell at me because they died.
I have also had people go in front of me after telling them to stay behind me then they aggro a group of enemies and the group gets wiped.
In an instance group there will be a “Puller”. A puller is someone who will aggro one enemy from far away so that you will have to only fight one or two enemies at one time instead of a whole group.
ALLWAYS STAY BEHIND THE PULLER. Always act as if you have a larger aggro range than you have. The puller will use a ranged weapon then back off as the enemy charges at them. They will do this because you want to keep the enemies as far away as you can from other enemies.
Lesson 2: The Running Man.
When the puller pulls the enemy you will want to try to get the enemy as far as you can from any other enemy because when most get low on health they will run to the nearest enemy or group of enemies and aggro them onto your party.
The farther away the enemy is from others the more time you have to kill it before it reaches them. When you see an enemy run stop what your doing and hit it with what ever you have. Try to use anything you have that slows movement speed so that you have even longer to take it down before it reaches it friends.
Lesson 3: Pull Your Own Weight.
Many times I see people in a group standing in the back doing nothing and rolling need on everything. Most of the time these are farmers or ninjas. Farmers are people (mostly Asian) that get items to sell for high prices. They then take the money that they made off the items and sell that money for real-world cash.
Ninjas are like part time farmers. They do not normally sell in-game gold for real-world cash but they do try to get all the items they can to sell on the auction house.
You can tell that someone is a farmer or ninja when they roll need on something they can't use. For example the most common farmer is an Undead Rogue. A Rogue rolling need on a piece of plate armor is wrong as Rogues cannot use plate armor. If someone does this they should be kicked out of the group.
Most of the time it is best to ask if you can roll need on an item you need to make sure the group will not become angry at you for doing so.
Lesson 4: You Never Count Your Money When Your Setting At The Table.
Wait to loot. If you kill something and the rest of your group is fighting a bunch of enemies do not loot what you just killed because if that enemy has a green, blue, or epic purple item on it it will pop up a rolling window. People are too busy fighting to see what the item is so they will sometimes roll need and not mean too because they are in the middle of a fight and just want the window to go away and click the wrong button.
The body has about five minutes or so before it despawns so you should have plenty of time to kill the other enemies that are attacking the party before needing to loot the ones already killed.
Lesson 5: Talk To Me.
If your the leader tell people what's going on don't just think that everyone in the group is a master player unless you know for a fact they are. If your in a group where you know that everyone knows what to do you can get away with not talking the whole time, I guess it's like a no-huddle offense in football, otherwise tell people what is about to happen and what they should do.
If you are a member of the group and they don't tell you what is about to happen and you have never been there before then ask, don't try to stumble through it.
This is a point of much talk in the MMORPG game world but I think it is necessary. Make sure everyone in your group speaks the same language. Many groups will ask each person to say something in a language and if they can't they get kicked out of the group.
As I said before many farmers are Asian and cannot speak English very well and so cannot understand orders given by the group leader.
For example the group leader asks an Undead Rogue to say something in English and the Rogue says “Me go MC yes. Then the group leader says “Are you a farmer?” and the Rogue says “Me MC yes”. The Rogue was kicked from the group.
I don't know what you think about not allowing people who do not understand the language of the group into the group, all I know is that a lack of communication can wipe a group over and over again and cause the group to disband.
Also as many farmers are Asian (but not all) this can cut down on people getting mad because a farmer rolled need on an item the farmers character cannot use.
At the higher level instances many group or raid leaders will go master loot so that the group leader can give the item only to those who need it.
For example a blue cloth item drops and the loot is on master loot. The leader will ask that the people who can use it to roll for it. A Mage and Warlock rolls on the item as well as a Rogue. The leader knowing that a Rogue has no use for a cloth item will give the item to the Mage or Warlock depending on who rolled the highest number. You can also mark the Rogue as a farmer.
Ask how the loot will be handled before you go into an instance.
Lesson 6: Run With Your Own Dogs.
The best groups are those made up of members of the same guild. I ran a LBRS group with my guild and it went perfect. No one died and we ran the instance fast.
A day later I joined a PUG (Pick Up Group) made of random people to the same instance. We got wiped eight times and we spent more time arguing over the loot than we did running the instance.
Lesson 7: Play At Your Own Level.
If you are running Ragefire Chasm for the first time don't ask a level 60 to help you. You need to find people about your same level, say plus or minus four levels, to go with you. This will help you to learn how to run an instance. When you reach the highest level in the game and run the highest level instances there's no one at a higher level to hold your hand through the instance.
If on the other hand you have a level 60 character and have ran Ragefire Chasm a hundred times and you can find a level 60 to run you through it then so be it, it's unlikely you will learn anymore by running it with other low level characters.
Lesson 8: Crowd Controlling.
This is not about crowd controlling the enemies but your own party. Too many times people stand inside the enemy they are fighting making it hard for people to target the enemy. This is also bad if two enemies are standing on top of each other and you are trying to target one and not the other. This is mainly a problem with Taurens because of their big size.
So when fighting an enemy don't stand inside of it and don't stand inside of other people. Try to stay at the four directions. One person north one east one south and one west.
Lesson 9: This is the way you play your class, play your class, play your class.
This is a short example of what each class should do during an instance. This is not a full class guide and only for basic information so not everything about each class will be here.
Warrior: The Warriors are the “tanks”. You will be on the front lines fighting the enemies. Most of the time you will want to use a shield unless you are the second tank then you can get away with a two-hand weapon.
Warlock: You will be debuffing the enemy and casting DoTs (Damage Over Time Spells) At later levels you can also help out the tank with you pets by charming a second enemy or tanking a second enemy with your voidwalker.
With a Warlocks debuffs you can turn a level 60 elite into a level 55 elite.
Mage: Mages are know as the “nukers”. A nuker is someone who puts out a lot of damage in a short amount of time. You can blast away at the enemy but know that you will also gain aggro.
When you gain aggro someone has to gain 10% more aggro than you to get the enemy off you. You should wait for the main tank to build up some aggro before attacking so that you can help to keep aggro off of you. You should also use lower damage spells until the enemy is down to 40% health then give it all you got.
This helps keep your aggro low until the enemy is almost dead and allows you to kill it fast when it runs away as you should still have a good amount of mana left, more than if you blasted away with everything from the start.
The most loved spell is Polymorph. Turning an add (add=another aggroed enemy other than the main enemy) into a sheep is fun!
Rogue: Rogues will help by sapping a second enemy that will aggro so that the group can fight fewer enemies. You can also keep the main enemy stunned so that it cannot cast spells or attack so that the main tank takes less damage.
Paladin/Shaman: Paladins and Shamans are the best “off-tanks”. Your job is to help the main tank by attacking the main enemy or if a second enemy attacks you fight it and keep it off the main tank until the main target is dead.
At all times YOU WILL PROTECT THE PRIEST. Above all else you will keep any and all enemies off the Priest even if doing so will kill you. You can also do some backup healing but after level 45 or so you cannot be the only healer. At level 48 I was able to be the only healer in the group as a Shaman in ZF (Zul'Farak) but it was all that I could to to keep up with the healing demand.
Druid: You will do what needs to be done. If there is a Priest in the group you can go bearform and tank and if there is no healer in the group...guess what?...thats right your the healer.
At higher levels you will almost be expected to be a healer.
Hunter: You can be the best puller in the game if you have the skill. I have only seen one good hunter in the game though. This guy was able to pull one enemy out of a group that I was sure would all aggro.
The biggest problem is controlling your pet. Too many times has a Hunters pet wandered off and aggroed half the instance onto my group and wiped us out. Put your pet on passive in an instance or better yet don't use your pet at all and just stand back and shoot.
NEVER EEEEEEVER SEND YOUR PET IN FIRST! I have had several Hunters send their pet in then shoot the enemy and the pet aggros several enemies or several groups of enemies and we get wiped.
Turn off growl. The main tanks hate a Hunters pet that gets aggro all the time. Turn off growl and use your pet as an off tank. Keep your pet with the off tank's target so that if the off-tank dies your pet will take over for him. You don't want your pet taking too much damage because healers will rarely heal it as they have more important people to heal
There may be a few good Hunters out there but they seem to be few and far between, hopefully these tips will help make you a good Hunter in instances.
Priest: And last but not least the main part of any group the healer. As a priest in an instance you will be expected to be set up for healing.
You must do your best not to get aggro. First use your heal over time spell as it will cause less aggro than a big heal. Cast it on the main tank just before he attacks so that it causes no aggro.
Cast your shield on the main tank BEFORE he attacks also as this will cause no aggro.
Try to use small heals and only use big heals when necessary. If you have to use a big heal cast fade even if you did not get aggro as this will allow the tank time to get more aggro and give you aggro breathing room.
If you do get aggro shield yourself and then fade. Do not cast any more spells until someone gets the aggro off of you.
The healing list should go like this
1. Main Tank
2. You
3. Off-Tank
4. Other healers
5. Mage/Warlock
6. Hunter/Rogue
Of course the main tank is first then you are next. Next the off-tank because he's your bodyguard.
Other healers are helping you and can heal you if you run out of mana so you want to keep them alive.
Mage and Warlocks are the damage dealers so they are next.
Hunter and Rogues are last because...well if they die it's not a big deal to the group because the main tank can keep on the enemy without their help. Not that Hunters and Rogues are worthless they have jobs too but the job overall can be done without them they just make it easier
I would suggest going Engineering as a Priest as the toys you get are good for other classes but are life and group savers with Priests. Bombs can stun an enemy that is charging you allowing the tank to get aggro off of you before the enemy gets to you.
The net-o-matic can also stop and enemy from getting to you. Other stuff can help kill runners before they make it to other enemies.
|
