So you want to be a raider...
by Elizabeth Harper 
Oct 6th 2006 at 4:00PM
Jumping from leveling up to end-game content can be daunting -- and if you've done nothing but run 5-player instances before, how to get into raiding may be a bit mysterious. Well, Coriel, of the Blessing of Kings blog has written up a great two-part guide on how to make this jump. Part one covers what raids are, why you might want to do them, and what to have (gear, levels, professions, etc) before you try to get into a raiding guild. And part two covers how to find the raiding guild for you as well as how to apply and make a good impression. I'd write tips of my own, but I honestly think Coriel has covered all the bases.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
elanz Oct 6th 2006 5:00PM
Part 3: don't be a rogue or hunter
sysop Oct 6th 2006 5:50PM
Sorry deff. not familiar w/ raiding and end-game material. Why wouldn't you want to be a rogue or a hunter?
david nelson Oct 6th 2006 6:14PM
Well, I think what Elanz meant was that hunters and rogues have a high population, so it is harder to get into a raiding guild than if you were, say...a druid.
I think you could add warrior to that list as well. Rogues seem to be coming less common, so that might not be as bad as it used to be, but hunters...good luck!
Dogmeat Oct 6th 2006 6:33PM
because there are too many of them normally.
rayonius Oct 6th 2006 6:39PM
because there's *not enough* of them /snicker
Markus "LAKE" Berglund Oct 6th 2006 6:39PM
@Sysop:
There is an abundance of hunters on most servers. So as a hunter (i am) i have trouble finding groups for all instances, not just raids. Fortunately i have found a good guild that i can raid with, but we are plenty of hunters and have to race to the sign-ups of all raids...
Dave Oct 6th 2006 7:11PM
Funny that our guild has a shortage of rogues and hunters.
Druid dude Oct 6th 2006 7:21PM
There are definitely mental adjustments to make as well, which the article touched on briefly. Here are a few things to be prepared for:
1) Teamwork
You just spent countless hours leveling to 60, and have probably learned how to inflict the maximum amount of pain possible on mobs. You can probably solo like a pro. In a raid, you are no longer soloing. If you try to be a solo hero, you are most likely going to screw things up for everyone.
If you are not a tank, don't pull aggro, period. Most of the time, unless a boss does an unavoidable AOE or non-aggro based attack, *only* tanks should be taking any significant damage. You will know you have screwed up by the big mob trying to beat you in to the floor!
As mentioned in the article, you may need to respec. Remember, its about teamwork, not being a solo hero. Shadow Priests, Enhancmenet Shammies and Feral or Balance Druids are usually expected to heal nearly all the time. Healing specs help this a great deal. Even if a guild doesn't require you to spec for healing, you will be much more effective at your primary raid role if you do. Put yourself in the raid leader's shoes; 7 Priests are on, 1 is Shadow. Who gets the raid invite and who doesn't?
(Note: Personally, I believe that most raid leaders do not make effective use of off-spec players like they could, but that is another topic entirely!)
2) Wiping
You will be wiping on new encounters, wiping a LOT. This can require a huge mental adjustment.
Coming from Scholo and the like, if your group wiped a few times, the group probably sucked, and you knew it.
In raids, it takes time to learn new bosses, and many many wipes. Don't expect a brand new, inexperienced guild to walk in to MC their first time and clear the place. Ain't gonna happen. You will be wiping and wiping a LOT. Did I mention that wiping a LOT is part of the whole raid thing?
A friend of mine is in a new guild. I am in a Naxx guild and have considerable raid experience. They were trying Ony for their second time, looking for their first Ony kill. First attempt went south fast. Second attempt, got her to around 15% before we died. I thought "Not bad progress, we should get her down in 1 or 2 more attempts here tonite." However, the guild members were disheartened, and felt that 2 failed attempts was enough to prove that they had no business being there. They called the raid off at that point. This was about 5 or 6 weeks ago, they still haven't been able to kill Ony. I gaurantee you that this guild will go nowhere in raiding unless they have some dramatic changes.
3) Loot frequency
You will probably be getting new gear much less often than you did when running the 5-10 man instances. I have seen people say things like "This guild sucks, I went to MC twice and didn't even get ANY PHAT LEWTZ WAAAAHHH." Even in a hardcore raid guild, that is farming say, BWL and the first half of AQ40, you could easily go weeks of raiding 5 nights per week without getting any new gear.
Rule of thumb here: Don't stress about the loots. If you make yourself out to be all about loot, they will probably show you the door. If you just keep showing up every night and raiding, you *will* start accumulating an impressive amount of epics. It just takes time and consistency. Speaking of that...
4) Consistency
The most valuable player to a raiding guild isn't always the one with the highest DPS or the best healer. It's really the ones that show up every night, and stay for the entire raid. People that show up late, only show up every once in a while, leave early etcetera, are not as valuable to the guild no matter how skilled or well geared they are. Become an asset to your guild by simply being there every time a raid is on.
Some times, you will probably have to sit out for other players. This is normal. Don't get your panties in a bunch about it! Throw a hissy fit and you might be looking for a new guild soon. Take it like an adult, you will probably eventually become a person that the guild and raid leaders see as invaluable, someone that gets an automotic first invite. Show a mature and considerate attitude, and you will go far. Speaking of attitude...
5) Attitude
A mature, sensible player is an asset to any guild. The following are not:
Loot Whores
Drama Queens
Whiners (many sub categories here!)
Basically, don't be a jerk and your entire guild will benefit. Act like a whiny kid and you can drag down a few dozen people with you. Wise guild leaders boot these kind of people out immediately!
So, overall, there are some pretty significant mental adjustments to make. I sure didn't mean to make this sound scary or anything! For many people, raiding is the most awesome experience in WoW, by far. For me, I love it! Gotta go now, almost raid time, I don't want to be late now do I? LOL!
UberOomkin Oct 6th 2006 10:49PM
@ Druid Dude
I agreed with most of your post until you get to the spec part. I've been on both sides of the fence. When I hit lvl 60 I was in a raiding guild that was progressing about halfway through MC. As soon as I hit 60 they said, you don't have to respec Rejuvination (im a dr00d bye the way) but you will be healing and it will be to your advantage to respec. Now personally, I think that was a great way to go about it. They didn't say, respec or you don't raid, they requested. I went in the first raid Balance spec'd, and as soon as I got out I respec'd Rejuvination simply because, all the other dr00ds were outhealing me, and I was burning all of my mana too quickly. Well now we have MC on farm status and are progressing into BWL and I have respec'd (thank Elune) back to Balance. In fact our guild is recruiting Balance and Feral dr00ds because we know how useful they are. So to say that you need to respec to the cookie cutter format as soon as you hit MC I would have to disagree with. See were your guild is, ask around, you may be surprised with how they could use you.