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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsA video guide to faster raiding
by Eliah Hecht 
Feb 20th 2009 at 1:00PM
This video is entitled "Pull! A Guide to Faster Raids," and it's been produced by Kyth, of Fusion (US-Turalyon H). Set to the backdrop of (part of) a Naxxramas speed run, the video presents some easy tips for raiding faster. It's mostly addressed towards raid leaders, but I certainly plan on bringing some of the concepts here forward in my next raid. You should watch the video - it's well made and fun - but here are some bullet points I've taken away from it:
- Pull fast. Have impatient pullers, have your plate DPS off-tank trash if need be, and don't wait for rebuffs if one or two people die (just do it on the fly).
- Loot fast. Whether you use /roll, DKP, or loot council, make someone in charge of it, and do it fast.
- Set high expectations. Initially, your raiders might have difficulty keeping up with an increased pace if they're not used to it, but within a night or two they'll get used to keeping moving all the time, and you'll have more fun because you won't be standing around constantly.
The last point above brings up an important issue: fun is essential. For most guilds, it's why we raid. Pushing your raiders to play at a better level shouldn't suck the fun out of raids, it doesn't mean you can't joke in vent; it means there's less of what we don't like in raids: waiting while people are AFK, endless ready checks before bosses, and so forth.
Part two of the video is embedded below (and part one above), or you can download the whole thing in high quality from Warcraft Movies (recommended). There's also a web page associated with the video, including links for recommended addons, more tips, a WWS for the speed run, and so on.
[Thanks to Kyth for making this, and for the tip]
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Naix Feb 20th 2009 2:50PM
9 minutes too long. This is how to speed raid.
1. AOE
2. AOE
3. Roll need if you need and greed on everything else.
Clavicle Feb 20th 2009 2:51PM
And then Blizzard lower mana regen outside the Five Second Rule by 40%, making chain pulling even more painful, especially on healers.
CapnSkillet Feb 20th 2009 3:43PM
Games are supposed to be fun. My gaming time is to escape from a hectic life. Once gaming becomes work, I would rather pay my 15 bucks a month to do something else. Thankfully, most of my guild believes the same. Those who don't have normally gone off to more hardcore guilds. However, they usually end up coming back because we're just nicer and more laid back people.
Shade Feb 20th 2009 3:57PM
I'm not sure what the point of this post was. Hectic life? I've got one of those - lots of people do.
...which is why coming home and blowing the crap out of everything in a zone all at once is *awfully* satisfying.
Pinspotter Feb 20th 2009 3:48PM
This is s.o.p. for any hard-core raid guild, but is also helpful for those whom haven't experienced raiding yet. Lots of good tips if the guild has cohesion. However...... Since Lich King content seems to be a lot easier, PuG groups tend to want to rush through things as if they were with guildies!
Like what happened to our 25 man VoA run last night. Should be easy as pie, right? Not so when someone pulls the boss before half the raid is in the instance. We re-organized our raid 4 times before we dumped all the trash players in the PuG. All the while, PuGs saying we're taking too long and running in like this was a 3 man group quest. Finally we downed him 5 minutes before Wintergrasp reset.
Of course, we had problems like the other warlock giving the OT 1000 gold for pulling early. And the shaman kiting the boss to the raid entrance. We ran 10 man VoA just before the 25 man........ total guild run....... ya, 10 minutes! And that's slow considered by some lol
Me being me however, I rather the raids go a bit slower than what the hard-core raiders feel they should be. I'm here to have fun and get the occasional upgrade, not to farm or to break land-speed records :)
jlpknights82 Feb 20th 2009 3:47PM
My guild has taken to speeding up our Naxx 25 runs lately, just for the heck of it. One of the DPS officers does the loot while our two main tanks and two main healers run ahead and double-pull a group each. When the rest of the raid catches up we continue to chain double-pull up until a boss (or a particularly hard bit of trash where double pulls can get you in trouble). It's really fun and actually challenging at times. Great training for any new people we bring on how to avoid damage and maintain mana while DPSing on the upcoming bosses.
veil Feb 20th 2009 5:07PM
but i totally enjoy the afk'ers, 30 minute strat discussions, and the people with bladders the size of chickpeas going bio after every single g'damn motherf'ing pull.
Houston Feb 20th 2009 5:59PM
Personally I don't see what the rush is. It's unnecessarily stressful unless you know can just go in and pwn the place. I'm not saying to take forever but dang have some fun with it!
calibellus Feb 20th 2009 8:19PM
Fun is fast. Honestly, if you cannot do all the current 25-man raid content in one 5-hour session, your raid needs to improve.
Quenthel Feb 23rd 2009 1:30PM
Excellent post and video. A lot of guilds already do most of what was posted but I got some tips and that is greatly appreciated! As for the boo's from the audience...it's been my experience that you can not and will NEVER please everyone and have to do what is best for the guild as a whole. I would not call this "speed raiding" nor would anyone do this in an instance they've never been to before. It's imperative that the raids go quickly and smoothly else folks will indeed lose interest, lose focus and start watching American Idol... It's a good thing to keep everyone's attention, it's a good thing to keep things running smoothly, it's a good thing to keep your serious raiders happy... Kudos and thanks again guys!