Helping You Become a Better Raider

So maybe before Burning Crusade came out, you never raided. Or perhaps you did and you just really were not up to par with everyone else. Maybe you were always confused at what was going on, or you dps or healing in comparison to everyone else was nearly non-existent. Here are a few simple ways to get you on the right track of becoming a better raider.

Mods / Addons

I do not like mods that do the work for you. But there are a few out there that are essential to the raid. For every class there is something different that may essentially help you, but these are two that no matter what class you are, you need.

KLH Threat Meter - This watches your threat. Whether you are a caster, melee, the main tank, or a healer this is a must. The tank always has to be on top of the meter and everyone else has to watch their threat and keep it below the tank. Otherwise you will pull enemies and could essentially wipe the raid. This also helps you to know when you can go all out with your dps, and also when to back off.

Deadly Boss- This shows you all the cool downs and upcoming attacks of the boss. It is good to know this for a lot of reasons. In many of the raiding bosses, for certain attacks the raid has to react differently. Even if one person is out of the loop and doesn't react to an upcoming attack, it could wipe the raid. (There is a boss in Karazhan called Shade of Aran. Even if one person moves their character even a single step when they are not suppose to, it blows everyone up. Deadly Boss will help you know when to stay still!)

Gear

To better prepare yourself for a raid, don't jump into the group wearing greens 10 levels below you because you think you'll just upgrade to an epic. No one will get any epics if everyone is extremely under-geared. Do some 5 man instances, quests, and heroics to get decent gear for the run. You would be surprised how much gear helps.

Either Read About the Bosses or Ask Questions

If you do not have time to read up on the upcoming bosses you will be doing in a raid, either listen very closely to the raid leader or private message someone you trust to ask. The bosses in the raids are not always tank and spank. Many of them have very unique ways of killing.

Do Not Obsess over who is Doing More Damage or Healing

There is nothing more annoying than someone spamming damage meters for the raid. Just because you may be #1 in damage doesn't mean you are doing your job. Just because someone is #1 in healing, doesn't mean they are the best healer. They could be wasting a lot of heals and a lot of mana too.

For example: During the Wizard of Oz event in Karazhan there is Roar, who is basically the cowardly lion. You may be the warlock in the group and it is your job to chain fear Roar. If all you care about is being #1 in damage, Roar will run free through the raid and tear everyone up.

Another example: When fighting Moroes in Karazhan, it may be your job as a priest to shackle an add. If all you care about is beating the pally next to you in healing, you may neglect that job and allow an add to either kill you (losing a healer) or killing the raid.

If Possible, Bring Elixirs, Flasks, Consumables Oils and Pots

Not everyone needs these to get by, but it does help. Ever since Burning Crusade there are a lot of great consumable food out there that you can either cook yourself or buy in the auction house that increases your stats. If this is too costly for you, at the bear minimum try to bring a couple health or mana pots for emergencies, even the Unstable ones.

Vent / Team Speak

Make sure that if the group has it, that you have it. It really makes it hard to communicate to a group if there are 1-2 people refusing to get on Ventrilo or Team Speak. You won't always have people willing to sit there and re-type everything the raid leader just said. And sometimes if things of importance need to be called out, you don't want to be the one out of the loop.

Regeants

Please don't be the person who needs to buff the group but forgot their regeants. It wastes a lot of time waiting to re-summon to get them or to wait for individual buffs and then getting your mana back.

Your group may not always necessarily defeat a boss, even if you swear you're doing everything right. Lastly, if you are going to raid with a group at least try to be on time as possible and ready to go. At least those efforts will be noticed. Don't forget to repair before you arrive and have everything that you will need with you at the start of the raid. Most importantly, have fun!