Intro
I have been saying for a while now in vent and probably in
guild chat that I feel like I have become a better raid leader over time (although
I cannot even remember when I became the defacto RL in DGF/Broken, I’ll need to
consult some older members of DGF/broken), but I feel like I am becoming a “worse”
raider. I figured it was time to blog
about it to some degree with no real idea of where to start or end up, but here
we go.
Raid Leading
PREP PREP PREP! I do
my homework, I really do, I don’t just watch fatboss videos and read Icy Veins
and VOILA boss is dead gasping for air getting teabagged by my raiders within 1-5
pulls. I pine through 100s of posts on
mmochampion and other forums and look for secret nuggets of information or
tips/tricks to give the teams I am leading the edge and adjust the strat to
meet the strengths/weaknesses of my raiders.
(runon sentence, I know, go away Dr. Truffasaurus) The fatboss videos
are great, but those guys are pro players, dare I say hardcore (I will be blogging about hardcore raiders and my
definition of it oneday), but yes, they are the real definition of hardcore
raiders. If we were as good as FatBoss
and put in as much time as them and raided on the PTR, MAYBE we could just do
what they do and /WIN.
Addons
I can’t raid or play without them. Weak auras, Hermes, and BigWigs are my 3
essential raiding and raid leading addons.
I use BigWigs to emphasize countdowns to let me know when a boss ability
is coming to warn the raid. Hermes to
track raid cds to call them out. Weak
auras to monitor my procs and timers and other CDs such as how long dev aura or
ralling cry is up for so I can time the next CD for a burn phase or a point of
high damage. Addons are a huge part of
the game now, especially for me, I cannot and will not play without them.
Raid Awareness
I feel more raid aware, but sometimes, YES, sometimes, I may
die due to watching too much stuff and trying to call it all out when we are
first learning a fight. Is it overkill
that I am trying to watch everything?
Perhaps, but I feel the measure of success is measured by the goals set and
achieved and Team Moist has reached every goal since its inception in T14 and
surpassed its T16 goals, so, “I wave my private parts at you” to any naysayer
about my approach.
Control Freak
Yes, I like to be the floor general if I could use a
basketball term. I like to dictate the
pace of the raid and outline the approach and I like my way to be honored and
not discounted. However, I do feel I let
others contribute and recommend things as things unfold in the execution of a
new boss, but ultimately, I like to have the final say. Could I delegate more responsibility to
others? Probably, but admittedly I am a
bit of a control freak. So, again, “your
mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.”
Cooldowns
Yup, I like to control and call out each one. We aren’t fat boss who probably coordinates
these CDs in forum or in PTR testing, so I take that duty upon myself. Overkill?
I do not think so and I think I have proven to many that it works
especially in non-hardcore teams.
My Performance
So, with all the sections above something has to falter and
it is my performance. I used to be a
meter maid, if I wasn’t #1, I strived to be #1, and a lot of raiding was 25 man
not 10 man, so being #1 out of 25 was an accomplishment. I needed to be #1 at all times and would do
whatever it took to be #1 within reason.
I was not raid leading until at some point (which I already mentioned I
need to find out when it was) , I was merely watching myself and doing what I
did on my lock as a ranged dps or a healer to pump out DPS or HPS. My numbers aren’t shit, but they would/could
be better if I wasn’t raid leading. The
game has changed a great deal and the sheer amount of mechanics to account for
has increased tier by tier and xpac by xpac.
In 25 mans, it could have been that my fps was higher than half the raid
and I had no input lag and therefore, with an equal skilled raider, I could do
more DPS or HPS. The number of spells has
increased too, which may be why Blizz is adding no new spells in WOD, there are
already enough. CD usage and management feels
imperative right now and is probably why Blizz said raid CDs will probably only
remain with healer classes in WOD. The
CD management game and class stacking for certain CDs, alla Pallies on Thokk,
is becoming a problem or necessity for some bosses. We shall see though.
Conclusion
I do want to blog more about raid leading and leading a team
one of these days as I think there are elements of raid leading not mentioned
here that are as important as the execution of raid mechanics and CD
management. I am by no means the perfect
raid leader, but I have my style, my approach, and tweak it as necessary. I do my best to keep my numbers up and not be
the reason for fail, but it happens sometimes where I am the goat and it is my
turn in the barrel. All in all, for
someone that drinks beer in every raid, I think I could be a lot worse! Anyway, thanks to all that follow me into virtual
battle each week and to those that have raided with me in the past. I will raise a beer to you all and eat some
more goldfish in your honor.
LOL OH Mavros! You are special! And We love you :P
ReplyDeleteTBH Mav even when I raided competitively my raid leader then on his rogue had the same issues. He fucked alot of shit up but never played to his max while raid leading because of all the crap you have to call out and pay attention to, so he can assist the other raiders. You are definitely not the first to have this issue.
ReplyDeleteGoddamn it, I just wrote a long ass post and the fucking thing deleted it. Fuck you and your blog.
ReplyDeleteBut the general gist of it was this: You are an amazing raid leader. You contribute FAR more to the group by calling out the CDs, the audibles, adjusting strats on the fly even if your performance falters a little bit. And that we are still going to give you shit when you fuck up, so keep that dictionary thick skin that you need to be part of our group (and in your case, the leader of said group, so you get an extra helping of ball busting). And also, I'm the happiest I've been raiding with you (and ALL of you) than I have since I was downing Rag pt. 1 in 40 mans when he was the real deal--I've been around the block a few times, and I jive with your leading style the best, so kudos to you.
And also: stop running the fuck away from me when you have Gift of the Titans.