Saturday, September 22, 2007

Suite Madame Blue

Okay, here goes. This is going to be a short post as Zball is going grocery shopping soon. But we'll be back to post again. We hope. I hate grocery shopping.

Since my less- expensive PvP gear post will take a bit of time to finish writing, I'm going to deal with another issue. Mainly, how to raid without getting the raid upset because we pulled aggro off the tank. And because I like numbers, we are going to make another list.

1) Invest in a threat meter and make sure your raid/ guild does the same. I used KTM for a long time and just recently switched to Omen (which, hooray, is compatible with KTM, just a lot nicer with some great visible warnings on- screen as you approach the Main Tank's aggro). Threat meters are a requirement of most raiding guilds, and for good reason. No more guessing. Keep your threat under that of the tank's and you're good to go.

2) Wait for the "Release" command from your raid leader. We all know mages can make things go boom. Our raid leader should not have to tell us not to DPS until the tank has aggro (Patchwerk fight notwithstanding), but a good raid leader will anyways. Here's the thing: until the raid leader tells us to, we are not going to DPS. No Scorch. No Ice Lance. Nothing. If you're in a 5- man group, watch for 3- 5 sunders on the target before DPS. Not only does this keep the boss from leaving our squishy selves as stains on pavement, but it gives us a lot of wiggle room once we do get the word to open up.

3) Even after the "Release" command, do not go all out. You may easily overrun your tank's aggro if you aren't paying attention. Case in point: I am helping my old guild clear trash after Maiden in Karazhan. I was a bit peeved because I did not crit once against her (I was still almost full frost at the time). As we clear trash, I hit three 3k crits in a row. Tank loses aggro, I die. The DPS Gods laughed at me. But my death was completely preventable if I had been paying attention.

If you still have problems, get a new tank or (gasp!) stop being a DPS overlord. I prefer the first, but good tanks are so hard to find.

4 comments:

Seper said...

lol cool ill try that.. that way if they say go nuts.. and i do.. its there fault :p

Anonymous said...

I've always scorched to max + to dmg before I start with my continous barrage of fiery death. Saves your aggro and sets you up for even more destruction!

~Erastus, Staghelm

Anonymous said...

...oh yeah! awesome site! Been reading BRK for awhile and was really hoping someone would come along and write a mage page. /cheer

~ Erastus...again

Seper said...

i'm not fire specced.. full frost. So dont really have an option like that.