Know Your Role : a guide to being a good player in a group environment

Introduction:

Let me start this guide by introducing myself my name is Bobreaze. I have played wow since pre-bc and have played many different classes since i began playing. I Have played wow in many roles through its various changes. This has given me a good understanding of what is expected of each a player in the various roles that they will encounter in a group setting. With the recent change to the LFG system in patch 3.3 it seems that more people are doing instances without the knowledge of what is expected from them in their role of choice. That's is why i have written this guide to share my knowledge of what is expected of a player when performing a particular role in a group.

What this guide is not:

This guide is not meant to teach you the mechanics of other classes. It is not meant to be a guide about class mechanics, skills, or gear although a few may be mentioned. If your interested in learning how to play your class better or learn how to perform a certain role for your class I suggest you look in your class forums for further information. Most of the information on your class or others can be gained from reading the stickies at the top of each class forum. These will contain questions about whats a good spec, what rotations are good, and the pros and cons of different stat points.

The Roles:

There are 3 roles in wow they are tank, healer, and dps. To successfully group in a dungeon or raid you will need a combination of these roles. With the new LFG tool in 3.3 you can choose which role you wish to perform. This guide will help you to know what the roles are and what is expected of the players that are in each role.

Tank Role:

The tank in a group is the shield his role is to create threat so that the mobs and bosses target him. The tank of a group normally is the most heavily armoured and able to handle taking damage better than the other classes in a group. The reason a tank is important is because they are able to take more damage and prevent mobs from killing other players.

The Goals of a Tank

• Tanks should create max threat to keep monsters attacking them.


• Tanks should taunt monsters off of healer and dps to keep them alive.


• Tanks should use cool downs to mitigate damage.


• Tanks should position monsters to prevent damage to group or self.


• Tanks should stay out of the fire or aoe dmg spots.

These are the general goals of a tank. Most tanks in groups are also the leader. They set the pace for when mobs are pulled and should be the first person to damage a group of mobs or boss. Tanks do have one goal that is above all else the most important one. Tanks should do their best to keep the healer alive that means don't allow stray mobs to pound your healer to death. Since tanks are the first person to damage mobs they also need to be aware if the group is ready for a pull. They also should be considerate of the healers mana because if the healer has no mana the tank is gonna die.

Expectations of a tank

• Tanks are expected to generate enough threat to hold mobs.


• Tanks are expected to wear the proper gear.


• Tanks are expected to be in the proper presence, stance, form or have righteous fury on.

If you are unable to perform these basic expectations maybe tanking is not for you. If you have a question about bosses or techniques for pulls asking your group or researching dungeons is a good way to learn. If you wish to further understand the role of tanking for a particular class then do further research on your respective class forum.

Healer Role:

Healers are the lifeblood of a group. A group can not succesfully do a dungeon without a healer. Healers keep the group alive through various healing spells. Healers also are important for removing different status ailments that can affect an party.

Healer Goals:

Healers have one goal and thats to keep everyone alive. Healers also have a priority system for who is healed. The system looks like this Tank=Healer>DPS. Which means healers goal are to keep themselves and the tank of the group alive at all cost. Which means dps are second priority healing. The reason for this is because a group can survive if a dps dies but if a healer or tank dies the whole group dies.

more to be added at a later time critiques if u dont mind.