Ailis in Hunterland

*Ailis peeks out the window and sighs a little at the torrential downpour.  She turns back to her lap, where she resumes cleaning a pair of new boots….which look more like legwarmers for cows.  A creak causes her to start up, hands beginning to glow with elemental energy.  Upon seeing you, she relaxes, smiles and gestures to a chair.*

Come on in.  Sorry, I’m still trying to get the last bit of frozen dragon yuck off these boots.  Can’t show off new loot if there’s still some boss on it, now can I?

So, today we’re going to talk about being a raid leader.  It’s, generally, a thankless job that the same 1-3 people do week after week and run after run.  Some people fall into the position because they happen to be the most knowledgeable at the time.  Some people are elected into it.  Some people take it on because they love being in charge.  Whatever the reason, most of you may have had the wonderfully exhausting experience of leading a raid.  You know the highs of getting your group through an especially hard boss and seeing the looks of glee on their faces when the piece of armor or weapon they’ve been toiling after drops.  You also know the frustrating lows of slamming your head against a boss attempt after attempt and feeling like all of Naxxramas is pointing and laughing at you.

If you have never led a raid, I heartily encourage you to do so for at least 3 nights in a row.  That will, hopefully, give you experience in some of the best parts and some of the worst parts of raid leading and, in the end, make you a little more sympathetic to what they go through.

*She plucks a shiny gem from a bowl on the table and begins to patiently afix it to the slot on the side of the left boot, the corners of her mouth twitching with concentration.  Satisfied, she smiles and holds them up to the light, where small rainbows dance off the gem and splash across the wall.*

I love being a jewelcrafter…

Anyway, as a raid member, there are few things your raid leaders would really like you to keep in mind.

Your raid leader, if they take their job seriously, has done extensive research on boss fights.  

They’ve watched videos, read strats, looked up how other guilds did it, what the group composition was like, any tricks or tips available, and anything else they can get their hands on to get their group through the ordeal at hand.  They aren’t running into this blind (at least, they shouldn’t be).  That said, if they ask you to do something that may sound a little odd to you like “Don’t pop your Spirit Wolves” or “Cast Aspect of the Pack after the mini-bosses go down” or “Stand right here and don’t move” it’s because they have a really good reason for it and would really appreciate it if you’d do it at least once before protesting.  Nothing is more aggravating than reading about a trick that’s worked in numerous other guilds and having the person you ask to do said trick argue with you over vent.  Inevitably the raid leader has to resort to “Just do it because I said so” which makes them come across as a power-hungry jerk and makes the rest of vent get really uncomfortably quiet.  Bad situation all around.

Group composition is a very delicate situation.  

The raid leader has to look at what they’re up against, who is online that is geared properly, and what they have at their disposal.  For example, Kel’Thuzad is a very melee-unfriendly fight due to the ice blocks.  If the group has enough melee, any slots that open up during the course of the run will most likely go to ranged or heals no matter if there were other melee online first.  It’s the bad luck of the roll sometimes and raid leaders loathe having to make that decision.  Guild members aren’t just pixels on the screen – there are friendships developed and, just like any friendship, you never want to do anything that hurts that.  That’s when the whole “it’s business, not personal” comes into play.  If you were online first but someone else who signed on after you gets pulled into the raid, don’t get all upset please.  It wasn’t anything personal against you, it’s a decision made based on what is needed at the time.  Trust me, your graciousness in handling a situation like that will make a great impression on your raid leader and will serve you well in the future.

Do your best to be prepared for the raid.  

It is so frustrating for a raid leader to ask their raiders to read one article a day or two before the raid and then walk into Naxx and find out 4 out of the 24 other folks actually read it.  Bring your flasks, pots, and other consumables.  For god’s sake, repair.  And make sure you don’t have any unenchanted gear or empty gem slots.  You hurt not only the raid by not being prepared but yourself as well since you aren’t performing at your full potential.  If your guild sets raiding minimums or certain requirements to raid, do your best to not only meet them but exceed them, especially if you are an officer or hold any other position with some modicum of power.  Set an example for the rest of your raiders by sitting yourself out of raids if you don’t meet minimums.

Don’t be that guy in vent.

If you, because of your schedule, pug a lot of raids and can’t run with your guild during their scheduled raiding times, then chances are you have downed a boss your guild hasn’t.  Bravo to you.  If you have ideas, tips, tricks or any other advice to give, get with the raid leader before the raid and talk to them in private.  Don’t sit on vent during the guild’s run and, in the middle of the fight or after the fourth attempt where people are frustrated, pipe up with “Well all you have to do is this.”  That really doesn’t help.  As much as you’re meaning to be helpful and lend your hard-earned, very viable advice, it comes across as a little snotty with an air of “Wow, you guys can’t just do X or Y?  Holy crap you guys are lame.”  In order to keep from unintentionally sounding that way, talk to the raid leader beforehand or after the run is called and offer your advice in a constructive, friendly, non-condescending manner.  Your raid leader will thank you for it.

It’s over when I say it’s over.

At the end of the night, be it a pre-determined hard and fast stop time or some other reason, if your raid leader calls the raid, don’t argue.  Just don’t do it at all.  I don’t care that you’re wide awake from the 8 cups of coffee you had during the run or you just need one more emblem to get a shiny new trinket or this guy just might drop that fancy new dagger you’ve been after, don’t argue with a call.  Your raid leader will call a raid based on a variety of factors such as what time it is, what the run has accomplished, the situations of 24 other raiders’ families, jobs, and/or school, the fact that several of the raiders come from odd time zones and a number of other reasons.  They aren’t calling it to piss you off or keep you from progressing.  Just simply hold the grumbles to yourself, thank the raid leader for leading, congratulate people on their loot, make your availability known if it isn’t already and go on your merry way.  Naxx, OS, EoE or whatever isn’t going to vanish overnight.  Blizzard isn’t going to remove all raiding from the game if you don’t do it right this very second.  That’s not the last run you’ll ever get to do in the entirety of raiding history.  You’ll have another shot.  Calm down, it’s not the end of the world.  And, for elune’s sake, don’t undermine raid leader by asking for a vote.

That all said, there are bad raid leaders out there – people who haven’t done their homework, think it’s no big deal, don’t follow through or make sound decisions.  If you run into someone like that, bring it up with an officer or your guild leader in private.  Don’t make a big, public deal about it or cause a lot of drama.  Remember, tact, graciousness and maturity go a helluva long way with your guild leadership.

*Ailis straps on her new boots, buckling buckles and situating them just right above her hooves.*

Now that I have that out of my system, I have a lunch date at the Eventide with a very hot night elf…

Sigh.  I hear this a lot.  Enhancement shamans are kind of the oddballs when it comes to the shaman trifecta.  Elemental shamans drop totems, stand back and cast and wear spell power gear.  Resto shamans drop totems, stand back and cast and wear spell power gear.  Enhancement shamans drop totems and then proceed to beat the everliving #%$@ out of the boss and wear….hunter gear?

Because of this red-headed stepchild nature of our chosen method of boss disposal, we have to, in a way, ignore our other shaman brethren and hang with the melee group near the swingset.  It also can become a pain during raid buffs.  ”May I have might instead of wisdom, please?” has become and oft-heard phrase from me.  (Although, I will say, last night, the two pallies are my rock stars because one gave me kings and the other gave me might and I didn’t have to utter a peep.)

So, in light of this role we play a few simple rules apply.

1. You are melee and, as such, stand BEHIND the boss.  Learn to love his backside because that is all you will ever see.  This will also make your healers a little happier with you as you are behind him and not taking his cleave or his hateful strike  or any other “bash the tank and anyone in front of me” skills.
2. You are not a caster.  As such, skills such as Chain Lightning, Lava Burst and any of your healing spells are to be reserved for an instant cast opening or an emergency (i.e. the tank is going down and the priest needs an innervate).
3. Count to 5 before rushing in to take on the boss.  We generate huge amounts of threat with our Stormstrike and Earth Shock abilities and, since we lead our rotations with those, have a very high chance of ripping aggro.  Yes, crit happens…but that’s seriously not our fault.  Raids are not a time to see if you can make it to the top of the DPS meter.
4. DPS meters are meant to be a gauge of what you are capable of – not a contest.  Enhancement shammies are goddesses of the single-target takedown and, as such, we will leap nearly to the top on a boss fight.  However, we suck at trash pulls and will take a dive on the meters.  Since we fluctuate so much, using a meter during a raid and charting everything you do by that probably isn’t the best idea.  I do keep mine running for boss fights only and only on bosses I can stand in one spot and go to town like Patchwerk.
5. WF/FT.  That is all.
6. FT loves slow weapons.  (More on that later)
7. Spell Power and Spirit do absolutely jack for you.  (Well spirit does jack for any shaman but that’s besides the point…)  You get all your mana back through the clever uses of Water Shield and Shamanistic Rage.  All of the spells you will be using in any good rotation are instant cast either by their own virtue or waiting the brief seconds for Maelstrom Weapon to get to a five stack.  
8. Expertise, Hit, Crit, Agility and Attack Power are your best friends and you need to collect the whole set pretty much in that order.  Beat down the hunters trying to take your gear; then get to your caps on the first two then gem/enchant yourself to kingdom come on the others.  Then go pound on a training dummy.
9. Heroism/Bloodlust.  Okay – either at the beginning or at the end or a specified point in the boss fight (such as right after an enrage or a certain phase).  Never at some arbitrary percentage.  I’ve been in pugs where the shaman pops theirs at a random 57%.  What is that?  40 seconds of flurry and haste followed by a dead– wait, no, it’s still alive and has another 35% to go…
10. They should be let out to play every three minutes.

There’s probably a lot more to cover with my little corner of the world but those are some basic, albeit very important, rules for Enhancement Shamans and, really, most melee (1, 3 and 4 especially).

This is a fantastic class to play, but, as I’ve found out, people who don’t play shamans have very little idea as to what it is you actually do so, be patient and learn to play your class intelligently.