12-30-2004, 10:22 PM
Hi all,
Comming back to the lounge after spending most of my forum time on the WoW Priest Beta forum. Took a break from the game when it released, so I'm just getting back into it now. Let me just say that man, this forum is a breath of fresh air compaired to the Blizzard forums.
Few points to add regarding agro management and tanking.
Tanks: I've only played a War to 27, so my experience is limited and mainly from a Priest's PoV. War's are my best friends, I love teaming w/ them. I think the only advice I can offer to add to what's been said is these few minor things:
- Develope a pace that is comfortable to everyone in the party. Try to get used to the play styles of your group, especially if you are the one pulling. If you casters like to drink before the pull, wait a bit and don't rush them. This is of course a two way street. Most pulls are pretty simple, and casters shouldn't feel rushed to sit one out since the rest of the team could handle it w/o them. Just keep an eye on the rest of the team, don't pull if everyone isn't ready.
- Be sure to talk about strategies ahead of time. What is your game plan when the priest goes oom? Healing pot? Health stone? Stun/snare and bandage? With the way mana regen works, if a priest goes oom, it is best for them to sit and regen as long as possible, if they only regen enough to cast one heal, then go oom again, they have to wait another full 5 seconds, before they can even start to regen again. If you can buy them some time, everyone will be better off for it.
- Not sure what professions are most popular for tanks, but I'd consider engineering if I were a tanking class. Bombs give you an AoE stun, dmg and agro generator, to suppliment your other skills.
- Remember to wait for the Shield before the pull. This doesn't have to happen all the time, but w/ the bigger fights, the shield buffer helps alot. The longer you can go w/o that initial heal (even if it's just a renew) the better. I've been in so many fights where the tank gets mobbed on the pull, heath spikes down, I pop one heal on him and bang, everyone except the primary mob turns to the priest.
Rogues: I've not played the rogue class past lvl 15, and that was early on in the beta. Just thought I'd comment on the previous post from the rogue who finds it better off solo. Personally, I love playing w/ rogues. I've seen them played well just taking one of the mobs 1v1 as the rest of the party handles the others. This can work great most of the time. So long as the rogue doesn't need too much support (healing or shields) they can sap one mob, and 1v1 another, providing excellent CC for the group. Also, they basically serve as a second tank in that way, keeping an extra mob off the priest hate list. The only problems I've seen w/ this strat is when the rogue gets in over his head. If the priest has to spend too much mana/time healing both the rogue and the tank, things can get ugly. So long as the rogue knows when to go 1v1, and when to tone it down and just CC w/ sap and provide controlled dps, I love em. Also, I find that most rogues are very good w/ using first aid, which is a great support for me.
The other way I've seen rogues played is as a CC player w/ sap, and a primary assist w/ thier great dps. Basically the rogue monitors the battle, and assits any cloth wearer if they happen to draw agro. Works great IMO.
Final comment from a priest to a rogue, ask for/wait for the shield before the Sap. Gives you a buffer to soak up the dmg from the other mobs, while you run back to the group and lead the train to the tank.
Priests: Ok, post getting long now, just wanted to add some tips for fellow priests to suppliment what's been said in this thread an the other agro thread.
- For emphasis, when you draw agro, run to your tank or primary assits. Make it easy for them to help you.
- Make sure your group understands line of sight. You have to be able to see them to heal them. Don't split up or get too far ahead on stairs or in winding dungeons. Priests watch the player icons more than the actual players/mobs themselves, they will not know where to run to if your getting hit and are out of line of sight.
- Avoid healing yourself! This is a tough habbit to break, as you heal yourself all the time when your solo. If you getting hit while in a group, you've drawn agro (duh!) and healing yourself will only make it worse. What do you do then?
As stated above, run to your tank or assister, and don't attack the mob. Don't be afraid to soak up a little damage.
Down a healing pot or health stone. I don't believe using those items generates any agro, so drink away.
Plan ahead of time if you have a secondary healer. Ask them to watch your life bar, and trust in them to heal you when needed.
- Use of fade. There has been arguments and discusson about this for a while. I've been convinced that using fade before ever drawing agro is the best use of the skill. Typically, my strat is to usually let the tank soak up some damage early on. I pretty much just stand there and Pain or wand until the tank is near half health. Then I slap on a renew to buffer any damage spikes and then wait a bit more. Then hit fade and start the big heal. Flash and Shield are mainly for emergencies or non tank heals. The fade before the heal has worked best for me.
- Final tip is to educate yourself about other classes. Read up on thier skills and how they like to use them. Whenever you group, try to always remember to ask your tank what thier AC and Health are. Don't be rude about it and compare them or bash on them for not having the best build for thier lvl, just ask them so you can tailor your play to suit them. That way you will know what heal to use when, and not worry about under/over healing.
Heh, long post, guess I'm making up for my lack of posts for a while! Hope some of this info was useful to someone. Happy New Year and peace out.
- Guen
Comming back to the lounge after spending most of my forum time on the WoW Priest Beta forum. Took a break from the game when it released, so I'm just getting back into it now. Let me just say that man, this forum is a breath of fresh air compaired to the Blizzard forums.
Few points to add regarding agro management and tanking.
Tanks: I've only played a War to 27, so my experience is limited and mainly from a Priest's PoV. War's are my best friends, I love teaming w/ them. I think the only advice I can offer to add to what's been said is these few minor things:
- Develope a pace that is comfortable to everyone in the party. Try to get used to the play styles of your group, especially if you are the one pulling. If you casters like to drink before the pull, wait a bit and don't rush them. This is of course a two way street. Most pulls are pretty simple, and casters shouldn't feel rushed to sit one out since the rest of the team could handle it w/o them. Just keep an eye on the rest of the team, don't pull if everyone isn't ready.
- Be sure to talk about strategies ahead of time. What is your game plan when the priest goes oom? Healing pot? Health stone? Stun/snare and bandage? With the way mana regen works, if a priest goes oom, it is best for them to sit and regen as long as possible, if they only regen enough to cast one heal, then go oom again, they have to wait another full 5 seconds, before they can even start to regen again. If you can buy them some time, everyone will be better off for it.
- Not sure what professions are most popular for tanks, but I'd consider engineering if I were a tanking class. Bombs give you an AoE stun, dmg and agro generator, to suppliment your other skills.
- Remember to wait for the Shield before the pull. This doesn't have to happen all the time, but w/ the bigger fights, the shield buffer helps alot. The longer you can go w/o that initial heal (even if it's just a renew) the better. I've been in so many fights where the tank gets mobbed on the pull, heath spikes down, I pop one heal on him and bang, everyone except the primary mob turns to the priest.
Rogues: I've not played the rogue class past lvl 15, and that was early on in the beta. Just thought I'd comment on the previous post from the rogue who finds it better off solo. Personally, I love playing w/ rogues. I've seen them played well just taking one of the mobs 1v1 as the rest of the party handles the others. This can work great most of the time. So long as the rogue doesn't need too much support (healing or shields) they can sap one mob, and 1v1 another, providing excellent CC for the group. Also, they basically serve as a second tank in that way, keeping an extra mob off the priest hate list. The only problems I've seen w/ this strat is when the rogue gets in over his head. If the priest has to spend too much mana/time healing both the rogue and the tank, things can get ugly. So long as the rogue knows when to go 1v1, and when to tone it down and just CC w/ sap and provide controlled dps, I love em. Also, I find that most rogues are very good w/ using first aid, which is a great support for me.
The other way I've seen rogues played is as a CC player w/ sap, and a primary assist w/ thier great dps. Basically the rogue monitors the battle, and assits any cloth wearer if they happen to draw agro. Works great IMO.
Final comment from a priest to a rogue, ask for/wait for the shield before the Sap. Gives you a buffer to soak up the dmg from the other mobs, while you run back to the group and lead the train to the tank.
Priests: Ok, post getting long now, just wanted to add some tips for fellow priests to suppliment what's been said in this thread an the other agro thread.
- For emphasis, when you draw agro, run to your tank or primary assits. Make it easy for them to help you.
- Make sure your group understands line of sight. You have to be able to see them to heal them. Don't split up or get too far ahead on stairs or in winding dungeons. Priests watch the player icons more than the actual players/mobs themselves, they will not know where to run to if your getting hit and are out of line of sight.
- Avoid healing yourself! This is a tough habbit to break, as you heal yourself all the time when your solo. If you getting hit while in a group, you've drawn agro (duh!) and healing yourself will only make it worse. What do you do then?
As stated above, run to your tank or assister, and don't attack the mob. Don't be afraid to soak up a little damage.
Down a healing pot or health stone. I don't believe using those items generates any agro, so drink away.
Plan ahead of time if you have a secondary healer. Ask them to watch your life bar, and trust in them to heal you when needed.
- Use of fade. There has been arguments and discusson about this for a while. I've been convinced that using fade before ever drawing agro is the best use of the skill. Typically, my strat is to usually let the tank soak up some damage early on. I pretty much just stand there and Pain or wand until the tank is near half health. Then I slap on a renew to buffer any damage spikes and then wait a bit more. Then hit fade and start the big heal. Flash and Shield are mainly for emergencies or non tank heals. The fade before the heal has worked best for me.
- Final tip is to educate yourself about other classes. Read up on thier skills and how they like to use them. Whenever you group, try to always remember to ask your tank what thier AC and Health are. Don't be rude about it and compare them or bash on them for not having the best build for thier lvl, just ask them so you can tailor your play to suit them. That way you will know what heal to use when, and not worry about under/over healing.
Heh, long post, guess I'm making up for my lack of posts for a while! Hope some of this info was useful to someone. Happy New Year and peace out.
- Guen