Raiding 101

[NotSoDarklord]

There is virtually no information about raids in the WoW manual, so filll us in with your experience. What do we need to know before we start up raiding?

Some other things I thought about at work tonight, mostly involving group composition/tasks. Who does what? I mean, I'm familiar with an MT's role, somewhat knowledgable about an MA's role, and know what the healer's tasks are...but only in a 5 man setting. How does the 5 man move to the 40? Does a 40 man raid need only a single MT?

40 man raid may need a few depending on where you are. For something like onyxia you only need one with a few waiting in the wings to take up should the tank go down. In something like MC however you can have a few tanking different mobs while the rest burn down a single one.

If they have a couple more warriors, do those ones stand back so that they can charge in if the main falls, and become the new main?

Typically

Would having a 5man group full of just healers be a good idea, if they all had CTRA and could see everyone's health so that they didn't have to be grouped with them? Is there a dedicated "healer protection 5man"?

That is a bad idea because you'll get a lot of overlapping targets and a lot of missed targets :-\ Easier to just let people heal for their group and maybe keep an eye on another group, that way people get the heals they need when they need them.

Is it just everyone firing on the MT's target after s/he's locked it down while the healers heal like crazy? Who gets to/should be in melee range, and should no one but the MT expect a heal, and thus they should be prepared to heal themselves, by way of pots/bandages.

Please explain which encounter you are talking about. MC? Depends on the fight. Most bossfights mean sorry rogues, heal yourselves, with a similiar attitude for most casters that have no healing capacity. When fighting most trash mobs however the mana can be expended to heal the rogues. Healers do not want to go nuts, as it will deplete their mana and screw the group. MT's target is often not the one killed first you must realize when fighting multiple mobs. Put the strong tank on one target and the weak tank on another so you can burn down the weak tank mob's mob fast since he is not as proficient at tanking.