Raid Leader: RL Preparation and Analysis

Hey fellow WoWers,

I just wanted to touch on a couple of points that have sparked a little bit of interest for me. I've recently been pugging a few raids to places that I quite like and hold some interest for me, even though they dont hold any upgrades. Getting a few more kills under my belt but using it as light relief from the role of RL by just sitting back and being a player again.

What I noticed is that there are some really good RL's out there, and then there are some really attrocious ones. I've tried really hard to step back and not say anything and let the raid run it's course, watching, learning and generally forming my own opinions of what the problems are. I have to say it's easier said than done, my initiall reaction is to jump into the fray and start trying to organise things, kind of a RL OCD that wont go away without medication. ;)

For every 2-3 bad pugs that i've been on in the past few weeks there has been 1 good raid. Largely due to the members of the raid but also the RL being organised and knowing their stuff. I asked a few questions and here is what i've found out.

The good RL's prepare before a raid and analyse after a raid. They look to stop problems before the arise and find out the issues to stop them happening again. I'm a big believer in raid preparation and analysis and I dont think people give RL's enough credit for the time it takes them. Some RL's log in, run a raid, then log out, in 99% of the time this just wont cut the mustard.

Raid Preparation

Ok so some people will think i'm stating the obvious here but so many times i've seen a RL fail on one of these things so here is my checklist for my own RL preparation.

1. Addons Updated (especially DBM, Raid Roller, Raid Buff Status, Combat Logger and Recount)
2. Plenty of juice and snacks, dont you find it annoying for folks to afk all the time?
3. Tactics, do i know them? Who else knows them?
4. Team, what classes do I want, what's the minimum DPS for the raid, what healer combo?
5. Is my Vent working properly? Can everyone hear me easily and I can I hear everyone else?
6. Do i need to take a leak? Yes that's right, I take a Bio BEFORE i log in, just like before a long journey
7. Start invites 5-10 mins before event, check who's signed up, invite those first.

Some people might say that's a pretty normal routine and some might say its a bit OCD but you know what, by the time i've done my checks i'm mentally prepared to lead and to raid. I feel confident that I have everything I need and I can go into that raid knowing that I can give it my best. Sometimes there are factors outside of my control that mean the raid doesnt go according to plan but as long as they ARE outside of my control I dont feel like i'm the one to blame.

See taking responsibility for the raid is what being a RL is all about. If it goes wrong the first person to look at is the RL and if you cant stand up under your own scrutiny your very unlikely to stand up under someone elses. Always try to set the highest standards you expect your team to abide by otherwise your integrity is a joke.

During the Raid, Keep calm . . . mostly ;)

When I say keep calm I dont mean that you shouldnt be demanding or that you should be a pushover or timid. There are times when I have shouted down Vent to get attention and focus back from the raid, but I warn you now you can only really get away with this if you know your team well and whatever you do dont direct it at one person, make it generic. I dont recommend doing this all the time but once in a while it's important to stamp authority on the raid and let people see who is in charge, people like leadership, even if they grumble a bit at the time.

Example from last night, we got into Uld 10 to do the weekly raid quest, and we wiped on Ignis. I mean Ignis is old news, he's a has been, it's not a hard fight and everyone knew what to do. People had got too sloppy, they didnt respect the raid enough and were chatting and messing around. I shouted for some quiet and focus, I dont mean I went mental, I raised my voice and said it wasnt good enough and I wanted more from folks. We res, run and proceed to kill him. You could have heard a pin drop on vent for a minute or two, the person who broke the silence was me, back to a happy tone. For this to be effective you really need to be quite calm normally otherwise you dont get the same stunned silence. ;)

Dont try to overanalyse stuff during a raid, go with your guy instinct a bit. You should be able to easily identify if healing, dps or tanking is an issue. Your raiders will more than likely drill down to speifics but dont get caught up in trying to micro manage a raid encounter that doesnt need much more than basic tactics. A perfect example of this is Faction Champions. You dont HAVE to assign a CC sequence for each mob. Just assign the people and you can expect them to know their class well enough to get the job done. If they dont, then dont be afraid to ask them where it went wrong, get them to supply the issue and then help them with a solution that will enable them to do their assigned job. If that still doesnt work then assign it to someone else or replace them. Just be reasonable about it.

After the Raid

Visit World of Logs, parse your combat log and start doing some analysis. Work out what went well, who played well, was anyone carried, was it expected or are you surprised? Did everyone switch to adds or is there a selfish DPS that loves the meters more than the result? What about your healers? How much overheal? Is it expected for their class? If the fights need it check for purge, decurse and cleanse. Believe me start taking an interest some of the figures will surprise you and you'll see some patterns start to emerge about your players. The ones that go the extra mile to help out and the ones that focus purely on one task. Dont get me wrong you will always need some of each so one is not necessarily better than the other but that depends on the group and the encounter.

Follow this up with a report on the raid. Post something on guild forums or even a multi mail message to all the raiders in the guild. Praise 2-3 people for doing well, then say what didnt work for the team, finish up by congratulating people on their loot. The more raiders see people getting stuff the more you will have who want to come.

Before Logging Off

Say goodnight, say good job, or next time be prepared, or whatever suits the result, but whatever you do make sure you say goodbye and see you all again next time where we are going to batter some bosses to oblivion. Create a sense of moving forward of progression, even on a night of wipes, it's a learning curve for everyone, turning a bad raid into a positive thought process is one of the key elements to keeping your raiders motivated.

Those are just my thoughts, feel free to share yours in the comments section.

Cheers

Cyb.

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