New raid leader

[runeshaman]

Most of the "Help I am a new raid leader!" posts here seem to be centered on targets and progression routes. I don't have to worry about that as my GL generally decides which targets to hit and when. I just got promoted to raid leader and instead of choosing targets, will be leading raids against said targets. Now here is my question. Is there any place other than alla's that gives good strategies, etc. for various raid targets?

I am not uber geared or uber flagged. My guild is doing planar progression and for most of us a lot of these raids are the first time we have seen each target. We currently have a core group of about 18-24 players at each raid, and any advise I can get on where to research mobs would be greatly appreciated. I have faith that my guild (Ancient Trust of Povar) has the ability to take out targets despite lack of numbers. Our core raiders are very disciplined and very focused come raid time. Already I have seen them do things I didn't think were possible such as take out KoS and Saryn with 13 people, none of which were geared better than DoN/ 1 groupable WoS and MPG groups.

[Mead]

Allakhazam works pretty well to start out.

I have always found it beneficial to the raid target's name along with "strat" or "raid" or something like that in order to find additional information on it. I have found a number of links that get me into an archived section of uber_guild_9832's public forums or into their gallery section that shows screenshots of setup techniques. Since the information is already technically public, there is nothing to worry about as far as snooping in the "wrong" areas. (But then again my main is a rogue..... )

This method also usually leads to class boards that have strats present. The Safehouse is one of the best for collecting information, but they do have a knee-jerk reaction (myself included) to people who ask for information without first using the search tool or actually trying the event first so that they even know what they are asking questions about.

[Beafly]

I'd wager that many of the strats you'll find will be designed for a much larger force than you have available. You'll be pushing the envelope and may need to devise crafty ways of getting the job done. As said above, there are many resources available online but be sure to spend some time developing relationships with other guild's raid leaders on your server. They can be valuable allies or your worst enemies depending on how you treat them.

from Allakhazam's is fantastic for finding mob information. I've also found that when examining spells cast by mobs, is still the best source. For example: You're raiding Grummus and you notice that you're getting slammed by something called Stench of Decay. Pop open Lucy and type the name into Spell Search and this pops up: . Now you know damage/tick, duration, counters required to cure, how often it is cast, range, resist check, resist adjustment, all you should need to develop your own strat to combat it.

[Henora]

[Brohg]

PoP targets aren't highly contested any more. I think as a general approach, you really don't need a full strat before engaging the first time.

As said above, keep Lucy open in the background, and make sure people call out the names of AEs. Sometimes, you only get to know the name when someone gets a lucky resist, but that may lead you to buff something you didn't before, or load the right cure for the next run.

Also as mentioned above, knowing all you can before asking questions makes answers much more likely. Questions like, for example, "on Badguy, kill the second wave of adds or cc/kite them?" or "on Badderguy, you guys use the wall in the hallway or the corner?" or "on Worstguy, is it the blue or the red ones that are AEing Mana Drain?" are good ones. Bad ones are pretty predictable. Anything that will take more than a sentence to answer is probably an indication that you need to explore the encounter some more on your own.

Make use of helpful channels. #serverwide.crucible:crucible is a pretty good source for useful shaman chatter. A lot of knowledge in there.

[Ungkor]

[Tugela]

Another thing to keep in mind is that what works for someone else might not work for you. Every guild has different classes/skill levels/numbers etc, and all of those sorts of things go into finding what works best for you. The tactics you look up might turn out to be developed for a 72 man raid of level 65s, whereas nowdays you would probably do it somewhat differently. The best sort of info to look for at a basic level is the mechanics of the encounter, such as what AEs the mob has, where it is, what sort of location its in, and if it follows some sort of script. You can look up other peoples strats to get some idea of how people approach these sorts of problems, if you haven't done this sort of thing much, but honestly you will get much more satisfaction in figuring out your own tactics.