Getting into heroic raiding, nervous. Tips?

[Icecreamcake]

I'm currently 578 and I have a little bit of experience everywhere up to Siege, but in a short while I'll be joining a real raid group that is currently 11/14 and I feel like they're really counting on me. I guess I'm sort of nervous because I've never been part of a raid group before and mostly had to pug my kills, but now being part of the group I feel like there's even more pressure not to let people down. Could you guys share any tips whether it's boss specific or websites/articles that can help out on the insight and nitty gritty of the fights? Like I said I've had exp up to Siege with good amount of attempts and my kills are sort of spread out but I feel like I'm least bit experienced and shaky with Shamans, Nazgrim, Malk and Spoils. From what I've seen Nazgrim isn't too different from norm aside from chaotic amount of adds, Malk I'm sure I'll be ask to do orbs, and Shamans is a melee's nightmare. As you might be able to tell I'm not a hardcore or dedicated raider so unfortunately I don't have any logs to share, sorry. Spec: Combat.

[Sebid]

Fatboss TV, look up each kill on heroic, they pretty much sum it up.

[Tyrgannus]

1.) Be patient. Heroic progression is just as much about tenacity and perseverance than it is about strategy and gear. There will be wipes, but you are better.
2.) Guides are invaluable. Going in blind is for the truly fearless elite. Take every advantage you can get.
3.) Invest in a good mouse. Even if most of your rotation is key-logged, every little bit counts.
4.) Coordinate cool downs like clockwork, no matter what role you are in.
5.) Stand atop your first Heroic Progression kill and realize why you've worked so hard!

[Revi]

How are you 578 while having to pug your kills?

Don't worry though. Ask them which tactics they'll be using for the harder bosses and find a video on it to watch a few times. I'm assuming your good with your class, so don't focus on numbers on fights you aren't familiar with, just focus on executing tactics properly. As long as you know your part and focus on that heroic bosses really aren't THAT hard.

Ask if you're unsure and just try your best, I'm sure they'll understand that you're not going to be executing tactics perfectly your first time.

[Hyve]

Firstly; Relax.

The biggest problem we see from our new recruits who join us, is they're so nervous they make more mistakes, which in turn makes them more nervous. Any guild worth a damn isn't going to judge you on your first few raids. They'll know you're nervous and likely to fail because of it, so don't panic too much in that regard.

Secondly; Knowledge.

Watching FatBoss TV is a good start but also watch their videos (If they have any). You'll see exactly how they do it, you'll hear the Raid Leaders voice and get more comfortable with the content you're about to tackle.

Not knowing the fight is going to put pressure on you. Make sure you know it, and pay close attention to the details and assignments being given out. If you're required to do a task, make sure you know you're doing it, and get it done right!

Thirdly; Communicate

Many new recruits are scared to talk on TeamSpeak or Ventrilo, and this often leads to mistakes and errors. Don't be afraid to ask for confirmation, or to ask them to repeat themselves. Also don't be afraid to call out matters of importance, but don't try to raid lead of course. If you're stunned, stuck, or need a cooldown don't be afraid to be vocal about it.

Fourth; Clarity

Guilds often run very similar tactics to everyone else, but can sometimes put their own unique twist on things. Not knowing them might cause issues and for you to wipe, and everyone will simply blame the scrub recruit. If you're not sure on how they do the boss fight, ask for a quick summary of the fight, or if they do anything differently.

It's far better for you to waste ~4 minutes of their time explaining their unique tactic, then wiping several times because you failed in a vital part of said tactic.

[Tyrgannus]

Thirdly; Communicate

Many new recruits are scared to talk on TeamSpeak or Ventrilo, and this often leads to mistakes and errors. Don't be afraid to ask for confirmation, or to ask them to repeat themselves. Also don't be afraid to call out matters of importance, but don't try to raid lead of course. If you're stunned, stuck, or need a cooldown don't be afraid to be vocal about it.

Learned that the hard way against Cho'gall back in the day. We eventually got him, but there was a LOT of necessary blabbing in that fight that I was too shy to do at first which led to problems. Vent is not 100% for listening (though that is still the primary function for a recruit). Talking is the right thing to do sometimes.

[Deleted]

I kinda know what you are going through. I went from a world 1000+ guild to a world 128 guild this year. The step up from a casual player to a hardcore/semi hardcore player is pretty big.

1. Dont worry about dps in week 1. This doesnt mean just auto attack but show you can do dmg while executing mechanics and surviving well. Always remember a dead dps is 0 dps.

2. Make sure you know your class very well. Be able to play all 3 specs. As a pure dmg class we need to be able to play whatever is the best spec at the time for either that boss or the patch. Stay up to date too. With WoD around the corner stay on top of class changes and Wod boss fights which will show you are dedicated.

3. Make sure you talk to people in the guild about the tactics they do and differences between what you are used to and what they do. Also check what they might ask you to do. Eg. Belt duty, Aim Soaking, Tower duty and malk ball soaking. Make sure you know when you need to smoke bomb too. If they dont remember let them know you have it available. Talking to the melee officer is a good start or fellow rogue.

4. Be able to talk in vent if you need to. If you need a BOP or a small cd dont be afraid to ask for it. However do not clutter vent/mumble with useless things like why you fucked up and died or what you did last weekend. Check what your guild is like in that regard some are more relaxed than others.

5. Be social before and after raids. Remember a guild is a place where you want to call home for as long as possible. Be respectful and courteous to people if you have a problem with someone talk to a officer about it (bullying/harshness). Try and make a good impression and a few friends along the way that will help you a little.

6. Be able to take constructive criticism. As a trial you are the lowest member on the totem pole. You are there to impress. Guilds will try and help you as much as possible so dont get offended if someone says something.

7. Be on time to raid with food/flask/pots. If you have a break in raid make sure you are back like 1 min before.

8. On your last trial week give it all you have got but dont pad.

9. Be active on the guild forums if they have one.
That should be everything i think. Good luck!

[Oggiva]

My best advice would be to ask one of the damage dealers (preferably melee) in your guild about how they are doing the fights, what you should be looking out for, and what your role in the raid is going to be. When I joined group one in my guild a year ago I had 2 heroic kill or so, and they had 11/13 on farm. Before the first raid the feral druid got on vent with me and told me the tactics on all the fights and what I should be doing throughout the fights. Before each boss the raid leader would also quickly go through the tactics for the boss. This combined with the fact that I was going with a team that had killed the bosses multiple times before made it very easy for me, and we one-shot all the farm bosses.

[Bawk]

2.) Guides are invaluable. Going in blind is for the truly fearless elite. Take every advantage you can get.

Going in blind is the best part of heroic raiding. The most I ever read are the abilities in the dungeon journal. After a few wipes, it is easy to pick up most or all mechanics.

Shamans is a melee's nightmare.

Definitely is not. Melee just stand there, sidestep one thing and then keep standing there. Ranged move with the other boss, avoid stuff on the ground. I took my melee alt to my main run a few weeks ago, nervous about doing Shamans and then it ended up being a complete joke. I wouldn't worry about it.

[Deleted]

Definitely is not. Melee just stand there, sidestep one thing and then keep standing there. Ranged move with the other boss, avoid stuff on the ground. I took my melee alt to my main run a few weeks ago, nervous about doing Shamans and then it ended up being a complete joke. I wouldn't worry about it.

Depends on their tactic. Some use the split method and some use the stack. The stack is really messy if you arent careful

[shadowboy]

Depends on their tactic. Some use the split method and some use the stack. The stack is really messy if you arent careful

And the split vs stack strat depends largely on your comp (at least for 10 man--some 10 man guilds may not have a 3rd tank).

[Eazy]

There is one biggest thing you should know about doing the highest PvE:
Do not stress.
Do your things the best as you can, also try to communicate with your group(TS/Vent/something). There will be wipes, maybe even many of them, but you have to be determined if you want to kill these bosses. Read tactics on some sites and you'll be completely fine if you have gear which is good enough. Good luck.

[Sesshou]

To the OP, just stay calm and do your research. Like Ogg said, I would talk specifically to a melee dps about their specific strats BEFORE raid. If its farm, don't expect strats to be explained to you during raid. My guild certainly won't stop for that. First week generally what I look at as a recruiter if its a new app that hasn't done the content yet is just 'are they dead?' I mean if you can do full dps your first time doing these heroics, more power to you, but I seriously doubt most of our raiders can and we're 14/14. I look at that starting with week 2. That said, if your dps looks like you'd fit right in with an LFR group, then yeah that is bad.

Really, its a 11/14 guild not blood legion or something. They aren't going to expect cutting edge numbers. If you show up on time and look like you know what you're doing, then they're going to be happy. So just do your research, don't get flustered, and pay attention. Be prepared to do anything their current rogues get assigned. Some guilds won't assign stuff to new apps, but personally if its something I think that class should know (like siege belts for rogues), then I will throw them in front of the bus and see if/how they deal with it. If that happens, don't tell them you're fine doing something if you aren't and if you do fail (confidence is great, but if you say you can and clearly have no idea what you're doing then that is worse), they probably weren't expecting 100% success anyway and just wanted to see what you can do.

And the split vs stack strat depends largely on your comp (at least for 10 man--some 10 man guilds may not have a 3rd tank).

Most of the 10m guilds I've known people in that 'had' to stack did 'have' a third tank. That person just didn't want to or the raid leaders didn't want him to. 5/11 classes are third tanks. Most 10m guilds will have one of those as their dps or bench spots. Certainly possible for a 10m not to, but seems pretty rare. Now 10m wanting to bitch about it rather than have one of their raiders step up to the plate... lots of those.

[Feris]

I know this has been said by literally everyone so far but it's super important: stay calm

Think of it this way, they already decided that they're going to give you a chance. Clearly you impressed them enough to get this far, that's the hard part. Literally all you need to do not die to anything super silly more than once at most and don't be a dick and you're pretty much in at that point.

Second, communicate. Regardless of if it's about the raid or just silly things during trash. Talk. It'll make them like you more since you're showing your personality instead of just being some robot that does mechanics and never talks. And I can not stress this enough: if you have a thought/question/idea about an encounter (as long as it's within reason) bring it up. If you don't understand something, ask, it means you're willing to admit your short comings and would rather face them instead of hide/ignore them. And if you have an idea on a different way to handle something, bring it up nicely (ie "What do you guys think about keeping the Rogues on Garrosh instead of having them do engi's since we have 3 warlocks and the Rogues give up a lot more single target damage than the warlocks since they can just havock CBs?" instead of "Why are we sending Rogues? We're losing so much damage, just send the locks"). Shows that you're willing to try and help out the guild to do better.

Obviously don't be that guy that has to point out something wrong with every strat they use, but if it's relevant than it'll do you more good to bring it up than it will to ignore it