Pro Tips for Group building?

[Felfaadaern Darkterror]

I've always let someone else do the raid leading, and I got away with taking whatever decently geared players applied for WoD mythic dungeons. But now that we're pushing M+ I feel I should pay more attention to group composition for maximum synergy. I know some things, of course. We want hero and b-rez, for example, but I'm not sure I know every class that offers those. We want some melee to help with interrupts, but some bosses are very difficult with too much melee. What else am I missing? Pros & Cons of various healer/tank combinations? I am usually tanking, either on my pally main or dh alt.

What goes through your head - what's your mental checklist - when you are assembling a group for raids or M+?

[OrcinusDrake]

Other than what you just said: at least 2 aoe stuns.

[Felfaadaern Darkterror]

Other than what you just said: at least 2 aoe stuns.

Thx. For hero, it's shammy and mage? Brez, I think druid or DK? Who am I leaving out?

[SpikeySquad]

Warlock. AoE stun and BR (though sure both have cast times!). You can buy drums for BL

[Nikkaszal]

Interrupts aren't that huge an issue with group comp unless you have no melee. Every tank and melee spec has one (not sure about Surv hunter actually, but they should be MM anyways) and three or four are usually fine for almost everything with proper coordination.

For raids, that is. M+ you rarely need more than two interrupts, one from tank and another from melee. Havoc DH are great in M+ not only for their AoE but also because they bring a stronger interrupt than other melee (it gives them Fury for more DPS) but also Chaos Nova which is pretty boss. Bonus points if you're Horde because Belf DH also has Arcane Torrent.

[Targom]

I think Legion has made it difficult because you can RNG gear up pretty easily, I've seen a lot of 860+ dps doing ~200k dps in M7+. Lust is good, but I run with a resto shaman so we never have to worry about picking that up. We don't really specifically target a brez and usually don't have one, people shouldn't be dying, it is costing you time on the timer if they do. Though the timer might not matter depending on what you're doing, sometimes we push a higher one with the expectation of not making the timer just to update our weekly chest to a higher run.

From a composition standpoint it will vary by dungeon, some dungeons favor melee (interrupts, stuns, dps while moving) and some punish melee with mechanics that make it not safe to stand anywhere near the boss if you're running 2 or 3 melee. Then you throw affixes in and that can change ideal comps a lot too. If you're just trying to clear 4-7ish then finding competent players can make up for a lot of comp issues though I'm not sure how you find that through group finder.

[RestoChango]

you throw affixes in and that can change ideal comps a lot too.

This. Affixes have been a big part of my thinking when making groups, skittish and sanguine make ranged classes preferable.

Also not directly related to dungeon success stacking plate or leather workers often makes sense especially if you are running with guildies who are happy to swap loot.

[Holovik]

I'm a hunter and I always run M+ with my resto shaman guildmate. Some things I always try and ensure:
1. Lust is covered with shaman, but if he's not around I can go BM and use a corehound.
2. AOE stun, at least one. Shaman have a totem that does a 5 sec AOE stun and is quite good. Warriors, locks, and DHs also can do this.
3. B-rez. I always try and grab a lock, dk, druid for the brez but if I cant find anyone suitable, i will go BM and use quillen or crane.
4. Interrupts. Melee have shorter interupt CDs so i always try and get 1 additional melee, DH usually because they bring a ton of single target and AOE DPS, plus they have good interrupt.
5. Whats really nice if I go BM for b-rez with a shaman, if shaman +1 dies he can ankh plus i can b-rez so we have a lot of recovery if things go sideways.
5. Aside from that, i try to build groups so that loot can be shared. Myself and shaman are mail so I usually try and get an enhancement shaman or another hunter. For tank and DPS to share i like to get druid, DH, Rogue, monk so that they can share.

[Redasurc]

Retribution aoe stun. Icy Veins says its wrong, but icy Veins are wrong.

[Firminator]

I'm a hunter and I always run M+ with my resto shaman guildmate. Some things I always try and ensure:
5. Whats really nice if I go BM for b-rez with a shaman,

I'm pretty sure that while quillen requires BM to have, moths and cranes are available to all specs. Something may have changed since I last checked thhough.

[Felfaadaern Darkterror]

Thanks for all the tips! If you got more, keep 'em coming!

[Targom]

This. Affixes have been a big part of my thinking when making groups, skittish and sanguine make ranged classes preferable.

Also not directly related to dungeon success stacking plate or leather workers often makes sense especially if you are running with guildies who are happy to swap loot.

As a melee I haven't had a problem strafing to avoid puddles from sanguine while the tank pulls them backwards and I can perform my full dps rotation while moving. As a windwalker skittish isn't a huge problem for me because if something hits me I just use karma to redirect damage or leg sweep, but my dps/threat also spreads fairly evenly with my cleave. I have considered starting to go brewmaster for our runs just to eliminate the impact a bad tank can have, though I think the difference between a decent tank and a good tank isn't as big as it used to be. About 1 of 5 pug tanks we've gotten were not good.

[Axelond]

As someone who has cleared a +10 within timer pick the perfect group is not very important. I've done almost all my mythic+ with guild and I just go with any 3 dps and tank we can find. You don't need a class with lust just bring drums. There is no more buffs. Bres is nice but not needed.

I think best is just to avoid shit specs and invite someone with decent ilvl. Even though ilvl is not at all accurate how good dps someone will do it is higher chance that someone with higher ilvl is better. Only way to be sure is if they have 870+ ilvl below that its too rng and anyone can get that ilvl. I'm a guild group of 4 we have pugged a lot of 7 keystone and its really just random sometimes you get really good pugs sometimes you get terrible pugs.

Some guidelines of specs

Tank: dont invite brewmasters look for demonhunter
Healer: everything is fine
Dps: look for hunter, ww, demon hunter. Don't invite warlocks, spriest, arms warr.

[Blacklab]

One "PRO" of holy priests which I see largely ignored in M+ comp discussion is our ridiculous AoE damage (holy nova). Even after the slight nerf, it still makes a very significant contribution in DPS to trash packs, which is the most critical issue in M+ timers. This synergy with our burst healing toolkit, means we often have more GCD to spend on damage output than many other healers. I know H Priest is lacking in some other areas of "M+ sexiness", but as mentioned above, just about any healer is viable played by the right person, and H Priest can certainly pull >200k DPS on trash quite easily while having an easy time healing. Aside from lacking the mobility and extras that other classes can bring, the healing toolkit of H Priest is ideally suited for M+. We have an answer for every problem.

[Holovik]

I'm pretty sure that while quillen requires BM to have, moths and cranes are available to all specs. Something may have changed since I last checked thhough.

You're correct. The reason you wont see much of that though is because any MM hunter running M+ is going be running Lone Wolf and there just aren't that many SV hunters.