Advantage of melee DPS?

[Leeuwke]

Hello MMO-Champion
I was wondering what the advantage of having melee DPS in your raid is. Right now my raidgroup has three ranged DPS and one melee DPS, and we still have one spot open. Yet I couldn't really come up with a valid reason to pick melee DPS, excluding the buffs. But there must be something I was overlooking, so that's why I thought I'd ask here.

What is the advantage of having melee DPS in your raid instead of ranged DPS?

*EDIT*: I know there are other threads about this and they keep talking about the "balance", but I do not see a reason for this. Also, people keep saying different things so it's confusing to me what the "correct" answer is.

[Xexer]

They don't run out of mana.

[Volitar]

No going oom and you don't lost dps while moving

[Deleted]

but wend u got to move away u lose dps

[Foibles]

Best interrupts, and never running out of resources.

[axelnomnom]

some fights could require a certain balance between melee/ranged. other than that it doesnt matter who you bring (besides possibly losing buffs)

[Stanton Biston]

In an ideal world, assuming all things equal, there is no real not to simply stack the highest DPS class (probably Mage ATM) and call it good.

The things that make melee viable in raids are gear drops and encounter mechanics.

With respect to gear drops, it's easier to gear up a variety of classes that includes all armor types and tokens. You might get a string of one thing or another and if you've stacked Mages, your raid doesn't progress.

With respect to mechanics- Bosses that move and otherwise have mechanics that devalue range improve the value of melee. However, the reverse is also true. There used to be bosses (I'm looking at you Razorgore) where in the final phase, melee bandaged range.

Melee DPSers don't have the same resource management issues as ranged, but that's about the only semi-inherent advantage.

[Zuldain]

There isn't exactly one correct answer, but here a few with some basic explanations. These are specifically reasons why adding another melee (instead of ranged) to your current raid group may be best.

I am not the be all end all - these are general ideas/examples. If anyone can/would like to elaborate on or dispute my reasoning please do!

1.) Unlimited Resources
Hunters are the only ranged class that doesn't have a 'gas tank' resource. Sure, all ranged classes have ways to add something to the tank, but this often includes periods of downtime(evo) or extra damage (lifetap). Even mana-based melee have fast, virtually never ending resources.

2.) Reliable Interrupts
This is fairly clear. Melee don't need to stop a cast, simply use the next GCD. (Rebuke, Kick, etc.)

3.) Keeps the raid "spread out"
Many bosses have abilities which chain to nearby players. By keeping your raid split, it best utilizes space.

4.) Group Loot Progression
As someone stated before, its going to take a lot longer to gear up 2 mages, 2 locks and a shadow priest, than it is a diverse group of dps. In the mean time, you'll be DEing a lot of Agi/Str gear.

5.) Tank/Threat Synergy
Generally, Melee or Physical damage dealers provide the best damage/threat buffs for Tanks. This means that by having that extra 'physical' buff, the tank is often adding some dps, which leads to more threat as well.


Hopefully some of these ideas help!

[bigjenk]

Not running oom atm. having done 3/12 so far mages, eles, boomkins, and spriests on 8 min fights have severely gimped dps due to having to manage mana. If you look at the top 100 dps for magmaw they are all melee, locks or a random boomkin that innervates himself. Had i been able to actually aoe without ooming or been able to stick on boss my dps would have been a good 3k higher, as where melee have no punishment for fights such as that.

[Leeuwke]

Thanks for the info, it really helped me out a lot. Seems I did overlook quite a few things.

[fangless]

Melee avoid some ranged abilities on some fights.