Best Class/Spec to raid with, as the Raid Leader

[Sanssanity]

I was raid leader throughout a good portion of wrath as a disc priest (tail end of Naxx through to end of ICC) - I found it easy enough especially in terms of seeing individuals with buffs/debuffs, and usually if there was a damaging ability coming up I would know about it anyway due to preparing to react as a healer. I also felt I had a good general overview of how everyone was positioned. I did switch guilds in time for cata and our current RLs are usually a prot warrior or a dps dk - both of which do a fantastic job.

At the end of the day I believe a lot of what makes a raid leader good is not the ability to shout out during combat - but the ability to explain with both clarity and suitable detail level before an encounter in such a way that the raid team is capable of executing the strategy. Any class can do this, and maybe it is just RL personalities affecting class choice that leads to the trends seen.

[Slambient]

A tank because they are usually the leader of any group whether they like it or not.

[Bullettime]

Ranged DPS. Melee usually have a big boss in their face and can't be watching for environmental effects unless dropped on them, tanks have a boss in their face and are focused more on positioning, taunts, burst on them, etc with the boss in their face. Healers usually are focused more on the raid frames and damage than the actual effects that cause them.

Anyone can raid lead as it comes down more to the player and multitasking/reaction times but if you had to select between equally good players of different roles, ranged dps would be the best as they're just watching their rotation (maybe 1-2 timers) but pretty much their entire job is shooting stuff at the boss and specifically watching the mechanics they'd be calling you while having a much larger range of visibility.

[sasslefrassed]

Honestly, this may sound out there, but I think a healer would be a good pick. A healer is the one that has to deal with it when people stand in things they aren't supposed to, a healer sees who takes heavy damage in what phase. A healer cannot get tunnel vision on dpsing/tanking. I feel a healer is the one that needs to be the most raid-aware so they know what things to call out, what to ignore, what to dispel, etc because they are the one it most affects. They can't just zone into the raid frames like in wrath because they *also* need to move out of shit and pay attention to their surroundings.

[Agallochh]

I raid lead on my priest in vanilla/bc, and warlock in wotlk. Both were pretty easy. Led some Naxx's when it was fresh in WotLK and was on my Prot Warrior when I did that, and it wasn't too bad (it was Naxx, though)

[BirdLady68]

@PBitt: I was in a raiding guild where the Raid leader was a Holy pally...

I think any class can do it. It's not about about the toon but the personality behind it.

[ruuBEN]

If we're talking single-in-command, then I'd say a main tank. Any main tank, really, but I prefer a warrior.

However, I don't exactly think just one guild / raid leader would be best. I think there should be a group, 3 would be the 'perfect' amount, sort of like 3 guild leaders, sharing equal power. I believe one should be the main tank, they can take care of tanking / melee DPS type knowledge for fights when organizing/working things out, there should be a healer to focus/organize on the healers, and a ranged DPS for.. well, ranged DPS positioning, etc. I understand you don't exactly need it, but having the knowledge and input of near every class/assignment for raiding being shared would be best for those who organize the raid.

For example. When I first started raiding in TBC, our guild made it up to Kael and Vashj from Kara. We had one leader in this guild, who happened to be a main tank. He didn't exactly know how to be an effective healer, let alone an effect ranged DPS for Vashj and positioning, thus made it very confusing for a week or two because he was too stubborn. Afterall, he's the guild leader, what he knows is best. Having a group leading the raid with every aspect of the fight(s) you'll be up against would be best. The group could effectively keep each other in check, as well as assign roles, positions, calls, just about anything you can think about in when raiding.

Idunno. That's just me.

[Ciah]

For bad groups that need hand-holding, an autopilot ranged dps class is best. The less crap you have to watch for your own job, the more time you have to compensate for others.
For better structured consistent raiding groups, I prefer to raid-lead as a tank. While healers definitely are the ones who pay most attention to who is getting damaged by what (good healers, at least), I found it too busy/stressful of a role to add in the stress of raid-leading. Typically, I will raid lead as the tank and have a healer buddy/officer to ask for input if a healer's perspective is needed.

[Mauhour]

For bad groups that need hand-holding, an autopilot ranged dps class is best. The less crap you have to watch for your own job, the more time you have to compensate for others.
For better structured consistent raiding groups, I prefer to raid-lead as a tank.

^this

Hunter is the best class to raidlead with but a raidleading tank in a highskill group can really pull off some amazing actions.

[Sepulturos]

I've been our guilds raidleader for quite a while now and I usually Raidlead as a Retri or Holy Paladin (Ret ms but i go holy from time to time if we lack healers) so yea i raidlead mostly as mellee dps. I do have a Shadow priest and Elemental shaman backing me up for when I missed something in the fight and discuss stuff during the raids.