Improving your metagame: A primer to getting ready to raid for the inquiring player.

[Disastor]

We've all seen the forum posts, trade chat responses, and generic helpful responses that read "Just go to Elitistjerks.com"
or "watch the fight on youtube". Be they trolling or generally helpful, the responses generally aren't as useful as one
would assume.

So here is a guide to help you find what information will really help you step up your game. I'm not here to tell you how
to play your class; I'm here to help you find the resources so you can help yourself. And hopefully avoid being this guy.







Location, Location, Location...
To educate yourself you need to first pick a topic.

Theorycrafting? http://elitistjerks.com/

Boss Guides? http://www.tankspot.com/

Loot lists? http://www.wowhead.com/items

Addons? http://www.curse.com/

More specialized information?
http://www.wowwiki.com/Portal:Main - Although not as up to date as some of the other sites, wowwiki still has some very
helpful pages that explain more in depth mechanics. I recommend that every raider read Wowwiki's page on the attack table
and on haste calculations (found here:http://www.wowwiki.com/Attack_table and here:http://www.wowwiki.com/Haste, respectively).

http://elitistjerks.com/f15/t29453-c..._85_cataclysm/ - Gives a number basis for the stats these sites talk about. A good reference tool.

http://wowtal.com/#k= - The best talent simulator out there. Pretty straightforward.

And finally, what to avoid:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/ - Avoid it like the plague. Many of the forums are almost totally unmoderated; you are
probably ten times as likely to get a troll response as an actual helpful response. And any helpful response is probably
riddled with misinformation.

http://www.maxdps.com/ - Just flat out wrong in their gear/gemming/speccing advice. Other sites will give you far better
and more accurate information.

http://wow.joystiq.com/ - Other than a few notable columns (rogue and hunter mainly), the class 'guides' typically merely
scratch the surface of what you need to know. Great for knowing how to best roleplay your worgen, also great for ending up like this.




The Jerks
Elitistjerks.com is a simply massive site. It contains almost everything you need know about theorycrafting your
class/spec. However, it also contains some of the most acerbic posters and draconian moderators known to the internet.
Here's a hard and fast rule about being a new person reading EJ.

Don't post. Ever.

The trick to EJ is finding the right thread. Go to your class's forum (http://elitistjerks.com/forums.php). Look for topics
containing words like "Compendium", "SpecName: Engame Raiding", and anything containing the word "Guide". If the thread
doesn't have a first post that looks something like what you see in this thread (http://elitistjerks.com/f74/t110723-...rvival_hunter/) DO NOT READ IT.

Threads can become quite tangential at times; you are simply wasting your time reading about whether Instant Poison procs
off Avalanche or if the reforging optimizer for the enhance sim is working properly.

Almost every spec has a thread that will tell you exactly how to spec/gem/gear to maximize your particular role. Don't be
intimidated by jargon and remember that if it's not on the first page - it's not worth reading.




Does everyone in their guild sound like this?
In order to really understand a fight, there's nothing quite like seeing the boss in action. Tankspot is the site for you.
Best of all, for those like me who cant process audio and visuals at the same time (walking and chewing gum is hard too!)
there are always very neatly laid out and succint guides after every video.

Plus you get to listen to undoubtedly hot asians (like in the video below) for every encounter.
http://<a href="http://www.youtube.c...embedded#</a>!

There's really no downside to Tankspot. It's an extremely useful site for any raider.





Every spell, item, mob in the game. Ever.
http://www.wowhead.com/ is a site that at first seems pretty lame. However, two things make this site excellent.

1. It's search function. Want to find all the 345 intellect plate from reputation vendors? Wowhead can do it. Wowhead is
absolutely fantastic for finding out where you need to go/what you need to to do in order to get an item upgrade.

2. It's posters. Somehow wowhead managed to be different from the entire rest of the internet and have actual helpful
posters. Take any given achievement/item/boss and unless it was literally released yesterday, some helpful commenter on
wowhead has already adressed any possible bug or difficulty you might have. This is your standard wowhead comment.


Wowhead has awesome posters and an excellent search function. It's a great tool for any raider, and just about anyone
who playes WoW.



Curse you out-of-date addons!
Every wow raider needs addons to help him/her perform. Almost every guild you raid with will make you get Omen (an addon
that helps you track your threat) and some variation of Deadly Mods (a mod that tells you when boss abilities happen).

Curse is the best way to these addons and avoid getting keylogged at the same time. Download curse client
(http://www.curse.com/client/) and watch any problem you had with managing your addons dissipate.

Update every addon you have while you are playing, then simply /reloadui and voila! you are now ready to roll. I didn't use
curse client for several years and just tried it recently. I was blown away by how simple and easy it was to manage my
addons. Plus it's free .





Get it. Love it.



Happy Dragon-Slaying!
This is the end of my guide on improving your meta game. Wow is an awesome game, and has spawned literally thousands of
sites that talk about our favorite game. Hopefully I have helped you clear away the rubble and find the sites that will
really help you in-game.

[shandala]

Aliena is German