Slightly related: Are you a healer in search of a 10 man, hard mode progression raid for Cataclysm? My 10 is seeking a healer; Preferably a druid, but anything other than pally (I know, most of my readers) would work. We'll be raiding 7-11pm PST on Wednesdays and Thursdays. If this sounds like something that might interest you, contact me and we can talk about it further. I promise I won't bite.
As I was perusing Blog Azeroth the other day, this weeks shared topic, suggested by Shop of Runeforge Gossip, caught my eye. Catch his post here. Anyways, he proposed the topic of 10 man raids, and what goes into forming them. To quote him:
"...this has gotten me thinking about how we think of classes. We tend to see them mostly as what buffs they bring and their DPS. But often other things are important too, and even more so given that Blizzard wants us to pay more attention to things like CC, mana management, that sort of thing (no more simple stand and DPS fights)"
I've been thinking about 10 mans a lot lately. I want to look at his proposed topic, as well as other things that you need to think about when dealing with a 10 man.
Benefits of 10 mans
Recently, due to some real life drama, the same drama that has slowed my post frequency, I've had to make a decision about how I want to move forward within the game. I am a hardcore raider. I have been since vanilla, and I really don't want to give it up. With the new raid design I am able to focus on progression in a 10 man environment instead and keep my schedule light. This is excellent. I don't have to herd 25 people, I don't have to find 25 high quality raiders, and I can still focus on progress. 10 mans are now offering the same rewards as 25 mans as well, so we shouldn't end up behind in the progression curve. The benefits to 10 mans seem pretty obvious, but what people aren't paying attention to are that there's still some things making 10's difficult.
Difficulties of 10 mans
The first thing to remember is that we won't be storming through 10 mans while outgearing them like we have in the past. You can't waltz in in 25 man hard mode gear and smash it all, because the gear will be the same. This right there ups the difficulty.
You also have to take into account that less people is in fact, less people. I know, such a difficult concept. But, people seem to be forgetting that this presents a few difficulties. The first being if someone dies in a 10 man, your group is hurting more than it is in a 25. One death is a larger percentage of the groups damage or healing than in a 25 man. Pretty obvious, right? A less obvious disadvantage of numbers here is that subs are more difficult to deal with. Because you are trying to balance buffs, gear everyone up, keep people in their preferred role, and get everyone their raid time, it's harder to rotate them in in a 10 man. It's more likely that your entire 10 man will show up than in a 25. In a 25, even with a high attendance policy, you can expect 2 or 3 absences a night. Things happen, it's easier to deal with with 25 people.
Every player has to be giving 110% in a smaller environment. It's just less forgiving, and people are forgetting this. Blizzard is looking to make the progression paths for 10 and 25 man raids about equal, but I think people will end up a bit surprised at how much more skill 10 man groups will take. That is, assuming Blizzard accomplishes this goal. I'm sure I'll revisit this topic at a later date.
Putting Together a 10
When it comes to actually assembling a smaller group, there's things you need to be careful of that are usually less concern in a 25. I want to break this down into a few categories: Teamwork, balance, buffs, utility and gear.
Teamwork
The most important thing within any raiding team is teamwork. This means a little more in a smaller environment. Your healers need to trust eachother, your tanks have to communicate, and your dps have to compliment one another and work together to get things good and dead. Also important to teamwork is personalities. Making sure the people all get along well and mesh right is more important in a smaller group. because there's less people, there's a higher chance that everyone will end up talking and joking around a bit. One person that doesn't fit in is more likely to feel like an outsider. I don't talk on vent much in a 25 man. i understand the leader is trying to get things done, and there are a lot of cats to herd. However, in a 10 things are explained more quickly and this leaves more time for bullshitting. Make sure everyone gets along.
Balance
Balance goes beyond the conventional sense here. I'm not referring to class balance so much as group balance. Figure out what your group is good at, and balance around it. For example, my group is mostly caster oriented. This means that when considering the composition, I made sure to only pick classes that compliment eachother. I'm not going to pick a class that brings nothing to the table for everyone else. Everyone in the raid is there for a purpose. Going even further though, it's important to look at not only main spec balance, but dual spec balance. If someone doesn't show up for a night, if your group gimped unless you get the perfect sub, or can you shuffle people are to make sure all the puzzle pieces still fit? The important thing to remember concerning balance is that no one person should make or break the group. You are a team, and should be resilient.
Buffs
This topic should be fairly self explanatory. Whatever your group is balanced around, make sure you have the proper buffs. If you have a caster balanced group, bring all the caster buffs. If you have to sacrifice a melee buff, not a big deal. The new buff system has made it incredibly easy to do this, so just double check that you have everything you need. It's also worth trying to make sure that if someone with a giant buff (i.e. heroism) is a no show, someone else can provide it, whether that be via main or off spec.
Utility
Shop's actual shared topic comes into play. Thinking beyond buffs, what else does your group have? Do you have slows incase another LK type encounter comes into play? Do you have a mana tide totem, or perhaps an innervate incase a healer needs it? Do you have appropriate crowd control? Can some of your dps self heal in a dire situation? These are all valid things to think about when putting your group together. Just because it isn't a commonly thought about buff doesn't mean it can't contribute to the kill.
Gear
In order to progress quickly, gearing quickly is something you should focus on. With that in mind, you can balance your group to help facilitate as little gear sharing as possible. To re-use my previous caster heavy group example, I shouldn't just load up on mages and warlocks. They need all of the same gear. I can spread this a bit by getting a boomkin instead, or perhaps an elemental shaman. Try to make sure you are covering all type of gear, so that nothing is going to waste. This will help your group gear up as quickly as possible so you can push forward.....in theory. Drop rates can be a pain.
~~~
A lot needs to be taken into account when forming a group of any size, but with less people, it's more important to pay attention to the little things and learn everything that the classes you are bringing can do. Familiarize yourself with other classes, and double check what specs your pure dps classes are intending to play. Making sure everyone compliments each other and fits together like a puzzle are key to a solid group setup. Spend some time finding the right fits, it will work out better in the end.
/bubblehearth
No comments:
Post a Comment