Dungeon Party Mechanics

In the World of Warcraft, Dungeons Mechanics becomes very important for a group to make it through instance areas without headaches and expenses caused from unneeded deaths and party wipes.

Each player in the 5 man group fills a certain role in the group, that increases their overall success rate and survivability. The entire unit is held together by two main factors, the Healer, and the Tank or Front man.

It is the healers job to keep the Tank up and alive, so that he/ she can keep the attention of the enemies with various abilities to invoke fear in the targets. By the Tank holding the front line in place, it allows the other players more freedom of movement to avoid environmental hazards or grounding effect spells that might be caste on the group by a Boss.

A solid group knows their role, and what they can do to overcome obstacles that may sprout up along the way, such as additional patrols, or dealing with assistant monsters (mobs) that may appear once summoned into the area by a Boss your fighting. Area effects can pose a danger to a war party, and it is good to have a player in the group that may have prior experiences in the particular area you are running.


Below is a Map Mechanical Diagram of a Typical Battle Group made up of 5 Players

INDEX

Colors:
Green Circles- Range Dps w/pets

Green Box- Healer Focusing Tank
Red Box&Dot- Tank, Ground Zero
Purple Box- Range Dps/ Casters
Tan Box- Melee Dps/ Front Liners
Blue Box- Enemy Monsters (Mobs)
Blue Box Red Dot- Secondary Targets
Blue Box Yellow Dot- Main Target
Green Boxes marked P- Pets

Letters Correspond to the Type of Class involved in the Party: R in a Green Circle is the players teams Range Dps, that have pet control as a secondary skill. The blue squares marked with an R are secondary Mobs that are running or casting inward toward the group, and are not being held by the Tanks aggression, or AGGRO.

The Party Mechanic's Made Simple

Class Jobs:

Tank- The main glue of the team, it is their job to keep ALL mobs in one spot, and away from the others.

Healer- Wants to FOCUS mainly on the Tank, and keeping them ALIVE, if the Tank falls then the Mobs will break free, a SECOND Tank will have to try to grab their attention, or the Mobs could WIPE the group. The Healer then Focuses the STAND in TANK until the Mobs are Dropped, or the main TANK can be resurrected back into the FIGHT.

Range DPS- As a range Dps Caster that does not have the added power of a pet or minion, it is generally in your power to focus on the TANKS MAIN target and help burn it down, UNLESS the tank or the fight calls for other RANGE maneuvers. There are many dungeons, where enemies can only be reached by range damage, or certain things need to be avoided or dispelled from a distance, this is the job of Range Dps. On some classes, there are also crowd control effects, and cures that are not available to other classes that you may need to use to make the group more survivable.You also stand back by the healer as safe distance away, and are expected to lure any attacks away from the healer and then back to the TANK if at all possible. You can also use crowd control effects such as ice for example, to allow the healer to run to safety.

Range Dps w/ Pets or Minions- Range Dps that have pets or minions are good as they can focus on secondary targets such as casters that are out of the TANKS aggro range, or to chase down enemies as they try to run away from the Tanks AGGRO zone. You can use pets to get enemies off the Healer, or to assist if one of the Range Dps is under attack and struggling. Using a pet takes skill and practice, you want to be conscious of what it is doing and know how to change targets and control it as if it is an extension of your own powers. As an example, you would put your pet on aggressive in a PVP situation, but in a Dungeon you want it on defensive or passive and hand select its targets to avoid pulling enemies in on the group unexpectedly.There are different grades of pets, such as TANKING pets that wok LIKE a tank, and DPS pets that are range or melee, you can also get exotic pets that have strange powers, such as spider webbing or spitting acids and the like. Pick the pet that's best for the job at hand, ask the party leader what will be needed, and your pet can fill a valuable gap in your group.

Melee Dps- These guys are the TANKS right hand man, they either chase runners that try to run away from the tank and bring them back, or run to defend the healer or other range attackers that might be getting overwhelmed. These positions main focus is to focus the TANKS main target unless told otherwise, to help burn it down as fast as possible. If the TANK falls, the first move of a good melee, is to change to a CLOSE tanking posture ASAP, and try to hold the mobs from moving past them. If you can do this, the healer should change healing to you to help keep the front line alive.All other melee and DPS should focus on the main target of the SECONDARY TANK to help burn the mobs down and not pull aggression from him. Secondary healers or other classes with ability, should attempt to resurrect the main tank as soon as they can, or take up the slack for healing so they can REZ.

SOME TIPS:

Warlock Life Conversions:
Warlocks should inform HEALER to not heal them if they are MANNA Tapping, tapping out their life for manna, and then draining life from enemies to refill their life bar. The Healer should not be expected to heal a warlock that is doing this, the warlock should be draining enemies of life and not expect heals.


Secondary Skill usages:
When in doubt, dish it out. If you have the ability for secondary anything, whether it is Dps, or heals or even dispelling and the like, do it. If you see that the group is lacking something you can make up for - do it. Do not hesitate to inform the party that the heals are low and you have been assisting, or that the tank is tanking too much punishment or not holding aggro, and your having to assist to keep things in check.

Party Leaders:
A party leader is the one that knows the dungeons and the fights the best, and does not have to be the Tank or the Healer. You don't need a role to be a leader, I have been the lowest level in a PvP battlegroup and ran us to victory, a good leader does just that. Leads you to victory, watches that the party is prepared before a fight, checks manna on the healer, and asks before running into battle. This can save alot of frustration down the road as mobs are pulled and the healer is out of manna, or 2 dps are afk. Think before you strike, and always watch the teams manna and life levels before moving forward.

Cards Up your Sleeve:
If you have some BIG BANG effects Like Aoe (are of Effect) spells, be sure to use them efficiently, when large numbers of TRASH Mobs (low levels or add on groups) appear, don't waste it on a single target attack it is inefficient and will burn manna fast. Big POPS such as an 80 mages Clone or a Dks Army of the dead, or a Druids Tree, should be deployed before character altering effects are released by the boss to avoid spell interrupts. Keep your BIG spells for the boss and it will increase your DPS output efficiency!