The legendary times when adventurer groups frantically “ate” and cunning with a “fire resist”, and the paladins alone conquered the Icecrown Citadel, have already passed. Not everyone was able to personally participate in the famous battles of past years, but the history of World of Warcraft did not end there. Cybersport.ru tells how to start raiding in 2023 to write your name in the story of the greatest MMORPG. Or just have fun.
Dragons don’t go alone
World of Warcraft has a very flexible raid customization system. There are four types of difficulty: LFR (from the English. Looking For Raid – “Raid Finder”), normal, heroic and epoch-making. Everyone can participate in the simplest battle, for this you need to stand in the automatic queue and wait until the group is typed. Other modes are available only for pre-assembled groups.
You can weekly try to find a group of loners who collect in “normal” (this complexity is also called NM – from the English Normal Mode) and “ger” (NM – from the English Hard Mode) or even in “mythic” (an alternative name for epoch-making complexity , from the English. Mythic), but such a strategy is simply ineffective. Usually, only those players who already have high-level equipment are invited to random groups, that is, nothing useful can be gained from the campaign. In heroic and epoch-making regimes, newcomers are not expected at all – leaders of random groups require appropriate achievement, usually they need a curve in English, literally “need a characteristic”. Needless to say, to get it you must successfully pass the same raid?
In order not to face discrimination on the basis of achievement, it is best to find a guild. But this is also not an easy task. Not all guilds are actively raiding, some prefer to conquer PvP content, dungeons with epoch-making keys or just use a joint chat and do not think about progress. How to find the one? World of Warcraft recently introduced a built-in search for communities of interest, but I advise you to use a less modern way – visit the WoWProgress portal.
On this site, recruitment officers detail the requirements for candidates. There you can either leave a profile so that the guilds contact you independently, or find the contacts of those responsible for recruiting people. Sorting is convenient – immediately select your class and specialization, as well as the necessary raid time. For example, if you can consistently play only three days a week for the Retribution Horde-Paladin, the search will look like this:
Immediately getting into the guild with high raid progress will be quite difficult, especially if there are no major achievements in other areas of World of Warcraft. At the interview, they will ask about the experience, the maximum and average DPS and ask for the logs (detailed files with data on boss killing) from previous raids. It is unlikely that a good guild will take into account files from LFR or “normal”. It’s best to honestly say that you are new to this.
An active player is always highly regarded, even if he has little experience. Most likely, you will not be accepted into the guild from the top ten, but it will not be difficult to find a free place in the team with little progress.
The battle log is the face of the raider, and the power of the artifact is his heart
Errors in rotation, death without drinking a potion, a protective spell or a warlock stone not pressed in time – all this can be easily tracked. Even if you have high DPS or HPS, lying that you didn’t die because of your own mistake will not work. Any malicious puddle you stepped into is displayed in files on the Warcraft Logs website. If you do not make key mistakes, and your performance is most often evaluated from 50 to 100 points, then soon any guild will be glad to accept you into its ranks.
The ability to play is a fundamental criterion for a raider, but even the highest skill level will not help if you have poor equipment. In the Battle for Azeroth expansion, Blizzard obliged players to carry out routine tasks. All raiders must upgrade the Heart of Azeroth, and with patch 8.3 – the cape “Ashzhra’kamas, the Veil of Resolve”. Obtaining high-level armor is quite easy, for several days in the epic + dungeons all parts of the equipment are collected, except for Azerite armor. Strengthen artifacts need day after day, and in the next addition – Shadowlands – this is unlikely to change.
Skill is the main thing
In words, achieving the perfect game is quite easy – just press the buttons in the correct order, and everything will work out. In fact, this does not work like that: even the most experienced raiders will “ruin” it. Two things will help minimize errors in rotations, talents and positioning – modifications and tracking of the current meta for your class.
Any raider must install Deadly Boss Mods (DBM) or BigWigs Bossmods. These modifications track the progress of the battle and warn of a recharge of boss abilities.
The second useful add-on for the raider is Weak Auras 2. For it, you need to download additional files with settings, for each boss they will be separate. Most often, the raid leader shares with the group the necessary auras, so that they are the same for all players – it is easier to perform mechanics synchronously.
Interface modifications and rotation add-ons are optional, you can play on the standard settings. But it does not hurt to remove bulky griffins from the spell panel using Gryphon Removers.
In 2023, adding modifications to the World of Warcraft client is very simple: you will need the official Twitch platform application. Among its functions there is the ability to automatically download any mods. Just enter the name of the add-on you are interested in, and the client will independently find the path to WoW on your computer.
Much more difficult to follow the meta – tracking only one resource will not help. The Icy Veins portal collects up-to-date information about builds, but most often it does it slowly. It will be more effective to compare the recommendations of this portal with the talents, essences and attributes that experienced raiders prefer. Warcraft Logs will help here again: learn how to correctly sort information by class and specific boss, as each of them may have its own nuances in the battle. Get ready for all opponents separately – there is no universal build in World of Warcraft.
For beginners, it is best to copy the settings of colleagues in the workshop. Over time, you will begin to understand why a particular talent is better suited for battles against a large number of opponents or one monster. There are fights in which you need to do more damage, and sometimes it is important to live as long as possible, so you need to take protective talents. If you don’t fully understand why raiders choose certain spells, do not hesitate to write to the players you have spotted a chip for. World of Warcraft is a social game, most people are ready to help strangers and give advice.
After the battles you need to work on the bugs. This can be done even after a battle in the LFR: boss mechanics are similar, and if you could not avoid unnecessary damage in the simplest raid, then there is nothing to do in epoch-making mode. Criticize yourself and your decisions more often, keep track of positioning, periodic effects, peak damage. And remember: you can always play better.
To drink, eat and powder a nose
Going into raids is an expensive pleasure. Without potions and infusions there is nothing to do there, and their market price at the beginning of each patch is quite high.
If you recently started playing World of Warcraft, you will have to enroll in “gardeners.” Finding resources to create potions is easy: crafting grass literally grows underfoot. As soon as there are enough ingredients, learn alchemy yourself, look for a potion friend or sell resources at auction, and purchase the necessary goods for the proceeds of gold.
The same applies to cooking: it is best to pump this profession. It will take a lot of food, because after death, the bonus from it will dissipate. Each boss fight must begin with a peppy munch of twenty characters.
Responsibility and Curiosity
Everything will not work right away. Even the best guilds in the world do not kill bosses the first time, you need to get used to any enemy, learn all of his tricks and adapt to the phases of the battle. The most important thing in developing a raid is to analyze all the key mechanics.
After the release of each raid, a description of all combat mechanics appears on the main World of Warcraft resources. Strategies in Russian are usually posted on the Noob Club forum – this is a good assistant during development. To get not only a general theory, but also tips for your class, you can search for boss kill videos on YouTube or Twitch. Players of Method, Complexity Limit, Exorsus and other world-famous teams will sort out how to proceed.
If you have shown yourself well in a battle with one of the bosses, it is not at all necessary that you will be taken to the next opponent. In good guilds, a group to kill each of the raid monsters is selected by class. You should not be offended: in addition to you, the guild includes at least 19 people. This is not an NPC, they do not have unlimited time to satisfy all your desires. This is also worth remembering if you are late in a raid. It is important not only to warn about planned absenteeism, but also to try to report delays due to unforeseen circumstances. Discipline is one of the main attributes of an intelligent raider.
The result, how to turn from a killer of wild boars into a famous raider:
- Find a good guild that matches your daily routine and skills.
- Pump artifacts and select the best equipment.
- Keep track of experienced players and current builds.
- Understand the mechanics of bosses and analyze battles.
- Do not be afraid to ask experienced players for advice.
- Stock up on consumables – infusions, potions, food, runes, etc.
- Follow discipline and remember that all members of the guild are living people.
- Enjoy World of Warcraft.