raid

If You Aim for Nothing, You’ll Hit Nothing: Goal Setting for Raid Teams

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“If you aim for nothing, you’ll hit nothing.”
– Wise Auntie from Shang-Chi, probably not a raider, but definitely right.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned as a raid leader is that without a clearly defined goal, your team will drift. People will show up, pull bosses, and maybe even have fun. Without direction, they won’t improve. They won’t grow. They won’t know what they’re working toward. One of our community teams, which has historically been an AotC team, is looking to advance upward into some Mythic progression. I applaud that, and it’s refreshing to hear that they’ve already laid out their goals to get started.

If your team isn’t aiming for anything, it’s going to hit… nothing.

Know What You’re Raiding For

There are all sorts of raid teams in World of Warcraft:

  • Social teams who raid casually for fun and vibes.
  • AOTC-focused teams who want to clear Heroic each tier.
  • Mid Mythic teams who want to push beyond Heroic and have the skill to do it, but don’t want to invest the effort to go beyond the first several Mythic bosses.
  • CE-pushing teams who plan their season with spreadsheets and sigh deeply when they see someone under cap on crests.

All of those are fine. What’s not fine is not knowing which one you are.

Your team’s culture, recruitment strategy, loot rules, bench policies, and expectations all stem from one thing: that team goal. If your goal is CE, you should build and operate like a CE team. If your goal is fun and friends, structure the team to reflect that. Teams aiming for playoffs will have different goals compared to teams vying for the Super Bowl.

Build Your Roster Around Your Goal

Your roster should match your ambition:

  • Want CE? Then you need reliable attendance, motivated players, and a clear process for holding people accountable.
  • Just looking to chill and clear Normal/Heroic? Then don’t burn out your team trying to copy Limit’s starts or min-max every comp detail.

Misalignment between your roster and your goal leads to frustration on both ends. Raiders feel like they’re pushing too hard (or not hard enough), and leadership gets stuck in an endless cycle of plugging holes instead of building something lasting.

Set Micro Goals Along the Way

Big goals can be scary. “Get CE” sounds great until you’re 120 wipes into a mid-tier boss, wondering if your sanity is still intact.

That’s where micro goals help per boss:

  • Improve Phase 2 positioning consistency
  • Increase overall raid survivability percentage (that would be the deaths tab in Warcraft Logs)
  • Reduce deaths to whatever boss mechanic over the next raid night
  • Pop Mug’zee mines with no deaths, and ensure all soaks are accounted for

These give your team something measurable to work toward each night, and they help keep morale up even when progression is slow.

Communicate It Constantly

Once your goals are set, talk about them. A lot. Drill the team relentlessly over the course of the raid night. Reiterate them during recruitment. Remind your team in Discord. Post them in your strategy doc. Goals lose power when they’re vague or hidden.

People can’t commit to something they don’t understand. If you make the goal visible and consistent, your team will start moving toward it (even if it’s slow at first).

Final Thoughts

Your raid team doesn’t need to be Liquid. Or Echo, for that matter. But you do need to know what you’re aiming for. A shared goal gives your team direction, unity, and purpose. These are the foundations of any successful group, whether you’re pushing CE or just trying to have a good time on raid nights.

Aim high. Aim clearly. Just don’t aim for nothing.

How to Run Raid Orientation

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Welcome to the new tier, everybody! We’re starting to kick off our raid this week. This is a great time to run raid orientation for the raid group, especially if you have many new players or if the raid team was on a break leading up to this point. For us it was mandatory because over half the team was new stemming from some major turnover. In this case, boss GM set up a preliminary officer meeting to go over the agenda for orientation and what to cover. I’ll dive into that one in a bit. Ultimately, he made some adjustments to an existing slidedeck that was created by one of the other raid teams in our community and co-opted some of those elements. I don’t really agree with some of the design choices, but I bit my tongue on that one.

If you want to watch DJ’s raid orientation, our GM did stream it, and you can find it here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1975224736?t=00h16m06s

What is Raid Orientation?

It’s exactly what it sounds like. You can liken it to your experiences when attending school for the first time.

Raid orientation is a crucial process where members of a guild come together to discuss, plan, and prepare for the challenges that lie ahead in a new raid tier. It’s the foundation upon which a successful raiding experience is built. This is where new members get to know each other, understand the guild’s strategies, and set their expectations with the goals.

This can be hosted in Discord and having your GM share their screen. They could also stream it and have it saved for anyone that missed out on it.

Benefits of Raid Orientation

But why?

  • Enhances Team Cohesion: It brings players together, fostering a sense of community and teamwork. For a bonus, you can add some icebreaker games at the end.
  • Aligns Goals: This helps to ensure that everyone is on the same page regarding the guild’s objectives.
  • Preparation: Provides an opportunity to discuss strategies and requirements, reducing confusion during actual raids. We’d rather get this done now or during the week before we set foot into the instance.
  • Resource Management: This helps in efficiently setting aside resources like consumables and loot. It also covers where players can find resources like assignments and strategy on Discord. In our case, we hold tier tokens until the end of the night to see what we have before distributing it all.

What Does Orientation Typically Include?

Player Expectations

This segment focuses on what the guild expects from each player. It includes commitment levels, understanding of class roles, our community code of conduct, and basic raiding etiquette. We expect our players to complete 4 keys weekly. They don’t need to be 20s, but if they can eventually strive to hit 16s to 18s consistently within the first few weeks, it’ll set our team up for success. This also means how to handle attendance issues and who their raid mentors are. Basically, the GM is covering policy.

Raid Expectations

Here, we delve into the specifics of the raid content. This covers some strategies, boss mechanics, and the roles and responsibilities of each raid member. This means showing up on time. This means having the required WeakAuras installed and addons updated. It also means knowing their role and how to respond to mechanics in encounters while surviving. This could be its own night, though as we plan to have a film review on a different day before our raid night where we go over every encounter.

Consumables Expectations

Raiders need to come prepared with the necessary consumables. This part of the orientation covers the types of consumables required and how they contribute to the raid’s success, especially with the new health potions and other augments. Speaking of augments, there’s also the new reusable rune. Depending on your guild’s focus, that might be worth mentioning.

Loot Council

A key part of raiding is the distribution of loot. This section explains how the loot council operates and guides members on setting up their loot wish lists to make the process effective. We’ve also taken the liberty of requesting volunteers for the loot council. This is a call for members who wish to contribute more directly to the guild’s decision-making process with the resources and sims we have in place.

Goals and Pacing for the Tier from a Progression Standpoint

Setting realistic and achievable goals for the raid tier is critical. This includes discussing the pacing of the raid progression and what the guild aims to achieve each week. Even though we finished US 300 in Aberrus, we’re aiming for the US 400 mark this time at a slower pace. Think of this piece like setting the road map for the tier, including when raid extensions would begin.

Icebreakers

Think of some fun games you can play especially to help get newer members accustomed to the team. Sometimes we’d ask icebreaker questions but tell our players to type their answers in chat, but only press enter after a countdown hits 0.

Definitely consider running orientation at the start of a new raid tier! It’s a fun way to reconnect with your team if there’s been some time off between raids or a bunch of new players coming in. It helps set the tone for the rest of the tier and gets everyone primed as to what expectations will be like.

Lastly, I don’t know how I feel about the slides and how they were designed. I sure wish we had more Warcraft related looking assets in them though!

Matt’s Misplays: The Substitute Raid Leader Edition

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It’s been a few weeks since the last one, but welcome back to Matt’s Misplays! We’ve just gotten to Sark this week and progression has begun. Due to a certain GM being absent, I got called up to step in and heal. Like a good on-call raid leader, I walked in with nary a clue! Our Mistweaver Monk was supposed to be running the show but work kept him late so it fell on me and I had to wing it. Even though I didn’t do many of the calls, I still had to make a few of the decisions since I was the ranking officer in the raid. That meant things like roster swaps, setting break times, battle res calls, confirming wipe calls, and so on. Thank goodness our other Holy Priest was in there to help with playcalling. It’s different running the raid on a new progression boss compared to a farm boss, because when you’re on farm you know exactly how things are supposed to go, but when you’re on progression there’s much more ambiguity and uncertainty.

For example, one common situation is determining what to do with four players dead: Do you keep going or call an immediate wipe?

Sometimes we choose to keep the pull going so we can gain more information or gain more familiarity for those that are alive. Other times we snap-call a wipe to get back in and try again. I can’t remember if I touched upon this topic here before or not, but it’s worth revisiting on its own.

In other news, I’m sad to say that Nomi’s (my Sunday and Monday raid team) have decided to stop raiding. The leaders are all changing schedules and it was no longer tenable to keep that raid group going. I would have considered taking it over but I don’t have the patience or the desire to run and orchestrate a raid team again. There are so many things that need to happen and finding the necessary staff to keep it going. I work better when I can help out in certain areas. With so many characters and alts I want to play and raid on, the time to commit just isn’t there. I just want to raid, man!

Anyway, let’s get to it! I’m sure you’re all excited to see some of the fun and exciting differences. Remember, we’re here to find new ways to die!

One of the first mechanics we encounter in the transition is these holes! When you’re in the intermission phase, you’ll drop a hole that stays both down in the shadow realm and up top in the main platform so it’s crucial to stack them all together in a tidy spot so it doesn’t impact positioning on the main platform. Of course, if you’re too slow like this Panda, you fall right through to your death. Position and timing are crucial. I’m actually surprised I even fit through the hole as a Panda.

Do you know why slippers are sold in pairs? So we can throw one each at these two absolute Fluffernutters who did not drop their circle on the Moon stack! We just established this previously. Those circles have to be stacked together and that’s what our Moon marker is for. In this case, we had what appears to be a Demon Hunter drop their circle away from the Moon and I wasn’t able to accurately determine the other class. Of all the mechanics I wanted to emphasize to the raid team and iron out, this was it. I know for a fact that when the teacher comes back from vacation and people are still farting this mechanic up, someone’s going to get a magazine to the back of the head and I don’t want that to happen. I did my best to dial in and get these mistakes fixed and it worked out as no one ended up to the side in all of the later pulls.

This one’s a Heroic mechanic that should not have happened. Our Demon Hunter gets debuffed with the Infinite Duress and flies out except his angle is off. He should be placed further back because our ranged group wants to be knocked right along the rim of the platform. Instead, some of us get knocked off of the platform altogether. Whoops!

I’ve been guilty of this one. Sark does do a sweeping breath attack periodically and if you don’t move fast enough, you get cut off on the wrong side. In this case, our precious Evoker was a little too greedy and tries to leap but ends up falling short and taking lethal damage. Some things are worth greeding, but this isn’t one of them.

Ultimately, we did end up getting pretty far this weekend. Seeing phase 3 a few times was huge. Now we just need to clean up our phase 2 and get everyone alive. In this second intermission phase, we’re dropping our pools in the middle of the circles except we stayed still too long. What we should be doing is moving forward so that we don’t end up in a potential hole that spawns.

Undoubtedly the misplay of the week, this one’s a Greek tragedy for our resident Shadow Priest. Here we have a Warlock gate established for one of the Infinite Duress knockbacks. The plan is to get knocked to the side and immediately hop the gate back to our starting position. However, what happened here was we had an errant Warlock gate that was online from phase 1 that didn’t get removed. Our Shadow Priest ends up taking the wrong gate and falling to his doom.

This one has my vote. It’s going into the end of year blooper reel.

Thanks for reading, that’s all for this week! By the way, DJ’s is recruiting for the end of tier and heading into the next season. Come check us out!

Stop Saying Sorry: It’s Not Helping the Party

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We’ve all been there: You’re in the middle of a raid or dungeon in World of Warcraft, and someone makes a mistake. Maybe that mage pulled too many mobs, or goofed an interrupt. Whatever the reason, the immediate response from many players is to apologize, then explain what happened.

But is that really the best approach?

The problem with apologizing is that it can waste valuable time and tie up Discord communication. Instead of focusing on salvaging the pull, players spend time reassuring the person who made the mistake that it’s okay. I understand the desire to be considerate of others, but in the fast-paced world of dungeons, every second counts. I’ve run dungeons and raids with players who felt it necessary to say apologies, then follow up with a play-by-play of exactly what happened that led to the current situation.

Listen, I know you’re sorry but there are 7 bolstered, angry trash mobs about to beat the crap out of our tank. Let’s skip the explanation and help save the pull. While you’re on the floor trying to explain yourself, I’m mentally running through my checklist of how to react.

  • Guardian Spirit on tank? Check.
  • Psychic Scream to buy time? Check.
  • Priest Roots and tell tank to kite mobs away? Check.
  • Instruct the DPS Warrior named Zugzug to stop zug zugging long enough to hit Rallying Cry and get ourselves temporary health? Check.
  • Fervently request Druid to take a few steps away from Volcanic to fire off a Battle Res? Check.

But none of this can happen while you’re rapidly apologizing and I can’t butt in to get a word in!

So, what can you do instead of apologizing? Here are a few alternatives to consider:

  1. Acknowledge the mistake
  2. Offer a solution
  3. Provide important information earlier

Let’s take a closer look.

Acknowledge the Mistake

When someone makes a mistake, it’s natural to want to apologize. But, apologizing can give the impression that you’ve done something wrong intentionally when the reality is most mistakes are unintentional. Try acknowledging the error without taking the blame, then saying what’s about to happen. For example, you could say something like, “Oops, I goofed. Extra pull coming.” Remember what Brad Pitt told Matt Damon.

Don’t use seven words when four will do.

Offer a Solution or Suggestion

In addition to acknowledging the error, it’s beneficial to offer a solution for how to move forward. For example, if someone whiffs an interrupt, you could suggest a strategy for how to handle them. This not only shows that you’re engaged in the group’s success, but it keeps the focus on salvaging the pull attempt rather than dwelling on the mistake.

In Azure Vault, if you’re sitting and watching for Waking Bane, you should mention that you can’t get Ice Bindings and pray someone else in the group can interrupt that cast instead.

Provide Important Information

Finally, you can also provide information that may be helpful for the group ahead of time. For example, if you notice a specific mob that has a particular ability, you could alert the group to this and suggest an approach for dealing with it. This kind of information-sharing not only helps the group to succeed, but it also alerts them on what to expect.

In Court of Stars, I habitually inform my group when we get to Gerenth the Vile that I can handle the first four Hypnosis Bats with a Chastise, a Psychic Scream, a Quaking Palm, then another Chastise. Anything after that needs a stun.

Once the group has recovered, if you feel the need to justify and explain what went wrong, feel free to go ahead. At higher key levels though, it’s often quite obvious as experienced players can recognize what happened or caused the error in play.

Although apologizing after a critical mistake is a natural response, it’s not always the most effective. Acknowledge the error, with a solution or suggestion. By doing so, you can help to keep the group concentrated and save the pull attempt quickly and efficiently.

[VIDEO] Immerseus on Flex Mode

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I took the liberty of running the Flex Mode version of Immerseus over the weekend. Did manage to kill it within a few attempts. Our gear was scaled to 506 item level. Our group consisted of 10 players so we didn’t get a chance to check out the dynamic scaling in action. Players that are deep in the normal mode of Throne of Thunder shouldn’t have much difficulty with this boss. Check out the video and make note of the healing tips.

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