Levelling Guide

DPS and you : A guide to learning the Cataclysm way.

Hello fellow DPSers! I decided to write this to explain to you all the differences in which you should start learning when it comes to Cataclysm dungeon exploring and raid exploring. To some of you, this is common sense and that people should always know. But I see time and time again while running dungeons some DPS that simply do NOT realize that the changes that were brought to Cataclysm are not just aesthetical. Below will be some average rules and guidelines by yours truly trying to explain to you, as a DPS, just what exactly has changed. Also, I will explain changes that have happened between Tank, Healing and DPS synergies in which you should be aware of. The more information you have, the more aware you will be of the situation when it arises and better to deal with this information.

DPS – a name or a responsibility?

To many, DPS simply is numbers. Numbers popping up in front of us are always good. Red numbers are bad, green numbers are awesome and yellow numbers and white numbers. We see a world of numbers and we tend to get so engrossed that we forget the basic foundation of what a DPS should be doing.

Now, Wrath was far and well known as a successful expansion for Blizzard. However, it has spawned a new generation of gamers that do not necessarily bode well in the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm ideal. This guide is for you guys. Wrath and Cataclysm are two different beasts and this will help new individuals as well as the veterans to understand where some people are coming from and perhaps glimpse into how people think.

Back in Wrath, all we DPS needed to do is maximize our damage. Let’s be honest: Healing was pretty much a joke with healers having mana to last you a long while and threat was a non issue unless it was a mechanic in the game. This has made DPS only focus on one thing and that’s to dps. Oh, you took damage from some AoE attack? No problem, healer can top that. Tank is getting a little low on threat? No problem, call a threat increasing attack like Misdirect or Tricks of the Trade and have that issue resolved. CC? Psh, AoE the suckers down, the tank will take the aggro no problem.

This is not the same in Cataclysm.

One of the fundamental things that people need to realize is that with the changes done to the world, Blizzard has made it that dungeons will now require CC. This is especially true for Heroics. Some of these fights will require you to dust off some old tools that you never used back in the Wrath days and to start learning how to proactively learn how to use them.

1) Learn to use the Crowd Control tools that you have off your bars!

One of the biggest problems I’ve noticed nowadays is that people have simply forgotten they had CC, or furthermore, how it works. The DPS class has been given tools to CC mobs. The exceptions on this would probably be the Warrior class and the Death Knight class, as they don’t necessarily have great CC (Intimidation Shout and Hungering Cold are not great CCs. I don’t care how you look at it, they’re not; not with that much of a cooldown on a skill that lasts less time than it does to kill one mob.) Many people need to start relearning their tools and to understand when to use them. Which brings me to my next point:

2) Practice using your CC!

This is paramount: If you do not know how to properly use your CC, put yourself in the situation outside a fight. Go find groups of two or three and try to CC the targets properly that will provide the least amount of problems for your group and yourself. This will allow for smart and good CCing.

3) Talk to your group!

You have no idea how much stress I have to put on this point. Talk to your group when you CC! In fact, talk to your group period. Get out of the mindset of being on your own and being the lone wolf. It doesn’t work in a situation in which you have to deal with other individuals. Dungeons are made so that everyone works together. Even if it’s just a PUG, it doesn’t mean you cannot talk to your tank or your healers to make the run go smoothly. Also, look and see what kind of tank you are dealing with. Some tanks prefer to do their CC first, while others like to have their CC done after they’re done establishing aggro. Either way, you should talk to your tank as well as other members and establish who you will be using your CC on.

4) Establish your targets!

See those nice lil icons people liked to dink around with? Use them to good use and establish your own icon and say that you will be CCing this target. Yes, the tank normally leads the assault but if the tank hasn’t been in the instance, and you have, the tank will appreciate what targets will be out of the way while he does his job and you will show that you are able to CC properly. Showing this will actually mean a lot more than sitting back and letting the group explode due to your arrogance that a tank should do all the marking. It is a team effort, not just a tank effort, and as DPS, you must be smart about it.

-Earthshield

I hope you enjoyed the first arcticle of the Levelling Guide.