7 Habits of Highly Effective Players

example42

example42

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The Burning Crusade instances seem to be predicated on the assumption that everyone knows how to play their characters. The instances are certainly a notch or two higher in difficulty than the 5 and 10 mans pre-BC. After Ramparts and Blood Furnace, tank and spank becomes less common. Instead, bosses (and even the trash) have a "catch" and the encounters are less straight forward (but a lot more fun). It's with this in mind, that I offer a list of Seven Habits of Highly Effective Players. In my experience, these are the traits that seperate the "OK" players from the "good" ones. As we move forward through Burning Crusade I think a lot of players are going to need to move into the "good" catagory to be accepted into instances. So, on to the list. (I do so love lists)

  1. Come prepared - "Prepared" generally means food, water, bandages, reagent, and ammo. For the Burning Crusade, this should also include mana pots, healing pots, sharpening stones, mana oil, wizard oil, shielding runes (for blacksmiths), statues (for jewelcrafters), nets (for tailors), etc. Consumables can give you a huge edge in fights and it is your responsibility to have them ready and available when needed. Consumables can easily make the difference between wiping on a boss at 25% and downing him.
  2. Use all of your abilities - While it's true that each class has only a handful of "commonly" used spells, all that other stuff is not just bar fillers. There is a time and place for almost every ability. This becomes especially important on the path to level 70 as we pick up brand new spells. If your a priest, be sure you know when to use that fancy new Binding Heal. Warlocks, don't forget about Soul Shatter. Rogues, Garotte can now be used for effective casters pulling. Thinking outside of the "normal" spells are a must. For example, in the Auchenai Crypts instance there is a boss that increases all cast times by 200%. Greater heals aren't going to cut it.
  3. Addons give you a leg up - Plain and simple. I know many people like to "play pure" but the simple fact is that a warlock without any DoT timers is never going to be as effective as a warlock who has one. Talk with experienced guildies of the same class and figure out what they are using. There are great addons out there for every class and loads of "general" addons. This point goes triple for any class with DoTs, CCs, cleanse/decurses, or heals. (Come to think of it, I think that covers all classes)
  4. Know other classes - Knowing the strength, weaknesses, and abilities of other classes helps you to tailor your play style to best pair with your party members'. Understanding rogue stuns is great for warriors. Knowing about mage debuffs can help a warlock choose wether to throw a Shadow Bolt or Incinerate. Understanding that a mob blinded by a rogue WILL break on damage but a mob feared by a warlock might not is great info. As a warrior, understanding that the fastest heal a priest can throw is 1.5 seconds (HoT's not withstanding) may let you know when to Last Stand and when to wait for a heal.
  5. Understand the encounter - It is essential to understand the mechanics behind boss encounters. You need to know about debuffs, spells, abilities, stuns, agro wipes, placement, damage type, etc. Recon is very important on the new bosses. This will help you tailor your play style to fit the encounter (as mentioned this is essential). In Burning Crusade, if you go into a boss fight not knowing what the mechanics are, you will be a liability to your group. Ask questions FIRST. And if you don't understand something, ask. If you don't know what "knock back with agro wipe" means then ask. Experience will help with this some. I can say "drops fire like the ZG bat boss" or "random charge like Bloodlord" and many of you know what I mean and how you have to play to succeed. (It should also be mentioned that this applies to trash mobs as well, as many trash mobs in BC instances are quite challenging)
  6. Situational awareness - You MUST keep your head in the game. You need to know how many mobs are left alive and if they are CCed. You need to have a rough idea of the mana of the healer and the health of all party members. You need have a good idea of who has agro on which mobs. You need to know when an add spawns in or is summoned. You definately need to know your placement relative to additional mobs. (Hunters backing into other groups while trying to get range is a common problem.) Knowing what debuffs are on a mobs is also very helpful. If there is only 1 sunder on a mob, then you know how to attune your damage so as to not pull agro.
    Tab-selecting is VERY handy for situational awareness. It will give you a quick heads up of all mobs, their location, their type, what they are casting, what debuffs they have, and who they are agroed on. Tab-selecting is also essential for mobs that spawn in adds/totems. Hitting tab every 2 seconds will let you know quickly when something spawns.
  7. Know the math - This is argueably what seperates "good" players from "great" players. You need to know all the math and number behind your class. This spans from the simple things: How long does my Gouge last? ...to the much more complex: What is the damage coeffecient for Curse of Agony and is Amplify Curse applied after +dmg or only on the base damage? Knowing cast times, healing modifiers, how stats effect abilities, etc is ESSENTIAL. How can a rogue decide on gear upgrades if he doesn't know how much attack power one agility equals? How will a warrior know what enchant to go with if they don't understand the effect strength has on shield block and agility has on parry and dodge? WoW is all about the math and understanding it will open up a whole new level of play.
  8. Bonus Habit - There are more "wrong" specs than "right" specs - I'm not one to tell people how they must invest their talent points and I will certainly agree that there are tons of "good" specs. It's all about what fits your play style. But it's also true that there are plenty of "bad" specs. Let me give you a hint...if your 70 talent build is something like 20/21/20, there is a 95% chance that it's "bad". A good build must take into account the synergy between talents. A talent in one tree may offer a much greater boost when paired with a talent in another tree. A good build must also maximize potential. That is what often makes 20/21/20 a poor spec. It may be OK, but by spreading talents so thin, you are OK and a few things and good at nothing.
    You can discuss builds with experienced guildies, but critical thinking about your goals, how you like to play, and the types of things you will be doing with your character will go far in helping you pick a good spec. Study the talents trees carefully and think long and hard about how talents can work together to best meet your needs.
 
Quote:
As we move forward through Burning Crusade I think a lot of players are going to need to move into the "good" catagory to be accepted into instances.
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Nice tips John:)

Time. Using your time to invest into your knowledge of the toon you play, either thru researching class boards, looking up encounters, or playing your toon, is what greatly effects how well you will be at playing your toon. That is a big part of what makes a better player.

Time. It affects how much money you have to invest into your character, either thru buying armor/equipment/consumables/mats; to how much time you have to farm for mats or money to make consumables/trade goods.

It affects how many websites you can go to for research on your class. It affects how much experience you have gained playing your character. It affects how much you know about other classes abilities, cause you have played with them enough, or not enough, to know.

It affects how you respond to situations when they go south, cause you have experience with dealing with different situations.

It affects the ability you have to take in the whole 'situational awareness' during an encounter.

Time. The bane of casual folks that play online games. You get as much out of them as you constructively put into them, and the time you have to do so.

I know all of the things listed above will make me a better player. However, I will always remember that Tinie is not my life, nor is the warrior class. I play to have a good time, and research stuff, farm, and play when I can. Will I worry that I don't know enough or bring enough to the run that I will spend all my free time working on WoW? No.

Good players are not measured by their gear/amount of consumables they bring to a run/amount of time they spend farming/or their knowledge of stats or game mechanics for me. Sure those things are nice. However, time plays a big factor in that, not necessarily their skills. I measure good players by their willingness to try their best, be open to teaching, be friendly and respectful to others, and the progression of their character and knowledge base, over time. If there is some great wonderful priest out there that everyone brags on about how knowledgeable they are and how well they play their class, but in my group they act like a total tard towards another group member, use vulgarity, or do cheats/griefing in the game, I am not going to think that player is good at all, no matter what they know, what math they can spout, what leet strats they give, or how many consumables they bring to a run.

Am I prepared for my MC runs with the proper consumables? Yes. Cause I have time to do so. Have I learned a gob of stuff over the year and a half of playing Tinie? Yes. Cause I have time to research boards and hang out with knowledgeable warriors, and play Tinie.

This list is a good one, and it will help you greatly over time if you heed it. Use John's list as helpful guidelines for things to do to improve on when you have time, but don't think that you will not get invited to groups cause you don't meet all of those things listed, cause you will if you have a good attitude, a willingness to learn, and you play well with others.

I am sure John meant this to be a friendly list, and not a 'do this or don't get invited list' :)
 
Thanks for the list Deedlyt. It is a good list to follow. I agree that the instances have, in my mind, become more fun since you need to utilize skills instead of just nuking.

I would like to suggest that if someone wants to improve their usefulness to a group and they do not have a lot of time to research, learn how to play your character. What talents go well together, how talents can enhance your play style and how you fit into a group.

I was invited to participate in taking down the last boss in BF. The group make up was a warrior, a paladin, two hunters and me on my priest. Going from the second boss to the last boss the hunters never frost trapped. Why? I do not know, we had not mages or rogues for CC, just hunters. They both had non-tanking pets. Why go into an instance with no CC or OTs? The paladin barely healed or OT, he mainly did dps. That run would have been a lot simpler if they would have used their traps for CC. Moral of the story, know your class and use your abilities to their fullest.
 
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