Getting back to Fundamentals

Back when Svenn was younger he used to play a variety of sports. Invariably, as each season ended and he transitioned to the next sport, the coach would always have the same things to say, "We need to get back to the fundamentals. We need to regain our base and work from there." FIST's raid a few nights ago did not go well. Coming back off the Summer downtime and breaking out of our 5man Heroics mode was rough and we were all very rusty. It was very clear, we need to get back to the fundamentals.

What does that mean though? What do raid fundamentals look like? Svenn will attempt to outline them below in somewhat general terms (Paladin Centric in terms of abilities, but applies to all tanks conceptually).

1. Situational Awareness- Above aggro generation, mitigation stats, total health, or anything else, Situational Awareness is key! There is a lot going on during a fight but it is incumbent on the tank to be cognisant of all of it:

• Big Damage Spike coming up- pop a cooldown (Divine Protection, trinket, etc.)
• Healer low on mana- get a pot/healthstone/ Lay on Hands ready
• Someone is about to go down- Hand of Protection
• Raid is taking damage- Divine Sacrifice
• Someone is about to grab aggro- Hand of Salvation
• Someone grabbed aggro- taunt
• Someone else grabbed aggro- taunt again
• First someone grabbed aggro again- Hammer of Justice (stun) mob
• First someone grabbed aggro AGAIN!?!- emote /cry over his body after the battle is done

2. Communication- Coordinate with the other tank/tanks to rotate through cooldowns and taunts. Coordinate with DPS to leverage their aggro dumps, misdirects, etc. Coordinate with the healers so you don't die!

3. Position- Be in the right place at the right time. Face mobs away from the raid, don't stand in the fire, don't get out of range of your heals, blah, blah, blah. Pretty basic, but you would be surprised how, in the heat of the moment, a fundamental like positioning gets overlooked.

The fundamentals are pretty much the same across the board, as far as healers and DPS go; Situational Awareness, Communication, and Positioning. And for Pete's sake "Stay out of the Fire!"