The First Rule of WoW Raid Composition
Have between four and six people from every class.
Weekly, some knucklehead in the forums decides that they, Raid Leader A, have figured out the only way to beat Boss X is to take fewer (or none) of Class Y to the encounter.
This runs into a serious problem right out of the gate. Namely that, since other guilds have beaten Boss X with a respectable representation of Class Y, the weak point in the chain is most likely Raid Leader A.
This recurrence aside, it's important to understand the reasons why we insist on this numerical constraint.
Reason One : Gear.
If you only take two of Class Y, you'll soon find yourself throwing gear meant for Class Y away. Even if you rotate people in and out, it doesn't do the raid much good to have good gear sitting out.
At the opposite extreme, if you bring eight of Class Y, you'll find them getting geared very slowly considered to other classes. This means, among other things, that you'll either have to deal with bad gear on Class Y forever, or you'll have to continue running instances to gear Class Y long after all other classes are finished.
Reason Two : Inter-class Competition.
Taking at least four, and no more than six of every class should reduce infighting among classes with similar roles. No class is treated too well and no class is treated too poorly.
Reason Three : Blizzard.
From the posts made by the Community Managers, it is pretty clear that Blizzard doesn't see conflict between classes the way players do. Blizzard feels different classes are complimentary, while the players often feel contentious towards other classes.
As with any other game, it's important to understand the view of the developer and take that into consideration while playing. I think Blizzard assumes you have four to six people from every class, and instances become significantly harder when you don't.
For example, I play a warlock. In Molten Core warlocks are dynamite on Garr and Majordomo. Any guild that said "We don't need 4 warlocks in the raid" made those encounters much more difficult for themselves.
Trust Blizzard, and run instances with a well-balanced raid group.
Weekly, some knucklehead in the forums decides that they, Raid Leader A, have figured out the only way to beat Boss X is to take fewer (or none) of Class Y to the encounter.
This runs into a serious problem right out of the gate. Namely that, since other guilds have beaten Boss X with a respectable representation of Class Y, the weak point in the chain is most likely Raid Leader A.
This recurrence aside, it's important to understand the reasons why we insist on this numerical constraint.
Reason One : Gear.
If you only take two of Class Y, you'll soon find yourself throwing gear meant for Class Y away. Even if you rotate people in and out, it doesn't do the raid much good to have good gear sitting out.
At the opposite extreme, if you bring eight of Class Y, you'll find them getting geared very slowly considered to other classes. This means, among other things, that you'll either have to deal with bad gear on Class Y forever, or you'll have to continue running instances to gear Class Y long after all other classes are finished.
Reason Two : Inter-class Competition.
Taking at least four, and no more than six of every class should reduce infighting among classes with similar roles. No class is treated too well and no class is treated too poorly.
Reason Three : Blizzard.
From the posts made by the Community Managers, it is pretty clear that Blizzard doesn't see conflict between classes the way players do. Blizzard feels different classes are complimentary, while the players often feel contentious towards other classes.
As with any other game, it's important to understand the view of the developer and take that into consideration while playing. I think Blizzard assumes you have four to six people from every class, and instances become significantly harder when you don't.
For example, I play a warlock. In Molten Core warlocks are dynamite on Garr and Majordomo. Any guild that said "We don't need 4 warlocks in the raid" made those encounters much more difficult for themselves.
Trust Blizzard, and run instances with a well-balanced raid group.
posted by gnomicide at 12:05 PM
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