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On Raiding in Rift

Ard Tiarna de na Iomproidh Dearg
Hosfi
Ard Tiarna de na Iomproidh Dearg
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Posted On: 06/14/2012 at 12:02 AM
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I told Fog I'd write this up a good two and a half to three weeks ago. Between my computer deciding it was tasty and my general airheadedness (read: lazy and had other priorities), it's taken me a while. Besides, there were a few things I wanted to double-check, even if I couldn't find all of them.

Getting Ready to Raid

Runing your gear- providing essentially free stat boosts, once they're on- is a good way to increase your abilities. Be familiar with how your class's stats work; +10 int doesn't do the same thing for a mage as it does for a cleric, and it doesn't do anything at all for a rogue or a warrior. Similarly, strength, while useful for a rouge, is much more useful for a warrior, but does nothing for a mage, and unless they're tanking, doesn't do anything for a cleric. Even then, wisdom would be better for a cleric tank... but I digress. There are a number of raid consumables out there; they fall into weapon enchants, food, and vials. Whetstones (for 1h melee weapons), oilstones (2h melee weapons), poisonous coating (bows and guns), powerstones (spellcaster's main hand weapon, melee or not), and armor plating (tanks) are all weapon enchants; they last a set amount of time, usually four hours, and then expire. Food lasts for thirty minutes; it can be created by the Survival skill or bought from the Farclan or Atia on Ember Isle. Vials are made by apothecaries, and last for an hour. There are two "slots" for vials, Fortification Serum and Assault Serum, although most raiders will use vials that take up both. Heroic Powersurge (physical) and Heroic Brightsurge Vials (spellcasters) are standard for DPS, support, and healers. Tanks may use their DPS vial, a Heroic Enduring Vial, or a Mighty Fortification Vial, depending on their particular needs. When necessary, there are also vials that boost an elemental resistance; the Vial of Water Resistance is effectively mandatory for certain gear levels in Hammerknell.

Raid Makeup

A 10-man raid will typically have 1 tank, 1 support- usually a bard- 2 healers, and 6 DPS. A 20-man raid will usually have both a main tank and an off-tank, a bard, an archon, 4-5 healers, and 11-12 DPS. It is never necessary to have more than one archon or one bard in a raid- they don't stack. At all. Bards and archons don't even stack well with each other; bards and archons, please talk to each other, and sort out who's doing what. The bard ability Coda of Jeopardy is generally considered superior to both the current incarnation of Spotter's Order (Warlord) and Illuminate (archon), due to duration; the archon single-target debuffs Ashen Defense and Crumbling Resistance are usually considered superior- again, due to duration. Bards will typically use CoJ and their healing coda on single-target pulls; on multiple target pulls, they get out all three. Similarly, the bard armor and resist auras don't stack with the archon ones, so please talk to your archon. If they're using the Nyx's Archon Synergy Crystal, the extra spellpower is a substantial boost. Like bards and archons, chloromancers using the same type of veil don't stack. Clerics using Mien of Honor, Reparation, and Righteous Mandate do, however- except for themselves, and a given target can't have more than one Righteous Mandate active. Knowing what your raid's made up of when it comes to abilities is huge for a raid leader.

Hit, Focus, and Toughness

These three stats are all gateway stats; unless you are a cleric healer that isn't using an -icar spec, you're going to require at least one of these. DPS, support, and heals- again, except for the pure cleric healers- all require either Hit or Focus, depending on their calling. Warriors and rogues use Hit; Clerics and Mages use Focus. For an expert dungeon, you need at least 100 hit or focus, which can be easily reached via crafting. For T1 raids, 200, preferably 220, due to bosses, hit or focus is required. For T2 raids, you need at least 300, preferably 320, and maybe as much as 360, depending on the content. For T3 content, you need at least 400, preferably 420. While you can rune or use essences for hit and focus, unless you're only using a single rune, I wouldn't bother- and I tend to forget that the hit/focus essences exist. Toughness, on the other hand, is required only by tanks- if you're not going into a raid expecting to be smacked in the face constantly, you don't need it. Expert dungeons may be tanked starting at 100 toughness; T1 raids start at 150, T2 raids at 200, and T3 and 250. Due to the way toughness works, more is almost always better. While you can rune and use essences for toughness, like hit and focus, I tend not to bother with that, either; if I don't have the required toughness on my gear without the runes and lesser essence, I don't tank it. There are those that disagree with me- again, more toughness is better- but I, personally, prefer more mitigations. Pure cleric healers- warden, sentinel, and purifier- have no minimum stat requirements. Instead, there's a player-enforced minimum of spellpower, driven by the raid's mechanics- I usually look for 1000-1200 on a T1 raid. If your other healers are over-geared, that number might go down; if they're not, or if the tank or raid tends to take a lot of damage, it tends to go up. When someone uses the phrase "must be geared," they mean that you surpass the minimum requirements for an instance.

Voice and Raiding

A large majority of instanced raids use voice chat programs to communicate and coordinate; it's faster than typing, and usually doesn't get in the way of your rotation or responding to mechanics. Ventrilo ("Vent") and Mumble are popular programs, although there are others out there. At Gaiscioch, we have and use our Vent server for raids, and in some cases, for expert dungeons. While it's not always necessary to talk in Vent, it is almost always mandatory that you be able to hear; again, mechanics calls are typically made over voice, and if you don't respond to them, they'll frequently kill you. A dead raider isn't helping the raid, and depending on what they're doing, may end up wiping it.

Raiding Etiquete

This list is a combination of one I found online and what I've noticed ticks people off. It's not all-encompassing by any means. Do sign up for raids. It's not an automatic in, especially when so many are pre-built, but we'll look at the sign-up list before we start asking in guild chat. Do read strategies and watch videos. It's not the raid leader's job to teach you all of the raid mechanics. Some will, some won't. Don't expect it, especially if you go outside the Family. Do bring your consumables and know what they do. It's not the raid leader's job to supply you with them- it's yours. Do plan ahead when it comes to what you're doing- don't start a forty-minute instance twenty minutes before invites start going out. Do show up on time, whatever that time happens to be. The listed time is the raid start time- when we're pulling trash. It's not when invites start going out. Those usually start a quarter to half an hour early. Do use tells and raid chat to discuss ideas about how to do things, including responding to certain mechanincs. Personally, I prefer that people use raid chat rather than swamping me with whispers about ideas about how to do things. Some raid leaders prefer the whispers. Do ask questions if you're not sure about something or don't understand what's going on. We'll usually try to explain... unless you're not listening and we just did, in which case we're more likely to rip your head off. Do pay attention. If we say "single target cleanses only, and we'll call for them," that means not casting Empowering Light or Cleansing Flames. Take it out of your macro, if you have to, or write a new one specifically for that boss- I've got a few for bosses in GSB that I use. "Not standing in front of mobs" and "not standing in poo" also falls in this category. There are very few instances where standing in a puddle of colored light is a good thing, and I can think of exactly one that's red. Don't knock things away from the tank unless specifically asked to do so. Don't roll "need" on things that you can't use or aren't an upgrade. A raid leader will usually spell out their loot policy beforehand; don't be surprised if it's one loot per person per go, because that seems to be what's standard for raids on farm. Don't talk over the raid leader. They're usually giving instructions. Don't babble in chat, especially if you get pugged into a raid. Very few people are going to care about how your day went or that you have an itch. Don't randomly go AFK. If we've been going for more than an hour or an hour and a half, ask for a bio break- don't just randomly take it. The raid leader will give you a time to be back- the one I use tends to be five minutes. Be back by then. While I don't kick people who repeatedly show up late on returns, I'm less and less likely to invite them back every time they do it. If something RL happens, say something- "I'll be right back, someone's ringing the doorbell" doesn't take long to type out. Neither does "My kids need to be put to bed." Don't call out people when they mess up- it's the raid leader's job, not yours. Don't complain if someone else gets the piece of loot you wanted, unless they had no business rolling on it. It's loot; it'll come up again... eventually.

Raid Rifts

Raid rifts are run in open world, and are relatively quick compared to the instanced raids. The hit, focus, and toughness requirements are all the same as an equivalent instance. They're a good way to gear yourself up; the gear that drops is all very good, compared to even the stuff in expert dungeons, and the essences are a good, quick way to upgrade your sigil. In some cases, you have to do raid rifts to build certain sigils- usually resists. The raid rifts on the mainland (Shimmersand, Stillmoor, and Iron Pine Peaks) are all T1 equivalent; the raid rifts on Ember Isle are T2 equivalent.

T1 Raiding

To be considered "T1 raid ready," you need a minimum of 200- preferably 220- hit or focus, and if you're tanking, you also need a minimum of 150 toughness. This can be runed, although it's better if you don't have to- and with the current crafted sets, you don't really need to. You can easily get seventy-five hit or focus just off of your jewelry, and your weapons and armor should also provide some. If you don't have the crafted set, experts are an excellent way to learn the general mechanics for raids. The T1 raids are Gilded Prophecy (GP), Drowned Halls (DH), Greenscale's Blight (GSB), and River of Souls (RoS). GP and DH are 10-man instances. GSB and RoS are 20-man. DH and GSB are generally considered easier, as far as mechanics go; GP is more demanding when it comes to responding to mechanics, compared to DH, and the same is true for RoS. When possible, study the fights beforehand. Many raid leaders understand when people need explanations and are willing to give them, but at the same time, many expect people to come in knowing what to expect. At this time, none of the T1 raid content requires special sigils, although any improvement to your sigil will tend to improve your performance so long as it contributes to your attack power (physical DPS and bards), spell power (magical DPS, archon, and healers), or mitigations and endurance (tanks). While the majority of GSB may be done with a single tank, Prince Hylas and Lord Greenscale require two tanks.

T2 Raiding

To be considered "T2 raid ready," you need a minimum of 300 hit or focus- preferably 320, and possibly as high as 360, depending on the fight. Tanks need at least 200 toughness. T2 raiders are expected to be able to respond to mechanics when necessary, have all of their consumables or at least a reason why you don't need them, and have their gear runed for whatever it is that they're doing. Most T2 raids are run as part of a steady group, and those that are picked up are usually expected to know what they're getting into. Hammerknell, the T2 20-man raid, has eleven bosses, each with their own mechanics, spread out over two floors. On the lower floor, no special sigil is required; on the upper floor and for everything after, a water resist sigil becomes mandatory. For the two bosses on the upper floor, Inquisitor Garau and Inwar Darktide, you want at least 100 water resist before raid buffs, and for the Lord Jornaru and Akylios fight, you want as much as possible. On the Akylios and Jornaru fight in particular you're going to require at least 360 hit or focus. The T2 10-man, Rise of the Phoenix, is sometimes considered post-Hammerknell due to DPS checks. While it does not require a special sigil, fire resist does help a lot. Tanks are going to have to stack toughness over the game-suggested 200 due to the last boss's stacking debuff- it hurts. A lot.

T3 Raiding

The only T3 raid right now is Infernal Dawn (ID). As mentioned previously, it requires a minimum of 400, preferably 420, hit or focus and 250 toughness for tanks. In addition, it requires a fire sigil for the fire wing, and quite likely an earth sigil for that wing. I'm not sure about that one, and haven't found anyone to ask.



» Edited on: 2012-06-19 17:39:06

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Seaimpin de na Capall Buí
HypocritaAstraiel
Seaimpin de na Capall Buí
Replied On: 06/14/2012 at 12:35 AM PDT

Thanks Hosfi! This was very nicely written and extremely informative. :)

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Ard Tiarna de na Iomproidh Bán
Vaygrent
Ard Tiarna de na Iomproidh Bán
Replied On: 06/14/2012 at 03:55 AM PDT

/nod of approval I especially agree with this: Don't babble in chat, especially if you get pugged into a raid. Very few people are going to care about how your day went or that you have an itch. Nothing more annoying in vent than listening to 15 ppl try to talk over eachother about stupid stuff.

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Banlaoch de na Griobhta Dearg
Briseadh
Banlaoch de na Griobhta Dearg
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Replied On: 06/14/2012 at 06:13 AM PDT
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Very well done. Only question I have is, how does spell power requirements for a pure healing Cleric go up from the 1200 that is good for T1 to be on par for T2 and T3. I know I'm good for Expert Dungeons and the T1 10-man raids. I just need to do more with my clerics on either faction to get better acquainted with them.

Don't mess with Mama Bear, I might hug you too tight. =D
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Ard Tiarna de na Iomproidh Dearg
Hosfi
Ard Tiarna de na Iomproidh Dearg
  • GW2: ringlhach.6018
Replied On: 06/14/2012 at 03:58 PM PDT
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I'm really not sure what you'd want for spellpower on a cleric for a T2r healer- I usually look at a sustained 1700+ HPS over five to ten minutes. Most trash pulls are pretty quick, but bosses tend to take a while, anything from seven minutes to half an hour, depending on the fight. Some fights are that heal intensive; not many, but it's also going to depend on how well your raid stays out of poo and follows mechanics. The less they follow the mechanics, the harder healing is. The vast majority of T2r boss fights as you go into it are "two-flare fights;" it's a bit of archon-speak that means you have enough time to pop Flare of Power at the beginning, for the debuff to fall off five minutes later, and then pop it again when the boss hits 15%. Verse of Joy (bard ability, raid-wide, 2min cd) helps, and so does the archon spell Mental Flare (single-target, 2min cd), but if you can't sustain your heals because of lack of mana, you fall in the same category as a dead raider.

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Banlaoch de na Griobhta Dearg
Briseadh
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Replied On: 06/15/2012 at 06:15 AM PDT
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From what you say here, probably a bit more umph would be needed for the higher end stuff, though without buffs I got both my clerics to just over 1200, so I'm not doing too bad considering. Still have room for gear upgrade, of course. Need to figure out where to get useful synergy crystals and work on better sigils as they are the weakest link in my setup.

» Edited on: 2012-06-15 06:15:45

Don't mess with Mama Bear, I might hug you too tight. =D
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Curadh de na Ulchabhan Donn
Signal
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Replied On: 06/15/2012 at 11:02 AM PDT
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Great post, especially for those of us just getting back in to Rift after some time away. Thanks!

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Seaimpin de na Faolchu Oráiste
Ziphayl
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Replied On: 06/15/2012 at 01:24 PM PDT

Excellent post, Hosfi. In terms of spellpower requirements for clerics, I think 1200 is fairly good for T1s. T2s you'll want to see if you can get that a bit higher (starting around 1300, should be hitting 2100 once fully geared), and for T3 (Infernal Dawn), you are looking at a minimum of 2100+ spellpower self-buffed, for either DPS or healing. Raid buffed you should be hitting at least 2400 (assuming you're running a healing build with some passive +spellpower). Bosses past Warboss Drak are no joke. Even a cleric with 2400+ spellpower as a 51 Puri may have trouble keeping a fully geared tank alive on Ituziel or Maklamos. If you're doing tank healing, I wouldn't worry too much about HPS. Your HPS will often be low due to staying focused on a single target, especially if you run heavy purifier with all the shielding (which may not get counted). Your best benchmark there is how well you can keep up the tank, regardless of HPS. I feel HPS is more relevant if you're doing AoE healing, but even then, it's situational. A good AoE chloro can usually beat out senticars on HPS in any fight with consistent raid damage, but a good senticar DoLing, even though less overall HPS, can save the raid during times of extra heavy burst damage. If you run any sort of dps -icar build (shamusticar or inquisicar), you'll want to make sure that you work towards getting crit-capped too (approx 1043 unbuffed - do NOT pass the crit cap, though). Spellpower is still your bread and butter, but unless you're running mostly purifier, I don't feel it's worth giving up a healthy amount of crit for a piddling amount of spellpower. A large amount of crit can more than make up for a little spellpower, especially if you have Walk in the Light/Fanatic's Faith/Overwhelming in most of your specs.

» Edited on: 2012-06-15 13:51:32

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Caomhnoir de na Fhiaigh Gorm
Aardvarkk
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Replied On: 06/16/2012 at 11:18 AM PDT
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Very thorough. I thought the part about raid etiquette was especially useful. Nice write-up, Hos.

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Caomhnoir de na Fhiaigh Corcra
DufRaven
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Replied On: 06/18/2012 at 04:39 AM PDT

Thanks for Posting this Hosfi. All of it is true though I will add a few things just general things that people leading would more then likely agree with as well as some of the raiders. >>Know your Class/Role. >>Be Flexable with your Roles. Being a 1 trick pony (Only having 1 viable role) isnt exactly the best route. Being able to fill in as another role you dont normally play can help you and the raid/group as a whole. Ask people who do it they can offer helpful advice or suggestions on builds/macros and websites for info. Suggestions for Alternate Roles for more flexability >Mage - Archon, Chloromancer, Dps build various >Clerics - Heal Build, -Icar Build, Dps, Tank Build (if you got the gear) >Rogue - Ranged Build (One with Interrupts helps), Meleeish Build (usually not needed), Bard Build (51 Bard for raids), Tank Build (if you got the gear) >Warrior - Tank Build, Aoe Melee Dps Build, Single Target Dps Build, Ranged Build (if needed) >>Phantom AFK's I've seen this alot lately. When a Raid leader calls for a break and people come back and a ready check is done and we are waiting on 1 person please don't disappear after clicking ready unless you say something in raid chat so we are not waiting on you then another person disappears etc. This is a big time waster which basically can cause a raid to not have enough time to finish the content. >>Ask Questions but when a raid leader or raid assistant is trying to coordinate please keep vent clear. >>Vent. We use it pretty much alot for Raids. Explaining raid mechanics and calling out instructions for Raid Mechanics that need to be followed is faster then typing them. Not being in vent after instructions were given and wiping the raid is no fun for anyone. Please be in vent even if you can just listen. If you are unable to listen for whatever reason please inform the raid leader and we will make arrangements for you. >> Lastly It is the job of the Raid leader and the Raid Assists to work towards a successful raid/run and to try to get people gear and to have fun. Please do not feel as though we are harping on anyone as these are things that most raiders should know or come to know as they gain experience. Hope this helps some.

» Edited on: 2012-06-19 08:01:32

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