Instance Guide(Help)

Instance Portals:
An instance portal is the sparkling field that marks the entrance to an instance.

The color of the portal indicates the type of instance:

* Blue Instance Portal: Group (5 or less, Blackrock Spire is an exception)
* Green Instance Portal: Raid (10 or more, on a raid reset timer)
* Red Instance Portal: PvP Battlezone (battleground). These portals are no longer functional with the addition of battlemasters at the entrances.
* White Instance Portal: Transit. In the world pre-The Burning Crusade, the only such portals are at the ends of the Deeprun Tram and for the officer's lounges in Stormwind City and Orgrimmar for players of rank 6 and up. Patch 2.0, in addition to removing the rank requirements for those portals, adds at least one more: the portal used to enter the Ghostlands from the Eastern Plaguelands (requires expansion).

* Purple Instance Portal: All instances in Outland and Caverns of Time are this color. Indicates that the instance has a Heroic mode available.
* Skull w/Purple Instance Portal: Notifies the player that the instance is on Heroic mode. Only available to Outland dungeons as of the release of the Burning Crusade.

Good instance groups all exhibit the same characteristics, regardless of the actual composition of the group. Those characteristics are:

* Teamwork
* Patience
* Focus
* Knowledge of roles
* Adaptability & Flexibility

Good group coordination is all about aggro management. The main tank (MT) holds all the aggro, the healer needs to only heal the MT, and the rest of the group concentrates on killing the mobs, guided by the main assist. This is the core of the Holy Trinity.

In this Guide, we'll try and explain how to compose, manage and execute your group in order to reach the ultimate goal of reaching the end of the Instance your group has so chosen.


The Pull

This is Stage One of the battle. There should be one designated puller. Attempt to pull one mob at a time without aggroing the entire group, and pull mobs from weakest to strongest. The most common mistakes novice players make when pulling are:

* Failing to designate an official puller.
* Multiple players pulling more than one mob.
* Pulling from the middle of a group.
* Pulling before sap, as sap must happen before combat begins.

When there are large groups of mobs that cannot be pulled individually, the pull becomes more complex. This is when crowd control skills become very important. The designated puller should know the capabilities of each party member and when to use them. The most well-known crowd control is the Mage's Polymorph (more commonly known as 'Sheeping someone'), but there are several others, some of which must be used before aggroing the mobs. See crowd control for more information.

The party should know which crowd control abilities are going to be used before the pull. The party leader should use Raid Target Icons (also known as "Lucky Charms") to easily designate these in a clear and understandable way.

For maximum safety, the party should wait some distance away from the mobs, and the puller should run to the group after gaining aggro, so if the pull is bad, only the puller dies and the party is safe.

Parties containing Hunters can make use of a pulling tactic called the Perfect Zone of Ultimate Safety which, if done correctly, allows for 100% protection from bad pulls for the entire party (occasionally excluding the hunter himself).


Aggro building

After the pull, it is imperative that the group does not immediately start blasting away with all available means. Give your tank enough time to build solid aggro on the mobs. A common method is to wait until you see 3 to 4 Sunders on the mob first, if the Main Tank happens to be a Warrior. Each Sunder Armor gives the tank extra aggro so you can do more melee damage (a little later), without drawing aggro. Don't shoot, don't backstab, and try not to heal - the only permitted action for non-tanks in this stage is crowd control. Feel free to sheep, sap, shackle to your heart's content (but try to follow a plan).

Priests with Holy Nova can use this early in the pull. It heals those in AoE, and damages all enemies while causing NO aggro. But pay attention to sheeps, saps and such things.

Priests may also like to use Prayer of Mending on the Main Tank. This Healing Spell causes no aggro to the original caster, because the mechanics of the spell cause whoever has the Prayer of Mending buff to heal themselves, thus the Main Tank actually builds aggro as a result.

Warlocks and Hunters, turn off auto-torment/auto-growl on your Pet or Voidwalker, since this draws mobs away from the tank and prevents him or her from being able to build aggro.
The Battle

Battles in an instance should be precise and controlled. Novice players often behave the same way in an instance that they would when soloing. They separate and attempt to fight individual skirmishes. This defeats the entire point of grouping, and virtually guarantees a wipe. Instances are designed to be almost impossible for a single player, so your group must try to act as a single entity.


The most common mistakes novice players make during battle are:

* Scattering, thus drawing adds.
* Failing to assist the main assist.
* Failing to keep aggro off the Healer (or Nuker).
* Pulling entire groups of mobs.
* Failing to act as a team.
* Breaking crowd control (Sheep, Hunter traps, Sap or Shackle)
* Looting during battle. This is highly unwise because it diverts attention away from the battle as the group members examine the loot popup.
* Fearing, fearing will cause mobs to run away randomly into other mobs causing more agro. This almost always ends up in a wipe.

Post Battle

This wouldn't seem to be much of an issue, but nothing distinguishes the novice from the professional more quickly than how you behave after a fight. First of all, you simply must have a team leader, and that team leader must keep the group together post-battle. Too often the Tank, having been kept at full health the entire battle by the Healer, will simply run on to the next group of monsters, totally disregarding the fact that the Healer now needs to regain Mana, or activate Quest items, etc. Many instances are very complex, and it's easy to lose a group member if you run off without making sure everyone is ready. And once a group splits up in an instance, a wipe is the next inevitable step. The most common mistakes novice players make post-battle are:

* Abandoning Casters who are regenerating mana.
* Wandering from the group, becoming lost or aggroing mobs.
* Failing to wait for members who need to accomplish quest tasks.
* Failing to wait for rezzes before looting.


Remember: It's as much the Leaders job to check everyone is ready, as it is your own. You can help by making sure you communicate in plenty of time if you are ready or not; equally the Main Tank should check to see if the group is ready for the next encounter.


Now let's examine some important aspects of Group Dynamics.
Know Your Role
Partying Help

Tactics
Partying | Instancing
Roles
Leader | Main assist
Puller | Tank
Supporting
Crowd Controllers | Healer
Nuker | Scout
Related
Meeting Stone | Hybrid classes
Wipe

The problem with most MMORPG players is that they want to be unique. While this is fine if you solo or duo, it's a liability in high-level groups and/or instances. In groups, it's best to remember the words of Tyler Durden (Fight Club): "You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake." A lot of players get huffy and say "I'm going to play my character my own way." That's fine, but it has no bearing on the purpose of this guide. This guide exists to improve your group experience, not to stroke your ego. If you refuse to play your designated role within a group, you are a liability to those around you.

Ask most good group players what they hate worst in other group members, and 99% of the time they'll say, "Tanks who think they're Rogues and Priests who think they're Mages." The truth is, DPS is the easiest role. You don't have to keep aggro off anybody or keep them alive. Within the group dynamic, each member has a certain expectation of what the other group members will be doing. When that member goes against these expectations, chaos ensues, and a wipe is virtually guaranteed.

With that in mind, let's examine the role each member plays within a group in detail:

* The Leader (aka "The Strategist")
* The Puller
* The Crowd Controller (aka "The Sapper" or "The Sheeper")
* The Healer
* The Tank (aka "The Main Tank")
* The Off-Tank
* The Main Assist (aka "The Target Chooser")
* The Scout (aka "The Reconnaissance")
* Damage Dealers (aka "The Artillery")


When It All Goes Wrong
Poor Group Dynamics

Most of this Guide is obviously geared towards Pick Up Groups or Guilds that haven't yet established Raiding Parties. If you're in a Group that already works, you probably don't need this Guide. But what if you're in a group that doesn't work, and there doesn't seem to be a way to fix it?

When you find yourself in a group like this, your best course of action is to simply find another group before even starting the instance. If that's not an option, ask the Group Leader to handle it, or ask to take the Lead in order to secure the group. If you are the Group Leader, then you'll need to make sure every know their Role; but be careful not to tell them how to play their Class, as this is not a Leaders role.

The most important part of a successful group is positive attitude. Give players a chance. Comment them on mistakes, and of course, if you realize they still don't understand warn them then kick them. Give players slightly lower level a chance to run the instance, this might not be your first Character, but it might be their first, and as such might not be totally clear on their Class Role. Also be positive and don't yell at players after a wipe; rather, talk to them on how the group may improve.
Dying with Dignity

You're gonna die. You've only got a little health left. There's a monster beating on you or a spell flying at you and in a few more hits it'll be all over. What can you do?

DO NOT RUN! You can't escape, the Mobs will follow you all the way to the Instance entrance. You can't dodge their attacks. Running just makes it harder for people to help you. It makes it harder for the tank to get the mob off of you and save you. You might aggro more mobs making the rest of the party's time even more miserable. Running does nothing to help you. However, bearing this in mind, if you have Reincarnation or a Soulstone, it is appropriate to die a way back from the mobs so that you can resurrect yourself without aggroing them.

Do let the rest of the party know you're dying. The healer and tank may not have noticed. A simple yell of "HELP" will do. The tank has ways to pull all mobs onto him or a Healer usually has a way to be able to stop you from taking a limited amount of Damage.

Do try to die in an easy to find place clear of mobs to make Resurrecting you easier.

Don't release on death. This allows you to share in any reward after the battle. It also leaves your name above your head and a dot on the mini map so the healer can find you to Resurrect. It is often hard to locate a dead party member in a pile of corpses or in lava if he has released.

Do remember to pop a Healing Potion. If you run out of healing potions see if another party member will give you one for such an emergency.
Surviving a Wipe

So a horde of mobs is racing towards you and certain doom is at hand. You're all gonna die. What now? It is possible to recover from this sort of situation and avoid a wipe, if certain key members of the party act quickly, decisively and without remorse. The whole idea is to keep someone alive who can Resurrect.

First, the leader has to decide that a wipe is inevitable and announce this to the rest of the party so they can take appropriate actions without doubt or hesitation.

Then most important is the actions of the Healer; or any one that can Resurrect. If the Healer does not aggro any mobs they will not attack him after the rest of the party has died. This means s/he can escape death and resurrect the rest of the party. So in a wipe situation the best action for the healer to take is none. Just back away from the fight and let everyone die. Then resurrect them. This may seem cruel but if a wipe is inevitable it is the fastest way to get the party going again.

Druids can try to cast Rebirth on a party member who can rez, if this happens, the reborn party member should wait until after the battle, then resurrect and rez the rest of the party. Also, casting Rebirth on the main tank might effectively prevent a wipe. If a wipe does occur, the druid might be able to sneak back in, past mobs, and cast Rebirth on a party member who can then rez the rest of the party.

Any rogues can use vanish to escape the fight and save themselves. If they happen to be Engineers they can use Jumper Cables to have a chance of resurrecting the healer. Otherwise they should return to the instance entrance to clear the way for the rest of the party's return. This also applies to Hunters and Feign Death

Any Shamans in the party can use their Reincarnation ability to resurrect himself and start resurrecting the entire party. When the leader announces the inevitability of a wipe, or when the situation is indicative of a wipe, the Shaman should find a safe spot to die. This simply entails running off and finding a space clear of mobs. When everybody's dead, all the mobs have run off and everything has calmed down, the Shaman can reincarnate and start resurrecting. A very important aspect of this, is that the Shaman should never, ever, reincarnate in combat, as he will reincarnate with minimal mana and health and waste his ability for at least 40 minutes.

On a similar note, Warlocks can Soulstone a Healer; this is most likely to be a Paladin, assuming he isn't attempting to Main Tank. Priests tend to be a little too fragile, and in tougher battles will frequently draw aggro, even when in a moderately skilled group. An exception to this might be in certain very difficult battles: when the healer has run out of mana, he can intentionally cause his own death, and then use the Soulstone to regain a moderately large amount of mana.

Paladins can place another Resurrecter out of combat and safe with their Divine Intervention spell. The Paladin sacrifices himself with the spell (and a reagent) to ensure one person's safety. That person will not be able to move or do anything for three minutes or until they cancel the buff. Thereafter (if out of range from mobs) they can then proceed to resurrect the group.

Another method is allow the Resurrecter to run to the instance entrance, as long as people act in a decicive manner and hold as much agro, or slow mobs down for a few minutes the Resurrecter will reach the entrance. When a large enough gap is between the mobs and the Resurrecter, the rest of the group can fall back if at all possible. This will usualy result in death for any other member of the party and one of the harder methods to perorm. If all the agro is on a rogue, paladin or hunter. All agro can be lost by that class when a large enough gap has been given to the party.
Summing It All Up

In summary, it's not difficult to have a good Grouping experience. However, it's even easier to have a disastrous one. Remember that teamwork is the key, with each person filling their role to contribute to the success of the whole. The entire group must focus on each task as a team, or the entire group fails.


Per Class Tips

In addition to the above general, and role-specific advice, each individual class has a different role to perform in the hectic rough and tumble of the Instanced Dungeons, and knowing how your class fits into the team, and what the other classes are capable of, can make a great deal of difference.

* Druid
* Hunter
* Mage
* Paladin
* Priest
* Rogue
* Shaman
* Warlock
* Warrior

Additional Tips

* Be especially careful using fear in any Instance, as more often than not, your fear as a last ditch effort may draw more mobs and turn a close call into a hopeless battle. As a general rule of thumb, simply don't use fear in an instance. Cases in which fear would be an acceptable thing to do are only when:

* 1: You are the healer and are about to die in a situation where the group can obviously not survive without you.

* 2: You are saving the healer when he is about to die and the group can obviously not survive without him.

* 3: You are fighting a boss which can quickly drop a character and you have already taken out all nearby mobs. This is the only time in which the tactic of fearbouncing could be recommended in a party.

* DON'T RUN! Running away is usually useless anyway. Mobs will often chase you all the way to the instance entrance so running doesn't help. Also your back side is a MUCH nicer target than your front, do you want to die facing your foe, or running like a scared little girl? Who knows you may just kill the mob before it kills you, or weaken it enough that someone else can kill it, preventing a wipe, and maybe the healer can rez you.

* If you let mobs hit you from behind, you will, more often than not, become dazed, which slows you to a shuffle anyway, further adding to the futility of flight.

* Attacks cannot be dodged, blocked or parried if you are struck from behind. If ever you find yourself needing to run away from a mob, use a strategy of strafing, (default 'Q' and 'E' keys) ensuring that the monster you are fleeing from has a direct line of sight to the front of your character, rather than turning around. Running backwards slows your movement speed and will likely get you killed.

* In general, kill healers first, casters second, anything else third. Healers can prolong the fight. Casters can do tremendous amounts of damage, but are usually relatively easy to kill.

* The puller might run ahead to draw in a mob. Don't run up with him; stay back with the rest of the party. The puller will draw the mob to you, away from any adds. When in doubt, stay behind the tank. You should be in the following order, from front position to most safe position: puller, tank, off-tank, and then everybody else.

* When in doubt, attack the tank's target (or the Main Assist's target, if you have one). This is best accomplished by using the Assist Main Tank/Main Assist macro/mod.

* Particularly in the high level instances, there is more to watch out for than simply being nuked or beat on by the mobs. Make sure you aren't making life harder in battle by standing in range of an AoE attack when you're a long ranged attacker, or standing in places that may get you attacked by patrols or other nearby mobs. On the same note, watch out for mobs that can fling you away, into the air. They'll run at you and you'll go flying--make sure this doesn't send you toward another group of mobs or maybe worse, off the edge of a cliff. When possible, fight these mobs with your back to a wall.

* Curiosity Bad! Don't touch any usable 'cog-icon' objects until the entire group is rested and ready. Several instances have usable bits and pieces - doors, levers, buttons, etc, and many of these will spawn new enemies. Only do so when everyone is ready and alert.

* Watch Your Back! One common feature of the Instance is triggered 'Patrols' being spawned behind the party when it reaches certain key points. Just because you've killed everything you've seen on the way in, doesn't always mean there's nothing behind you. Have someone keep an eye out behind.



* Listen to your party. In the end this is a group effort and, as such, decisions have to be taken to benefit all. Also, do not be afraid to ask. Being marked as a newbie is better than causing a wipe because you were too afraid to ask if you could activate something and did it anyway. Although it's often forgotten, everyone was a newbie once.

* Not Out Yet. Similarly, just because you've made it to the end of the map and killed the big monster with the exotic name, it doesn't necessarily mean you're done yet. Further scripted events on the way out should not be ruled out, and if the expedition has taken longer than two hours, (wipes, etc), respawning becomes a possibility. Stay together and on high alert until the party is out to the Meeting Stone and breathing fresh air again.