Basic Rules for a DPS Class

There are general rules that every DPS class must follow in order for a group to function properly. Now, not everyone adheres to all of these rules all of the time, but generally it’s a good idea to follow them to the best of your ability. If you don’t, you could easily be responsible for any number of frustrations throughout a raid. This list is not only for the benefit of the readers, but also a reminder to myself after a long bout of boredom and idleness within the game.

1. Take care of yourself.  You shouldn’t ever be relying on heals as a ranged DPS class, and rarely as a melee. It’s your job to identify and move out of any AoE attacks, and unless the fight has a specific unavoidable damage (like Gluth, for example), you should be doing what you can to mend yourself, not only to conserve healers’ mana, but to allow them to focus on the more important things, like keeping the tanks alive. Sometimes you do need a heal, and that’s why there are healers assigned to “raid heal”, but there are clear limits between NEED and WANT. If you ever find yourself blaming a healer for your death when you wanted a heal, go shoot yourself in the foot, and realize the difference between NEED and WANT.

2. Wait.  Too often in the past few weeks, we’ve had issues with the DPS going balls to the wall right away in every encounter. This, quite frankly, is stupid. You can’t wait three seconds to start DPSing? Are you really that concerned with your accumulated damage that you would risk pulling aggro? At least wait for a sunder or two. Let Consecrate tic. Just wait. If everyone waits as they should be doing, your damage won’t be affected negatively. We’re all guilty of this at one point or another, and sometimes we can giggle and have fun with it, but eventually it becomes frustrating to our tanks and our healers – there’s a reason DPS classes aren’t meant to tank. We go down fast, and for a healer to keep up with you while you’re being pounded is mana-intensive and wasteful. Just…slow…it…down…and…wait…a…second.

3. Use your non-DPS abilities to assist the raid.  Hunters have Misdirect and Tranq, druids have Innervate, several classes can Decurse, Rogues have Kick, etc. and so on, the list continues. Tear your fingers away from your DPS buttons for a minute and take the two or three global cooldowns required to help the rest of your raid group. Good players do good DPS. Excellent players do good DPS and add utility to a raid group. Be an excellent player and spread your focus outward. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again : It’s not just the meters that make the DPS. I won’t say that your damage means jack shit in comparison to utility, but it’s not the end-all be-all of your role in this game. Look up from your cast bar for a few seconds and take a look around at your buddies. Help them out. They would help you out. Right?

4. Understand your role.  You are DPS, and you have utility, too, as stated above. However, unless you have alts and are familiar with tanking or healing, you don’t really comprehend how stressful and thankless the other tasks can be. ESPECIALLY when the people you’re protecting aren’t working with you. As a raid group, you all work together with your specific qualities to create a logical, efficient force against a common enemy. Ask yourself this: Am I working with the healers and tanks, or am I pushing against them? Know your role and how you can be a useful member instead of a destructive one. And as a general rule, let the tanks and healers boss you around – DPS shouldn’t be spouting nonsense in Vent unless they’ve been asked to call something out.

When you follow these four rules, you become a useful member of your raid, one who gets invited back and is requested as core time and again. Following these rules has gotten me far since my first raiding days, and it’s something we all must continue to do for our own good as well as our buddies’. Let’s get back into the swing of things and focus on what’s important.

❤ Nass

~ by Kelly Jennelle on March 4, 2009.