The last few weeks we have had no luck what so ever raiding. It doesn't help that we are still missing a healer and always have to drag along 2 undergeared healers instead of having one quality healer. This of course translates into one less DPS.
Most of the time we are stuck with only one ranged class. Not me of course, I am one of the undergeared healers. Been running on my priest being we have a geared shaman and my shaman, while geared, brings nothing to the table whereas my priest, even if undergeared brings buffs and skills that have proven to be of good use. At item level 330 I've outhealed the 3rd healer (usually a pug) every time, some fights I was even number one as Disc which is sad in its own.
I've noticed how far we go is directly connected to how many ranged classes we have. The more ranged in the group the better the run goes. The damage melee take has been insane and that is the reason we have no choice but to go with three healers. If we could get all ranged then we could go with two healers no problem.
I've yet to play a melee character in this expansion in a raid but I am starting to wonder if it is my melee in my guild that is doing something wrong or is melee really that bad to be. I know, from other experiences, that as ranged you see more of the screen and as such you react faster. Melee can sometimes be harder to notice what is going on around you.
We are still trying to recruit another full time healer but I think I am going to put the press on recruiting more ranged as well. We have enough warriors, DKs, enhancement shaman, feral kitties and rogues that I need to try and keep happy and keep rotating into raids but the last thing I need is more of the role, melee, that seem to be the one stumbling block in our progression.
Is it intended to be this way or has how the game is played changed so much for melee, as it did for every other role really. I've seen melee lead the DPS charts before and never take much damage. Now it seems those formally good players are dying within seconds of the pull nearly every pull and if they do not die I spend more time healing them then healing the tank and it makes me OOM fast. This is even if I tell them the old mantra of count to five to stay alive.
I've had zero issues healing tanks in a 10 man. Even as a priest in 330 gear I can keep 2 tanks up in a 10 man raid with little issue on some fights but when melee start taking massive damage every step of the way and the raid healers can not keep up and I need to throw some spot heals to save them it results in a wipe each and every time.
Would it just be easier to stop taking melee into raids at all until the healers are better geared or do I need to get on my melee more about taking avoidable damage. From not having played a melee yet at raid level this expansion I do not know if it is really avoidable.
I am at a loss. I can not see us advancing much further with a melee heavy group but I can't exactly go and tell people that are dedicated raiders, good raiders, prepared raiders, that they can't raid just because of what class they are. What happened to bring the player and not the class. Right now, I don't care how good you are, I do not want any more melee in my groups. I am tried of wiping because they are demanding to much of the healers attention.
Bring the class, not the player. - Mantra of Cataclysm.
Welcome back to BC, apparently you where not prepared.
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I made the switch from Ranged to Melee DPS at the start of Cataclysm, and it's been interesting. So far I haven't found any raid fight to be particularly punishing to melee classes. In fact, I think many have been much easier for melee. Magmaw & Double Dragons are both much easier for melee, since ranged are dodging bad stuff.
ReplyDeleteOmnis, Chimaeron are about the same.
Maloriak isn't a big deal for melee, except if you're on interrupt duty and run something bad out and miss an interrupt, which sucks. I suppose Halfus can be bad for melee, since there sometimes ends up being a huge cluster of fireballs in melee, making things annoying.
My observations, anyway! In the Double Dragons fight especially I'm extremely glad to be ranged.
Maybe my melee members need to step up their game then. When I am healing I can not keep them alive, they are taking way to much damage.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the input from the melee standpoint. As I mentioned, I have not raided as melee this tier yet so I have no first hand knowledge.
Keep in mind that I'm talking about AVOIDABLE damage. There might be fights where I'm taking heavy damage simply by being in melee, and I don't even know it, since there's nothing I can do about it. In which case I'm at my healers' mercy!
ReplyDeleteI know in Maloriak there's some melee debuffs where I pulse with cold dmg, and I really have no idea how much damage it does since I can't do anything about it. I run it out, but I really don't pay attention to the red numbers. (I save AMS for phase 3 where the healers are busy freaking out).