- Warrior/Tank: This is typically thought of as the meat-shield class that takes little talent to play. As Joe once quite humorously put it, "hold the blunt end, and stick the pointy end into the thing you don't like." To be an effective tank in WoW though, requires excellent decision making skills and the ability to look out for others. The tank holds the agro of all attacking mobs so that other players can focus on their tasks without the dangerous interruptions caused by being attacked. The tank is constantly turning his camera to observe the status of other party members. At the very first sign that a mob has broken agro from the tank and targeted another player, the tank switches focus to that mob and does whatever actions are necessary to get it re-focused on himself. Once the tank has the mob's attention again, he goes back to fighting his original target. Other players should not become confused by this target switching. Stay focused on the mob you are working on! Far and above any other ability, this is the skill that earns a tank the respect of his fellow players. In the event more than one mob breaks agro, the primary healer has strict priority on being rescued, followed by players with the least AC/HP up to players with more AC/HP. i.e. Following the healer, a Mage who can only wear cloth and has very little health has rescue priority over a Rogue. It is this rescue priority that give the tank and healer a special relationship.
It is important for a player who has agro'd a mob to say something like "on me" to the party, even if the tank is very good at spotting it on his own. Communication is key. Additionally, it probably won't be obvious to the tank as he observes his party members when a player is being attacked by a ranged mob, so "caster on me" or "ranged on me" is more appropriate in this circumstance. For these reasons, it's also critical that the tank be able to read his chat box while fighting.
In addition to managing party agro, the tank also sets the pace of the battle. You are the one we look to to progress us through the instance at a pace that is sustainable. If we are moving too fast, either people start dying or the healer runs out of mana before the fight is over. You are also likely to be the one who makes decisions about what and how many to pull next. Since you will hold the agro of the mobs, wherever you decide to make your stand is where the fight will carry on until the end.
Finally, in the breaks between battles, take a look at all your party member's stats. Does your healer or caster need to sit and drink? They will likely announce this on their own, but if you back them up by telling others to wait while they drink, your casters will appreciate the consideration you have shown them. Do not leave your casters sitting around while you run ahead, it only makes them feel unneeded by the group. And never forget rule numero uno, "if you start a fight while the healer is drinking, no healing for j00!" - Primary Healer: As mentioned above, the primary healer has a special relationship with the tank in that she is the one most carefuly watched by the tank. For all practical purposes, everyone in the group should assume that there will be no healing for anyone while the healer has agro. This is because attacks slow casting so dramatically that the only successful heals are made to keep herself alive. This is a total waste of mana, and only quickens the death of the entire party. At the same time, the primary healer needs to be careful to heal in a manner that is most efficient and generates the least hate. During heavy fighting, there will be times when you need to use larger heals that increase your hate significantly. At these times click to cast, then quickly send a "big heal" message to the party. In this way the tank will be on the alert for agro to break. Sometimes many small heals can be used in rapid succession to raise a player's health at a lower hate cost. Too rapid though, and you will still build hate very quickly. I have found that a 1 second pause between casts, although very short, can do wonders for keeping my hate low. For a full how-to on playing primary healer, please see the article How To: Be a Primary Healer in an earlier posting.
If you are incapacitated for any reason, alert the party immediately and send a "HELP HEAL" (yes, in all caps) message to the secondary healer.
- Secondary Healer: The secondary healer's job is to fill in when the primary healer becomes overwhelmed. This could mean she has run out of mana, been killed, or acted upon in some other way which renders her unplayable (sheeped, spell bombed, silenced, stunned, etc.) When fighting mobs that do AoE anti-casting effects, it's very important that the primary and secondary healers stay well apart. That way both will never be incapacitated at the same time.
The secondary healer, like the tank, needs to watch his party's stats at all times. At the slightest indication that a player is going to die, he should cast to heal. Do not wait for an invitation. It's much better to waste a spell doubling up with the primary healer than to have a dead player on your hands. Not only should a low health meter alert you, but also a player who's health is dropping unusually fast. Also be conscious of your primary healer's mana reserve. Low mana on the healer automatically means it's time to help heal. Especially watch the primary healer's health. It may be that she is mid-cast healing another player and cannot switch to heal herself, or that she is incapacitated in some way. - DPS: I have no personal experience playing a high-dps class, so can only speak very generally about it. Your job is to make sure the fights end before other classes run out of resources. Tanks can tank and healers can heal until they both run flat out of health and mana, and without you that's exactly what would happen. Primarily you are the Rogues and the Mages, but situationally can also be Warlocks. The most I can say to you is, deal as much damage as you can without making it difficult for the tank to manage agro. Stay focused on the same target as everyone else, and stay tuned for the article Scott is writing on playing a Rogue.
I hope the above fairly clearly defines roles for you. But the last thing I want to have happen is for everyone to get the idea they can never step outside of these roles. For example, if you are a Shaman playing secondary healer, and you notice the primary healer gets agro, without questioning anyone turn to pull the mob off. If the tank notices also, you can pull up short and let him grab it. If not, temporarily hold the mob's agro until he comes to take it off of you.
If I am playing Big Tat as a primary healer, in some very unique situations I may jump in and swing at a last mob to help bring it down a little faster. Usually this is an emergency effort to end a fight fast and get out of the way of a nasty patrol.
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