Game Guide: DPS -The Numbers, The Fire, and You: Part 2

Written by Lightbeard of Winterhoof with written permission to be posted here.

Part 2

2: Know what is expected of you.
At the most basic, the role of the DPS is to kill the target as fast as possible. It sounds simple, and indeed it is. There is, however, a catch. The target that needs to be killed is not always the one that you are attacking, and in some cases it's better, or even necessary, to shut the target down through silences or CC, rather than trying to kill it outright. The abilities that each class brings to the table are different, and as such different classes can be expected to perform different tasks. As a rule, though, there are a few specific abilities that each DPS class will have at least one of.

2a: Special Abilities
Interrupt: Interrupt a spell cast. Typically will also prevent any spell of the interrupted type from being cast for a specified amount of time. Counterspell, Mind Freeze, Kick, Pummel, Shield Bash, Wind Shear, and Hammer of Justice can interrupt spell casting (and possibly a few more, that I don't remember off the top of my head). Interrupts are the number one thing that DPSers don't do that tanks wish they would. Yes, most tanks do have an interrupt of their own. However, the tank should be busy with other things, and in the case of paladins, their interrupt is on a very long CD. If you have an interrupt ability on the typical 6 - 10 second CD and your tank is interrupting more spells than you are, there's probably an issue to be addressed. If you do have an interrupt it is a good idea to enable target cast bars in your interface. Cast bars with a shield icon cannot be interrupted.

Disarm: Removes the target's weapon. Rogues have the added advantage of removing the target's shield or offhand itew/weapon as well. Warriors in Defensive stance and Rogues can, and should, disarm mobs, especially if they have a weapon-based attack, such as Gormok's impale.

Crowd Control: The importance of Crowd Control has been gretly diminished in WotLK, but it is still there and can be useful at times. Freezes, sleeps, Saps, Disorients, and Polymorphs are an excellent way to quickly disable a stubborn mob while focusing on something else.

Slow: In many cases you don't need to eliminate a mob so much as prevent it from getting from one place to another. Slowing effects, as well as Dazes, are useful in giving you, the DPS, enough time to kill a mob before to gets somewhere it shouldn't be allowed to go.

2b: Debuffs
This section can be summed up simply. If you have an ability that will decrease the effectiveness of a mob or increase the effectiveness of your party, use it.

2c: Keep yourself alive!
You might want to ask, "Isn't that what healers are for?" And while the obvious answer is yes, there is no reason to make the healer do more than necessary. Some damage is unavoidable, and this is the damage that the healers are responsible for healing through. A lot of the damage that DPSers take, however, is completely avoidable. Certain healers will even adopt a policy of not healing toons that are taking excessive amounts of avoidable damage. The fact is that unless they are doing something that they considerably out-gear, they don't have the extra resources to spend on healing somebody that shouldn't be taking damage.

MOVE OUT OF THE GROUND EFFECTS! Don't wait until you get that next cast off, don't bother with thinking you still have 2 seconds remianing on your trinket proc, get out of the ground effect or die. Whether it's fire, slime, red circles, blue circles, or some psycholdelic 70's acid trip, get your butt out of it. And note, Strafe or run forward. Do not back out. you move considerably slower when backing up.

Watch your Debuffs. Some debuff effects will apply damage to everyone nearby you. Others will damage you if you perform certain actions. It is your responsibility to know what the debuff on you does. The types of debuffs applied are generally specific to each encounter, so they can be researched in advance. If you happen to have the ability to remove the debuff yourself, please do so (unless otherwise told, such as with Grob's injection). There is nothing more ludicrous than a mage asking to be decursed.

Attack From Behind: For some fights it's obviously impossible to get behind the target, and especially for dragons, it's downright dangerous to actually attack from behind. In most cases, however, if you can get behind the target, do so. As mentioned earlier, attacking from the back has DPS advantages. It also has significant survival advantages. Many mobs, and especially bosses, have frontal cone attacks or cleaves, or both. The tank should be doing their best to ensure these mobs remain facing away from the rest of the party, and the DPS should be sure they are not in the forward danger zone of these attacks. For dragons, melee DPS should try to stay near the rear legs and wings. Protodrakes are a bit different in that they typically have wing buffet attacks in place of a tail sweep, so attack them from directly behind.


That's it for the moment. I'll post Part III tomorrow.
-Lightbeard, Winterhoof US, Alliance