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This article is a draft. Comments and updates are welcome. In case you ever wondered why we have a DPS order, some things to consider. The examples below assume a 5 person raid vs 5 elite mobs in an instance if I make references to a battle, but it applies for most fights in which an order is established. 1. Tanks take less damage per hit then others, so it takes less mana to keep healing them, and damage spikes (crits), aren't as likely to drop the crunchy-coated shield-toters. 2. Healers only need to watch one person. Clutch!
3. It is easy to a Tank to keep one DPS target on them even with everyone else piling on the damage. Sure, some classes are inclined to take aggro away (shadow priests, fire mages, rogues), but often, even if it is stolen for a hit or two, a Tank can get one mob back on him very quickly and easily. As said in my Tank thread, getting back two or three mobs is much harder, if impossible. 4. It is very easy for a Tank to keep other non-current DPS targets on him. I like to Tab-Sunder through the group every once in a while to keep my aggro on them high, but generally, this is not necessary. My shield spikes (and crystal spires/thorns if I am so enchanted), keep mobs on me if no one else is damaging them (it's the only threat being generated). I also hit Demoralizing shout every so often, and have a chain lightning effect on my hammer. Once all creatures are on me, I should be just about the only aggroer on the whole group. 5. Everyone focusing on one creature means it drops faster, which then reduces the amount of damage being inflicted as a whole, once more, saving healer's mana. When DPS order is obeyed, Tanks are the focus of all attacks, even the attacks of the main DPS, not only making it easier and more mana-efficient for healers, but also, for Warrior Tanks, generates more rage for our abilities and gives us more chances to hit Revenge - two things that give us a better chance to keep aggro! It's a wonderful cycle. I realize this is often "no duh" info, but just in case anyone every thought "What's the point of everyone dogging Skull? I can take one of these on my own!" that is why. Lots of people can take one elite on their own, but it is better for the group as a whole to follow the order.
The Math
It should also be noted that all-out DPS on a single target results in that mob dying faster. Now, I know the DoTters are out there saying "but my DoTs need time to do their thing!", but stick with me here. When a mob goes down, it's DPS is removed from the fight. Again an obvious statement on my part. Let's examine a fight against two mobs who deal out 500 DPS apiece (to the tanks) and have 10000 HP. Let's say our whole raid deals 1000 DPS. - Case 1: Half the raid attacks each target.
Here, we take down the two mobs simultaneously after 20 seconds. Meanwhile those mobs have dealt 20*500*2 = 20000 damage to the tanks. - Case 2: The whole raid DPSes one target, then the next
The first mob will die after 10 seconds, and the second mob will die at the 20 second mark. What's this? We didn't decrease the time? Nope, same amount of time, but now look how much damage they did to us: Mob one was only in the fight for 10 seconds - so he's 10*500 = 5000 damage. Mob two was in the fight for all 20 seconds - so 20*500 = 10000 damage. The total is 10000+5000 = 15000 damage to the tanks - look, we just cut their overall DPS by 25%! This is further magnified when there's more then 2 mobs on the screen at once. This is an announcement- whoo hoo! |
