Don’t underestimate yourself! Don’t let them push you around! (And gosh darn it people like me)

Late last night, my warrior tank guild mate and I needed to knock out a daily. We were looking for a nice easy run. Being that we are both pretty well geared out (5K GS) we could force (faceroll) our way thru any heroic that Bliz could throw at us. You thought queuing in LFD as a tank was fast, it’s even faster when it’s a tank and healer (only by nano seconds). We draw heroic CoS (Culling of Stratholme), ugh, this instance went from being one of the fastest to being one of the longest in the game. They need to give Arthas a jet pack or a hover board or something. At least give us some free booze to help pass the time, anyways, the group make up is my tank friend (warrior), a freshly minted hunter, a freshly minted mage, a mid ranged DK, and me (pally healer).

The hunter pipes right up and says “nice health” to the tank, “nice mana” to me and then “sorry I am so squishy”. I told him not to worry; he can target and kill whatever he wants as long as the tank has run in (I know, i am teaching bad habits). There was no way my tank buddy would run out of rage or have agro stolen in this group. I wanted him to know it was ok to practice and push himself to rock some DPS. We are waiting for Arthas to drag his ars over to us when the DK informs us that he cannot stay the group is too weak, and he has to go.

The DK's new pet in Cataclysm, the Graboid (wait what?)

Umm what? We could two man this, it would take about 5 days, but we could effectively do this alone, all the DK needed to do was come along for the ride. So we re-queue and get, another DK, this one was a little better in the gear department but at this point we all know gear means nothing.

Now I am sure you can all guess what happened next. The warrior tank was number two on the DPS chart, and the worst geared player on the run (GS 2800), the hunter, was pulling over 2K DPS. The mage and the DK were hovering around 1.2K DPS. For the frost mage (GS 3000), 1.2K DPS is not bad being his first toon and not fully understanding his rotation. That kind of DPS in heroics this time last year was top notch! The DK who had some T9 I could not excuse as easily; he obviously has had some time in heroics and has done nothing to learn about or improve his rotations.

After talking briefly with the hunter, he tells me how he has been getting kicked from groups for his low gear score and at times what is viewed as subpar DPS. I don’t care what anyone says 2K in a heroic is never “subpar”. His thoughts when he sees over geared 80’s is that he is going to get booted, or they are going to drop group, I am sure this is part of the reason for his ass kissing at the start of the run. I told him that he did great, 2K+ DPS in his gear was awesome, don’t underestimate yourself and don’t let them push you around.


You know what happens when you Assume?
When you are fresh to 80 people assume a lot about you. Speak up at the start like this hunter did, you don’t have to ass kiss like he did, but I am sure it helps. Tell them you are gearing up and that you know your rotations, and will push to help move the group. Most groups will appreciate the upfront honesty and you will move along with no issues. You should read up and learn a little about how to spec, gem, enchant, your gear and def have some knowledge on a good DPS rotation. You can find out all of these things for your class with a quick Google search. You can easily pull respectable DPS in entry level gear if you know how to play your toon.

On the same lines, if you DON’T know an instance, let the group know that as well. They can help you learn as you go. Yes you will run into that group or that guy that is an ass and will want you gone. It happens, just keep at it and continue being up front, players will be more open to giving you advice (good and bad) and forgiving mistakes when you state your intentions up front. Deservingly, the hunter won the bronze drake too! Not a bad reward for being up front and knowing your stuff!

Tip: New to level 80? Do about 30 min of research and spend a couple gold on some cheap gems/chants. Then speak up in your random and impress everyone with your skills!

Note: DK’s please, please, please, stop popping your army for boss fights, it’s really annoying.