Introduction

In this guide you can read how Fabulae Marrii raids. Raiding is a great thrill when performed well, and this guide will teach you the basics. It is vital that you read and understand this guide before you join your first raid.

In normal situations we are very friendly, chat and joke a lot. All this changes during a raid. To succeed we need to perform raids with military precision. Orders will be issued and expected to be carried out without questioning. There will often be little time to chat and joke. Performance and excellence are our keywords on raids. If you feel this is not your cup of tea, then no one will force you to join raids. This is our way to get the best from two worlds, the friendly family guild, and reaping the rewards that are otherwise exclusive to hard core raiding guilds.

Fabulae Raids are official guild events planned by our Raid Council. They will announce the raids on our Event Forum. On this forum you can read when and where the raid will take place.

When you have joined a raid you will get a DKP (Dragon Kill Point) reward. You can save these points and use them for bidding on rare and valuable loot found during the raid. Join many raids and you will end up with lots of points that will grant you that special item you always wanted.

Raid Roles

Raid Leader
The Raid Leader is responsible for reaching the goals of the Raid. He decides on tactics, delegates and issues orders to reach these goals. He is the general of the raid. On a raid you never question or argue about the Raid Leaders orders. Feedback will be welcome after the raid. During the raid itself we have to focus on performance, not discussions. The Raid Leader decides who will carry out the other roles of the raid.

Assistant Raid Leader
On some large raids we have an Assistant Raid Leader (ARL). He helps the RL with practical issues and communication. Typical tasks are organizing groups, informing about strategy and handling Loot (see Fabulae Marrii Loot Rules). The ARL will take over the raid if the RL crashes or LDs (Link Death, getting disconnected from the game).

Main Tank (MT)
The Main Tank's (MT) role is to keep the boss mob angry with him. This guy will keep the raid safe while others take out adds, healers and nukers which would otherwise take you down. The MT is appointed by the RL and is the strongest and toughest guy you can get! The healer's task is to ALWAYS keep the MT alive without pulling aggro. This is top priority.

The MT will use the following macros to steer the battle:
"* PULLING - Cast Short Duration Buffs please *"
- When you hear this you should cast short duration buffs. Be sure not to buff the MT when he pulls, as you'll end up getting aggro.

"** WAIT FOR ASSIST MESSAGE **"
- Just a reminder that you should not be fighting yet.

"*** assist <Player> ***"
- Press your /assist macro to assist the MA. Feel free to hurt the mob!

Main Assist (MA)
The Main Assist (MA) is the player all damage dealers of the Raid assist. He is the one choosing the next target to kill. While the MT tanks the Boss, he directs the damage of the Raid to adds that need to die first (healers, casters etc.). On some Raids the same person will take both roles (i.e. being both MT and MA).

The MA will announce WHICH mob he's fighting and WHEN you should assist him. This is important, as he needs some time to build aggro to keep the rest of the raid safe.

The MA will make the following macros, which he uses on the main raid channel:

"***ASSIST ME NOW ***"
When this message appears you should assist the MA again and fight the new mob instead. When the mob you are fighting goes down, you shall assist the MA again to acquire his new target.

You assist the Main Assist by using a macro like this:
/ASSIST <MAIN ASSIST> i.e /ASSIST Greldar
Place this macro on a hotkey. When the RL appoints the MA, you have to edit the macro so you assist the right person. Every time the MA shouts ** ASSIST ME** you press this button and fire away!

Off-Tanks (OT)
Off-Tanks (OT) are tanks who keep the multiple mobs that come with a pull busy. Every OT needs to be able to jump in as MT if the MT dies.

If the MT or MA dies, the next OT in the Tank Order (given by the RL) takes over and uses the corresponding MT/MA macros. The change of MT or MA will be announced on the Raid Channel.

Group Leaders
The Group Leaders (GL) will invite their groups and lead them. They will report the status of their groups and help with communication and questions. GLs will announce if any member goes LD or lags behind.

Damage Dealers
DPS (Damage per Second) classes are classes that kill targets while the tanks keep the mobs busy. They will only assist the MA and kill his target.

Healers
The healer's task is to keep the tanks alive. The MT is the most important tank to heal. Healers may be assigned to a certain tank on the raid. When the MT dies, all his healers will move to the OT who takes the role as MT.

Healers will shout if they get attacked (make a macro):
/say ***ON YOUR HEALER***
/g ***ON YOUR HEALER***

That should get the attention of enough tanks in your vicinity.

Communication

Communication is key. Those who need information shall get it as quickly as possible and as accurately as possible. On the other hand there is a strong need to reduce spam, so that you only see info you actually need. We will use different channels during a raid, and we encourage everyone to keep spam/chatting to a minimum when information is given and during fights. (Yes, this goes for High Council as well. And yes, the RL can give a raid ban to HC if they don’t behave.)

Raid Channel
This channel is used by the "officials" to make announcements that all members need to read. NO ONE but RL, ARL, MT and MA shall chat in this channel. RL gives his orders in this channel, ARL gives information, MT announces pulls, MA calls for assist here. We use the in-game raid channel /r as our Raid Channel.

FM Raid Channel
This is the place to laugh and cheer! Here members can give vital information they need to share. Here we celebrate our victories. When information is given and during fights we don’t chat here. Keep the channel clean, so that we can see vital information. When we wait for spawns or travel in safe surroundings you can chat in this channel.

Give the command
/join fmraids
to join our raid chat channel. This will assign a number to the new channel (i.e. 4). To chat in this channel you type
/4 <message>

During a raid you should not send tells to the RL or ARL. If you need to know something, try to ask in your group. The GL should help repeat vital information. If you have a sugestion for the RL, post it once in /fmraids.

Mobilization

Getting the raid to where the fighting happens is key to a timely completion of the set tasks. The raid will be announced a few days before the start and it will list the mobilization point plus any prerequisites. It is important that you are at the right place when the raid starts. You should also have repaired your armour and brought with you enough high quality food/drinks.

Bringing your character close to the mobilization point is one way to help reduce the time people need to spend while waiting for others. Therefore we will award on-time DKP for all people who are at the mobilization point at the proposed meeting time. If you are constantly late for raids or don’t prepare properly, you will get a raid ban.

Raid Briefing

After the raid has been mobilized, the RL will do the raid briefing. The raid briefing will include the following:
- Raid target/goal
- Short overview of path and dangers
- Short overview of final (boss) mob(s) and tactics to defeat them
- Group setup, appointment of group leaders and who should join which group
- Appointment of Main Tank, Main Assist, Off Tanks and information about Tank Order
- Appointment of ARL/Loot Officer

Looting

All loot will be collected by a loot officer and you can bid for it at the end of the raid. There will be no bidding or requesting loot during the raid. The RL announces who should disarm chests, and who should do the looting. You should never loot on a raid. If the lotto window appears you should always decline.

Bidding for loot
At the end of the raid, all valuable drops will be available for bidding. The items will be listed, and you can place your bid in PRIVATE TELLS to the auctioneer. If you make a bid in public it will be invalid and you won't be able to bid for that item anymore. You can't win more than one item on a raid.

Heroic Opportunities

Heroic Opportunities (HOs) are very important when raiding high level mobs. Each group in the raid will run their own HOs. RL or GL will announce what HOs to aim for, who should initiate and how to advance them. Read up on HOs and join practice sessions. They are key to success against the most challenging encounters. The ones we need are the 4 class HOs.

Dos and Don'ts

Don'ts
Never argue about decisions made by the Raid Leader in any channel. If you have a good idea you may present it, once, in /fmraids or group chat. If you don’t get a reply, you have to live with that. Feedback is welcome on forums after the raid.

Don't whine about loot. We have loot rules to ensure a fair distribution of loot. You know the rules when you join, so don’t complain afterwards. You win some and you lose some. The DKP system ensures everyone gets a chance, and it will reward persistent raiders. So keep at it and you will get your dream loot.

Don't sign up if you can't join. A lot of effort goes in planning a raid. Much depends on who will show up. If you can't join a raid, please cancel well ahead of time.

Dos
Wait for the ASSIST message!

Prepare for the raid – Repair your armour and buy quality food/drinks. You have to give it all you have. You won't become popular if you leave everyone waiting while you pop back home to repair your broken armor in the middle of a raid.

Be on time – You don’t want to be known as the guy that lets 20 people wait while you get to the mobilization point. That is plain rude. If you know you're squeezed for time before the raid, move your character to the mobilization point the night before.

Announce AFKs. If you have to leave the keyboard during a raid: announce this to your group and in the /fmraids-channel. Don't forget to autofollow a non-melee character in your group.

Wait for the ASSIST message!

HAVE FUN!