Raid Starting:

1. Show up ahead of time. That means at least 10 to 15 minutes ahead of scheduled time if possible.

2. Take roleplay and anon OFF. Put LFG ON.

3. Make hotkeys to assist main tank and backup tank.

4. Send tells to people your class and ask questions and work out who is doing what.

5. Healers and Chanters: Make target hotkeys for everyone on the raid. (that will keep you busy!)

6. Puller and main assist: Make sure you have hotkeys for what you are pulling and what you are attacking. Make the Hotkey phrase such that it is easy for others to see in the spam of battle. Examples:

>>>>>---- Assist me on %t now! ----<<<<<,
}}}}}}}}}}} Target Switch to %t! {{{{{{{{{{{.

7. Casters make hotkeys to annouce successful spells like snare, DOTs, mez, slow, heals, malaise, tash, etc.

8. This is the time to ask questions. If the questions applies to all ask in OOC. If the question applies to your class ask a member of your class in a tell.

9. Make sure you have any special equipment you need for the raid; resist gear, charisma gear, gate potion (incase you go LD and cant get back into the game), invis potion for emergencies, peridots, shrink potions if you are a big race, etc.

10. Change your options to reduce lag. Under chatchannels turn off auction, damage sheilds, bard songs, PC spells, etc. Under display turn off PC names, Detail, NPC names, and any other non escential thing. Also reduce your clip plane. Under sound turn realism, music, and sound off. Play around a bit and find what works for you. There is also a command to turn this stuff off at the server, "/serverfilter on".

During the Raid:

0. One person doing the wrong thing can kill the entire raid party. Listen, watch, and try not to do stupid things or you will be of zero use to the others.

1. Dont spam the communication channels.

2. Raid Leader is GOD. Dont question orders first before obeying them. Obey and then send a tell to someone your class and ask why. The raid leader doesnt have the time to explain every little order he or she gives.

3. Go down fighting. Dont run away! Dont Evac! When the call is made for clerics to camp, do everything in your power to assist the clerics to camp.

4. Ask for buffs with direct tells, hotkey them if necessary, that way you dont spam communication channels. Dont expect replies from buffers, they are very busy.

5. ASSIST ASSIST ASSIST. Set "/assist off" that way you just select the target. When you are sure you have the right target, auto attack.

6. DONT BREAK MEZZ. Only the main tank is suppose to break mezz. Chanters are china dolls, they break easy! Wait until the main tank calls for assist before attacking the mob.

7. Talk less, Listen more.

8. Don't expect experience or money. Expect a small chance to roll on some good loot.

9. Dont tell the puller or leader what to pull. They know their jobs.

10. Be prepared for a possible long CR, dont gripe about it.

11. Repeat in group talk, the commands the raid leader does in ooc, shout, or guildchat. That way your group is certain to know what is going on.

12. Report LDs and AFKs, so when people come back they dont find themselves all alone.

13. In general it is best for healers and chanters to report their mana after the current MOBS are killed. That way the pulling team knows status quickly and doesnt have to beg for mana checks.

14. Look at your messages in ooc, shout and guildchat with a critical eye. Are you helping the success of the raid? Are you making it fun for others? Are you being a pain in the butt? If your messages are not helping the raid or making the experience funner, maybe you should be quiet.

15. Dont go wandering around without the permission of the raid leader. Many wipeouts occur because some rogue or monk was "just taking a look around."

16. Try to set it up so you dont have to afk very much. When you do AFK, say so in OOC, groupchat, and do a "/afk" command.

17. If you get summoned, feared, or teleported away from the group, DONT run back. First get a loc, then look around for aggro. If you aggroed just die and give the raid leader your loc. If you not aggroed and you have a Mage in your group ask for a CoH. If no mage in group, invis and slowly walk back to the raid party. If aggroed; stop, get loc and die.

Target Hotkeys: This is so important a feature that it deserves to be explained here. Target hotkeys are set up in the social area in the bottom right of your normal screen. There are ten banks of 12 hotkeys so plenty of room, unless you are like me and have them all full. To make a hotkey to target a specific person right click on a blank hotkey. A window will appear. Left click in the top window and type the name of the person the hotkey is for. The title bar only takes 6 letters but you will know who it is. Example: "Tekkan". Now left click on the top line of the body and type the command and hit the return key. Example: "/target Tekkang". Now right click on the hotkey window and it should close and you should have a new hotkey with the title you gave it, in your social hotkey bank. Chanters, healers, buffers, necros and others should set up alot of target hotkeys to aid them in their jobs.

One can also select mobs using the target command. Often chanters use this "trick" to select mobs out of a crowd. "/tar a wraith" well target the closest mob with "a wraith" at the beginning of its name.

Looting: The leader of each group should check any mob his group kills and report it in ooc, guildchat, or shout (whichever channel was designated). When reporting dont report any coins (they are not loot in raids). Ruby Crowns and various other item that are just sold to merchants for cash should be reported as CASH, looted and handed to Loot Master. Items that are NO DROP should be reported with as much detail as possible, including; class, stats, name, and epic use if the loot checker knows it. Items that are dropable should be looted and then be reported with as much detail as possible. It is very important that you listen to the loot calls, so you dont miss out on items. I suggest that one repeats the special loots in groupchat just incase your groupmates missed it.

Clerics Camping: Cleric pay attention to how many mobs are in a pull and be ready to camp if too many are pulled. You can start camping if it looks bad even if the call to camp hasnt been given yet. If the call isnt given just stop the camping process and heal if needed and start the camping process again. If the call to camp happens, you can then just complete the camping. If the call happens when you are not in the camping process, dont cast one last heal: CAMP! Dont get any aggro if you can help it. Clerics all understand how to heal and buff by the time they get to planes level, so there is no need to discribe it.

AGGRO Management: The main tank is suppose to maintain aggro of the mob. If you are not the main tank, DONT TAUNT the mob. Casters be very careful when and how often you cast spells. Let the tanks get the mob down to 80% health or lower before DDs. Tashing and slowing cause the most aggro so chanters and shamans be careful. Healers use Celestial heals or lesser heals until the mob is down in health (there are exceptions to this). If you get the mob attacking you, try not to aggro it more.

Pets Role: Pets are normally DANGEROUS. I recommend only mage and necro pets be used as other classes pets are really too weak to justify the risk they pose. Pet CONTROLL must be your first thought. DONT sit on pulls, because adds might cast spells at you and your pet will take off and wack that mob the chanter has been mezzing. About half the deaths I have had when pets are on a raid is due to the pets.

Leaders Role: This job is way to big to detail here, it should be its own post. I will just say a few reminders. Communication, organization, and deligation are the keys. Set up hotkeys ahead of time, for raid instructions. Be careful when you move to new camping spots, make sure you have all your people (LDs and AKFs are back). Tell group leaders to repeat your raid instructions for moving, drops, rolls, switching main assist, and so on in groupchat, so no one misses these important things. If you had a good pulling group from last raid, use that group again. If possible have another set up groups and make changes as necessary (deligate). Put someone else in charge of Loot, but give them full instructions. Dont be afraid to make mistakes. Make good use of your skilled players, ask them questions if you think they might know more about something then you do. Asking questions is not a sign of weakness, it is a powerful tool. In the end YOU must make the decisions. Scold people when you need too.

Necros Role: Necros tend to be the most skilled players in the game, but raids present them with a situation they are normally not used to. First I recommond you have target hotkeys for the chanters and clerics. When things look bad check the health of the chanters and clerics and give them a necro heal if they need it. But most importantly, watch the chat for low mana calls of clerics and chanters. You should be prepared to keep 60m just for mana pumping when things are bad. If you have more mana than that blast and DOT away. Also befriend a druid and make sure you have chloroplast at all times, so you got plenty of health to convert to mana, or give to others.

Druid Role: I often hear that druids are useless or unimportant on raids. I TOTALLY DISAGREE! Druids are pivotal! They have great DDs, good heals, and a few High aggro spells. This means that they have the means to change the outcome of bad situations. How the druids manage their mana, can make or break a raid. When the situation is grim does the druid; heal the chanter, blast the mob to finnish it off, aggro the mob off the cleric, kite an add, park extra mobs off to he side, or does he just sit there thinking he is useless? While the clerics are watching the health of the main tank, and the shamans are medding from buffing, it is the druids job to watch the health of everyone else. I suggest that the druids bank of target hotkeys have the main tank, followed by the chanters, then the clerics. During combat the druid should watch the main tanks health, the mobs health, and the health of one chanter. If the chanters health drops at all (dont wait), heal him. If the main tank is in serious trouble, heal him. If chanter and main tank are ok, DD the mob!

Shamens Role: Shamans normally are incharge of slowing the mobs. They also buff and act as backup healers. If there isnt enough chanter mana, often shamans also speed the tanks. Shamans should also be prepared with root, to park mobs if the chanters get killed. When the zone allows it shamans should shrink the "Bamils of this world."

Pullers Role: Most of the time the pullers know more about this then me, but for newbie pullers these hints might help. Make a hotkey tell to the leader; "We ready for a pull?" and use it. On raids instead of pulling the mobs to the group, instead you pull the mob to a "tag point." The puller then FDs and a second person "tags" the mob and brings it too the group to kill. When pulling mobs to the tag point, try to keep them close to you so they dont path past several of their friends which creates adds. Make a hotkey tell to tagger; "Tag now!" and use it. In Hate dont come out of FD until the mobs the rest are fighting are dead. Remember FD doesnt always totally clear aggro and if you run in to fight often other mobs will add. Know the zone well and also have a map handy. Use groupchat to ask for buffs and heals, as your group is never sure if you are FD or not. Even if it seems obvious to you that it is safe to heal or buff you, the cleric and chanter might be facing the wall to lower lag and dont have any idea where you are. Communication and Knowledge are the key to good pulling in raids. Be prepared to FD and quit out to clear aggro. Set up a good relationship with the tagger, you are the most important duo on a raid. If you have a CoH mage in your group hotkey a tell to him like; "tell Magomatic CoH my skinny butt now before these mobs turn me into cornmeal." It is often best to pull mobs with thrown weapons and watch carefully for adds before moving from your position to the tag spot.

Enchanters Role: This is the second most stressful job on raids. First at the begining of a raid, set up target hotkeys for everyone, or just tanks and group leaders if you got group clarity two. I organize my banks of hotkeys into three areas; healers, casters, and tanks and use these hotkeys to spread out my timed buffs, so I dont use all my mana buffing at once. Set up assist keys for the other chanters, so you can mezz mobs that resist that chanters mezz and is beating the stuffing out of them. Set up a tell hotkey to the other chanters and a druid or two. Examples: "/tell Sumelenie Mezz this %t that is killing me!!" "/tell Hottentot Heal me or we are in serious doggie doo!!" During pulls get in a place that gives you a good view of the incoming mobs. Off to one side and up a hill or the zone wall a bit helps. This way you can select mobs as they are coming in and mez them before anyone has a chance to wack them. It is your job to enforce mezz breaking protocol, as you are the one that suffers. Dont be afraid of being a "Nazi Bitch from Hell." If people are breaking mezzes when they shouldnt the raid will go badly. If the raid leader goes down, be prepared to step up and take over the raid for a bit, if no one else does. When things get really bad, mezzing all the mobs and having everyone camp out is often the best solution.

Mages Role: Make mod rods for everyone before the raid, remember to tell in ooc where you are makeing them. During the raid if you are full mana, ask in ooc if anyone needs a mod rod, and make replacements as necessay. CONTROL your pet, that is your number one job. After you hear the chanter call that the mob is tashed, Malois the mob. Use DDs after the mob in down below 80H and you have 40m or more. Listen up for calls to CoH people. If you are in the pull group, ask the puller if he needs a CoH to tell you.

Tanks Role: Wack away on the mobs!! Sounds easy right? Well it is and it isnt. First make sure you are attacking the correct mob before you swing. ASSIST the main tank, with "/assist off" setting. Then pause just a second or two too be sure that you have the right mob targeted. Remember the assist command doesnt always work right, so make sure the person you are assisting is close to you or you might be attacking the wrong mob. Then swing away. Be ready to switch mobs if that is called for. If the call for clerics to camp comes look around quick and find a cleric to guard, use Stuns, snares, roots, DDs, charms, taunts, backstabs, or whatever it takes to keep the mobs off the clerics. If the clerics camp, the tanks should kill what they can before they die, concentrating on mobs that see invis, and ones that are the most wounded. It is useful to have SKs, monks, or rogues around to help CR so FD or Hide when you are likely to die soon. Resist Gear: For dragons and such resist gear is key. These creatures often do 300 DD or more with fire, cold, poison, or disease. So a single save allows you to cast a couple more spells, or get off a dozen more hits. You should work to get your unbuffed resists above 100. Go to Seb and do the NG camp to slowly acquire Blue Diamonds and befriend a good jeweler. Well this is taking some time to write. I will add more later. Warning: I am not the most experienced raid person in the world. I have been on 70 plus raids and know alot. Most of my knowledge comes from being an Enchanter, although I have a high level cleric and many other characters. This is not meant to be the ultimate guide to planes raids, but instead a starting point for those new to raids.

Myriah