Roles within a group - Priest (WoW)

[Chairman_Kaga]

I'll start with what I know best and that's Priest: (Holy priest anyway)

Should be the primary healer over any other class.

Can be the puller provided the tanks start hitting the mob ASAP. With Mind Soothe, Priests can "calm" one target while pulling another. Thus, hopefully, avoiding getting mobbed. (I don't have this yet so don't yell at me :) )

Priest has low AC and should stay out of melee whenever possible. Also, melee hits interrupt spell casting. Thus driving the Priest nutso when trying to get off a critical heal. :(

Helping a Priest out in your group:

To start, Priests draw a lot of aggro when they cast healing spells. Not to mention any direct damage spells they cast. Whenever possible, the tanks should keep an eye on the priest and make sure nothing it pounding on them. If they are, whack them until they aggro to you. Your neighborhood Priest will love you for it. As the Priest levels up, there are holy talents that will reduce the amount of aggro on healing spells.

Try to stay in the area of the priest. None of the Priest's spells work if you are out of line of sight from the priest. So, don't go running off into another room of a dungeon by yourself and expect the priest to be able to help you out.

Pretty much everyone is a tank compared to a Priest. Accept this and all will be much better off. Priests can only wear cloth so just about any non-casting class is better off the tank of the group. Keep in mind that the priests can resurrect. MUCH needed in the instanced dungeons. Takes a lot of time and mana though. So don't expect to get rez'd in the middle of a fight.

Be nice and wait after a tough fight. Priests use a lot of mana keeping the group alive. They will need a few moments to recover after a hard fight. Just take a peek at his/her mana bar before running off. It will also give the priest a few moments to make sure everyone is healed and buffed up.

[Vygramul]

OK. For which game is this true?

[Chalybos]

OK, my two cents on the topic. Seems from everything I've read (and my cousin, who plays both games) that EQ2 and WoW are almost identical except for visuals and how fast you can level. I'm only speaking in respect to combat and gameplay, preferences notwithstanding. I play Druid types pretty much exclusively, and one of the most improtant things I remind people during combat is done with a hotkey I made to tell the group "Hey, there's a %t (target creature) trying to eat your healer. The guy who will rez you when it kills you next. That healer would be me. I die, you don't get heals." That usually get's the tank(s) to work extra hard at pulling the aggro off me. Also, throwing buffs after engagement will always pull aggro, even more so than healing. EQ has a priority system, whereby the creatures will start at the top and work their way down the list. Illusionist types (I assume because they can root and mez) are first priority, then healers. All healers. But Druids are higher priority than Clerics, probably due to having more offensive spells and still being able to heal just as well as a Cleric. Then come the fighters and rogues. First rule in combat, always save the priest. He dies, you follow soon. And letting the guy who can rez you die, that's totally noobish. Always point out to party members that you're getting hit, even if you think you can take him. Every spell you dump fighting off some skellie is one less heal for your tanks, and if a roamer pops into the fight it could mean the difference between looting a corpse and pushing up daisies. Remind them of it once in a while.

[cowboy]

as a tank mainly in EQII (30zerker) and a shaman in WoW I find staying in front of the healer or as close as you can without placing them in harms way is the best . of course both clases in either game are not true tanks if you can get palidan or gaurdian as a tank they can do a pretty good job of holding argo,and taking damage as well. i think the only prob i ever have with preists are the ones who thow out healling buffs as much as they can therby taking the arrgo off the tank rather fast. also it is a good idea to have you tank to be a leval or so higher then the rest of the group IMO the more damage they can take the easeir it is for them to act as a meat sheld with out the healers havnig to heal them as much imo.

shawman is good inWoW too as it also comes with some healing buffs and it can tank fairly well.

sides i love melee

[Chairman_Kaga]

OK. For which game is this true?
WoW, sorry.

[Dawg]

From what I have read and seen, being a good priest is difficult but greatly respected. In effect, it is a support class whose purpose is to keep the rest of the party alive and functioning. A good priest will make you forget to even look at your health. If the priest is relying on the other players to call out for the heals, then he/she is not doing their job well. The tanks are busy trying to keep the mobs from finding the squishies. The high-damage dealing classes are trying to determine when to unleash without disrupting the aggro balance in the battle.

The best defense is a good offense - delivered by someone else. Keep your party alive and they will keep you alive.

That being said, Kaga already noted that it is the party's obligation to make sure that the priest stays alive. This is difficult in melee so the priest needs to help his party in this regard. If some mob jumps you, try to let the rest of the party know (bind a key to say 'ADD on Priest' or something*) and then move towards the tanks. Do NOT run away from the battle. Its quite likely that the message will be missed in the flurry of battle, but by coming into the melee you immediately send the message that the tanks need to regain the aggro. If you run around out of sight, the tanks will probably not notice quickly and will not be able to catch up with you and taunt those mobs back onto them. This goes for anyone who accidentally gets the aggro - bring them to the tank - do not expect the tank to heard cats around the battlefield.

Priests don't wallow in the glory. They don't get the killing blows. But they are the key for a party doing well. As a warrior, I have great respect my priests. Without them - I am a whisp running back to my corpse all too often. I have to keep the aggro - so they don't get mushed. I have to stay visible - so they can heal me.

Dawg

[Brad]

Didn't read most of it but I saw Chaly mention tank and healer as serparate.

I have a Paladin in WoW, they are tanks that can heal and res. Nothing pisses off someone more then when you are in a dual, you use your blessing of protection spell (Makes you immune to damage for a few seconds) and cast 2 seals to bring you back to full health. The other cool thing is to turn people into sheeps as a mage. :swg:

[Chairman_Kaga]

PvP is much different than grouping though. Paladins should not bother healing if they are in a group with a "true" healer. Priests heals are much more powerfull and the Pally could be better used wailing on mobs.

The above post is geared toward groups which have a much different dynamic than soloist, duelling or solo PvP. The above would also apply to RAID groups however, player characters will kill priests regardless of who "pulls aggro". So you really need to watch your priests back.

[Chairman_Kaga]

Even Better Priest post. (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general&t=1797138&p=1&tmp=1#post1797138)

Much better than mine. Well thought out and written. I should have read more of the forums there before posting. Would have saved me lots of time compiling my observations and typing. Most of my observations came from the WoW forums anyway.