Vih'mera

Vih'mera
Purely Penance!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

CC, Where Art Thou?

I was almost able to squeeze this post into January, but I suppose February will do! I've been thinking about what topics to write about that are helpful but not extremely opinionated at this point in Cata. One point I think that we can all agree on is that Crowd Control makes dungeons of any difficulty much easier to handle! Unless... you're a fan of frantic healing and drinking after each pull or are lucky enough to out-gear a lot of the easier content already!

As a healer that uses the LFG Dungeon tool quite often (unfortunately!), I've come to realize that a few things:
1) It's better to just assume that unless asked, no one will silence.
2) It's better to just assume that no CC's will be marked if the tank doesn't initiate it on the first pull.
3) It is unfortunately very likely that you're going to get a group that doesn't acknowledge stuff on the ground, air, or realize when the boss is targeting them.

As for number 3? Mmmm, there isn't much you can do about that unless you want to point out every time a member takes excessive damage. Before each pull I try to throw out a simple reminder, like: "Always stay away from the Light! And remember, birds are not our friends!" Something easy and light hearted as if you're Jiminy Cricket :]

However! I've found that MOST people are more than happy to use CC's and interrupts.

So. You have a group that silently agrees to use CC's/interrupt... because no response means "Yes." right?... So now it's up to you to mark and call out who is doing what. But... who CAN do what? Is a very good question I've been asking for a while now. Instead of having to ask, "Okay, who can get that ugly monster dude." and have a Shaman volunteer only to realize that it's a Dragonkin and he can't after all, can be frustrating.

So. Here's a list of class specific CC's/Interrupts I've compiled, so that you'll never go wanting again! (This will include targetable and untargetable CC's.)




This table is all fine and dandy and can be a big help when instructing classes to CC.
But here is a little more inside information that will help:

DEATH KNIGHTS: Hungering cold is a great ability, if another pack gets pulled on accident you will be able to have 10 seconds to finish whatever mob you are on and get some CC on the new mobs. It also can act as an interrupt on non-bosses.

DRUIDS: You can range all the trash in this game, or LoS them, so if you are forced to root a caster you will still be able to prevent it’s damage. Sometimes this method can be tricky. Natures Grasp also allows you to have a second set of roots up at any given time, but remember that it isn’t easily recast-able.

HUNTERS: Because you can only have 1 trap at a time doesn’t mean you can not have two things trapped at once. It may be tricky but after the first trap goes off, you are able to place another trap down to get a second enemy in a freezing trap. This may take some time to get used to.

PRIESTS: Mind control pulling is a fun way to do trash and can be very effective. This allows you to sometimes kill an entire mob by having its friends kill it then immediatly mind control another mob.

MAGES: In a few situations Ring of frost can be godly. Use it in ideal situations for great control.

ROGUES: Should your CC become in danger of running out you can Vanish and reapply sap on the mob before it wakes up

SHAMANS: Earth Elemental totem can be used in a pinch to off-tank a mob, but beware, this elemental has very bad AI.

WARLOCKS: Your succubus is very strong, and glyphing it makes it better. This expansion you are kings of CC.

I hope this can be of help to puggers around Azeroth! I know I've definitely found it useful!
-Vih

*Information for this post was taken from various WoW sources, including: http://freewowguide.org/wow-the-complete-crowd-control-guide/*