Larisa wrote about how bad the Training Dummies are for, well, for training.
To be honest I have always felt this. To me they were just Dr. Boom replacements, theory-crafting tools to allow questing players to complete their quests, while allowing theory crafters a range of new tools to hone their craft.
Sure they aren’t completely useless, but once you have read the forum or blog post with a rotation that’s already been theory-crafted, why bother?
The problem is, if you are trying to hone your skills for a specific boss encounter during the encounter one of two things happens:
- Best case you wipe and get to try and try again… different strategies, different rotations, different results?
- Worst case you one shot the boss and don’t really learn anything.
I’m sure your raid would prefer the one shot, but it isn’t doing much for your own personal skill development.
I suggested some techniques a while back to ensure you continued to use your skills while grinding, something that isn’t otherwise necessary, but what about encounter specific training?
So my question is, what are the alternatives?
I will present a few ideas here, but I am looking for your suggestions.
Argent Tournament
I offered up the Argent Tournament grounds in my comment on Larisa’s post.
You get mobs with boss health pools, no aggro, lots of targets and reasonable movement requirements to maintain range.
It’s really only a step up from the target dummies, the main difference being movement.
Target dummies + duel
A combination of a tank and spank fight with additional considerations.
Get a mate with AoE and direct damage spells to join the target dummies.
Now you need to avoid the void zones (eg: flame strike), counterspell the direct damage spells, spell steal the buffs, maintain your wards, time your evocates, practice the ice block, blink out of snares, crowd control etc.
A Boomkin Druid may be a good choice for this. They have most of the effects like Bosses, but can also throw you a heal occasionally so you don’t wipe and have to start over.
Of course you will need to define an encounter plan. AoE every 30 sec, snare every min etc.
If you are on Vent your buddy could improvise Deadly Boss Mods by announcing incoming attacks, which in combination with enemy cast bars or scrolling combat text etc will hone those “information awareness skills” in conjunction with the situational awareness skills.
PvP
PvP, whether dueling, battlegrounds or arenas are another option of course.
Some people don’t PvP though, and it can be a pain when you are in one of those battlegrounds where lifespan doesn’t extend much past buffing.
Still, in the right fights you will be honing your skills, even if that’s just running away.
Dueling may be the best option, although if you have a couple of mates with toons on the other faction, you could camp by a remote graveyard and try multiple targets as well.
Soloing instances
Undoubtedly a great way to build situational awareness and multiple mob awareness, but likely frustrating if you pick the wrong instance or are still at the bottom of the learning curve for that type of encounter.
More likely than not you will be honing your AoE, snare and kiting skills above any others if you solo, so maybe you need to bring a friend or two.
Get a tank or a healer, or both. Make sure they know they are there to support you, not clear the instance on your behalf. Nothing worse than an OP Pally tank that AoE tanks the mobs to death before your flamestrike lands. You want to be the top on the damage meter, not them. (Of course if them challenging you allows you to find the best rotation for a particular encounter, go for it)
The big thing here is to pick those bosses that replicate tactics you are struggling with.
Fear, try shadow Lab. Mind control, try shadow lab or the WoLK instance. AoE fights, Halls of Stone etc…
Probably best to run them on normal so you can reset and rerun them and hone that specific skill (and to ensure you don’t get annoyed getting to the encounter)
Soloing elites
You could of course go in search of elites, however like soloing instances, you will probably be working just as hard at kiting as anything. If you one shot the mob, well that was a waste of travel time.
So tell me folks. If you were trying to hone your skills for raids (eg: Ulduar or ToC):
- What boot camp style would you choose?
- What Instances & specific bosses would you “farm” to hone which specific skill?
- How do you hone your skills now?
PS: as an aside, I have another idea, something I started a draft on 2 odd months ago, so I will finish that one off. The problem is that my idea would require significant Blizzard development, whereas the ideas in today’s post should be immediately executable.
Gnomer and Out!
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http://gnomeaggedon.net/2009/09/04/where-are-the-boot-camps
Boot camp could be a very simple demonstration-imitation format: Watch Stupid Mage Tricks, Do Stupid Mage Tricks.
It’s funny… I struggle watching vids.. I see them, but more often than not I am squinting trying to work out what abilities just got used…
But you are right… best way to learn stupid mage tricks is to do stupid mage tricks… question is where…
Target dummies are best suited for trying out new key bindings and macros.
Other than that… meh.
Although they can be really useful for taking someone that’s a little green and watching the combat log to figure out what the hell they’re doing as a normal rotation.
Ahh yeah good point….
I probably should sit in front of training dummies for a night or two after changing my key bindings…
Maybe even after changing toons…
Likewise a good idea… watching someone go through their paces in a controlled fashion would make the dummies worthwhile.
What I currently do:
Solo or duo (usually me and a healer) an Outland instance.
Pros:
-The bosses have enough similar mechanics to end game bosses that I can practice my tactical skills.
-The bosses have enough health that they last at least long enough for me to practice a rotation.
Cons:
-Repair bills.
-They don’t really provide the same level of challenge so I’m not being pushed to my full extent.
Here is one possible solution:
(I commented on this on The Pink Pigtail Inn, jumping off something Cap’n John said)
What might be interesting is an instanced ‘training room.’ This would be a room where you could go in with up to 40-man raid and practice each encounter without the cost of reagents, consumables, repair costs etc.
First you would decide what role you want based on your class. Then you would be able to select the size of your group. And if, say you only had 3 people for a 5 man group you would be provided with 2 NPCs based on whatever you needed (tank, dps, heals). Then you would be able to choose the boss you wanted to practice on. You’d be able to practice the exact boss with all its adds, abilities, and mechanics; but without any of the penalties. Although you wouldn’t get any of the normal rewards either (loot, ahcievements, etc).
Pros:
-Having a quick and easy way of practicing each encounter.
-Not having to spend hundreds of gold on consumables or repairs.
-Being able to practice your class role without having to form a full raid.
-It might even allow more casual raiders a chance to experience the end game boss encounters.
Cons:
-Implementing such a massive addition would probably take far more time than it’s worth, time which could be spent ironing out the current quirks of the game.
-It would, at least to some extent, cheapen the experience of hard-core endgame raiders. They had to work hard to get to the end bosses and figure out tactics and so on, and suddenly people would be able to go in by themselves and learn the encounters and then step in the real instance only once.
-It could potentially destroy teamwork if you could go in to a training room and get 4 npc’s to back you up rather than 4 actual people backing you up.
There are certainly pros and cons to the idea, but if you take the idea of ‘make the dummies less dumb’ to the extreme, this is where you end up.
Anyway, that’s my idea for what it’s worth
~Fizz
I think I’m having one of those Critical QQ moments where commentors post my next post in the comments
Well, not quite what I had in mind, but.. interesting concept… but I wonder… even if Blizzard could afford the resources would they…
Would they allow you 24/7 access to a training room so you could one-shot the boss on your 1st attempt?
Initially I don’t see why the wouldn’t allow access 24/7, although maybe they would put a cap on the number of times you could go in?
Also, it might be another way for them to test encounters like they do on the PTR
I guess my main hesitation would be that people could spend a week practicing the encounter for no risk, then go an one shot it.
You forgot a con:
NPCs are friggin’ stupid. They can’t even fix pet AI to keep them out of the fire.
lol reminds me of a quest I did where they provided me with my own tank… even if I gave it a 10 second head start I pulled aggro on my 1st scorch.
lol well said
The problem with practicing in duels or PvP is that they require very different strategies and builds etc. I think WoW should introduce an Assualt Course type thing with NPCs that’s “completely safe” and lets you just run around and try killing stuff etc.
and thus we have today’s post…
Needless to say.. I agree