Theorycraft Part 4 - The Final Assault

After carefully determining your gear, what spells to use when, and group makeup, you can now prepare to take the final plunge. The boss fight. The apex of WoW. The ulimate showdown.

It doesn't matter who it is, Van Cleef or Illidan. This is the moment you've prepared for. This is the moment that you've spent so much time studying your stats and your spells and you're a mana/rage/energy efficient machine now.

So don't blow it.

What I mean by that is, make sure you are prepared. Unless you are the very first group to encounter this fight, someone somewhere knows what's going on. What abilities the opposition has. How they defeated it.

The key is that their method of success is not always the best method. You have to determine what strategy is best. For the Maulgar pull, where are the positions best for YOUR group? Will you burn-down or outlast? Which target dies first?

You can read all you want, but until you try it you'll never know. But here is where the Theorycrafters will be able to think outside of the box. There are abilities that people have never used before. Mind Soothe comes to mind for a priest. Scare Beast for a hunter. Distract for a rogue (which can be amazing in avoiding mobs or patrols.) Some of the rarely used Blessings like Freedom and Sacrifice for paladins. Everyone has abilities that they don't think about using. You as a theorycrafter need to either rely on someone who has that ability, or you need to know it yourself.

You should be the one deciding what pally buffs get used. What shaman totems will be used. What warlock curse is the best. Sure it's micro-m,anagement, but in a game of numbers where I've seen a tank hit 2 HP and survive (never saw 1 though) every little bit helps.

To summarize how to theorycraft, you need to know the following:

1. How to itemize your gear to maximize your usefulness in a fight.
2. How to setup your spell rotation for maximizing efficiency in a fight.
3. How to setup your raid to maximize everyone's performance.
4. How to setup jobs for everyone in the raid to ensure that the boss is laying on the ground when you leave combat.

If you can master these, you're a master of WoW. No one I know is the master...everyone still has much to learn. The more you read the more you learn. I hope that I can continue to be a source of learning for everyone here.