This is a topic that was covered a long time ago. Sadly, the thread was lost during "The Great Migration" and I thought it was time to revisit the topic.

How do you play your class?
What techniques do you use solo versus grouped play?
What are some common situations you watch for during combat; how do you respond to them?

**It might have some dated references, just a forewarning**
***  Tref's original posts follows:

I thought this would be a great topic of discussion -- playing your character in groups vs how you play them solo. It is interesting how different this can be. I was thinking about it again after a recently. Most, if not all, characters need to be played very differently when they are in groups compared to when people are playing them solo questing. Instance dungeons are challenging and require experience in using all the available tools if you want to be successful and excel at playing your class. I included my observations below. I have a soon to be lvl 60 priest. I also have a level 40 rogue and level 36 paladin alt. I am drawing from my experience so far from playing those characters.

I would love to hear what other people think who have more experience in playing their class. WoW has somewhat basic class types, but I find there is a much greater depth required to play them really good.

I want to make sure this discussion stays constructive and positive, so please frame your responses and comments in that light.

Here are my observations about various classes and how they are different in groups compared to solo:

1. Rogues and Mages tend to dump a ton of front-loaded damage as fast as possible. This is exactly how you have to play solo. It is NOT how you should play your character normally in group ID's. These classes need to pace their damage and use available tools to reduce their hate with enemies. By pacing and timing your damage correctly, you should almost never acquire agro (and then need healing). Rogues have a Feint ability to dump some agro. They also have different abilities that help control mobs (which is sometimes better than just doing damage). I am not as familiar with mages. Both classes usually need to hold back in the beginning of a fight to let the tank(s) build some hate.

2. Paladins. They have lots of complex tools available that are sometimes not used. Many of the seal and judgment combinations are important for assisting the group and for managing the enemies. Many of these are never used while solo, but they are what make that paladin worth having as a group member when in teams. Paladins are exceptional backup healers! I know it is hard to juggle so many tasks – but that is what being a hybrid class is about. Personally as someone who plays a priest, I wish more paladins would take care of their own health bar more in battles. That would free up a lot of total mana and in-combat mana regeneration time.

3. Warriors. Warriors are another example where they need to play 100% opposite in a group as when solo. In a group, warriors are not primarily there to damage the monsters. That is what the Rogues, Mages, Hunters and Warlocks do. Warriors are critical for controlling the battle and protecting the healer in the group. Instead of focusing on taking 1 enemy down, it is important to use taunting and movement manipulation abilities to keep the battle under control.

4. Priests and Druids. I know we have many other abilities, but groups are going to expect you to heal. Priests for sure will be expected to act as primary healer. You might be a full shadow spec priest, but ID groups are still going to expect you to heal them. Priests are under-populated enough on our server at high levels. I have rarely ever been in a group with more than one priest.

Druids will be expected to act as primary healer if no priest is in the group. There are other ways of building your character with talents, but you will not be able to avoid this role completely. When in ID groups, it is important for Druids to know what animal forms to use and when. The cat form is probably more fun for the moves and damage output, but it makes a huge difference in tanking ability to be in bear form. If you need to tank (replace a warrior) you probably need to be in bear form. If you are replacing a dps class, use the cat but try to avoid grabbing agro from the tanks. This is complicated and requires more skill (just like the paladin), but Druids are also hybrids so flexibility is the reason they are in the group.

5. Hunters. Hunters can be really great in an ID group or they can really cause problems. This is a class that often does a LOT of soloing as they level up. That makes sense because it is what the class was designed to do. I have seen many problems with hunters though when they start to join ID groups. I have never played a hunter, but I have played with them in groups a lot. Pets are a major feature of this class. Hunters can have a couple of pets (I don’t know how many, but I assume 2 or 3 of them). I very rarely ever see a hunter with any pet besides some form of cat. I am sure that is the ideal pet for solo play, but it is NOT the ideal pet for ID runs. Please please please take some time to find and train a bear or some other type of highly armored pet. The amount of damage cats do in ID runs is insignificant. They do not tolerate a beating nearly as good as other pets. Hunter pets can make excellent off-tanks. Their growl draws agro very good. They need to be able to take a pounding after that so that they do not die or require too much mana from the healers.

Speaking of growl, managing pet abilities in ID’s is important. Few hunters seem to have practiced turning growl on and off. It is very important that the pet not steal aggro from the main tank in ID’s. Growl will do it often. Hunters need to turn off the growl ability. They need to turn it back on when the battle gets out of hand and the group needs the hunter’s pet to grab one of the enemy.

I have also seen hunters have problems with stealing aggro from the main tank. Just like the rogues and mages, hunters need to use different shots to add dps without messing up the hate list for the main tank. Area effect shots need to be used carefully so as not to pull additional enemies. Hunters can also add a lot of utility with their traps. They should be using them with almost every pull. I don’t know all the abilities of all the traps, but I have seen hunters use them very effectively to aid the group when they prepare them properly before a pull. A hunter is really great in 5-man Blackrock Depths groups. The ice trap and the one that slows mob movement (makes a white cloud) are very helpful.

6. Warlocks. I also don’t know as much about this class. They are great to have in groups though. Making sure to keep the rezzer buffed with a soulstone is important (not the warlock themselves – like they do playing solo). Handing out other types of crystal shards is nice too. I think Warlocks act like a hybrid of a hunter and mage in ID groups. Their pet can off-tank pretty good if they spent the training and cash to improve their voidwalker. They are also desired for their area effect damage. It is important that they manage their aggro well so as not to mess up the main tank’s management of the enemy.

That is my wisdom on playing characters in groups. I hope this opens up a discussion of the topic. I am sure everyone would benefit from others who are experts in some of these classes.