The Kill List-From its Originator

I was talking to my partner Brem about a kill list- a list that healers should have that in case of dire straits, they should make conscious decisions about who to let die first as to prevent a wipe. Now Kikidas seems to think that I scarfed the idea from I think GoW but their essay is not really the essence of the kill list nor did I ever read their blog until she brought it to my attention. Great blog! Thank you K! Now I would like to extend the idea to the mage dps class and a philosophy on when to break the rules.

In almost every run that I do, we have kill order marks that we usually follow. Skull, X, Ice Cube, etc I think is the most common kill rotation around (at least for me). This works out well. We all know what do do and when to do it. Kinda nice but most times speed and efficiency are what matters in these fights and a kill order is the order of the day. But do we always have to follow this? I make the suggestion that you do not. Now before I here all the nay saying listen to what I propose...

As mages (and the other cloth classes) we know that we usually cannot stand up to the flesh ripping attacks of most npc melee dps. A bit of a nod to K (even though she thinks mages are only food dispensers) :), warlocks are prolly the best of cloth classes to (sort of) off tank with there life drain and fears (not that many fear in an instance!). I digress; tanking is not what I wanted to discuss. I want to discuss the ability to diagnose, understand, and execute pulling an elite toon away from the tank to kill it on your own.

Did I just send shivers down your spine? You would never DREAM of putting your wonderful mage in harm's way by PURPOSEFULLY pulling aggro? I say it CAN and SHOULD be done. You need to know your mage. You need to know your healer. You need know WHEN to do it. If you keep this points in mind, you can increase the rate you pull mobs and maximize your time and efforts.

I normally only go after other clothies. I know that they have less armour (like me) and I can be most effective with my efforts. Most clothies dont have high health so, with my +1100 to fire/arcane damage and my hit rating is somewhere around 120 (not the 142 cap:) ), I know that I can be effective. This is knowing my toon:)

Is the healer attentive? Are they having problems healing the party? If they arent and the tank is staying around full health AND its NOT a boss fight this might be a good time to do your work outside of the prescribed marks:)

Now would I start this devious plan in the beginning of the fight?? Hmmm.......usually no. Most of the time I wait until the skull dies first. This mark needs to die the quickest and I tend to respect that. Also this gives the tank to cause a little extra damage on the target that I may want to pick off and have all to my own:) No one said that I was totally crazy!

I am not saying that everyone should do this. I am saying that, under the right circumstances, this is a viable strategy. Just know your stuff!

Rock On!
Babygorn