Instance grouping guide for a leader

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Group Leader
Classes: Any

Initially, the Leader will be the character that started the group, but often the role is passed to another if they have better knowledge of the instance. The Leader charts the path through the Instance, decides when Pulls should be made, and makes sure that everyone else in the group knows what role they're expected to play and is ready to play it. The leader also plans the battles by using Raid Target Icons.

A leader ideally has considerable prior experience running the instance. The best leaders know by heart what every single pull consists of and an effective way to take the pull out and move to the next one, as well as to expect the unexpected during the fight and communicate to the group a strategy to deal with it if it happens.

Often the tank is selected as party leader in the absence of another significantly more qualified member. This has several advantages - the tank is usually at the front when the group is moving forward; the tank is almost always the puller in 5-man groups so will naturally set the pace and plan pulls; also if unexpected extra enemies arrive the tank can pick them up, start building threat on one and mark it as the kill target with less room for confusion.

What you need to know as Leader
People are counting on you to hold the group together. If the group starts to dissolve into chaos, it's your job to restore order. Better yet, stop it before it starts. Use  when applicable.

Equally important to a good leader is the ability to distribute loot effectively. Loot is a huge part of the reason that most people run instances, and as the person who can set loot privileges party members will look to you to make sure they get a fair shot at what drops. Most groups use a Need/Greed roll system. You will want to:
 * Ensure that the loot system is not being abused.
 * Watch for ties on rolls for bind on equip items, and find out if anyone who tied wants to reroll for the item. Some people could care less, and others will feel cheated if a reroll is not held.  If a tie occurs that benefits you and you don't deal with it, this will only undermine your authority as group leader if anyone else has noticed.
 * Find out whether a disenchanter is available before bind on pickup loot drops that nobody needs.
 * Don't tolerate loot ninjas(called loot Pirates sometimes); know how to use the Master Looter option (and use it fairly) or get rid of them and find replacements before they waste your time. If you are in a raid, make sure that Master Looter is set before a boss fight.

Party Leaders also have the unique ability to designate Lucky Charms, and will need to use them wisely in marking targets for crowd control, pulling, and so forth. Group members will appreciate consistency in charms. Establish what the marks mean beforehand, don't switch the meaning of the marks from pull to pull, and if you need to use a mark for something other than what you originally established then let the party know about it – if the moon is a sheep, keep the sheep a moon and don't use it for anything else, and if the moon isn't a sheep on this pull then tell the party what it is before the pull is done. Good leaders will go through a rundown of what every single mark means before the first pull in an instance happens. (If you often find yourself leading a group, consider binding keys for marking mobs with the various charms.) Leaders will also establish a kill order for the pull and communicate it to the group before it happens.

As leader you need to maintain the pace of pulls while ensuring that your party has enough health and mana for the next battle. Don't allow people to go afk for ten minutes after every pull. If a party member is significantly delaying progress, ask that they drop the group in favor of someone who can devote more attention to the instance run.

Generally it is the leader that announces if the party is going to wipe. (Good leaders will be watching for a character to have wipe recovery in place before this happens, especially on boss fights.) After a wipe, the leader will evaluate the situation. You need to decide who in the group will release and run back to the instance entrance.

In raids, the leader can appoint raid assistants who have many of the privileges of a raid leader.

What you need to know to assist the Leader

 * Don't wander off on your own.


 * Don't pull Aggro on the group.


 * Don't argue. If you don't feel that you fit in the group, leave. And when the leader or the puller says "Stay," then stay.

When to get a new Leader
Beware of any leader that sets the loot rules to Master Looter without a good reason. They may be a loot ninja in disguise.

If a party member demonstrates better knowledge of the pulls than the leader, consider asking the leader to make that member leader.

If the leader uses marks inconsistently (or not at all), ask that they start to use them, or volunteer to be leader so that you can mark mobs.