WoWGrrl's World

The Catch 22 In PUG Raiding

I don't know what your realm is like in terms of the Pick Up Groups that form from day to day, but on Zul'jin Horde side, getting into raids "looks" difficult.

I've seen a lot of my "new-to-raiding" friends run across the same challenge when trying to break into raiding for the first while on their toons that are new to level 80:

On Trade and LFG: "LFM for Naxx25, link achieve"

The problem is, of course, that these friends are brand new to the WoTLK raid scene.

They haven't been through Naxx yet, so they don't have an achievement to link.

Therefore they don't even TRY to get into the raid being formed, and instead feel frustrated at how difficult getting into a raid can seem for someone in a small or casual/social guild.

(Note, if you're hoping to PUG Tank a raid that you've never seen the fights for before, I think you're crazy. Go in as DPS or Heals the first couple of times until you get a feel for the fight, and then you can put together your own raid when it comes time for you to Tank it.)

Not All Raids Require Achievements

I've been in plenty of Naxx25 PUGs where after each quarter more than a handful of players are getting their most basic Naxxramas achievements:

The Arachnid Quarter (25 player)
The Construct Quarter (25 player)
The Military Quarter (25 player)
The Plague Quarter (25 player)
Kel'Thuzad's Defeat (25 player)
Sapphiron's Defeat (25 player)

These are players who are clearly not alts, too - they're low on the meters, dying a lot, and getting a LOT of gear upgrades. And NOBODY is abusing them for their contribution (or lack thereof)!

If you're interested in learning some of the keys to becoming one of these lucky players who gets the Purple Rain of gear from your first Naxx10/25, then read on!

Why PUG Raid Leaders Want Achievements Linked

The reason PUG Raid Leaders ask for raiders to link their achievements is simple: They want a smooth, fast run with minimal wipes and as little of the standard PUG drama as possible.

Other reasons include the fact that they want players filling key positions (tank, heals, decursers, kiters, crowd controllers, etc) who already know the fights and don't need them explained.

They want experienced raiders who are familiar with raiding etiquette surrounding loot and timely progression through the instance.

Nobody wants to spend 5-6 hours explaining fights and wiping and replacing raid post-wipe deserters, just like you as the new raider don't want to spend hundreds of gold on repairs after being forced to wait 20-30 minutes for the next pull while the team gets re-filled - multiple times.

Why Not All Members Need To Be Awesome

Even on a solid guild raid team, not everyone in the team NEEDS to be "awesome" in order for the raid to be a success.

In fact, with the law of averages in a group, it's impossible to avoid the fact that half your raid is, in fact, below average compared to the other half of the above average team.

Sure, if you took those "below average" players from a progressed raid team and mix them in with the average PUG populace you'd see that they're actually still "above average", but that still doesn't defy the fact that within any given team, there HAVE to be "weaker" members and have to be stronger ones.

So if you already know you'd be one of the weaker contributors to your group due to lack of hands-on experience, what are your options for selling yourself to the PUG raid leader calling out for members for a raid you're interested in?

Honesty Is The Best Policy - But Not Self-Belittling Honesty

Simply put, the easiest way to get into a raid where the PUG leader is asking for achievements you don't have is to be honest, but not self-degrading.

Send a whisper that is polite and contains important information about your level of playing knowledge, expresses your interest in going but doesn't demand a spot. Something like:

"Hey there, I'm an 80 Mage who is hit capped and does about 2k dps in heroics, but I haven't been in Naxx yet. If you need me I'd love the experience."

Then list yourself in the LFG tool for the raids you're interested in, just in case the PUG raid leader you just whispered isn't ready to invite you yet.

If they're still calling for players 10-15 min later, whisper a simple reminder, like:

"I'm still around if you have a spot :)"

If you are still not invited to the party or engaged in further conversation about your character, move on and try to get into a different raid. No use pestering and annoying someone who is already busy trying to coordinate a team, after all. If they tell you "no" directly, thank them politely and wish them luck in the run.

Whatever you do, don't elaborate on your lack of experience too deeply, but don't overstate it, either. State the basic facts and leave opinion alone.

Or, If Server Reputation Doesn't Matter To You...

For some raiding players, the Achievement link is a ridiculous preposition simply because this isn't their first raiding toon in WoTLK. Some of my guildmates are raiding on third and fourth toons to 80, and are insanely familiar with every Tier 7 fight.

At this point in your raid life, you might have already found a great raiding guild to call home and to make a regular enough contribution to that you aren't risking being kicked anymore. If this is the case, then the strategy of getting your alts into raids that require achievement links can take on a new twist:

Pick up the addon Underachiever which allows you to fake Achievement links in-game (and make it look like you did what you haven't done on this toon).

WARNING
I don't recommend this addon be used by players who are not at all familiar with the raid instances in question, however, nor do I recommend players still looking for great raiding guilds try this tactic.

Raid Leaders don't like to be lied to and when your first basic achivement goes off, you cannot hide it.

If you've done minimal Healing or DPS and you've died more than your fair share during the raid, you might find yourself raidless and with a bad reputation brewing amongst the raiders who witnessed your lie.

DON'T underestimate how easy it is to get your application closed to a good guild because of PUG dishonesty. You won't even be TOLD that's why your app was declined!
WARNING

The LFG Tool Is Your Friend

Hopefully some of this information has been helpful to you in understanding how to tackle the Catch 22 of WoW Raiding: How people seem to require experience before getting into even the seemingly most entry-level raids in the current End Game.

All in all, however, the LFG tool can be your friend in a large way regarding raids.

If you take the time to list yourself into three different raid instances you'd like to go into, and enter an intelligent comment that reports important raiding info (ie: that you're hit capped if you're DPS, whether you have the gear to off-tank on occasion if you're a DPS Warrior, Pally or Death Knight) to would-be raid leaders, you'll find that getting invites isn't as difficult as you think.

And once you get the experience and the Achievements to link, it's all downhill from there, and just requires your dedication and interest in putting yourself out there in the Raid PUG community.

Good luck in your raids! If you're lucky like my alt Mage, your first Naxx25 will be a full clear and you'll get a few nice pieces of gear as a reward for sticking it out and having a good attitude!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Related posts:

1. Achievement: For The Horde! Off Night Raids
2. Looking Back: From Social Guild To Raiding Guild
3. Wandering The Raider Halls: The Ivory Tower of WoW

Tagged as: eye of eternity, getting into raiding, how to find a pug, malygos, naxxramas, new to raiding, obsidian sanctum, pug raids, pugging, Raiding, raiding tips