Locking for beginners (part 2) - Mechanics of the lock
Author: Taalia (Rosmerta)
Lock is obtained by a group.
It is given when one group gets a % of the boss’s health in damage compared to other groups.
It is not a race to a fixed finish line, but to a relative one - about getting further ahead than your rival.
How much of a %? Depends upon average level of the group vs the boss. At 20 levels difference you start needing an increasing percentage.
If you leave a group your prior contribution to the group’s total is immediately removed.
It is given when one group gets a % of the boss’s health in damage compared to other groups.
It is not a race to a fixed finish line, but to a relative one - about getting further ahead than your rival.
How much of a %? Depends upon average level of the group vs the boss. At 20 levels difference you start needing an increasing percentage.
If you leave a group your prior contribution to the group’s total is immediately removed.
So what is the ideal lock group composition for raid bosses?
Toons that are present attacking the boss.
A toon on the way is doing zero damage.
The difference between a strong veteran dps toon with quest gear and years of gathering good items, and a newer dps with shop gear ... is a much smaller difference than that between that newer dps and someone not even there doing zero.
Full groups - attacking!
2 groups of 7 will lose to one group of 8.
If you’re dead, you do zero dps. The lock group cannot be lying dead timed out. Use druids to heal and protect, and tanks to redirect the boss from outside the lock group.
Don’t drop or change groups once the battle is underway. I once lost a lock to reality when felicity disconnected. It wasn’t that I stopped doing damage (someone else would have stepped in). It was all the damage I’d done was discounted and lost. With my damage discounted and lost it was 7 toons worth of damage already done vs 8 already done from reality and lock instantly went to them.
So don’t join a lock group if your connection is shaky. Don’t fiddle with the group once the battle starts. A new stronger dps arrives but if you drop group for them once the battle starts, they’re not building on your work - they’re starting from scratch.
Once a team starts, that’s damage contributing to your goal. Don’t force that team to regroup or their work is lost.
I’m not a military historian (wim knows about such things) but I like quotes and personalities.
Nathan Bedford Forest was a general in the American civil war (he had very reactionary views and would have absolutely hated me). When asked in an interview how he won battles, he replied “get there first with the most men”.
That’s a concise formulation of how to win lock battles for egbs. Get there first so your strong toons are not on the way during the battle.
I’ll discuss character types and builds in another post. But perfect character builds arriving late in small groups will lose horribly to ok toons that are there and fighting in a full group.
Toons attacking are making progress. Those standing waiting or dead make no progress and hold spots.
The fundamentals of aggression, boldness, concentration, building a group of people who are there and not dropping out of a group once battle is joined are more important than any build detail.
#taaliastips
