If you've played World of Warcraft for long at the level cap, there's a decent chance that you've been curious about, or have participated in, raiding. That said, if you have, you've probably noticed that not all raiders are created equal. Some people appear to die even when there isn't any damage being dealt to them, others have a preternatural ability to survive no matter what's been thrown at them – up to and including a dragon sized kitchen sink. Some don't do any damage, despite that being their assigned role, and others seem to be carrying the group's damage output squarely on their backs.
There are some simple ways to make yourself better at this task. Some of them are fairly intuitive, while others wouldn't necessarily be something you'd pick. I've assembled this list from my own time as a raid leader, from what I valued in my raiders, and in conference with some of the people who are currently leading my guild's raid.
1) Be punctual.
This might not seem like the most important of things when you're looking at the damage meter, but it really does matter. If your raid leaders know that they can rely on you, then you will be treated as a trusted player. This doesn't just apply to being there on time, but letting your raid leaders know if you're not going to be there ahead of time. That lets them plan. I know it might not seem like it, but there's a ton of planning that goes on before every raid, often days in advance, and the more information that they have, the better off they'll be, and the better they'll see you.
2) Be Positive
Raiding can suck sometimes. We all know those nights when everything is going wrong, no one seems to be able to do anything right, and you're not in the mood to be there. You know what differentiates the good raiders from the bad? Being there – both physically and mentally. I know it sucks. Take five minutes, get a drink, come back refreshed and ready to bring your A game, no matter how much everyone else isn't. It'll be noticed that you aren't screwing up, and that others are.
3) Know your role.
This one is twofold. First, you've got to know your class. That means knowing both your rotation, your spec, glyphs, alterations to your rotation given different circumstances (moving vs standstill, single target vs AoE, things like that) but it also includes knowing your cooldowns, and what they do, and how to use them to maximum effect. Knowing your class in and out is only one part of the puzzle though. You need to know how that class, and those mechanics interact with each fight in the game. Knowing that you should save your defensives for here and here, as opposed to there. It involves knowing what's coming in the fight so you can plan how you're going to move and react to things when they happen. Are there special mechanics that you're uniquely qualified to do? Will you be called on to kite, or split off to take care of an add? Interrupt?
4) Be open to criticism
No one is out to make you the bad guy, but no one wants to wipe all night. If you're doing something wrong, expect your raid leader to say something. It could be low dps. It could be that you've died to the same slow-moving-wall-of-dumb that you've died to the last six weeks. One way or antother, if you raid long enough, you're gonna hit a personal wall when you're lagging behind the rest. It's important that you know that people are gonna talk to you about it. It's also important that you can talk back to them and explain what you're doing to fix the situation. Don't pass the buck - “Oh, I did all that.” isn't a reason, it's an excuse. Your screen skipped, you weren't standing in it, whatever the reason is, there's a reason you're being spoken to and not the others. Figure that reason out, and fix it as soon as possible.
5) Own up to your mistakes.
Related to taking criticism, after a wipe, own up to your screw ups. “Sorry for taking that cleave. I'll try to avoid that next time.” Constantly find your mistakes and seek to improve them. By doing this, you not only avoid the annoying post-fight analysis, but you also make active steps towards identifying weaknesses in your play. Run a damage meter that can analyze the last few seconds before your death, or a failbot, or something on those lines.
I know a lot of these sound like they're blaming you, but improvement is necessarily a self-critical process. You don't improve externally – save by getting gear, which is part of knowing your role. Aside from that, as fights increase in complexity over the course of an expansion, you need to step up your own personal game to make it the best possible experience for yourself and everyone else on the team.
Firelands comes out in two weeks, so this would be a great time to check up on any changes being made to your class. MMO-Champion.com is a great resource for this, as well as the World of Warcraft main site. So check it all out, and be ready when you log-in and your raid leader says that you'd better have your fire resist.
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