Add-Ons
While World of Warcraft comes with many raid interface options, some guilds prefer to use specific 3rd-party add-on programs. Check with your guild to find out if they have any preferences on what add-ons their members should be using. Make sure that anything your guild uses or suggests does not violate the Exploitation Policy before you install it. Also, make sure you're careful when downloading programs from unknown sources, and always make sure that you're running the latest firewall and antivirus software available to prevent the risk of a trojan or some other malicious program from being accidentally installed on your computer.

Voice-Chat Programs
Some guilds also use 3rd-party voice-chat programs to organize and run their raids. They typically create a specific channel for their raid and have members join the channel. The raid leader then gives instructions via microphone and players can listen through their headsets or speakers. Make sure that if you decide to use these types of programs you do not use anything that violates any of our in-game policies.

Learning the Raids
Prior to the start of a raid, make sure that the entire raid party knows which boss encounters are on the agenda. If the raid leaders are familiar with anticipated encounters, make sure that information is shared with everyone in the raid. Most often, guilds will have a section in their forums or website strictly devoted to strategies for every raid dungeon and boss encounter for their members to use as a reference. In many cases some classes have very specific tasks they need to perform in order to ensure the success of the raid group. It's important for everyone to have easy access to this information ahead of time. Understanding the fight is always half the battle!

Raid Materials (Mats)
There are many items that can be useful to have when raiding, such as resistance potions, flasks, healing potions, mana potions, reagents for your class, repair bots, and so on. These items are generally referred to as consumables. Some consumable items are most useful when given to a specific class, while others are items that everyone can take advantage of. In many cases, guilds will stockpile several items for their members to use. In order to have all the consumables needed for the entire raid party each week, materials will often be collected and made available prior to the raid starting. At the highest level of raiding, this becomes very important.

Get It Put Together First!

• Make sure that guild members bring their required items to the raid, such as: resistance sets and specialty gear, potions, bandages, reagents, and so on.
• Make sure guild members have their required dungeon keys, if needed. Remind everyone prior to leaving for the raid location. Example: "Don't forget your Onyxia key!"
• Sometimes, providing lists of items needed for each raid dungeon can help members better prepare ahead of time.

Repair Before Raiding
Make sure guild members repair all of their equipment prior to raiding. This point can't be stressed enough. Having to place a repair bot shortly after a raid begins because a member or several members have broken gear can become expensive.

Having multiple repair bots is still helpful in case the need to repair arises.

Loot
Before raiding, each member should know, understand, and agree on the loot rules. Having this aspect of the raid understood by all will help prevent loot disagreements. If you're unsure as to whether or not to loot, ask.

Master Looter
Many guilds feel that it's a good idea to assign a very trustworthy player the role of master looter. The raid leader can set this option by right-clicking on his or her character portrait and selecting the master looter option. The master looter needs to always have as much available bag space as possible since they will be the primary looter. Having a master looter generally protects the guild from the possibility of someone taking an item without the permission of the guild.

Assist Macro
Players are often asked to make a main assist key in order to target the correct monster in an encounter. An example of a main assist would be a warrior who is engaging a particular monster. Players in the raid will assist that warrior on the target of the warrior's choosing until it has been defeated, and progress from there. By doing this, a raid group can systematically control the pace of the fight as well as control where the most damage is being given.

In order to create a main assist key you will need to create a macro. To do this, type /macro and click "create new." Select an icon and name it "Assist." Then click okay. That icon should have appeared in your macro menu. Click on the icon. In the box appearing on the lower half, type /assist and then the main assist's name. Drag the icon onto your bar. When you press it, you will target whatever the MA is targeting. There are also add-ons that allow raiders to more easily tell whom they should assist.

Creating Chat Channels
Many guilds find that creating multiple custom chat channels can be extremely helpful. Creating a separate channel for each class, for example, allows them to communicate and coordinate class-specific tasks without filling up the /raid channel with information that will not apply to most of the raid. For instance, warriors might discuss tanking targets while paladins decide blessing assignments in their own, class-specific chat channels. This will free up the raid leader to continue to give general directions to the entire raid without interruption in the raid discussion channel. To create a new channel, simply type /join newchannelname.

Additionally, right-clicking on the chat window tab allows you to customize several of your chat settings, including the text color of each chat channel. Many players find it useful to designate different colors for each channel to help them easily spot important messages.