Your first MMORPG raid: a beginner’s guide to preparation, roles and boss tactics

A raid is the big MMORPG exam: five heroes, the hardest-hitting bosses in the game and the best loot. It’s easy to get lost the first time — who is the boss hitting, when should I heal, why does the tank need a taunt? This guide walks you step by step through your first raid in Zarhold: what you need before you go in, how to gather a party, who does what in combat and how not to lose a fight that drags on.

Step 1. What you need before entering

• Level 60. Raids and world bosses are open only to level 60 heroes, and every real player in your group must be level 60.
• Gear. The raid screen shows a recommended item level — 220 on normal and 232 on heroic — and your party’s average. It’s advice, not a lock: you can enter below it, but the bosses won’t care that you didn’t have time to gear up. How to raise your item level: Level 60 gear guide.
• A spec for your role. From level 20 you can keep two specialisations — say, a damage spec for questing and a healing or tank spec for raids. Respecs are free.
• Consumables. In a fight you can use one consumable of each kind — a bandage, a healing potion, a mana potion, a bomb, an elixir and a device. They cost no crystals and don’t use up your turn. Eat before the raid: “Well Fed” adds Health and Power in fights against creatures for 15 minutes or 3 fights. Details: Consumables in combat.

Step 2. Gather a party of five

A raid is built for five: a tank, a healer and three damage dealers. You can’t enter solo, but there are three ways in:

1. Queue. Pick your role and queue — the other slots are filled by the world’s residents, heroes with their own gear and talents.
2. As a group. The leader queues the whole group at once, and residents fill the empty slots.
3. As the party only. “⚑ Enter as the party” — real players only, no residents; empty slots stay empty.

Before entering, every real player gets a 30-second “Ready” window: everyone goes or nobody does. Keep in mind that raid bosses get stronger with the number of real players in the fight — residents don’t affect it. You can recruit right from chat with “📣 Call for group”, choosing the raid and the roles you need. How groups work: Groups and roles.

Step 3. Who does what in combat

The tank

An enemy attacks whoever has the most threat, and threat comes from direct damage. The tank’s job is to keep the boss on themselves. Tank specs have a taunt for that (the E key): every enemy immediately attacks only the tank for two of their turns, and the tank takes 40% less damage. Then there’s one turn of rest. If the boss targets someone other than the tank, the game prompts you: “Use Taunt!”.

The healer

The healer keeps the party standing — first of all, the tank. Healing beyond full Health isn’t wasted: the excess becomes a shield. Boss fights have a “window to heal”: if a boss turn took more than half of a fighter’s Health, the boss’s next turn can take no more than 40% from that fighter — that’s your turn to heal. Against level 60 bosses, regular healing is more reliable than a big shield: a boss hit eats the whole shield first.

Damage dealers

Damage dealers bring the boss down — the faster the better, but with care: while the tank’s taunt is resting, don’t out-damage the tank or the boss will switch to you. Watch the marker on the enemy’s portrait — it shows who will be hit.

Step 4. The rules that decide the fight

• Don’t drag it out. If a fight runs longer than expected — roughly four rounds past the estimate — the boss enrages and hits 18% harder every turn, and the stacks keep growing. Some bosses also enrage when their Health gets low. A fight that drags on is a fight you lose.
• No stun chains. After a stun a hero gets at least two turns of their own before they can be stunned again.
• The boss can’t do everything at once. It shields itself no more than once every three of its turns, and control and a heavy hit never come in the same boss turn.
• The fallen stay down. A hero who falls is out until the end of the fight; the fight is only lost when everyone has fallen. After a loss you can restart the same fight with no penalty.
• The party’s turn is 60 seconds, and everyone acts at the same time. Anyone idle for two phases in a row goes “grey”: enemies don’t attack them, but they don’t help either.

All the mechanics: Fighting a boss. A turn-by-turn guide to every level 60 boss, with damage numbers and phases, is in How to beat level 60 dungeons, raids and world bosses.

Step 5. Loot

• Every raid boss drops 3–5 epic items of item level 226 (232 on heroic). No greens or blues here.
• Items are rolled with “Need” and “Greed”. A resident only presses Need if the item fits their class and beats what they’re wearing, and only gets it if no real player pressed Need.
• The final bosses of five raids and every world boss have a 0.8% chance at a legendary item — it only ever goes to a real player.
• Each boss drops loot once a day, until the daily reset at 03:00 Moscow time; normal and heroic are counted separately. If your party falls apart after the first boss, the rest still have loot waiting for you.

On a boss you’ve already looted today you simply help your friends — no items, but no penalty either. Details: Repeat runs.

Your first raid: FAQ

What level do I need for a raid?

Level 60. Every real player in your group must be level 60.

Can I clear a raid with the world’s residents?

Yes: queue alone and the other four slots are filled by residents in the right roles. Heroic mode is designed for strong groups of real players.

What happens if the party loses?

You can restart the fight against the same boss with no penalty. Fallen heroes aren’t revived during a fight — it’s lost when everyone has fallen.

How many times a day can I run a raid?

As many as you like, but each boss drops loot once a day, until 03:00 Moscow time. Minion waves always drop loot.

The bottom line

Your first raid comes down to three things: a role you know, a party that sticks together and a fight you don’t let drag on. Get your gear to the recommended item level, pack consumables and call your party. Once normal mode feels easy, heroic awaits — read World bosses and heroic raids.