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The Puller
In all cases, the most experienced group member should call the pulls.
Classes: Hunter, Rogue (for tricky pulls), tank of all varieties, any other (situational)
Skilled pulling is an art form, and although it is always important, there are certain instances (such as Zul'Farrak or the Scarlet Monastery Cathedral) where it is even more critical than usual. The puller needs to move forward extremely carefully, use an arrow or other projectile to attract the attention of the appropriate number of mobs, (while even more importantly making sure to avoid attracting additional mobs) and then lead the mobs back to the tanks.
What Pullers should do
- Do not pull until you confirm that the group is ready.
- Do not pull if your primary healer doesn't have sufficient mana.
- If you pull and are not tanking then use your least threat-producing effect to pull. (As a Misdirection-wielding hunter, you will want to deal your highest threat-producing effect.)
- If a hunter is in the party consider allowing them to set down a freeze trap for adds and allow their 30-second cooldown to run a little of its course so that they can lay another trap before the prior trap breaks. But it is not by any means necessary to let it run its full 30-second course.
- Never pull with a pet unless you are familiar with how to pull your pet back to you, and all mobs are accounted for, with tanking and CC.
- Respect raid icons if in use. Hit the designated target with the appropriate skill if given one.
- Hunters should learn how to create the Perfect Zone of Ultimate Safety, and lobby that parties they are in to use it
- Be ready to abort a bad pull, preferably with Feign Death or Vanish, simply die if all else fails, but above all, in such a case be sure that the cluster you are pulling will not get close enough to draw the rest of your party into combat, or else your death will be in vain and a wipe will ensue anyways.
What Pullers want others to know
- Do not follow the puller, stay at the planned point of engagement.
- If a ranged mob is being pulled wait until it is in range of the tank before using any aggro-generating skills.
- Do not attack mobs other than those designated for this pull.
- Don't sheep or DoT until the pull is done (else bad pulls cannot be aborted), unless one of those spells is previously announced as the pulling spell.
Who should pull
It is a long standing point of discussion whether the tank or another group member should do the pulling. If the tank pulls himself, he gains (nominal) initial aggro, which is to his advantage. He also immediately starts to gain rage (if a druid or warrior). If another party member pulls, rage buildup may not be quick enough and the aggro needs to be transferred (see also the Perfect Zone of Ultimate Safety). On the other hand, only a hunter or rogue can safely abort a bad pull, saving himself and probably other party members from dying. Pulls where a rogue should substitute for a hunter are few and far between, such as perhaps the room where one finds the first boss of the Arcatraz.
Considering all facts, it is considered by many that it is always preferable to let a level 70 hunter do the pulling if at all possible. Misdirection (available at level 70) makes the aggro transfer argument obsolete. Rogues are a valid second choice for the tricky pulls because they also have the ability to abort a bad pull (although the five minute cooldown required for Vanish is less than optimal). Using the main tank as a puller is frequently the best choice if no hunter or rogue is available, or if it is a common pull.
Absent a level 70 hunter (having Misdirection), if a protection paladin (having Avenger's Shield should almost always pull unless it is a very tricky pull. In such a case, the paladin should give his best effort at hitting all CC targets other than trap targets. This is so that the mobs will come for the tank when the CC runs out, and will not attack the (probably) squishy CCer. Also this allows the CC to take place far enough away from the tank so that he can use his AoE to allow for better aggro generation to compete with the healer or any stray dps.
Again, absent a level 70 hunter with a raging tank (druid or warrior), it may sometimes be helpful to have a mage initiate the pull with polymorph. It should be done carefully, and all mobs that will be pulled must be accounted for – be it polymorph, seduction, tanking, offtanking, trapping, etc. – or the mage will go down rather quickly. The mage should follow the polymorph by moving behind the tank so that the aggroed mobs will have to pass the tank before they get to the mage. And if a hunter is trapping, that should also be between the mage and the cluster so there is less room for error.
How to pull
Don't pull from the middle of a group. Each mob has an aggro radius. Other mobs crossing this radius (or in any other way chained to the pulled mob) will pass their (nominal) aggro on and follow into the melee. So always pull the mob closest to you. Try to pull as few mobs as possible. If you are not the tank, keep the group well away from you so that if you have a bad pull, the rest of your group don't fall into the aggro radius of the pulled mobs. If everything fails, it's better to take the death and have the healer resurrect only you, than to wipe the party.
Bring the mobs to the party, not the party to the mobs. If you're pulling a ranged mob or caster, make sure you bring him within melee range of the group by going back beyond the group. In that situation it's also particularly useful to do a line-of-sight pull, whereby you run around a corner or behind an obstacle immediately after attracting the mob's attention: leaving their line of sight forces them to follow you around the corner, which means that you do not have to run very far to get them where you want them. This requires discipline on the part of all other party members, so that they don't pull aggro early from the puller, especially if the puller is the tank. The tank should never do such a ranged pull unless it is by LOS.
Only pull mobs specified by the leader and only once he has given you permission to pull.
Request that the party leader use Lucky Charms to designate who you should pull, and who should be CC'd, to ensure that no one in the party will accidentally target and attack the mob that is designated for crowd control.
Warrior or Druid Charge
Warriors should not use Charge when pulling unless you are familiar with the pulls and know by personal experience that it is acceptable. Even so, it is something you will rarely want to do. In those cases where Charge would be unacceptable, and you are pulling as the tank, use Defensive Stance (with shield), and a ranged weapon to do the actual pulling. It is important to bring the enemy back to you, rather than plunge into it, as this greatly reduces the likelihood of extra adds joining the fray. There are times, however, where it may be the best course of action to use it.
If there is no danger of unwanted adds, Charge is an exceptional tanking ability when done correctly. It places the tank far enough into the mob to achieve the Perfect Zone of Ultimate Safety if the charge draws more mobs then foreseen. The initial rage generation is huge when it comes to gathering up aggro; speeding up the nuking of tough encounters. It is certainly not appropriate to initiate every pull with a charge, but there are quite some situations where a charge is a good idea; especially on Boss Fights. A warrior tank can charge into a mob, immediately use Demoralizing Shout and a Sunder Armor, quickly switch to defensive stance and apply another sunder or revenge. This takes only a fraction of the time needed to build up enough rage for 3 sunders in defensive stance, and it makes it nearly impossible to pull the aggro off of the tank. The casters, cc and healers can almost immediately begin to do what their roles suggest.