ROTATION or PASS THE DEEPSIE ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE

     You've looked at websites, pored over guides, even gotten an awesome raider to give you pointers, and by now you have some idea of the main ways raiders stuff juicy digits down the calculator's electric maw. Today we cover the side of the equation that's all you, baby: Rotation.

    A rotation is the sequence in which one uses abilities to produce consistent results. Think of a single round of a rotation as a "combo" in an fighting game. Certain actions flow naturally into others, and certain abilities only come up so often, so you need to use the most powerful when they're up, supplementing them with buffs and lesser attacks. Repeating this combo keeps your numbers consistently high.

    Two elements make up any rotation: the basic sequence, and sequence-breakers. The basic sequence uses your most powerful abilities as often as possible without running out of fuel (Mana, Energy, Rage, etc.) Every class's abilities lend themselves to ideal sequences: Giant Fireball does tons of damage but takes five seconds to cast, so it might best be followed with an instant-cast ability, and that ability by something that has no global cool-down. You can't just spam Giant Fireball because if you divide how much damage it does over the time it takes to cast, you're losing out on a lot of damage. Meanwhile, Judo Chop might hit hard, but it has a five second cool-down, so you need to use your other powerful strikes in that time.
  
    Sequence-breakers are abilities only useful in certain situations, but those situations come up often enough, and the abilities are useful enough, to merit using them much of the time they're available, even if it means interrupting your basic sequence. Certain attacks might only be available under certain conditions (after a critical hit, against undead, or when the target is under a certain spell) but might be of enough benefit to break the rotation and use. Other sequence-breakers are always available, but offer a lasting effect such as a buff or de-buff that you don't need to spam so much as keep active.

    Each class and situation has its own ideal rotation. There Can Be Only One!, which changes patch to patch. Not all rotations are created equal. Some have "free time" for sequence-breakers, some can be broken and resumed, and some need to start over from scratch. One class might have a simple rotation where you spam one attack, wait for a power move to come off cooldown, and buff yourself so often. Others are frenetic, with many sequence-breakers to use or not depending on the situation. Healers have a few different rotations depending on their target's damage intake, and many casters have a rotation for endurance and another for maximum burn. I myself was delighted that tanking paladin cool-downs had me repeating a rotation by process of elimination.

    Many players chafe at this repetitiveness, but I say the very joy of a rotation is the repetition. You learn your ideal combination by touch and timing and need never waste glances on bars. Rotations impose rhythm, which helps relieve stress and pace oneself. Sequence-breakers to keep you on your toes. Game-play becomes automatic, and players put out high numbers constantly, freeing much of their concentration. Leaders in particular have enough to worry about without stressing about which ability to use when. Knowing your rotation lets you focus on strategy, strategy brings down bosses, and bosses drop our next subject:

    At long last, let's talk loot.