Previously, I discussed a three-step process on how to help prevent wasting time on boss fights. The process focused on explaining fight mechanics clearly, determining exactly what caused your last failure, and ensuring that the group has learned from said defeat. The more you can avoid making the same mistakes, the better - because there's an awful lot that can go wrong!
This particular post is focused on the times when the boss hit the enrage timer and then proceeded to obliterate your group. Obviously, there isn't much information to be gained from looking at the death reports in this scenario, and the defeat may cause more questions and finger-pointing than it does helpful feedback. The obvious solution is to 'do more damage', but if you leave it at that without looking into the 'how', you're relying on luck and the ability (or inability) of particular raid members to figure out what they did wrong and how they can improve. That's one risk of the game you don't have to deal with.
That all said, it is also important to realize that there are several issues that may prevent a particular player's damage or healing from being as high as other players on a given attempt. For that reason, it's important to look at more data than 'just' the last attempt when determining whether someone is slacking off or doesn't know how to play the game. So, before you're ready to /guildkick Bobby, have a look at the following.
You Are a Whole
Before you crack down on the guy who's in last on the damage meters by 0.5% DPS, it's important to realize that hitting the enrage is a failure of the group, not a failure by just that lowest player. If other players had been doing better - if the guy on the top of the charts used a second potion, had a food buff, or better-timed his cooldowns, it might have made the difference, and you wouldn't have even noticed or cared about that other guy being in last.
It is also important to realize that not all players are created equal. Some classes and specializations shine in some situations better than others (equipped gear can make a huge difference), and players themselves have a wide range of skill. For these reasons, it may be extremely unlikely - if not impossible - for Bobby to go from the bottom of the damage charts to the top on the next attempt. (Something to think about - if he did manage this, and you still wiped to the enrage timer, would you look at the new person on the bottom of the damage list? What about the next time?) Stay realistic with your expectations, and remember that 'nobody' is playing perfectly on a consistent basis. There's likely plenty of things that all players in your group could be doing better - the trick is in finding out which improvements will be the easiest and quickest to make, and focusing on the ones that may make the biggest impact.
Be sure to consider strategy changes that provide a benefit to multiple players - such as moving the boss around slower or less often to allow for higher melee damage - because these effects will likely be more significant than focusing your efforts on critiquing individual players' performances.
Use the Mechanics
The very first thing I look at when we hit an enrage timer is whether damage-increasing (or decreasing) mechanics are present within the fight. These might take the forms of buffs/debuff effects or fields that are gained at certain times (Hodir, Malygos, Blood Queen Lana'thel, Jin'rokh the Breaker, Jikun). It might also take the form of a buff/debuff that's present on the boss (Halfus Wyrmbreaker, Al'Akir, Lord Rhyolith, Wind Lord Mal'jarak, Horridon). Whatever the form, it is vital that your team recognizes these points in the fight, and that they coordinate their offensive cooldowns for the best periods of time to maximize their damage potential. Stress that using abilities immediately as they become ready may not be the best strategy! Emphasize the importance of acquiring the damage-increasing buff if it isn't automatically given.
Dead DPS = 0 DPS
One of the biggest things you can do to improve your group's damage is to increase your group's survivability. A dead player does not help you with enrage timer issues, and even if you are able to revive them midfight, that's time and resources that the healer could've spent elsewhere, which may lead to other problems. Additionally, the resurrected player will be missing various group buffs, which, even if reapplied, also take a little away from the buffing players' damage, healing, and survivability (clicking that out-of-the-way buff button 'can' lead to bad things). Lastly, if you were stacking a damage-increasing fight mechanic-exclusive buff (as mentioned above, such as the Primal Nutriment from Jikun), dying may clear that buff and really hurt your chances of completing the fight successfully.
In the case of extremely tight DPS checks where Heroism/Bloodlust has already been used and someone gets resurrected midfight, you can help gain back some of that lost damage by recasting it for the fallen player, but these situations are not very common.
Be Prepared
It's much easier to prepare well for a night of raiding than it is to play well for a night of raiding. Use the time before raid to ensure that your character has the optimal stats reforged, gear enchanted, and gems socketed. Come equipped with flasks, potions, and food. While this isn't usually something that can be quickly fixed mid-raid, if you're inspecting an underperforming player and half of his gear isn't enchanted, you know you're likely going to have a lot more problems.
Special Assignments & Situations
This really goes without saying, but I nearly forgot it, so here it is. If you have someone on a special assignment for a fight, chances are good that their overall damage (or healing) will be lower than other players. This is normal and to be expected - it is more important for the player to be putting out fires on heroic Ragnaros, or juggling light orbs on Blood Prince Council than it is for them to be maximizing their damage numbers on the boss.
That said, there are also some situations where a player's damage will be lower due to fight mechanics beyond your control. An example of this may be a group where you have only one ranged DPS, and thus, they get consistently targeted with a lightning orb that they need to kite.
Try to get the whole story before you assume that someone isn't doing their job correctly - they may be having trouble with things that you don't even know about. In this way, you may be able to change your strategy or group composition slightly to better address the problem.
Priorities, People
If, after all of the above, nothing seems to fit your damage issues, you may need to take a closer look at specific players' performances. Addons like Recount or Skada do a good job of tracking current information, but additional information can be obtained from using a site like www.worldoflogs.com. Using World of Logs, you can tell just how often a player has specific debuffs on the boss (such as DoTs), and by looking at these percentages of uptime, along with seeing their entire damage ability breakdown, you can usually get a quick idea as to whether they are playing correctly.
Encourage players to research their class/specialization, and to try new things. Additional addons such as WeakAuras or Mik's Scrolling Battle Text may help. Above all, promote communication. It's difficult to help fix a problem when you don't know about it!
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