RoD An Aggro Displacement/Estimation Tool at the begining of a raid fight?

[Cyanbane]

   I play a dirge as my main, but I have a wizzy coming through the ranks right now into T7 soon, and I have been trying to keep up with RoD and the ROK Wizzy stuff, and came up with this thought:I don't raid with my wizzy yet, so it could be completely off, but if you had a x3 raid with a wizzy group of 3 or 4 casters, troub and healer could this spell at the beginning of the fight be a good way to be able to nuke earlier in a named/longer raid battle?    I havent seen too many parses of the spell, but from what it looks like most of the "casters" end up doing about the same dmg (if you had not added in freehand/ro).  Could this be a good way to start off a fight to manage aggro because you know how much estimated hate all the casters will get?  Once the tanks have aggro could this be a good spell to start off with because you know how much each mage is estimated going to produce and could also be used as a "call to arms" to start nukes (ie tanks have aggro under control, begin nukes?)Was just a thought.

[Jy]

<p>A good idea but most people dont allow wizards to do the Assist call. Thats usually up to a scout or an off tank of sorts. However I dont know of many people that still make people hold dps for a few seconds so the tank can get some agro. I did in earlier when I started raiding in T7 but I dont experience that much anymore. Hell, I probably wouldnt listen anyway, not like I did then ^ ^ But if youre talking for dps this is a good spell to open up with like right on pull. Right on pull as in right as the tanks running back with mob ^ ^ It has a fairly long recast so the tank should have enough agro to handle the nuke w/out any issues.  Although, I did have an illusionist crit big on it one time, pull agro and died. That was funny. I bet its not often Illu's get to do that. Of course I wasnt laughing at the time cuz I had just killed my TC =(</p>

[SacDaddy420]

Not sure about others but the mages in my group each have their own personal "pre-fight" spell order.  I.E. mine is Glacialshield, VG/Ice, proto, ST in that order.  There's alot of meaning to the first spells you cast as far as whether you start strong and remain on top (easier) or play catch up DPS the whole fight (harder).  You dont really want to mess with that, esp with a spell like RoD, which will effect all of your mages.  Enjoy needing hearts and shards for the nite.  I am using this now as follows :     I cast the nova line very early so it is usually up 2wice per fight.   You should by now in T8 raiding have a pretty good mental "feel" for when its about to be refreshed.   At that time I hit my group macro ( all it does is /g Rays in 5 ), cast nova, and queue RoD.  Alternatively, if mobs are being burned down so fast that there is no chance the above will work out ( you really dont want to mis judge your fights simply becuase you believe casting cycles are set in stone  I.E. start everyone on Rays too late and not even hit with it- enjoy hearts/shards after that too)...I usually will have Rays on my mind when I see the healthbar yellow.  Remember to always give the warning, bust out a couple spells then hit RoD

[Peccatum]

I am still nervous about using RoD in a raid or group situation.  I am not sure the overall DPS of the spell is actually greater than what those classes can do on their own in that same period of time.  What I am thinking (and I could be wrong on this) is that the best time to use RoD is in those situations where the fight is still going and people are beginning to be OOP.  RoD would then be effective int his situation since they are able to sit back and cast a spell without using any of there power pool.  Do you guys think this is practical?  Obviously it assumes the wizard has enough power themselves to cast RoD.