With the new Dungeon Finder, I have been running a ridiculous amount of Heroics.  All of these runs have brought a concerning trend to my attention.  Apparently, there are very few players out there that understand the etiquette of Rebirth … That’s a “Battle Rez” to you non-Druids out there.  So here is a little refresher of the two simple rules for you folks.

Rule #1: Never ask for or demand a Rebirth

That’s right, just because you are dead doesn’t mean that Rebirth is yours by right.  A properly used Rebirth can save a wipe, but it is more than likely not your call when to execute a Rebirth .  So whose call is it?  Ultimately, it is one of three people: The Raid Leader, the Healing Lead, or the individual Druid.  If you are not one of these people, don’t call for a Rebirth , just lie there quietly and think about what you did wrong. 

Now some of you are thinking, “I need to let the Druid know I am dead so he can rez me!”.  Let’s talk about this.  If the Druid in you raid is Tanking, it is very unlikely that he’s going to be able to cast Rebirth on you without risking death himself.  Why? You ask.  Dire Bear Form is what turns a squishy Druid into a big butted, agile Meat Shield.  Your Tank, who is probably busy keeping the rest of the raid alive, has to shift out of this form to execute the 2 second cast of Rebirth on your decomposing corpse.  But wait! There are more problems.  Rebirth takes 68% of a Druid’s base mana to cast, Shifting into Dire Bear Form takes 35% of the Druid’s base mana… Do the math and leave the Bears alone.

Ok, what about our Healers?  Healers see all, they already know who is dead, it is their job to keep people from dying in the first place!  So then why didn’t the healer immediately begin casting Rebirth as soon as you died? Well it could be they are busy keeping the rest of the raid alive.  Any time spent casting Rebirth , is time the Healing Druid is not healing the rest of the raid.  Now in certain circumstances this is not a big deal, but when the Healing Team is struggling to heal through the damage the raid is already taking, they can’t always afford the time it takes to cast Rebirth .  Trust me, they know you are dead and if you deserve a Rebirth , you will get one as soon as they can afford the cast time.  Just relax, you’re not getting any more dead… but the rest of the raid is.

Now what about the DPS Druids?  Well, they are waiting for the Raid Leader to tell them to cast Rebirth . So either they’ve already been told or you don’t deserve that Rebirth .

Rule #2: Accept a Rebirth intelligently

Ok! You’ve receive a Rebirth ! Just because that life giving dialog has opened doesn’t mean you need to click accept right away.  We’ve already established that the Druid will cast Rebirth on you when it is convenient for them, that doesn’t mean it is safe to accept that Rebirth .  Unless the Druid has the Glyph of Rebirth , and no self respecting Druid does, you are going to come back unbuffed and with 6,400 health.  This means, if there is an AoE ability going off at the moment you are more than likely going to die before the Healers can get you back to fighting condition.  Know the fight, accept that Rebirth when it is safe to do so.  It saves you from looking stupid, and it saves a wasted cooldown.

The rules of Rebirth are not that difficult to follow or remember. It really just boils down to common sense.  If you follow these simple rules, I promise you you’ll never hear “No, you can’t have a Battle Rez.”