On a PvP server, if you're assembling for a (serious) raid and are attacked, you sigh, say "goddamnit... jerks", and then res as fast as possible in a way that will get you to the raid ASAP. (And that's back when you couldn't just teleport directly to the instance from wherever.)

"Memorized patterns based on experience" is a good characterization (often they're even memorized consciously). Although, there is a nontrivial element of intuition in competitive (arena) PvP, where your opponent's psychology is an important factor.