SK in high lvl groups

[BrotterB]

I've been playing EQ2 for awhile now with a wizard but Im kinda getting annoyed now at my ability to solo. My buddy told me SK is one of the best routes to go for soloing but I was wondering what the SK's role in a group was. Is there a need/purpose for them in higher level groups? Or should I just stick with Wizard?

[Norrsken]

<cite>BrotterB wrote:</cite><blockquote>I've been playing EQ2 for awhile now with a wizard but Im kinda getting annoyed now at my ability to solo. My buddy told me SK is one of the best routes to go for soloing but I was wondering what the SK's role in a group was. Is there a need/purpose for them in higher level groups? Or should I just stick with Wizard? </blockquote>they are tanks, so sure they can tank at high end.

[Antryg Mistrose]

Groups: 1 Priest, 1 Tank, 4 others (generally DPS chars like wizard but maybe an enchanter or bard). So the numbers are on the side of the Wizard.  SKs can tank just fine at the higher levels

[Und3rt0w]

<p>I've grouped with some very good SK tanks - based on the stigma that they're bad tanks (I've heard this a lot and its weird to me) I was VERY surprised with how well they controlled things.</p><p>I know at lower levels when I'm tanking, I also do much more dps than I would expect...maybe I've had bad group mates though?</p>

[Hamervelder]

We do just fine in high lvl groups.  My sk can (and has) tanked every non-raid zone in the game, and even some raid zones.  Grab a defiler and take 'em with you when you go.  Defiler + SK= amazing duo.

[Reflexx]

<p>My SK is a MT for a guild on my server. works amazing! I hold hate the same if not better than a zerker , plus DM makes my MT healers 60% efficiant on every pull for the first 10 seconds, the most crucial time in just about every encounter.. SK's can tank as good as any other plate wearer =)</p>

[holypaladin28]

<p>i can tear apart castle mistmoore while tanking shot its easier for me to tank it then other tanks with all the heals andelifetaps we take alot of damage to die</p><p>and in pvp sk'ds are one of the best tanks DM doom judgement the damage wards the dot's and all the heals yeah bro </p>

[Coica]

plus we make an excellant of-tank if needed as well.  we can take agro off the MT when needed almost at will and let it go just as easily when ready.  I love NOT being MT sometimes and going all DPS mode, and then throwing on the shield and hitting our snap agro when the p  oo  p hits the fan and just wailing away, dropping a nice long hammer ground, pop my 10 sec immunity after being almost dead and calling out my life tap to get healed up to full. I can almost see the looks on other players faces as they realize what just happened after they thought the group was about to get wiped.  god I love SK's!!!!!

[Dragonsfire73]

<p><b>Coica</b></p><p><b>I love doing the same thing, I think that is one of my strongest rolls in a group that I am not the MT. Save the MT save the group...</b></p><p><b>I found it to be very enjoyable to be doing 1k dps, the switch to Def and pull aggro off the MT so the healers can deal with the burst dmg etc. Then I am right back to dps. I just wish the equipmacro would allow you to do more than 1 item/s  oh well it works well enough so far..</b></p>

[Wytie]

Coica@Butcherblock wrote: <blockquote>plus we make an excellant of-tank if needed as well.  we can take agro off the MT when needed almost at will and let it go just as easily when ready.  I love NOT being MT sometimes and going all DPS mode, and then throwing on the shield and hitting our snap agro when the p  oo  p hits the fan and just wailing away, dropping a nice long hammer ground, pop my 10 sec immunity after being almost dead and calling out my life tap to get healed up to full. I can almost see the looks on other players faces as they realize what just happened after they thought the group was about to get wiped.  god I love SK's!!!!! </blockquote><p> hell freakn yea i do this all the time, i love playing my SK cause i can be the lazy off tank and go full dps, then right before "p oo p" hits the fan swap stances pop DM and save a wipe np, it works soooo well it pulls agro to me no matter what, and makes the caster finish the mob faster and the healers cast there heals faster to re-save me and the main tank.  I could go on and on about its utility but thats another story...  <b>DM the bastest buff in game ever, in both pve & pvp <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <hr /></b></p><p>All in all <u><i>we tank just fine but off tank is where we really shine</i></u>, exp in pvp where our taunt locks lack a bit.</p>

[Wytie]

<cite>Dragonsfire73 wrote:</cite><blockquote><p><b> I just wish the equipmacro would allow you to do more than 1 item/s  oh well it works well enough so far..</b></p></blockquote><i>I found if you click the macro a few times it will get all your gear switched just takes as many clicks as gear your swaping, i now tend to only swap 2H for 1H and shield click it twice and your good to go......</i>

[Meryddian]

SKs make awesome tanks in groups of all levels. <i>Especially</i> in zones that have a lot of group mobs, because we've got like 5-6 AEs, which means we can absolutely go to town on them. With our wards and lifetaps and a good group of DPSers, we can handle stuff with a single healer that I've seen some guardians struggle on with two healers. SKs also solo fairly well. I can solo a pretty good chunk of Nest solo, for example. What annoys me is when a group is looking for DPS and I say hey, I can bring my SK. And they're all, 'No man, we have a tank, we want DPS'. So I go, 'Clearly you must be used to grouping with really crappy SKs'. I regularly parse anywhere from 600-1200 dps in groups, and it's always amusing to have a group member parsing and consistently get 1st or 2nd with a wiz or such in the group. SKs can raid tank as well - one of my guild's main tanks is a SK. (For reference, we've cleared Freethinkers, Mayong, and smacked down Wuoshi/EH).

[Norrsken]

<cite>Wytie wrote:</cite><blockquote>Coica@Butcherblock wrote: <blockquote>plus we make an excellant of-tank if needed as well.  we can take agro off the MT when needed almost at will and let it go just as easily when ready.  I love NOT being MT sometimes and going all DPS mode, and then throwing on the shield and hitting our snap agro when the p  oo  p hits the fan and just wailing away, dropping a nice long hammer ground, pop my 10 sec immunity after being almost dead and calling out my life tap to get healed up to full. I can almost see the looks on other players faces as they realize what just happened after they thought the group was about to get wiped.  god I love SK's!!!!! </blockquote><p> hell freakn yea i do this all the time, i love playing my SK cause i can be the lazy off tank and go full dps, then right before "p oo p" hits the fan swap stances pop DM and save a wipe np, it works soooo well it pulls agro to me no matter what, and makes the caster finish the mob faster and the healers cast there heals faster to re-save me and the main tank.  I could go on and on about its utility but thats another story...  <b>DM the bastest buff in game ever, in both pve & pvp <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> <hr /></b></p><p>All in all <u><i>we tank just fine but off tank is where we really shine</i></u>, exp in pvp where our taunt locks lack a bit.</p></blockquote>I find that we do an awesome job as offtanks in pvp as well. Just have a big ugly guardian as mt, and have him lock down the aggro, and when his health goes low, taunt the crap off him. Healers get him back up, and he gets the aggro back. And if you feel like it, the two of you can bounce the aggro between you constantly just to make the opposing group give up trying to get a target other than one of the two tanks. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> We did this in my buddy group. the warlock had 3 scouts standing next to him not attacking him after a while. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> they just gave up. and it must have [Removed for Content] them of royally when the guard hit red and I taunted them off him, and our only healer got the guard back to green, and me just lifetapping my health back up once the guard pulled the aggro off me again. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> and death march with a warlock in the group. Oh yes, sweet love baby.

[SirDinadan]

This is one area where I really have a question.. how exactly do you "let go just as easily when ready"? In groups I'm always the main tank, and can unleash every tool I have at any moment. Most of the time I'm in offensive mode, and fire off DM as often as possible. My INT ends up around 900, and with AoEs firing left and right on group mobs, well.. tanking and DPS are not mutually exclusive roles. But if I'm in a raid, and not the MT (which is usually the case), I just can't keep the aggro off of me and cast DM, both. I know some have said Feign Death.. but it's not up for me often enough, when compared to a reduced-timer DM. (And I'm not exactly sure where the aggro goes after I drop out, anyway.. FFA on the healers? Or would the MT get it back?) I'd like to avoid self-gimping, and settling down with the healers on the parse, when if I were the tank I'd be in the top 3.