Need advice!

[gorlab]

I am a lvl 70 Zerker in decent gear ( 3 pieces of strongbears with other stuff close to it) - weapon is staff of direction ( chosen for dmg spread and spd of weapon based off haste ). That being said I avg dps 650ish off single encounters ( groups I avg 1800 ). I cant seem to hold aggro- I mainly group with a friend who plays a wizard ( he is in full set of EOF fabled and top of the line everything else). All my spells are master 1 ( as are his ). I talk with him via phone while we play and I know he holds back and is not going crazy while we hunt. I realize Zerkers generate hate from dmg and am wondering if my main problem is my weapon? That being said I dont raid so dont have access to the top tier of weapons. My questions is this- for those of you who have switched from berserker to Guardian- Did it make a difference? are you happy? would this solve my aggro holding problems or am I being a noob and just missing something? Please give me any advice you have as I am feeling like a loser of a tank <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[salle]

I've never played a zerker, but my best friend has, we've leveled up and played alot together and I've watched him play alone as well. I'd say you should stay with your zerker and learn how to increase your damage output, there's learning which order to do  your combat arts and also getting your AA spec right. And perhaps rethink your weapon choice, or is your crit chanse over 30%. You would perhaps gain more from a weapon that had a proc on it, any kind will give hate, and with some better fighter stats like str, agi and sta. Have you gone the Stamina line in the warrior tree?But if you feel you've already pushed the lim its of what you're capable of and don't think you  still have something to learn in how to increase y our damage as a zerker then sure, guardians get some tools to keep agro against 1 single person, a spell that reduces one other players hate with 35% we can then intercept almost all damage that p erson gets by putting 2 other buffs on him which h elps, as well as having a rescue type proc that we can use every 2.5 minutes if the wizzy still pulls agro... oh and our root which also helps keeping mobs beside us instead of running to the casters...

[Snorm]

<p>I don't think there is a tanking class in the game that could hold aggro against a much better geared wizzie that has half a clue in a duo setup. Of course if he is good, he won't be pulling aggro continuously when it will cause issues (and you don't say that he does) They gave other classes hate controls for a reason. </p><p>Something more like:</p><p> Zerk, Wiz, Trouby/Dirge, Coercer, Swash/Assassin, Healer should result in a very improved aggro setting.</p><p> Snorm -- 70 Guard</p>

[Wilin]

<p>Every class that does burst damage (very high damage in short time) has to "hold back" at the beginning of fights. Wizards are one of those classes. Unfortunately, I think wizards also have the worst aggro reduction of all the burst dps classes and they're wearing tissue paper for armor.</p>

[BoneSmasher]

Lol, consider yourself lucky he is not a brig.  Agro monsters!

[Wilin]

<cite>Brand@Everfrost wrote:</cite><blockquote>Lol, consider yourself lucky he is not a brig.  Agro monsters!</blockquote>My other car is a 70 Brig. Hence my experience with burst damage. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Barok]

<p>as stated many MANY times in these forums. any DPS that unleashes all hell in the first 5 seconds of ANY fight deserves to die and die alot. </p><p>just as you , as a tank, have had to learn which mobs to place where on pulls ,ect,ect...DPS classes have got to learn how to play their toon as well or there will always be a agro issue.</p><p>if the agro issue is happening and you know your friend is holding back .  i would suggest what you have already stated. move some weapons around see what works best for you.</p><p>G'Luck</p>

[gorlab]

So I specced away from the int line and topped of the hate part of str. I also dropped my slower weapon as my haste is now around 50-70 self buffed ( got a bloodspiller- 1.6 delay ) - dropped some coin on a couple of t7 adornments , picked up a unrest buckler last night and just generally topped off my guy in a few areas I can do without raiding. We tried Unrest again last night and were definately doing better- the four of us-  I dual box a 70 templar and he dual boxes a 70 fury got all the way upstairs ( through bartender, screwloose and torklar) before we just got too tired to continue. I am holding aggro better, and he is now figuring out the rate in which he can unload. So this is a better spec for me, granted I am doing abit less dps ( though really not much less- before I was avg'ing 650 now it's about 550-600- and still way higher on groups). I guess all in all I am happier with the changes, though I think there still is room for improvement in what I do. Thanks to all who made some suggestions

[Raahl]

<p>I'd stay Zerker if I were you.   IMO, your group hate generation is superior to a guardians.</p><p>I still have problems with aggro with certain classes.  Sometimes it's really not the class it's the person behind the class.   I've seen 2 similarly equipped Wizards, one never seems to get aggro and the other constantly gets aggro.</p><p>I find tabbing between the enemies and throwing a taunt helps, but it can also cause the mob that the group is beating on to break off and kill the DPS classes.  If you have classes that use AoE's a lot they will more than likely get aggro off of you.  Being a guardian will only make this happen more often.</p><p>Just get the best equipment you can find and upgrade all your CA to Adept 3 or Master 1, if they are not already.</p>