Tank pet holding agro - Defensive or Offensive Stance?

[Eriol]

So which do you guys think is better for the tank holding agro against a single mob, defensive or offensive stance?  I have always ran soloing with my tank in offensive stance, but with the greater percentage of my DPS coming from my spells from the influx of +spell damage items, I'm curious as to what people here have had the best results with.  The "snap agro" AA can get resisted sometimes, so figuring out the best way for my tank to reliably KEEP agro would be great.Any opinions and/or facts out there?

[Xalmat]

Offensive, no question. The extra high haste that Offensive stance puts on the pet <i>more</i> than offsets the AE taunt that defensive stance gives out. And against your run-of-the-mill solo mobs in Kunark (even the 1-up Named), your pet won't have to worry about defense too much since mobs are dying much quicker.

[Cer]

I always run with def stance, the extra hate gain and the extra 16% hp helps with tainted heals. I have no problem with my pet keeping aggro with the STA line taunt and aoe KD. Mobs still die plenty fast.

[Miztery]

<p>I would consider it a game flaw if in fact offensive stance held better agro than defensive.</p><p>It's what its ment for (tanking = holding agro), and to me, theres no doubt that defensive holds better agro against singles, and naturally against groups of mobs.</p><p>If you are serious about solo'ing you'll have Tainted Heals and Sta line with, as already mentioned, AE KD and pet taunt. Those things combined means you wont ever pull agro, unless you actually "want to".</p><p>This is pre-kunark though.</p>

[KBern]

I use defensive mainly but I do experiment depending on the mobs I am fighting.

[Mew]

Defensive stance actually has hate gain buffs built into it so your pet holds aggro better.  Also, in defensive your tank pet takes much more of a beating.  Some necro's will build up avoidance and mitigation on themselves and tank for their pet; relying on lifetaps to keep them alive.  But I find that strategy too risky.  Tank pet with tainted heals and STA/WIS AA's is the way to go.Make sure your spells are at least adept 1.  Resists can kill you.

[Zapo]

- against heroic mobs (+++): defensive stance- against solo mobs: offensive stance will do the job, actually any stance will do <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Skywarrior]

Offensive stance is primarily for scout and mage pet.  Running offensive stance on a tank pet just weakens the primary attributes that are the reason you are using the tank pet in the first place.  The difference in killing speed is negligible since you are providing the bulk of the dps, not the pet, in most cases.  The difference in what you can do with the pet and what it can survive is significant, however.  I find the AA taunt to be reliable more than 80% of the time but you do have to put more than a couple points into it.  Since I run solo a lot, I have 8 points in mine.  It has been a life saver on many occasions, especially with adds and getting them snap taunted onto the pet.

[Xalmat]

I guess it's different for Conjurors than it is Necros in this regard, then.

[KBern]

<cite>Xalmat wrote:</cite><blockquote>I guess it's different for Conjurors than it is Necros in this regard, then.</blockquote><p>I am sure it is.  You all have a few more buffs that directly affect your pet such as damage proc's, stone skins, mit buff? (your group one?) etc.</p><p>That probably helps you all a lot with pet agro where we do not get those types of extras to assist in agro and DPS.</p>

[Xalmat]

Something like that, yeah. But really for a Conjuror it comes down the pet dealing more raw damage, thereby generating more raw hate, than the defense stance can provide. I assumed it was the same for a Necro, but differences in our offense stances, and that hate proc and lifetap DS in defense stance, seems to change things a bit.

[BLIGHTBRINGER]

<p>use defensive stance no question.  suggest once you got tained heal you then get perceptors command as this instantly puts pet higher up hate/aggro list than you.  it works a treat esp with max AA points in it when 100% effective.  put TH and PC together and life is very comfortable - give it a go you wont regret it!</p><p>Hellstone</p>

[Eriol]

<cite>BLIGHTBRINGER wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>use defensive stance no question.  suggest once you got tained heal you then get perceptors command as this instantly puts pet higher up hate/aggro list than you.  it works a treat esp with max AA points in it when 100% effective.  put TH and PC together and life is very comfortable - give it a go you wont regret it!</p></blockquote>Ya, already doing that, but PC gets resisted a disturbing amount of the time.  I wonder if it's possible to track that zonewide with ACT, the resist rate, since I swear it's gotta be resisted almost 1/3 the time when soloing (I'm at 100% on it, so it's not that).

[Gargamel]

<p>At least part of the issue is that our defensive stance is lvl 80, so you are using a T8 pet with a T7 stance for a while.</p><p>Why sony put it at lvl 80 is beyond me, but it wouldn't surprise me if that is at least part of the reason for it (that and the small upgrade/downgrade issue between T7ms1 and T8mad3)</p>

[BLIGHTBRINGER]

<p>interesting that cos i get few resists - maybe one in ten but havent counted. reuse timer is quick enough that i just hit it again if resisted. very rare i get killed in meantime esp if you hit fear meanwhile.  bit odd really if  you get so  many resists isnt it?</p><p>Hellstone</p>

[Noct1234]

I almost never use defensive stance, probably because the last one I have is from level 42.The def stance gives a flat -25 attack speed at all levels while the 67 off stance M1 gives +59, so you are gaining about 85% auto-attack DPS.AFAIK, 1 damage = 1 hate.  Is the hate proc, lifetap shield, and hate increase worth that?Won't Consumption proc almost twice as many times under Off stance?I only use def stance if I get multiple ^^^ at the same time or against a powerful nuker like X'Haviz or Dozer or some x2's.

[Gargamel]

<p>In that case I'd assume it has to do with your priorities.</p><p>If you are more worried about aggro, in single mob cases, offensive stance may be better.If you are more worried about your pet staying up, defenseive stance may be better.</p>

[WasFycksir]

<p>PVE solo easy stuff = off</p><p>PVE solo hard/harder stuff = def</p><p>PVE good group = off</p><p>PVE bad group/sucky tank/inadequate heals = def (secondary tank/back up heal mode here)</p><p>PVP grouped/raided = off</p><p>PVP solo = def</p><p>Perceptors Command is 100% chance with 8 points in it (PVE).</p><p>Of course there are 2 combos each for 3 different pets, and this thread was specifically about the tank.</p><p>But for LL grey kills then it's mage + off at one extreme to tank + def to the other.  Add to that mix the quality of each spell too.</p>