HELP!

[GoldynMoon]

Ok, me and a couple friends are currently setting up a new pvp group. I'm a pretty experienced tank, been mt for high end guilds for just about every mmo out there, but im looking forward to giving it a hand in a pvp environment. Now i've quitely been doing soem reading, and unfortunately the pvp end of things is really quite different from pve end of things. I've got alot of questions i just dont have answers too, and was hoping the eq2 community might be able to help out. First off.. our standard core we'll be running with. Melee Warden Scourge Mystic (may switch to melee / crit later, but wants to try out scourge first) Archer Spec Ranger and me... ?? Spec Guardian we'll be aaing pretty much all the way up while pvping.. i expect to have around 25 AA by lvl 15-16 so to begin with the questions: 1) How do taunts work in the game. I've previously been under the impression that anything that did not say forces target to clear or forces change target... had no affect on a player character? Is this true? as looking over all the spell descriptions i've see for the guardian, all of them seem to state, just increase threat, and say nothing of forcing target changes. This doesnt seem likely, as i've fought lots of guardians, and seem to always get locked onto them. 2) What spec would you reccomend? Again, my main focus will be to keep targets locked onto me as much as possible.. any dps that could be eeked out on the side of that would be great. Seems like just about everyone reccomends filling out the Warrior tree before the guardian tree. Also seems to be general consensus to go down stamina line for double attack / dps with only a marginal loss to avoidance. Then filling out str line for crits, and then either agi or int. So what would you reccomend for a pvp based build? Primary focus being holding the attention of pvp targets, and then whatever dps can be created.

[Oo]

<p>Welcome to PvP.  Tanking in PvP is so much fun, but it is totally different.  Unlike PvE, you can't just get a group's attention and then zone out while they all keep beating on you.  Your group should do great as set up, so have fun with it.</p><p>1) Taunts work differently in PvP than in PvE.  A taunt essentially forces the other player (or group) to lock on you for a set time (3 secs usually).  So all of the talk in PvE regarding agro management now being about DPS for guardians isn't quite true in PvP.  You want to use your taunts, and use them anytime they are up.  I tend to fire off encounter taunts first off when fighting another group, and then use my single target taunts to peel off freeps who have focused on my healers or squishies.  I dps while taunts are down.  With your group, your dps will come in handy, as you don't have any big nuke casters.</p><p>2) I think the same spec you have seen advocated here for PvE is the best for PvP as well.  I don't see any of the Guardian tree as being especially good for PvP, so I set mine up with an idea that I am still going to be tanking PvE.  For PvP, go down STR line only through the first three abilities (Melee Crit), but not into the fourth (Hate management) for the reason I mentioned above.  Don't need hate in PvP.  I went Sta, Str 4 4 8, and then Double Attack line in Guardian.  After 70 I went back to the Int line and also filled in Enhance Reinforcement and Enhance Rescue.  I am about to head down either Crippling or Stalwarting, but haven't made up my mind there.  <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  Probably stalwarting to help the group with PvE survivability.  </p><p>I tend to PvP in buckler spec and switch to a towershield only to survive spike damage (pretty much the way I do in PvE).  Set up a macro for switching shields and stances. Have your ranger MA so that you can switch targets in PvP, without dragging all of the firepower with you.  Only one thought (question) about your group setup (and I am not an expert on healer lines), but I would as MT want one of my healers speced for max healing, crit healing IMO.  It's not glamorous, but somebody has to keep you up.  </p><p>Have fun.  </p>