Troubles with crowd control while duoing

[Nightmarus]

Hello there.I rolled an SK just a few weeks ago and so far i really like the class. I am usually duoing together with an Inquisitor and on weekends we go for dungeon crawls or heroic instances which are a few lvls below us. So far we have no troubles but lately i am having problems keeping the aggro on me. On single mob encounters aggro is no problem as im DPSing the mob right from the start. Problems arise when we have to face heroic encounters with 4 or more NPCs. Sometimes during the fight, after 30-90secs, always one or two mobs start heading for the inquisitor and even if i notice it soon enough i have a hard time pulling them back before the Inq goes down. Last weekend i couldnt believe my eyes when one of the mobs even resisted my rescue taunt <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/385970365b8ed7503b4294502a458efa.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />The Inq just hit 30, my SK is 40 (im mentoring down to 30) and my buddy tells me he doesnt have any de-aggro spells except one 'emergency' de-aggro spell with insane high recast time. My SK has only one encounter taunt and 4 AoE's. Not sure if its an problem with the classes or our tactics. Our usual tactic is:SK body pulls the mobSK releases encounter tauntInq starts casting reactivesAll mobs bashing the SK, getting damage and hate from the SKs reactive buffsSK releases all 4 AoE damage strikes availableSK picking primary target (usual the NPC healers first) and starts bashing themInq casting debuffs on target and goes close for additional melee dmgInq refreshes reactives and heals when necessarySK refreshing encounter taunt + AoE strikes as soon as they are available againrinse and repeat ...As longer the fight goes as higher the chance is that a one or two of the mobs turn around suddenly and start bashing the Inq.Are we doing something wrong here ?

[Hugsnkissums]

<p>SKs do have aggro problems the longer a fight gets drug out. In later levels its less a problem because you have AAs, more abilities to use, more damage, and sometimes you find someone who can give you an aggro transfer. I hated leveling my SK in the beginning, though mentoring is helping you absorb some hits, you're still missing some key spells to help you manage aggro in multiple mob encounters like those. Most SKs need a few seconds to get good aggro before you get help from anyone in your group. Make sure your Inquisitor friend isn't pre-warding you because that'll draw a ton of hate and you don't want to be starting out in a hate deficit right from the get go. The fact of the matter is your Inquisitor buddy is probably doing more damage then you already and his heals are putting him at the top of the aggro list. </p><p>My advice, check your AA build. 4-4-8 INT will give you the most damage out of your spells and the biggest life taps you can muster that should help you keep aggro. Ensure he's giving you a few good seconds to beat on the mobs before he's doing much of anything to help out with damage. Inquisitors can deal out a lot of damage so have him throttle back some on the DPS...dead healers don't help anyone. </p><p>SK's are big on outlasting mobs more then outdamaging them. Its more noticable in earlier levels which makes them not so small group friendly then. A duo in the early levels is always going to be missing out on somthing, if not heals it's usually power regen or DPS. It may not be a bad to see if anyone else will join you that might be able to help you burn mobs faster or give you an aggro transfer. I'd recommend picking up a chanter or any one of the scouts if you can find em. </p>

[Nakash]

<p>Some thinks that may help</p><p>-Whats your spell quality ? Any room to upgrade ?</p><p>   Upgrade Group Taunt first, or take a M2 if possible. after that in youre case upgrade youre AE Spells/CAs</p><p>- If you have 4 AE Attacks at this point it looks like you have taken STA Line.</p><p>  Max INT 448 first then go for Reaver Endskill or STR Line. 4th STR AA give up to 10% Hate gain. STR Endskill gives 10% Casting and Reuse Speed.</p><p>- There are Adorments that you can place on Shield or shoulders that work like a damage shild. Works fine on multi Encounters.</p><p>- Cast your Lifetap shield on yourself before you Engage.</p>

[Nightmarus]

<cite>Azzaroth@Valor wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Some thinks that may help</p><p>-Whats your spell quality ? Any room to upgrade ?</p><span style="color: #ff0000;">I am upgrading most of my spells/CAs to Adept III right now</span><p> Upgrade Group Taunt first, or take a M2 if possible. after that in youre case upgrade youre AE Spells/CAs</p><p>- If you have 4 AE Attacks at this point it looks like you have taken STA Line.</p><p> Max INT 448 first then go for Reaver Endskill or STR Line. 4th STR AA give up to 10% Hate gain. STR Endskill gives 10% Casting and Reuse Speed.</p><span style="color: #ff0000;">My AA setup looks like this atm:INT 8-4-8-2-1STR 4-1STA 4-4-144 AA overall</span><p><span style="color: #ff0000;">i guess i should have skiped the last 4 points in the INT line in favour of STR. That Reflect buff and 12% Heal crits turned out to be pretty pointless </span><img src="/eq2/images/smilies/136dd33cba83140c7ce38db096d05aed.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" /></p><p>- There are Adorments that you can place on Shield or shoulders that work like a damage shild. Works fine on multi Encounters.</p><p><span style="color: #ff0000;">I have no clue about adornments, just returned from a 2 year break. Is there any guide about it so i can catch up ?</span></p></blockquote><span style="color: #ff0000;">Thanks for all the tips so far guys, really a great community here <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></span>

[Hugsnkissums]

oooh yeah, those AAs aren't doing you a lot of justice. STA AAs are usually picked up at a later time because other AAs are more important. I'd highly recommend you only go 4-4-8 INT. Anything else in that AA tree doesn't do SKs a lot of good because lifetaps aren't considered healing spells, they are noraml damage spells with a healing component in them so a crit hit on the spell will crit heal too (and I use that term loosely because a "crit heal"from a lifetap really isn't a lot, but you get my point). I'd move your left over points in the STR line. IMO "reaver" is alright and the added heals on your abilities are nice, but since you're running around with a healer anyway those lifetaps aren't going to help keep aggro against his heals as well as the STR line would. You'll want 8 points in "Idolic Axe" as soon as possible (the added hate gain ability in the STR line). The end ability in the STR line also refreshes all your abilities faster (spells and CAs alike) meaning faster reuse times which leads to more hate for you. It may not be the "end all" help you're looking for, but I certainly think it'll help you do what it is you're trying to do.

[Nakash]

<p><b>INT 8-4-8-2-1</b></p><p>Heal Crit does nothing for SK. The heals of youre Lifetap will crit automatic if the damage part crits.</p><p>Spell Reflect is useless for PVE. Maybe a PvP thing.</p><p>Try the STR Endskill, makes casting flow a lot smoother.</p><p><b>I have no clue about adornments, just returned from a 2 year break. Is there any guide about it so i can catch up ?</b></p><p><a href="http://adornments.h0b0.net/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://adornments.h0b0.net/</a></p>