Level 45 and having a bit of trouble..

[SilHammer]

<p>I seem to be having trouble tanking; the whole burrito: holding threat and taking hits..</p><p>I am a level 45 Berserker and always run dungeons with a 45 Inquisitor and 45 Troubadour.</p><p>I have a master Mock V, expert Enrage III, and master Raging Blow III, and I absolutely struggle to keep threat from the Troub. I have to really keep BOTH taunts and Raging Blow on constant watch and keep them on constant CD.. and alot of times it doesn't work.</p><p><strong>Lets start with some stats solo:</strong></p><p>4019 HP<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2727 Avoidance (20.6%; B 4.6%; P 10%)</p><p>2022 Power<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1870 Mitigation (42.8%)</p><p>249 STR<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Primary 78-311 DMG @ 5.0s</p><p>190 AGI</p><p>230 STA</p><p>12.5% Double Attack</p><p>I keep Unflinching Will on (obviously), and all the self buffs including Wall of Rage, Weapon Counter, the like.</p><p>I go through the entire range of CAs in order from debuff to just straight damage CA, keeping my AoEs going.</p><p><strong>Here are my AAs:</strong></p><p>STA 4-5</p><p>WIS 4-4-4</p><p>Only at 22 AA and plan to work that up to 50+ by the time I am 50..</p><p>The Inquis has trouble keeping me up through Cazic Thule mobs, 3 seems to be the max @ 3 x 42^^, any adds means death, and even then it's a struggle.</p><p>My issue is NOT the challenge, it's NOT the difficulty of the game or the zones or the anything like that; it's that I feel that I am doing something wrong..</p><p>I'm new to the game, immensely enjoying it, and trying to become a good Berserker. With the info I provided, I am curious to see if anyone can point out something obvious, and tbh, I think it's got quite a bit to do with AAs.. I have grouped with other tanks lower level that make my jaw drop and my inquisitor can go make a grilled cheese.</p><p>Any input is valued <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Thanks.</p>

[Aanak]

<p>Are you dual wielding or sword and boarding it? What stance do you fight in?</p>

[SilHammer]

<p>Sword and board, best I could find on the broker.</p><p>Unflinching Will stance, so defensive.</p>

[Obadiah]

<p><cite>SilHammer wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I am a level 45 Berserker and always run dungeons with a 45 Inquisitor and 45 Troubadour.</p><p>I have a master Mock V, expert Enrage III, and master Raging Blow III, and I absolutely struggle to keep threat from the Troub. I have to really keep BOTH taunts and Raging Blow on constant watch and keep them on constant CD.. and alot of times it doesn't work.</p><p>I'm new to the game, immensely enjoying it, and trying to become a good Berserker. With the info I provided, I am curious to see if anyone can point out something obvious, and tbh, I think it's got quite a bit to do with AAs.. I have grouped with other tanks lower level that make my jaw drop and my inquisitor can go make a grilled cheese.</p></blockquote><p>I think you are correct: It has a lot to do with AAs. . .  maybe.</p><p>What about those other toons? Does the Troub have 120 AAs or something and is therefore ripping it up? Does the Inquisitor have all App 1s and therefore can't heal very well? It's not necessarily you.</p><p>Is the Troub running Alin's Serenade? That should be ~21% hate reduction at that level. That's a ton!</p><p>Is it on single targets that there are aggro issues or groups? Honestly Berserkers (particularly with 22 AA and that setup) have nothing special for groups. 1 blue full-circle AOE and one frontal. One group taunt, one group damage/stun. That's it. I think you will enjoy Rampage at level 50 because, well, it's hot.</p><p>I'd guess part of it is that your to-hit ratio is being pushed very, very low because of your defensive stance. Neither of your groupmates is helping you at all; your melee skills aren't being buffed by either class. That hurts. I think they both really really want to betray. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" /></p><p>You're right though ... 22 points isn't a lot to work with and that doesn't help. I'd take the 12 in WIS and put them 4-4-4 in STR though, because the +42 Mit or thereabout that you're getting from WIS isn't helping much. That would give you +16%(I think) Crit Chance, which affects your taunts, +4% Hate Gain, and +12% Taunt Values. In Defensive Stance your taunts are landing a lot, but your weapon strikes are missing a ton and there's nothing you can do about it with that group. All of that jazz from the STR tree will boost your taunts a lot, and the small amount of Mit you're getting from WIS isn't likely mitigating much more.</p><p>You could also run a lower level Unflinching Will, which will give you the same level (15%) of mitigation (though less avoidance) but will reduce your melee skills by a lower amount.</p>

[Aanak]

<p><cite>SilHammer wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Sword and board, best I could find on the broker.</p><p>Unflinching Will stance, so defensive.</p></blockquote><p>Switch to dual wield and offensive stance. Sword and board for tougher mobs, still in offensive, then use defensive and sword and board for the most tough named mobs where every bit of defense counts.</p><p>Use your temporary buffs ALL THE TIME to make up for what you will lack for defense while in offensive stance... </p><p>Others don't seem to suggest it, but I maxed out the AA to 5 points that removes penalties on one of our temp defensive buffs... Forget the name, in the Perseverance tree of Berserker AAs, second one down I think. That buff has become my main defensive temp buff and I find that when I go into the fights running that one I have a much better time keeping agro.</p><p>Damage = Hate as much as taunts do right now, so if you are getting way out damaged the addition of your damage and taunts will not be enough to hold agro.  Going offensive will help, but you still will have agro pulled from you now and again when someone does sick damage to the mobs. In those times you use rescue, insolence, all your taunts, beat some more and get it back...</p>