Tanks, can you help me explain something to a friend...?

[MoonglumHMV]

<DIV> <DIV>It's a simple question, but I can't get him to understand what I'm saying...or I'm maybe not understanding it myself...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>What is the difference both in actual game mechanics and why do you prefer one vs the other on the subject of /assist vs passthrough targeting?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm back to the game after a few months back to SWG <IMG height=16 src="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/i/smilies/16x16_smiley-sad.gif" width=16 border=0> and I'm feeling a litle rusty on stuff...</DIV></DIV>

[Aven Elonis]

<DIV>Not entirely sure what you mean by pass-through targeting.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>With respect to /assist "Main Tank" however, this is generally used in single groups to ensure you're hitting the same thing that the tank is aggro'ing.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In a raid setting, the /assist may be on the Main Tank or the Main Assist depending on situation. Generally Healers will be on /assist on Main Tank (to keep him alive) and DPS will be /assist on Main Assist ( to focus damage to eliminate Adds/Help as soon as possible).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I have a macro /assist followed by name of main tank if I'm main assist. (Doesn't get used often anymore, but it was useful at one point) <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Aven Elonis</DIV> <DIV>50 Guardian</DIV> <DIV>Tempest</DIV>

[Ykryo]

<DIV>I'm guessing by pass-through targeting the poster refers to the implied target you get by targeting one of you group members (usually the main tank).  This allows groupmates to target a single person to pickup what he/she is attacking so you are all attacking the same thing.  The "good" thing about this method is that almost everybody learns how this works very early on and so it takes all of about 3 seconds to tell people who they should have targeted.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The /assist <assist-persons-name> method is, on the other hand, more difficult to setup (some folks just dont understand custom hotkeys) and often requires you to explain to folks exactly how to do it, why to do it, and when to do it.  If you hunt with the same group of folks all the time, much of this obviously becomes a non issue.  What this method offers is the freedom of the main tank (who is often the main assist person) to freely switch targets in order to maintain a greater degree of control over things.  Mr/Mrs Enchanter person getting their butt kicked?  No problem.. Tank switches targets, throws in some taunts and gets things back under control while the Enchanter type gets things back under control.   Try this with implied targeting and you'll have everybody switching targets with you, possibly breaking some mezs and getting people killed.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The /assist method certainly offers more flexibility and a finer degree of control over things..  whether it is worth the time and effort to setup?  well.. that largely depends on who you are hunting with and how much patience you have in helping folks worth through it (or perhaps you have none and just punt them out of the group).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Grumpy_Warrior_01]

<DIV>I agree with your points, Ykryoon.  Having everyone set up an assist hotkey is far superior, since the tank can switch quickly between multiple targets to accumulate aggro while his group remains targeted on a single mob.  Also when tanking a group of mobiles, I often like to switch to the next target when the current target is a few seconds from dead, to keep things flowing smoothly.  If everyone is using pass-through targeting, the previous mob stays at 3% health and never dies because everyone switches to the new target along with you.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My "usual" group all have assist hotkeys, but pickup groups tend to go on auto-pilot, so I adjust and deal with it.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[MoonglumHMV]

<DIV>Thanks to all of you for the info.  We will mainly duo together, so an assist macro won't be hard for him to work with and he'll get better at it as we play together.  Also, we are just starting out and I'm just getting my group taunts...so aggro management should get a lot easier for us.</DIV>