controlling agro question

[Fad]

<DIV>am at 24 and in most parties I have a hard time controlling agro while being MT.   I've been trying to find a taunt adept 1 or better to help, but wondering if there is more I am missing.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks in advance</DIV>

[ReficulFonwaps]

<DIV>Hi, there's gotta be at least 50 posts on here about this exact topic. Heck, even posts about other stuff end up being a discussion about aggro. I suggest reading some of those threads :smileywink:</DIV>

[Fad]

<DIV>I looked, but just at titles and nothing jumped at me, will look a little deeper.  Thanks</DIV>

[vTenebr]

To maintain agro and keep a mob nailed to you is just a matter of using all the taunts in your repetoire. You're the MT, your job is to hold that mob's attention. Use your single target as well as your AE taunt. (Even if it's just that one mob). Ward yourself, charge it (if you have it), slam it. If you DO happen to lose agro (and I generally ONLY lose agro when I have a bloody key spammer DPS/healer getting out of hand), I Disease Cloud (or use inflame, or taunt, whichever single target taunt you have), then Decree of Decay, then Infernal Pact(which will hit the mob's target), Decrepit Slam, Charge (at least til I upgrade Spiked Boot to App III). By this point the mob's come back to me. If it STILL hasn't I'll drop a DoT on it, repeat and THEN it has come back.Yes, it sounds like a lot of work/power.. but if you're the MT, that's your job. That's what your power is supposed to be for. And really, if you're drinking level appropriate player made drink, and NOT key spamming unless absolutely necessary, you should be OK.I'm a 33 1/2 SK.. so I'm not "in the dark" about agro issues :p

[Fad]

<DIV>yeah it does sound like work, but i've been trying to figure out how to hold it and I dont mind work....I do however mind when folks die and I get debt so any advise is greatly appreciated.  Thanks </DIV>

[Foogly]

<DIV> <P><SPAN>Hey fadel , I would not recommend reading any post on here that speaks of taunts or argo, all that ive seen don’t address any issue except the fact that people love to whine.  My character's name is Glut on the najena server I'm lvl 35 and have absolutely no problem holding argo of 1 mob or 10.  None of the spells are upgraded past app2 which you can buy at a vendor.  I will describe what spells I use when I enter an encounter.  First I pull mobs with taunt in 80% of all cases to prevent the mobs from going to chanter or cleric on pull.  Sometimes that’s not possible certain area must be pulled with agro only or you get the entire room.  Once the mobs are engaged and around me I cast my ward, then my group buff then single target taunt.   By that time I then either recast my ward or recast ae taunt.  I cast ae taunt every time it pops up on group encounter.  Obviously I throw on the single target taunt when I think I need it you just get a feel for it.  That all I do and I will almost never lose agro. Everyone no matter the class loses agro sometimes no way around it.</SPAN></P></DIV> <P>Message Edited by Fooglyeq on <SPAN class=date_text>12-30-2004</SPAN><SPAN class=time_text>08:27 PM</SPAN></P><p>Message Edited by Fooglyeq on <span class=date_text>12-30-2004</span> <span class=time_text>08:28 PM</span>

[Trixst]

<DIV>The best suggestion I can make is to discuss group tactics with the group once you join them.  The main thing to know is that aggro in EQ2 is all based on how much hate you generate with your abilities.  Each ability adds a certain amount of "hate points" and whoever is the leader in "hate points" will be the one the monster will focus on.  If you have smart people in your group, they will know which abilities of theirs generate a lot of hate and they will use those abilities sparingly to prevent you from having to overuse your taunting abilities.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Probably one of the best tactics I can recommend is to ask your group not to use any abilities until you've completed your HO on the pull.  Ask the healer in the group to give you their Ward / Health Regen / Reactive heal just before you go pull and then go out and pull a mob.  It only takes about 10 seconds for you to complete your HO so you shouldn't have any health issues.  Once your HO is completed, everyone else just jumps in with their abilities.  Keep in mind that even though I am suggesting that they don't use abilities, I do recommend that they hit the attack key to at least contribute some damage initially.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>By doing this, you jump ahead by multiple points on the Hate list and others would have to spam their abilities to catch up to you and surpass you on the hate list.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>---------</DIV> <DIV>As a "numbers" version of this, let's pretend that taunt gives 5 points of hate, a completed HO gives 5 points of hate and every other ability gives 1.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So you pull the mob and gain 1 point of hate.  You complete an HO which then brings you up to 12 points of hate (1 for the attack ability + 5 for taunting as part of the HO + 5 for completing the HO).  At this point, other people join in.  You now have a 12 point lead over others.  If you do an average of 3 points of hate every 10 seconds and one of your group members is spamming his abilities at 5 points of hate every 10 seconds, it will take them one full minute before they will actually "steal" aggro from you:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>You: 12 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 33</DIV> <DIV>Bad teammate trying to steal aggro: 0 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 35</DIV><p>Message Edited by Trixster on <span class=date_text>12-31-2004</span> <span class=time_text>10:06 AM</span>

[Trixst]

<DIV>Now as you can tell, if people don't follow this tactic, it becomes more difficult.  If everyone jumps in as soon as the mob arrives and they don't allow you to complete your HO initially, you now only have 1 hate point and they are now gaining hate roughly at the same rate as you.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>At this point, you're now having to use abilities that do 5 points of hate per 10 seconds just to prevent someone from taking aggro from you.  If another group member is also doing 5 points of hate per 10 seconds, he won't surpass you but you'll both be low on power near the end of the fight.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Hopefully this will help a few people out there with aggro management as well as give the main tank the ability to "gain an initial hate advantage" on other group members so that he can be more efficient with his abilities.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>As you can probably tell, if you all start at roughly 0 points of hate, you are forced to continuously taunt to keep your hate level the highest.  If, on the other hand, you start off with a good amount of hate, you can actually reduce the number of times you use Taunt and instead, you can use a damage ability which helps kill the monster more quickly.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Hope this helps clarify things,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Guln</DIV> <DIV>22 Shadowknight from Mistmoore</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Maltok</DIV> <DIV>20 Defiler from Mistmoore</DIV>