Bruiser tank strategy?

[Flotten]

<DIV>My Bruiser is my ALT and he is level 41, so far with this character I only duo and solo, but I want to group with him more.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>What are some good guidelines for a bruiser in a tank roll?</DIV>

[Wildfury77]

<DIV>Adept III/Master 1 taunts/hate gain skills.</DIV> <DIV>Good weapons to crank out damage</DIV> <DIV>Good armor to help take the hits as avoidance is never 100%......</DIV> <DIV>Read the guides on the stickys!!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Flotten]

The guides in the sticky threads don't really get into things like how to handle multiple elite/epic encounters.

[ganjookie]

umm...beat them down and use alot of tauntiness on them.  Keep aggro so that the group can whittle away on multiple epic mobs.stay low, aim high<div></div>

[Flotten]

<P>Well I use Boast and Beatdown whenever they are up on multi-encounters, but still have a hard time.  Maybe it's because they are only Adept 1 (Slurred Insult is Master II), that might be why.  I'm asking mainly because I see others manage it, but I have a hard time.  Single targets are no problem of course...</P> <P>Many times I also group with a warlock, he tries to hold back long enough but nothing seems to do the trick with him.</P>

[ganjookie]

Get your taunts up to adept3 at the very least.  I cant tell you how many times I steal aggro from tanks that dont have good taunts.  I end up just debuffing and auto attack..and still steal aggro..<div></div>

[BigRed1]

<DIV>Other than just upgrading your AE taunts also upgrade your AE dmg spells as high as you can. The damage they generate is hate towards you. A big plus is to always have a scout with some sort of Hate transfer, I like swashy myself because thier lvl 52 hurricane gives them a chance to turn every attack into an ae attack..so when they do that you get a little  hate on every mob.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Once you get into Epics..the best bet is to name a MA, this allows you to constantly cycle through mobs throwing dmg and taunts evenly. However even with that a Guard/Zerker is better. On a Single Epic target we can give any Guard/Zerker a run for the money holding agro..given equal group set up and hate transfer.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV><p>Message Edited by BigRed1 on <span class=date_text>10-06-2006</span> <span class=time_text>10:35 AM</span>

[Wildfury77]

<DIV>Although I think paladins can outdo just about any Tank 1 on 1 sadly. If I put my swashies<STRONG> hate transfer</STRONG> on our raid paladin then he puts his <STRONG>amends</STRONG> on me......i can hit an epic and it will instantly target the paladin!! Bearing in mind my swashie parses at worst 3rd/4th and usually 2nd or 1st.....thats alot of hate <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Don't think ANY tank class can match the <EM><U><STRONG>amends/hate transfer combo??</STRONG></U></EM></DIV>

[chOgg]

<P>When I have a warlock in the group and I'm fighting 2 or 3 mobs, I will switch targets when my current target turns red.  If there are more than three targets in the encounter, I switch targets whenever I've hit single target taunt plus 2 or three CAs.  Even though the group is switching target's with me because of implied targetting, my taunt plus 2 or three fast-acting CAs is usually enough to keep aggro off of everyone.  If I stay on one target until it is dead, then someone always pulls the others off me.  Also, in groups of three more more, save your sucker punch for when a mob leaves you and attacks someone else so you can immediately hit him in the back with that CA.  I like to have the mobs between me and the rest of the party so I can see them turn around, too, so when you pull, run all the way back to the party, wait for your mobs to get to you, then run back behind them so they are facing you inbetween  you and the party, and then have a HUGE run-on sentence, just so you can hit the comma key a hundred times.  These strategies have worked well in non-raid encounters.  I have not yet tanked any epics, so I can't give you any advice doing that or beyond level 59.</P> <P>Also, the Wisdom AA line has a few good 5m AE procs that I would use almost all the time until I was able to respec to strength, and I used the Heirophant's Crook, which has an encounter proc on it as well.  I highly recommend the Wis AA line and the Heirophant's Crook until you get up into your high 50s with enough AAs to respec to Strength.</P> <P>Thoral, 59 Bruiser, Mistmoore</P>