Agro Management

Flipsyde · 01-16-2007, 11:58 AM

Hi guys! Kinda new to the forums and stuff, but I have a question.

I have been playing for about 3 weeks and I love my DK. However, a couple of nights ago, I was in my first MT situation. To this point, I had been MT'ing in my little circle of friends and it hadn't been too bad. Saturday night was a different story.

Let me set it up. It was me (level 13 DK), a Pscionisist (level 13), and a Ranger (level 12, I think). I couldn't hold agro to save my life. I would hit Toruture and Devour Strength to pull and as soon as I could, I would hit provoke. Then start to hit the mob with everything I had. The problem is, I couldn't hold agro at all. The Pscion or the Ranger would pull agro off me.

Now, I am new to the tanking thing, but I have never had a problem with doing the off-tank thing (I used to play my wife's pally in EQ1 when she couldn't play). I know how to play a tank (relatively speaking).

Has anyone else had a problem with managing agro?

I appreciate any feedback anyone on this board can give me. I am sure you all have more experience with this than I and are better tanks. I wanna be uber-elite someday like you all

velzevul · 01-16-2007, 12:37 PM

plenty of people did have it, and still do have it. As far as I can see it, problem is 2 fold.

1) dps classes might not know their play too well, and how it fits into tanking scheme of things. maybe they are not using de-agro spells, or doing all damage they can, thinking its a good thing... damage = agro in this game, 1 for 1. and ranger is a dps powerhouse, they need to be careful

2) spell itemization for DK is bad pre-30 or pre-40 per Xaices words in various other posts. So supposedly we get better spells after this revamp at low levels.

XeroKill · 01-17-2007, 07:14 AM

One of the things that people have to understand about tanks is that "Agro Management" is not just the job of the tanks. No matter how good a tank is, there are limits to his abilities overall. We only have so much DPS and only have so many Taunts. The burden is not just on us to be able to dish out all the agro we can, but it is on the DPS classes and the healers to use their abilities wisely enough so they maximize their DPS and minimize their agro. A lot of people just don't understand this truth. A lot of times you will find yourself grouped with DPSers that think they can spam every ability they have the very second they are available and get pissy when the tank looses agro. Most games are set up specifically so that tanks can never generate as much hate as a powerful DPS class can. The sooner people learn this, the better off you and they will be.

The real trick is to avoid PUGs as often as possible. I group almost exclusively with my guild and my close friends. If I ever do end up in a PUG, I usually form them, and any one that doesn't follow my instructions gets the boot with all deliberate haste. If you can't avoid PUGs for whatever reason, just don't be afraid to tell people that they need to calm down with their DPS. If they are childish they will either leave or get killed a lot. I usually just tell them after the second or third time I have to rescue them that the next time they draw agro, I will not save them. A couple deaths usually shapes them up or causes them to leave, and either way I win.

BillyBadass · 01-24-2007, 07:37 PM

This is an age old problem.

I wish they would add it as a tutorial or as a "Hint" pop-up to DPS classes to wait till 10+% of the mobs HP helath ahs dropped before casting nukes.

I think having a basic tips/tutorial for all classes would benefit the game

Azgod · 01-24-2007, 09:03 PM

A few things I would add are the unknown hate modifiers such as proximity agro, 1st to hit with melee and ranged weapon. when possibe I pull with a bow outside of spell range then hit the mob with DS and Torture on his way to melee range. Once positioned and after your first strike let the DPS'ers in. I have an "incoming" and and "attack now" macro, over-zealous dpsers who nuke on incoming prior to assist being called get a lecture, if they continue either I leave the group or they do because I would rather solo mobs than be in a dysfunctional group. It does seem the "role" of a good tank to educate his group members on how to avoid agro issues, I hope this helps.