The Art of Tanking

krlsrrll · 04-29-2007, 05:34 AM

Hi all

I was hoping for a bit of advice on how to be a good tank and thought this would be the best place to ask.

I am a level 22 Elven Paladin on Thestra and only really do guild stuff in group as we are a small guild and just play for a bit of fun.

Recently we went into Hilsbury Mansion with me, a level 19 Dread knight, Level 22 Ranger and Level 23 Cleric. Our system was that the DK would pull a mob with his bow, me and him then pile into it and try an ensure it keeps away from the other 2.

This went well for a while until we got caught up in the whole gloriousness of the place, lost concentration and the Cleric got killed. He'd forgot to do 'Gem of Life' so we could raise him and subsequently all fell shortly after.

In speaking in RL to the ranger and cleric after they said they were having serious problems as they were constantly getting twatted, and on reflection the person who had least trouble was me as the main tank !?!?

So although we had a ball in there I feel that a contributory factor to our failing was my inability to tank properly so any advice? I've just about solo'd everything up to this level so not really done group stuff but there are a few places we wanna go as a group so sorting out my tanking issues now would be good

Oh, some general info ... I fight with either a 2-handed sword or sword and shield for groups, AC with buffs was about 2.1k and 'think' my weapons are about 25dps but not 100% certain about that. My adventuring EE is about 90% so can't upgrade much.

Thanks in advance.

ellestil · 04-30-2007, 02:39 AM

The biggest thing as a pali to keep in mind is that we really don't have an AE taunts except one that uses Virtue points (so we save it for really bad times usually). You vs single mob means you have to try and use all your abilities that generate both aggro and dps. I keep a constant stream of activity going against a mob. Taunts, chains, shield slams, etc. Whatever I can use I use it. The red "eyes" above my targets head are always flashing if I string them.

On multi mobs, if you have no crowd controller, your just gonna have to rescue from time to time. Here's the good news. You don't have to target the mob that is hitting your group members. You only have to target the party member getting hit and then use a rescue (preferably the rescue that damage the mob as this holds hate longer than the heal one, but use the heal if he's close to death). You can stay on your current offensive target, but you will rescue a different mob off of your defensive target.

This makes controlling a multi-mob encounter much easier since you don't have to switch defensive targets AND offensive targets to rescue. If you have a crowd controller, you will rely on them to mez, sleep, stun the mobs your not on while you focus on your target.

krlsrrll · 04-30-2007, 09:01 AM

So in our little DK, Pal, Ranger & Cleric group the DK pulls and generates aggro whereas I support the DK and concentrate on drawing aggro from the Cleric/Ranger rather than just generating hate and making them attack me?

Sorry if this is a bot n00b but after 22 levels of solo'ing working in a group with inexperienced players is challenging, but fun

ellestil · 05-01-2007, 01:53 AM

Well, if the DK is the main tank for your group, and he pulls a mob with adds but he can handle them, then you can just let him tank and focus on his target like any dps class. But be ready to rescue anyone who gets into trouble, including the DK if his health falls too quickly.

If he pulls a group that he cannot handle, then yes, grab the aggro of some mobs off of him before you assist him and help kill his target. Still using rescue on the healer and ranger as needed.

Basically, when playing the off tank role, you handle adds for the group (unplanned roaming mobs for example that attack your healer) and you protect the "softies" from dying. You also won't be taunting the DK's target while the DK has the mob, just atttack it. You would only taunt a mob that breaks away from either the DK or you and goes after a soft target (healer, mage, melee). Then you would build up some aggro on that mob for a few seconds before you return to your DK's target. THis ensures you will keep its aggro on you.

Later on you will get a Lull ability that helps limit the number of mobs that will come. This is nice for limiting adds. You can also use a judgement that blinds the mob and slows his movement (just don't hit him or it breaks). This helps buy the group some time to kill the other mob that runs to your group first before you have to focus on the slowed mob. So say a group of three mobs are in your way, you can lull one (put him to sleep, will not aggro anyone and becomes non-social to his friends), then pull the second one with slow/blind so that he walks toward your group slowly and will miss his target 70% of the time thus limiting his damage to you, the third one will run at you fast, and this is the one you kill first. Then kill the slow/blind one, then pull the lull'd one at your leisure.

krlsrrll · 05-01-2007, 06:39 AM

Thanks alot for the advice. I have linked the thread to my guilds forum so they can read through.

On a side note I have to say that am loving that you have to use different professions for different roles. After playing SWG for years, especially after the NGE went live, it's refreshing to not just have generic classes.

Look forward to getting more proficient as a tank

ellestil · 05-01-2007, 09:31 AM

Here's some other tips as a Pali. It's almost always better, if your the MT, to let another class pull a mob to you, then use the damage rescue to get it off him. This starts you off with a nice hate gain that you can build on really well ( I pop the rescue, then pop marshalling cry and go to town ). Also, your upbraid doesn't reset the skill timer for your abilities. So instead of using shield bash, wait for timer, then use upbraid you should use upbraid first then immediately follow it with shield bash since there is no wait when used this way.

Another tip, you will have 3 rescues eventually, and they can be used on multiple mobs attacking the same defensive target. So, for example, your cleric gets 3 mobs on him. You target him and pop your 1st rescue, one mob will come off and attack you. Then you pop your second rescue (no matter what your targeting offensively remember), and a second mob will come off and attack you. Then you pop your third rescue and the last mob will come off as well. In this way you can pull multiple mobs off of a defensive target quickly. You could also just use your Virtue ability that AE taunts everything at the cost of 1 virtue point. But it's nice to know that you CAN pull off a few mobs off of the same defensive target via other means.

LadySirse · 07-23-2007, 05:30 PM

This thread has been locked. It can now he found here.