How do you do it?

[PromisedLandt]

Hey guys,
I really started playing in beta 5 (so a few days ago), and I figured I'd try every class, but focus on the tank ones, 'cause that's just how I roll.
I played an (orc) warrior to 12, and a (high elf) paladin to 15, my highest characters in this game. And I can't tank at all. Seriously. There's just so much to do! I was a great tank in EQ1 and WoW. I kept the aggro, I controlled the adds, I maintanked the raid mobs, I had a veritable harem of clerics / priests lined up whenever I wanted to group.
In VG? Not so much. I can't keep aggro well on multiple mobs, oftentimes I don't even notice when I lose the aggro because the mob wasn't facing me anyway. Even if I do keep the aggro, I know I don't play optimal, because I always forget about the shouts, battle commands or that 40s strength buff thingie. I constantly miss when the cooldown on a nice aggro ability is up, and generate low threat per second as a result.
And when I level up, there's even more abilites to keep track of, and I guess losing aggro will even be more punishing (because atm it's no problem when the cleric offtanks a mob).
So yeah, from hero to zero. I wouldn't even group with myself if I didn't have to. I'm seriously thinking to just reroll a healer or rogue, because I feel I'm not up to the tanking job anymore - not that I've met anyone in VG who did a good job of it.
How do you do it?

[XeroKill]

Well I don't mean any disrespect but the only thing a person needed to do in WoW to keep agro is locate the Sunder button. It was the easiest game in the world to play a tank in, especially since Warriors were so over-the-top in that game.

It is really just a matter of acclimation. Once you get used to the ins and outs of it, it will be like second nature. Sure there are a lot more things to keep track of, and they are going to make you earn your title of Tank. Just don't be discouraged. If you have a fundamental grasp of what needs to be done, the rest is just practicing.

[Lightning]

Yeah, you'll get the hang of it - just remember that you don't necessarily need to use every ability every fight either I have a tendancy to forget the shouts too, so I understand where you're coming from.

[Brockhammer]

A good way to make sure you are gonna keep aggro, is to put all your hate generating abilities in a place on your UI that you will notice them. Start with your ranged shot hate ability, then use you shout and taunting strikes as needed, use your combat debuffs like rend armor, and your stuns like kick, to keep them pissed as well. Remember aggro first, get things to start hitting you upside the head, leave the damage to the rest until you are comfortable that you are going to maintain aggro. Rescues are good for when you get an add that may have been "accidentally" targeted by some moron caster, use the few seconds you have to generate as much hate as possible before the rescue skill wears off.

Start off on a small scale with just a duo, maybe with a Shaman, cause they can piss a mob off pretty good, and heal if thngs are goin badly. Have the shammie try to draw aggron and find out how much you need to spam your hate skills to keep the thing on you. Then add a DD caster or offensive fighter as well, and get a feel for it. So on and so on, up to full blow groups and small raids. Eventually you will have a pretty good idea of what to do to keep hate in every situation. You will also know what you need to let the other classes know about their own abilities, and what they can't do in order to keep things from getting hectic.

[Lightning]

This is a good point - for ease of use I have 3 banks of buttons, 1 to =, alt+1 to = and Ctrl+1 to = and group my agro gaining abilities over on the left with the lesser used stuff on the right.

[XeroKill]

For me, it is about ritual when it comes to setting up my buttons. As a Shadow Knight in EQ1 I did most of my casting using the ALT+Gem# method. I had all my hate gaining abilities like Fear, Darkness, and the like on ALT+1 and ALT+2, so as a result in every game I have played since, all my agro abilities get assigned to those keys. I use my best 2 abilities in ALT+1 / 2 and the lesser abilities in the other ALT keys. I am so used to using ALT+1 / 2 for hate gaining that if it ever changed I would instantly become a crappy tank for a week until I got used to something else.

[Venge]

If you can't hold agro, yell at your group and tell them to stop burning so fast to hold it! Of course multiple mobs would be much difficult, however if your group assists you and let you get initial agro and you utilize your defensive abilities...should come out gold.

[Emwun]

I agree with Venge, agro control is absolutely a team sport. It may be just coincidence but Monks and Rangers seem to be the biggest thieves. Im surprised but Ive had no trouble holding agro over Rogues and Sorcerers though im sure they could take it if they wanted to.

I like this thread because it brings up something thats been on my mind. Ive seen in a couple places talking about using Hate generating abilities first and defensive stance for agro and I keep thinking "Are we playing the same game?" A typical (though definitely not universal) pull for me would go Infuriating Shot (agro bow pull) 2-3x, the melee that opens stagger weakness (?), Brutal strike, armor rend, kick, taunt. If at any time I get a crit I'll do the chain. Then I'll pour on the damage and if its a caster (especially a healer) spam interupts. If I lose hold of mobs to those who are working with me I'll switch to Defensive use coersion, work up a crit, use stinging strike then immediately switch back to offensive and pour on the damage. In my experience spamming hate building skills is at best a weak way to hold agro. Maybe I'm doing it wrong or things change in your 30s? There are plenty here with more experience playing a VG warrior than I have.

[omenz]

Hate generation from dps seems to be a bit off from the hate generated from Warriors base taunt abilities, at least i'm noticing that at level 18. Having said that though I NEVER lose aggro for more than a few swings on any mob simply because of the rescue abilities that have to do with your defensive target. If I notice there is a dps'er in the group who constantly generates more hate than my taunts through dps I will just use the three abiltiies available to me that FORCE the mob to attack me for 4 attacks or 2 attacks etc.... Generally during that time period between shield bash and regular taunt + dps it's most likely i'll have aggro back by the time the rescue wears off. If not then it's just a matter of waiting for those abilities to refresh which isn't very long, and that will be the only time aggro is transfered.

Just get used to using your rescues and you'll find aggro management a lot easier imo.