Quote:
what do I mainly do in the group?
Here's some basic fighter guidelines:
You may not be the leader of the group, but you will determine what they will fight next. Once you know the basic goals of the group, get started by pulling mobs. Don’t try to kill it, that’s the job of everyone else in the party.
The leader of the party is usually just the person that sent the group invites. The Tank is really the soul of the party, determining what battles to take and when to run.
How do Creatures Fight? Creatures have a Hate List that determines who they go after. The higher you are on the list, the more chance of them going after you.
How do I get on the Hate List? Three things do it; damage, heals, taunts. Whoever does the most damage gets aggro. Whoever heals too much, gets aggro. Whoever taunts the most, gets aggro.
How does a Taunt Work? You Taunt will add a certain amount of points to your “hate ratingâ€. You need to out-score your group mates and get pushed to the top of the Hate List. That’s when the mob spins and faces you, and that’s a good thing!
Mages, Scouts and Priests score points the same way through damage or heals. That’s a bad thing! The goal is that they manage it to let you score the most points.
Taunts are different colors for single target, group target and Area Effect (AE) target. AE icons are blue and will taunt everything in range, whether it's engaged or not. Use these carefully as you will pull unintended aggro!
Aggro Management is a Group Effort What’s Aggro? Short for aggravation, it simply means the mob sees you and is attacking you.
What’s a Mob? I knew you’d ask that. It’s an old EQ1 term, short for Mobile OBject. Used to describe an entity that can move around by it’s own AI.
Getting Started: - As the Main Tank, your main job in a group is to keep aggro on yourself. Keeping your Taunt skills at the best quality – Adept 3 or better, does that.
- Keep your armor upgraded, repaired and the best you can afford.
- Fill every slot you have with something that gives you any kind of boost.
- Get armor and items that boost your STRENGTH – that is your primary skill and increases your power pool and damage output.
- Create an Incoming Macro (EQ2 Button > Socials > Macro). Place that icon on your hotbar. Use it every time you are about to engage something.
Know Thyself - Know what your skills do and how long they do it.
- Stuns, Stifles, and Knockdowns are a good way to interrupt creature casting and attacks. Don’t use 3 interrupts at the same time. Time them to be one after another.
- Know the re-use timers of your skills. Long recast means USE IT FIRST, that way it’s refreshed towards the middle-end of the fight and usable again.
- Damage Over Time (DoT) needs to be used first, that way it has a while to make damage. Using a DoT when a creature is at 3% health is not smart.
Group Makeup: - A good group can consist of 1 tank, 1 healer, and the rest is DPS (Scouts and Mages). However almost any combination works. If you plan on taking big creatures, you’ll need a healer.
- Right click > Inspect all members to see the condition of their armor. Tell them if they need to go repair.
- Make sure all members are present, buffed, and ready before fighting.
- Make sure the Priest’s power is fully regenerated.
- Identify everyone’s role. There can be only one puller. Most of the time it will be you, other times it might be the Ranger with long distance bowshots, then when the mob arrives, you taunt it to him. If there is more than 1 healer, one will be MH (Main Healer) the other will be backup/nuke.
- Make sure the party knows they need to let you build agro before they start. 80% of target health is usually a good spot for them to start unleashing big damage.
- Tell the party you plan on pulling until someone says stop. They need to sound off if they need a break.
- Healers can cast a Resurrection item for players. That will resurrect the healer so he can resurrect other players in turn. Make sure these have been handed out before the fight. To use, target dead player > right click resurrection item > use.
Entering the Fight: - Never rush a room, there is always something hiding behind the door!
- Case the place; sweep your view left and right.
- Use TAB to switch your target around to see what is a solo and what is a group. Also notice if they are Heroic or have up/down arrows.
- Watch where creature paths, see where they walk. They might turn and walk right into your next fight.
- Watch for flying creatures.
- Let the group know if you will Rush (everyone rushes the mob) or Pull To Here (also known as body pull) (everyone stay put, you’ll bring the fight to them).
- Announce what you are about to attack by using your Incoming Macro
- If you will Rush, run to the spot you will fight and STAY THERE. Don’t back up a few steps, because your party is following you. Only if you are Pull To Here, do you go back to the party.
- Be in 3rd person view. That’s where you have a “look down†view of yourself and the battle area. Important in a second.
- Make sure the Priest is back up to full power.
The Battle: - Go after caster mobs first, especially the healers.
- If fighting a boss with many small assistants, take out the smaller, easier ones first. Then go after the boss when he’s alone.
- Use Heroic Opportunities to bring out your Taunts and add some zap to your damage.
- If you are the second tank, don't use taunts. Let the MT build his agro. If he is in trouble, start Taunting to give him a break and the Priest a chance to heal him up.
- Watch all the creatures in the engaged group to ensure they are facing you. If not, go taunt it until it spins to face you.
- You are the MT (Main Tank), it is everyone’s job to assist you and attack whatever you are attacking. If they are not, politely scold them and say something like “/gsay ASSIST THE TANK!â€
- Watch for roaming monsters that might Add (additional creature we didn’t plan on fighting). If it Add’s, Taunt it until it faces you.
- TAB key will cycle through all creatures that are attackable.
-- A Note about TAB: use it carefully. Group mates have you targeted so they will always attack what you do. If you suddenly TAB around to check targets, and a Wizard was about to cast a high damage spell, it may land on the unintended target. - Keep an eye on the health bar of all players. If one starts to go down, it means she/he is being attacked and needs your help.
- Never go out of power. Save the last few bits for the emergency taunt.
The Recovery Process: - After the fight, make sure everyone is accounted for; healer is back up to full power.
- Make sure you have enough health and power for the next fight.
- Go for the next fight.
- Keep pulling until someone says stop.