Random notes that may help those new to GW

[Havral]

Certain enemies are 'grouped', usually in groups of three. Meaning that if you aggro one of them, the rest of the group will often come running even if they're well out of the aggro circle.

Also, when dealing with henchies, mobs tend to go for them in something like this order (Highest priority to lowest): Alesia-Lina-Orion-Claude-Dunham-Little Thom-Stefan-Reyna. A mob may also pick one tank of any available to attack if they're unable to attack any of the priority henchies.

It's also possible for a warrior tank with sprint to 'hold' the entire attention of a group by running far ahead of their henchies. If the player tank is engaging the group before any of the henchmen aggro them, then they will concentrate mainly on the player.

[KingOfPain]

The monster AI in GW is good and varied. I don't think there is one set of tactic that can apply to all situations so one still need to adjust on the fly.

The only thing I can say for sure that's not even for sure is that the tank can grab aggro off another player by attacking the monster. That works most of the time. I have watched carefully in many battles vs group of range attackers and see that monsters do have a preference toward its attacker, however, I have seen many monster types (in my melee range) turn thier their attention back to their original target as soon as I switch target to another adjacent foe.

And, that is where Set and Bait (there's an old Ironman term ) comes in handy. The TANK (not just anyone who feel they can pull with a bow (yes, I have a beef about non-tank bow pullers . That's bad tacticals 90% of the time)) draws a line on the compass where the party Sets. That distance should be aggor zones away from where the tank would stop to engage the mob. Then, the rest of the party can move in and do their thing now since the TANK is the center of attention

KoP

[Lurker Wyrm]

RightO

And some tips for a tank...As a habit when playing as a tank, I switch the view to look backward ("x" with default setup) when I engage the a mob and keep an eye on the healer's lifebar. Looking backward lets me see if any monsters slipped thru the tank and a good idea of what everyone is doing. And the healers life bar (on the party window) is important because it lets me know if everything is cool back there. I will ditch a mob and rush the healer's attackers if s/he is in trouble. What I usually do, especially in a chaotic situation, is to click on the healer's name on the party window and then Spacebar to get there. This menthod is the fastest way to get to the healer because you need not target the healer and you need not navigate the terrain manually. As soon as I am close to the action I would then hit C and Spacebar to pick out the trouble maker.

That's not always a good idea for a few reasons. First, whenever you're tanking and you run off, the enemy will follow you for about 5-10 feet and then re-aggro, which can make the situation worse for the healers since instead of only worrying about 2-3 life bars, there are suddenly a lot more of them going down.

Secondly, when you have 2 healers in a group, they will be just bounce healing off each other, and generally don't have a problem keeping each other alive.

Third, Warriors should always be last on the list of targets, the only exception being when a boss is around. My general targetting order usually goes Monks -> Mesmers -> Elementalists -> Necros -> Rangers -> Warriors -> Bosses. The only time a boss comes first is when it's a monk boss, and then you should still take out the non-boss monks first since they're less durable. Generally, the only other time I break the order is when I go against a monk that I know has something like Mark of Protection and I want them to use it on something other than themselves to make the fight last less time.

Fourth, you should never move off a target until it's dead. If you're beating on their monk and they're beating on our monk, whoever drops the monk dead first will almost always win the battle. Running off a focused target does little more than prolong a battle, especially when henches are involved since they always follow the most recent target change, making those 3-5 seconds where you run back to the monks 3-5 seconds where nothing happens.

I broke from that plan a day or so go when doing Thunderhead with GG and we lost the battle, which we would have won. I went after the Perfected Armor boss first (I really wanted to hurt him as he made me lose the mission a few times before) and as a result, GG (playing a monk) had to run around gathering aggro and wasn't able to keep up. If I had been thinking clearly at the time I would have left the armor, grabbed a torch to have auto-aggro, and sat there while it all piled on me. Lesson learned? Nah, I still want that thing dead since it's now screwed me on the mission one more time. Lesson for the future? Skills that use 10 Adrenaline aren't worth it in the long run unless you've got something to quick charge them like Bal's Spirit (referring to Earth Shaker and Backbreaker).

The other thing to keep in mind is to watch range attackers and at least get a general idea who they are attacking. But it is not always easy to see exactly who is attacking the healer (or whoever is in trouble) - I suggest if the monk is in trouble and knows his attacker(s), Spam Call the Target.

The only problem with that is that about 85% of the time, when I heal, I rarely look at the screen to see who's attacking; my attention is almost always focused on health bars and the compass so I can keep track of who needs healing and where the party is (e.g. if I'm out of range of some party members). There have been a few times where I didn't even realise I was healing myself and therefore using Orison instead of Touch (usually I find out when I try to cast Heal Other on myself). The only time I take the target off an ally to check on an enemy is to see how much life it has left, which I generally only do to bosses when the healing is under control (i.e. all that's left is a monk boss)

One thing I wanted to say (now that I've gone on for so long, I might as well continue) is that we have some really good monks in the guild (and yes, I do include Cy among them, he doubts himself more than he should). Aside from boredom, exhaustion, and/or laziness kicking in, people hardly ever die when we go out, and it's usually a "wrong hotkey" mistake instead due to one of the aforementioned issues.

[KingOfPain]

That is a big block of quote, I will assume you are only replying to "I will ditch a mob and rush the healer's attackers...", and not to my play style... and ignored that I said "....if s/he is in trouble" - so this reply is almost pointless.

That's not always a good idea for a few reasons.

Of course not. tips are to be taken as hint and YMMV - adjust it to your style and situations.

First, whenever you're tanking and you run off, the enemy will follow you for about 5-10 feet and then re-aggro, which can make the situation worse for the healers since instead of only worrying about 2-3 life bars, there are suddenly a lot more of them going down.

If the healer is in trouble and dies he will have no life bar to worry about. Yes, it can make the situation worse, but more often, it saves the healer's skin and the party (in my experience). And like you say, "whoever drops the monk dead first will almost always win the battle" Well, I can't agree to that entirely, but there you have it...

Secondly, when you have 2 healers in a group, they will be just bounce healing off each other, and generally don't have a problem keeping each other alive.

Then the healer wouldn't be in trouble, no worries.

Third, Warriors should always be last on the list of targets, the only exception being when a boss is around. My general targetting order usually goes Monks -> Mesmers -> Elementalists -> Necros -> Rangers -> Warriors -> Bosses. The only time a boss comes first is when it's a monk boss, and then you should still take out the non-boss monks first since they're less durable. Generally, the only other time I break the order is when I go against a monk that I know has something like Mark of Protection and I want them to use it on something other than themselves to make the fight last less time.

If the healer is in trouble, I couldn't care less which classes the monsters belong to are causing the trouble - apparently, all classes of monsters can kill a healer

Fourth, you should never move off a target until it's dead.

You are using the word "never" TOO lightly. I can list tons of situations why one would change targets before a monster is dead (though some of it may not be exactly on topic).

Fourth, you should never move off a target until it's dead. If you're beating on their monk and they're beating on our monk, whoever drops the monk dead first will almost always win the battle. Running off a focused target does little more than prolong a battle, especially when henches are involved since they always follow the most recent target change, making those 3-5 seconds where you run back to the monks 3-5 seconds where nothing happens.

And what if I wasn't beatng on their monk, or what if there wasn't a monk to beat up to begin with, what if the monsters I happen to be beating on really pose no threat but meanwhile a bunch of monsters are killing my healer (because the aggro is split), what if there came ADDs while I am finishing off a couple of non-threats?

Nothing happens can be a good thing. Live to fight another day. If a player (even more so a healer) is in trouble, s/he moves up a few notches in the priority list. When the healer is in trouble, he is having troubles. If I can give the healer a couple seconds of breathing room so he can run off and heal himself, I will die for it.

What would you suggest if a healer is In Trouble, everyone just carry on their business and charge on?

KoP

[Lurker Wyrm]

If the healer is in trouble, I couldn't care less which classes the monsters belong to are causing the trouble - apparently, all classes of monsters can kill a healer

Ok, I'll run with that. You're attacking an elementalist that keeps casting spells and you see the monk being beaten on by 2 warriors and taking a lot of damage. You switch off the elementalist to go after the warriors to protect the monk. The warriors switch their aggro off the monk and onto you, but the monk is still taking a lot of damage. Suddenly you're hit for several hundred damage by 2 or more Chain Lightning spells. The monk dies.

Like you said, any type of monster can kill a healer, so how do you always know which enemy is dealing the most damage to the healer? Remy has the Judge's armor, which is +10 against physical damage. Aerie uses the Saintly armor, which is +5 against elemental. I have no idea what Cheddar, Thelonious and Zen run with. How do you know who (or what) is dealing more damage to the monk at the time? If we were using TS on a regular basis, it would be easy since then we'd only have to say who's hurting us more. Since we don't, it's a lot harder since we can't start typing in the middle of the battle (if it didn't screw with the spell hotkeys, I probably would hit spells with one hand and type/move the mouse with the other-- as it stands now, clicking on a party member name in the party window doesn't cancel you out of chat mode).

Yes, it can make the situation worse, but more often, it saves the healer's skin and the party (in my experience).

When there are only meleers around, yes. See above for when other types of enemies show up.

And like you say, "whoever drops the monk dead first will almost always win the battle" Well, I can't agree to that entirely, but there you have it...

No, it's not always true, which is why I said "almost always" instead of "always." So what's your point here? A team loses its monk(s), it loses its healing power. Suddenly, those other healing bars stop going up and down, and just down.

Then the healer wouldn't be in trouble, no worries.

Bear in mind that the better healers out there will wait until a health bar drops below 1/2 before they start healing (Alesia/Mhenlo/Lina don't count) or at least wait until a health bar drops far enough so that they know they aren't overhealing (i.e. using an Orison that heals for 80 when someone has only lost 40 health). It helps with energy conservation, especially in longer fights. So how do you know if the monk is really in trouble or not?

You are using the word "never" TOO lightly.

I think we've had a bit of a miscommunication on this one. I was referring more to situations where you'll have already taken a fairly large chunk of health out of the target's health. What's the point of bringing an enemy's health down low if you're not going to finish them off? You might as well just kill them before moving on to your next target. If their health is still above 75% and you want to switch off for one reason or another (you see a higher priority target that was somehow lost when they were cluttered, or you want to regroup, whatever) then for the most part, I don't have any problem with that. It's happened to me a lot when I call warriors, as soon as you get into aggro range, one moves at a different speed and you wind up being blocked or whatnot so you have to retarget; there's nothing wrong with that.

And what if I wasn't beatng on their monk

Then you were doing something wrong. Exception being what I said earlier about triggering a protection of some sort without an enchantment remover around.

or what if there wasn't a monk to beat up to begin with

Then you go after the next biggest threat, which is almost always a Mesmer or Elementalist.

what if the monsters I happen to be beating on really pose no threat

Then you chose the wrong target to begin with, or you're just not noticing what they're doing. Mesmers, Necros, and sometimes Rangers (I say that because Rangers are a rather versatile class and it's sometimes hard to predict what they're going to do) don't always deal a lot of direct damage, but use a lot of skills that "finesse" the battle. I've had my monk rendered completely useless by mesmers using anti-caster hexes and whatnot while the party decides to go beating on a warrior or whatever. I've also had my monk completely occupied on self-healing because a Necro was maintaining -10 degen on me. Fortunately, the time that was happening we were only up against 2 monsters (monk and necro) and I was with Shandrel Silkwood who was doing her best to end the battle quickly. Unfortunately, we were in the Ring of Fire and had to fight the mursaat monk boss and the necro boss at the same time, which was just plain annoying.

what if there came ADDs while I am finishing off a couple of non-threats?

The only time adds are a problem is when someone doesn't know the layout of the patrols/mission and doesn't realise how far back they need to go, there's a miscommunication and the person pulling pulls the wrong group and/or at the wrong time, the henches go after a target for one of their many reasons (they were attacked, someone called a target, whatever), or there's a problem with the pull and monsters either don't come (but are still triggered, so they still attack the next time you start to get close) or too many/hidden monsters come. The latter is usually only a problem in areas like the Maguuma Jungle (Spiders) or Southern Shiverpeaks (Shadows).

Keep in mind that additional enemies come with fresh health and energy, which will make them take longer to kill than another enemy who's already drained and weakened.

Nothing happens can be a good thing. Live to fight another day.

Retreats can and do work a lot of the time. That's not what I was talking about. Running around in the middle of a battle field because someone is in trouble causing a time period where they deal damage and we don't isn't a good thing.

If a player (even more so a healer) is in trouble, s/he moves up a few notches in the priority list. When the healer is in trouble, he is having troubles. If I can give the healer a couple seconds of breathing room so he can run off and heal himself, I will die for it.

Most of the time, if a healer is being focused by warriors, they're going to be moving around trying to pass the aggro off on someone else. So, by moving around, you've freed up the aggro that was on you to go after aggro that was already in the process of being pawned off. Player monks are not AI monks. We're not going to just sit there and take a beating for no good reason. 1 or 2 warriors beating on me isn't a problem. It just means I need to cast Healing Touch on myself every now and then. The only time warriors are a problem for me is when there have been 4 or more of them beating on me at once and they won't get off, even though I'll be trying to pawn them off on anyone nearby, tank or otherwise. When that's the case, you don't need to worry about helping out, I'm dead anyway.

What would you suggest if a healer is In Trouble, everyone just carry on their business and charge on?

First, I'd suggest that everyone bring their Resurrection Signet so that if the monk does go down they can come back at full health and about 25% energy (somewhat iffy on the energy). And yes. If you can take out that elementalist that keeps slamming everyone or the Mesmer that keeps interrupting and casting energy denial spells on the casters, by all means take them out instead of running after the warriors beating on the monks. Then use the res sig to bring the monk back to life.

I can list tons of situations why one would change targets before a monster is dead (though some of it may not be exactly on topic).

Well, this is a hints and tips topic, so go ahead and list them.

Speaking of hints and tips, it's always a good idea to spread out so that you're not caught in an AoE attack; or, if you're the target, you don't cause AoE damage to someone else.

[KingOfPain]

Ok, I'll run with that. You're attacking an elementalist that keeps casting spells and you see the monk being beaten on by 2 warriors and taking a lot of damage. You switch off the elementalist to go after the warriors to protect the monk. The warriors switch their aggro off the monk and onto you, but the monk is still taking a lot of damage.

It seems we must be playing different games here, but I will play along…. I am beating an elementalist that keeps casting spells and I see the monk being beaten on by 2 warriors and taking a lot of damage. I keep beating on the elementalist. The monk dies.

The warriors switch their aggro off the monk and onto me, but the monk manage to get away and out of the elementalist’s casting range. The warrior saved the day. And since you are NOT an AI monk I would have to say that is the more likely scenario.

Suddenly you're hit for several hundred damage by 2 or more Chain Lightning spells. The monk dies.

There would have to be 4+ elementalists you are talking about to deal out several hundred Chain Lightning damage all at a sudden, not 2. If the warrior is beating on ONE elementalist, and all the elementalists decided to cast Chain Lightning on the monk plus getting beat on by 2 warriors, the monk dies anyway. You are in over your head..

Like you said, any type of monster can kill a healer, so how do you always know which enemy is dealing the most damage to the healer?

I don’t always know but you seem to imply that you know. See the pretend scenario you setup above.

Since we don't, it's a lot harder since we can't start typing in the middle of the battle (if it didn't screw with the spell hotkeys, I probably would hit spells with one hand and type/move the mouse with the other-- as it stands now, clicking on a party member name in the party window doesn't cancel you out of chat mode).

I only suggested to spam call the threat. If you are dexterity challenged like myself, you don’t have to. It sucks, I know, I only use 8 Hotkeys in LoD because I can’t handle 12

When there are only meleers around, yes. See above for when other types of enemies show up.

False. We are indeed playing different games. I am not seeing monks die every time there are elemenatists around.

No, it's not always true, which is why I said "almost always" instead of "always." So what's your point here?

As oppose to “never”?

So what's your point here? A team loses its monk(s), it loses its healing power. Suddenly, those other healing bars stop going up and down, and just down.

And that is why you suggested the team does nothing to help each other, just bring Res Signet and let the monk fend for himself?

Bear in mind that the better healers out there will wait until a health bar drops below 1/2 before they start healing (Alesia/Mhenlo/Lina don't count) or at least wait until a health bar drops far enough so that they know they aren't overhealing (i.e. using an Orison that heals for 80 when someone has only lost 40 health). It helps with energy conservation, especially in longer fights. So how do you know if the monk is really in trouble or not?

How about watching how his health bar jump up and down, if he’s running desperately, if his spells seem to get interrupted, if the tank is not getting healed, if the monk spam calls a threat, etc., etc. Guess what? Playing a tank does not automatically make people stupid, they don’t rush to the monk’s rescue as soon as the monk’s life bar moves.

I think we've had a bit of a miscommunication on this one. I was referring more to situations where you'll have already taken a fairly large chunk of health out of the target's health. What's the point of bringing an enemy's health down low if you're not going to finish them off? You might as well just kill them before moving on to your next target. If their health is still above 75% and you want to switch off for one reason or another (you see a higher priority target that was somehow lost when they were cluttered, or you want to regroup, whatever) then for the most part, I don't have any problem with that. It's happened to me a lot when I call warriors, as soon as you get into aggro range, one moves at a different speed and you wind up being blocked or whatnot so you have to retarget; there's nothing wrong with that.

Now you are beginning the see the possibilities and willing to look at different angles. Lets get on the same page.

Then you were doing something wrong. Exception being what I said earlier about triggering a protection of some sort without an enchantment remover around.

What if the monk is already dead and I moved on to a different target then the monk gets into trouble? Am I still doing something wrong because I am not beating on a dead monk?

Then you go after the next biggest threat, which is almost always a Mesmer or Elementalist.

But if their monk is dead we have already won the battle (according to you)… And now I see them beating on my monk, and that would make monk rescue top priority.

Then you chose the wrong target to begin with, or you're just not noticing what they're doing.

And you were doing so good beginning to see the dynamics of this game (see above)… Can it be that the mob is a bunch of heavy hitting meleer with a monk or 2 in the back…The good little golly goes to hit the monk(s) (low threat) while he let slip through a mob of heavy hitters to kill the monk. But don’t worry, the golly has a Healing Signet.

The only time adds are a problem is when someone doesn't know the layout of the patrols/mission and doesn't realise how far back they need to go, there's a miscommunication and the person pulling pulls the wrong group and/or at the wrong time, the henches go after a target for one of their many reasons (they were attacked, someone called a target, whatever), or there's a problem with the pull and monsters either don't come (but are still triggered, so they still attack the next time you start to get close) or too many/hidden monsters come. The latter is usually only a problem in areas like the Maguuma Jungle (Spiders) or Southern Shiverpeaks (Shadows).

Keep in mind that additional enemies come with fresh health and energy, which will make them take longer to kill than another enemy who's already drained and weakened.

Your point?

(Heh, there sure are a lot of alternate conditions attached to your “the only time…” ;p)

Retreats can and do work a lot of the time. That's not what I was talking about. Running around in the middle of a battle field because someone is in trouble causing a time period where they deal damage and we don't isn't a good thing.

Sure I would like to be able to spam aoe damage non stop too and have monster fall down at my presence. Not doing damage is not a good thing but it is a whole lot better than letting a team mate die. Maybe I am just silly that way.

You see, most people think these games are about killing monsters, but it really is about staying alive to kill monsters.

Most of the time, if a healer is being focused by warriors, they're going to be moving around trying to pass the aggro off on someone else. So, by moving around, you've freed up the aggro that was on you to go after aggro that was already in the process of being pawned off. Player monks are not AI monks. We're not going to just sit there and take a beating for no good reason. 1 or 2 warriors beating on me isn't a problem. It just means I need to cast Healing Touch on myself every now and then. The only time warriors are a problem for me is when there have been 4 or more of them beating on me at once and they won't get off, even though I'll be trying to pawn them off on anyone nearby, tank or otherwise. When that's the case, you don't need to worry about helping out, I'm dead anyway.

Maybe you are more skillful than the other monks and I won’t have to bother to keep an eye on you next time we game with your monk. However, I will keep on doing what I do when I tank, since I do occasionally save a thankful monk here and there in RB and PuG games. Things don’t always happen as you describe.

First, I'd suggest that everyone bring their Resurrection Signet so that if the monk does go down they can come back at full health and about 25% energy (somewhat iffy on the energy). And yes. If you can take out that elementalist that keeps slamming everyone or the Mesmer that keeps interrupting and casting energy denial spells on the casters, by all means take them out instead of running after the warriors beating on the monks. Then use the res sig to bring the monk back to life.

So, to sum up, no one helps anyone in trouble, let them try to ditch off aggro or die trying?

And you said “A team loses its monk(s), it loses its healing power. Suddenly, those other healing bars stop going up and down, and just down.”

What good is Resurrection Signet when no one is alive to use it?

Well, this is a hints and tips topic, so go ahead and list them.

Hint - see above.


Speaking of tips: just 2 bits

Don’t Die


KoP

[WarBlade]

Remy has the Judge's armor, which is +10 against physical damage. Aerie uses the Saintly armor, which is +5 against elemental. I have no idea what Cheddar, Thelonious and Zen run with.

Somewhat Zen in teh sexay Saintly baby!

[KingOfPain]

Ok, heres one more





KoP

[Vanyel]

Allow me to interject a little bit from my perspective as a tank. I'm not going to talk about hypothical situations, it's too easy to go in circles when debating such.

For background, I run an E/Mo using Point Black AoE, my friend runs a M/R specced into Divine/Healing/Smite. We don't use henchies, don't bring any sort of res, and are currently wandering around S.Shiverpeaks capping skills. We use TS when expecting more than plain melee in the monster mix. I rely on Ether Renewal for energy needs, she relies on a pile of enchantments and Blessed Signet.

For example's sake, I will use a Master Dolyak/Summit Giant Herder mob.

As the designated tank, what happens when we encounter a group is that I C-tab to the priority target. In this case, the Master Dolyak (monk). I note that a second group is close enough to the targeted group that ADDs is a possibility. So I make a call on TS, "Pulling." As acknowlegement, my friend slaps Healing Seed onto me and makes like a tree and leaves, running a good half an aggro circle or more back the way we came (read: cleared area).

This gives me a window of invulnerability that I quickly use to lure the mob away from the second mob. Once the Master Dolyak has been lured sufficiently far from the second mob, I immediately dive in between the legs of all the Summit Giant Herders to huggle the Master Dolyak. Note: In this time, my friend is still far outside of my aggro circle, the Healing Seed is still in effect and I'm getting healed for every hit dealt to me.

Once I close in on the Master Dolyak, the next step is for me to remain rooted to the ground. If things go well, the Summit Herders also come to huggle me and I begin my chain of PBAoEs. In this moment, the creatures are settled around me and it is safe for my monk friend to come join in the fun. But only to a certain degree.

Fact: The aggro circle is roughly 78 yards in radius. The range of spells (not counting special cases like Shock and Ice Spear) is 80 yards, the same range that staffs and wands have. Ever tossed a Fire Storm without monsters noticing till it's raining on them? That's why. You're out of aggro range at 80 yards.

Fact: As long as a healer (and believe me, monsters know who's the healer) is outside of the healee's healing range, the monsters will pay no attention to the healer whatsoever. [*Accepting the fact that there will be instances when a monster or two get frisky and fall in love with the healer. I'll get to that in a bit.] This is important and very useful to know when de-aggroing monsters while playing healer. Monster saw your squishy tattoo'ed self? Run out of healing range. 9 out of 10 times, the monster de-aggros and obediently returns to harrass the tank. Try it sometime. Been using this tactic since doing Borlis Pass for the first time.

Okay, so I'm currently surrounded to the depth of 1 yard by monsters. The Healing Seed is just beginning to flicker, but here's my friend again, 80 yards from me, and just close enough to refresh Healing Seed. She's just 1 smidgen of a yard outside of my aggro circle, and that's all it takes for the creatures to completely ignore her. Which is just fine since now she can begin adding her ranged smiting into the damage mix. With everything around me being hurt, the Master Dolyak wastes his Mark of Protection on someone other than himself and the entire mob falls in 10s or less.

Perfect 10. This is of course, only perfect on paper. In practice, 1 out of 10 times, a Summit Herder will get frisky and insist on sticking to the monk like glue, no matter that she's run out of healing range. This is when I thought I'd add my 2 dinars in, in regards to talk about saving the monk.

Don't.

It may seem cruel but one must be cruel to be kind.

I have 3 Summit Herders on me, including the Master Dolyak. I'm taking them down very well on my own, my life is in the green. If I take but one step to the side, the melee Herders de-aggro and if my friend just happens to be within my aggro circle, they immediately re-target themselves onto her. In other words, things will go pear-shaped like how. What then? For me as the tank, nothing. I stay where I am, I kill what's on me.

What's my friend doing then? She isn't specced for self-healing, her best heal involves casting Balthazar's Aura and relying on Divine Favour bonus to heal her. She's the one doing the running. Not away from me however. But around me. As she runs in a circle, and the creature on her tail follows, I will constantly be placed almost in the direct path of the creature. You can practically draw a line between herself, me, and the creature. Thus, the creature aggros back onto me, and she makes a beeline back to the 80 yard mark again. Very simple, very effective.

Stay put, or run to the monk with 3 Summit Herders on your tail? Summit Herders who will sniff out the monk's lower armour level and begin to focus fire on her. The onus is on the monk to keep a clear head and recognise that now is the time to put on her running tattoos and make circles around the tank. It may be difficult. It can be done. The monk class is not an easy one to play, simply because of monster AI programming. But when played well, the difference is overwhelming.

This is why my practice is to lure creatures away from possible ADDs before engaging them. For the very case that if some monster decides to not play by the rules, my friend will have ample room to run around and drop the creature back onto me, the tank.

If there is more than one caster in a mob, once the first is down, I send out another warning in TS. That gets me a fresh Healing Seed before my friend hightails it out of my aggro circle. This will let me drag any remaining melee (I like melee, did I mention? With Balthazar's Spirit and Essence Bond on myself, I get 2 energy per hit.) over to the other caster, say an elementalist, or mesmer, or necro, and the cycle starts all over again.

By the way, the reason Alesia/Lina/Orion get targeted the most/first is because monsters can tell who's got the worst armour, lowest health, highest death penalty. And the reason why monks and casters pick up aggro so very easily. What's funny is, when I put up Armour of Earth, I can get completely ignored in favour of my friend, when I'm actually using 57 AL armour and she's using 60 AL armour. They know, Precious. Yes they do. It's hilarious how many times I used to strip my chest piece off to get monster attention back onto me.

There really is no if, or, or the other. Tanks don't run once they engage the enemy. Hopefully ALL the enemies. Not just the melee. If you have sprint, even better. Get in, get close, and stand your ground. You move, you allow things past you that shouldn't have gotten past you. Then it gets messy. And messy fights make Dwayna cwy. And you're only supposed to pwaise Dwayna, not make her cwy.

And I fully agree with the 2 bits.
Don't die.

Of course, these sort of tactics guarantee it'll never work with henchies. That's why we never bring them. And no, I don't expect PUGs to be able to grasp this sort of playstyle ever, s'why I never PUG either. Snobby? No, just not in the mood to pick up someone else's slack.

A larger party can be easily accomodated, but it is most efficient if there's only 1 tank. Otherwise things like Balthazar's Spirit and Essence Bond will go to waste when hits land on the other tank.

Case in point: Casting both on Demi Maul and seeing Ragnar taking all the hits instead. It almost felt like I was gambling, "Gee who's going to be the first into the next fray now that will justify my giving up two energy regen pips for greater overall benefit?". If I cast on both tanks, I'm left with no energy pips whatsoever. Not optimal either.

In regards to not bringing any sort of res, my friend and I are of the mind that if we die, we deserved it, start from the beginning. I guess that's a sort of variant playstyle? Or maybe it's just called hardcore. If a mistake happens, we wipe, no safety nets allowed. I will not hide the fact that our set-up is a fragile balance and things can and will go wrong easily. But that makes it all the more heady when we go in and succeed. The loot isn't half bad either, with just two people in the party.

p.s. Ether Renewal is not at all a requirement, nor are any elite skills needed. This two-man set-up did Riverside + bonus, Sanctum Cay + bonus... Having the scepter really helps in such cases. The slow totem in Dunes serves the same purpose. Unfortunately, that mission demands more sentient bodies than a mere two. Can't win 'em all.

In closing, I have to say if you can work out a partnership with just one other person, sometimes the synergy you can get more than makes up for the small party size.

Also, don't run when monsters are on you. It hurts the squishies in the back more than it helps. Let the monk heal you and the rest of the party. And let the rest of the party behind deal with whatever came through your tank wall. Better just a few are on your monk, than the entire group that came following after you when you charged to the back to try saving her. No?

Now see what you made me do, it's hours past my bedtime and it's all your fault!

[WarBlade]

In closing, I have to say if you can work out a partnership with just one other person, sometimes the synergy you can get more than makes up for the small party size.

I couldn't agree more. When I'm running Somewhat Zen (Monk/Ranger played as archer with a healing side) with Bozack Maximus (Necromancer/non-Ranger with attributes in all Necro directions) the symbiosis between his Blood is Power and Blood Ritual combined with my heals amounts to a formidable result. 71 point Heal Team spells lobbed off at a rate of two or three seconds does wonders for any team's well being without the trickery of a single invulnerable focal point tactic.