Post by Soswift / Somany on Dec 25, 2011 13:45:53 GMT -5
Merry Christmas all! Somany here with some tips on playing with others in exp groups that will make for more efficient killing, less downtime, more experience, and over all smoother groupage. I've tried to cover a broad spectrum of EQ familiarity here so much of this content may seem excessively basic, but hopefully beneficial. I've broken these tips down into group roles, and only the group roles that I feel qualified to speak on - so healers and enchanters specifically I've got nothing for you, sorry. Someone else can write that section! Note - these tips aren't intended for boxed groups, though some may be useful. And I also assume that the puller and the tank are different toons in these tips.
TANKS
Ok having played 2 tank classes extensively, I know this job inside and out but after having seen some big mistakes in the post-85 game recently I hope this section doesn't come off as harsh. Let's get down to it - as a good tank you'll be the keystone of a successful group. When you are good at your job everyone else can shine as well! Gonna start big-picture and get into some more helpful tips down further.
-Aggro is your job. Getting the mobs to hit you and only you is your primary job, which is the definition of tanking. Being able to take hits is important but secondary, because it doesn't matter if you have 100k hitpoints and 10k AC if you're not the one getting hit. Stun augs, pure hate augs, agro-increasing AA lines (warrior Infused by Rage for example), your taunt spells/discs, and pure agro spells/discs are your tools to get agro, keep it, and make it your pretty little girlfriend.
-Fast pickup = win. This means get aggro from your puller as he brings the mob into camp. Knights you have your taunt and Confrontation line of spells and warriors you have your Sneer and Bazu disc lines. Start piling that agro on as soon as the mob your puller is bringing into the camp is within a safe distance, (aka frontloading aggro). Doing this will prevent your puller from getting beat like a dog and will allow your DPS and slower to assist earlier. If you need a great example of a fast pickup, watch Fivebyfive tank! For warriors the max range of your Sneer and Bazu discs is a great distance, knights will just have to be careful they don't aggro while the mob is too far away and risk aggroing roamers/repops. Remember your Confrontation or Bazu abilities are aggro-over-time, they won't provide much for instant aggro (snap aggro) so right after you hit the mob with your taunt/Sneer get that aggro-over-time ability on the mob ASAP.
-For the love of Brell don't snare or stun before the mob is in camp!! This is dangerous, frustrating as heck, and inefficient to the max. When the mob is snared or stunned outside of camp not only does it risk aggroing roamers or repops, but it adds another 10 seconds on to: when you can start building swing and proc aggro, and your group can start to engage and kill it. When everyone is standing there watching the mob snail back to camp and not actively killing it, that's wasted time. Get the mob in camp, and get it deaded. The sooner the better.
-Taunt and frontload aggro before breaking mez. Tank 101 here, but I wouldn't mention it if I didn't see my healer get eaten and the group all but wipe while playing my bard. This is called "no-damage" tanking, casting your aggro spells and discs and taunting before turning on attack and breaking mez. Since every spell an enchanter casts is high-aggro (mez, slow, debuffs), and because healers doing a lot of healing can generate a lot of group-wide aggro, if you wake up a sleeping mob without getting aggro first, it may just run over and EAT the player with the most aggro. Then the group loses efficiency while waiting for the dead to recover.
-Get first aggro. Pay attention to your surroundings - if you see a roamer incoming, hit it with your taunt or Sneer spell before it aggro's anyone else in the group (if you have a mezzer be sure to turn off attack before switching targets). Then you can return to the first mob in camp and finish it off. Doing this will keep your DPS unharmed and give your mezzer more time to react.
-Peel the next mob that's incoming off the puller. During chain pulls (when your puller is pulling mobs one-after-another in quick succession) often your mob in camp will not be quite dead before the next mob is on its way in behind the puller; so grab it. You do not need to be targeting a mob 100% of the time to hold aggro on it, and if the first mob is going to be dead in less than 6seconds or so, just stay on the 2nd mob and start building aggro on it while the DPS finish off the first. Then they can immediately assist on the 2nd mob. The Extended Target Window makes this part of the job a WHOLE lot easier, and this transition move is very efficient and super-smooth! *Note - If you are using DPS mercenaries in group, designating one of the DPS players in your group as the Main Assist will keep the merc on the first mob instead of it jumping back and forth.
-Communicate with your group/puller. Since you are the one making the difference between the group killing the mob or the mob wrecking the group, it's important to let the group know if you're going AFK.
PULLERS
You guys, with the tank's cooperation, will set the pace of the group. Again I'll mention: these tips assume that the tank is not the puller.
-Pulling = a smooth hand-off to the tank; you want low aggro and low damage. Here's some helpful tidbits for doing that:
1.) Pull Macros: These macros will shoot one arrow/throw one throwie at your target. For chain pulls I omit the group announcement because it gets old fast. You can also make a separate macro for the announcement if you like.
If you normally have a bow in your range slot and use that to pull, use this macro:
/autofire on
/pause 2
/autofire off (can also use /attack on)
If you use a range item and need to swap in your bow or your throwies, use this macro:
/bandolier activate THROW (make a bandolier with your throwies in range and ammo slots)
/autofire on
/bandolier activate MELEE (bandolier with your melee weapons and range item)
/autofire off
/gsay INCOMING >> %T << (optional, or /vg 002 for the voice macro)
-Mob placement - stand by your tank! When you're pulling the mob into camp, run into the camp and stand right next to the tank. Help your tank out by placing the mob right in front of his face, and doing this will prevent the mob from getting behind the tank - which makes it harder to target, especially in first-person mode (catches breath after that raging run-on). It's super frustrating when the puller runs by the group with a mob like a jet flying by an aircraft carrier. If your tank is just a second behind with that approach, he could miss the mob and you have to double back. Forget all that, because it's more running than you want to do, and many camps aren't big enough for that anyway. Ideally your tank has read the Tank section of this post and he'll snatch the mob quickly without you getting a scratch.
-Timing is the name of the game. This is a big one for exp grinds/lesson burns or loot camping - the goal is to always have a mob in camp being killed. As the puller you need to be aware of the respawn times of the content you're pulling, the presence of roamers and when they path, and the amount of time it takes your group to kill one mob. Respawn times vary usually by zone, but can vary by camp or even by one mob (for example Grounds and Katta mobs respawn in 6-8 mins, which is 2-3times faster than most zones. In Loping Plains, northern goblin camp, the sentries around the perimeter of the camp respawn in 6mins, whereas the rest of the mobs in camp take 18-20mins). The rate your group kills and how far away you're pulling from will determine at what % of the monster's health you need to run out and grab another. You don't want your group standing around not killing because that's not productive or efficient.
-Again, DON'T SNARE ON PULL! Everyone who can snare - don't do it while pulling. It's harder for the tank to taunt off of you and it slows down the killfest. If you're a necro and you're soloing adds alongside the group for extra fun or as crowd control, hey go for it, but the ones for the group - don't snare.
-Know the content. Know where the named are (Google search 'everquest named maps' and/or ask in group), and /con and ask before pulling. Knowing where the loot-dropping named are is SOMUCH win, so take mental notes when you see them or get told where they spawn or what their ph is. Don't pull raid mobs or quest named if exp or loot (respectively) is the goal; for example if you're exp'ing in Wall of Slaughter your group probably doesn't want to see INCOMING >Cipheron< get ready!!
-Know your tank. This one just takes experience with your tank. Observe how well they're taking hits, how fast they're picking up the mob, whether they want you to pull doubles or whatever it may be. If the tank is getting wrecked hardcore, see if there¡¦s anything you can dispel off the mob before it gets to camp (bards/ranjas/casters). Pulling with dispel is a little slower, but faster than the tank dying. If they are routinely slow on the pickup and you are getting beat like a dog every mob, you can either mez the mob in place for them to break (bards/chanters) or feign death a little ways in front of the camp so they can pick it up from a range instead of bringing the mob all the way into camp and risking you and the healer getting ate before the tank gets aggro. If he's wondering why you're doing this, explain (somehow in nice words, or if not in nice words, at least in /tell) that if he tagged the mobs sooner you wouldn't be doing this.
-Gauge your group's DPS to determine your pulling range. The respawn rate and the time it takes your group to kill one monster will help determine the maximum range you can pull from. What you don't want is to be pulling from too far and then get repops on the way back; you always want to be in control of what's following you back to the group. Also, if your Sanctum Somnium group that's comprised of 2 knights and 2 lvl 82 DPSers wants a particular named, you'll be able to guesstimate after a few mobs whether it's going to be feasible to clear to the named or try to pull the named/ph's to the group without clearing. With very low DPS, you may not be able to clear to the named before repops. Conversely the higher your group's DPS the sooner you¡¦ll have to run back out to grab another mob. (ie running out when the mob in camp is at 40% with high DPS or range vs 10% with low DPS or short range.) I was in a group in Old Bloodfields with 5 absolute win players and me pulling doubles as fast as I could with my bard to keep anything alive in camp. I was pulling an entire quadrant of the zone and spending mere seconds in camp for the handoff - talk about MASSIVE DPS! HUGE adjustment from my usual pull rate, each group will be slightly different and adjusting your pull rate on-the-fly will be required.
-ALWAYS watch the group's health/mana/edu levels. When peeps are out of mana/endurance they can't hold aggro, heal, or DPS effectively and therefore are not ready for mobs. My rule is usually 15% mana for healers is minimum to grab mobs; that leaves a little room for error. If you look back and see the tank at 30% health, pause a second and make sure the healer isn't linkdead. I'm not saying don't pull unless everyone is above 80% mana/end just when everyone is below 10% you may want to ask before proceeding or just take a voluntary break. And I'd recommend checking with the group before pulling a named if mana/end levels are questionably low, particularly in VoA content where the named are especially challenging.
-Communicate with the tank/group and watch for their feedback. Watch group chat, watch for the healer or tank saying 'AFK bio' or 'one sec, phone' etc. When starting out, watch for the tank and healer's 'Ready', the DPS can catch up. I like to always announce in group when a named is incoming, or ask if we're ready if mana/end levels are low. The tank may want you to wait on pulling a named if all of his defensive abilities are still on cooldown, for example.
-Chain pull unless the tank says otherwise. This is the term used for constantly keeping a mob in camp, one after another with minimal downtime. Obviously this is efficient, but if your tank wants you to slow down for whatever reason, do it. Maybe his connection's bugging or he's semi-AFK for something or what have you, just communicate and cooperate.
-Disregard antsy DPSers until the TANK agrees with them. While pulling I've come across DPS who have wanted to go faster than I'm pulling. Take what they're saying into account, yes, if you're dragging @$$, pick it up. But if you're keeping a good pace and your tank likes it, keep the rhythm going and they can STFU. If the tank is the one saying you need to go faster, then it's time to beat feet and get moar mobs incoming! (which goes back to knowing your tank)
-Stay within your camp. Ok a classic example of this is the House of Thule Lower Floors east and west courtyard camps. In this case there is a nice big line down the center dividing the 2 different camps. Typically where the rage starts is when one side spawns a named and the other side's puller crosses the line and tags the named. Don't be that guy. If you want the named, ask the other group if you can pull it, and expect to be rejected - but don't just take it. You can move to a bigger camp if you run out of mobs, or take a few minutes AFK for repops or pull in a different direction if possible, but don't take mobs that aren't yours. It's not courteous, and in our bitesize EQ community we know that everyone knows everyone, and you never know who's watching. For example, I did about half of my warrior's Jonas Dagmire hand aug quests with some random toon I'd never seen before and at the end when he had to leave for raids and I asked him who his main was he said the guild leader of Viking Alliance (an uberleet Euro raid guild at the time who had helped during some NCG raids) I was like, oh snap - glad I wasn't acting a fool during this group >.> Friends are good to have, and your EQ community faction stands to take big hits by your taking other people's mobs.
DPS
By DPS I mean the damage-dealing classes, pure melee / hybrid / caster it doesn't matter, and also the act of dealing damage (it's used as every part of speech =P). Anyway, all can benefit from following these basics. Big concepts for DPSers: max damage + group assisting, all while avoiding aggro.
-Pour on the damage. This is completely common sense but MAN it irks me when I see a melee standing there just /autoattacking and not casting or using discs or abilities, or seeing a caster throw 2 nukes during a 40second mob fight. Come on! Melee burn that mana/end - that's what it's made for! Think of it this way - your mana/end bar and your experience bar have an inverse relationship, one goes down, the other goes up; one goes down faster - the other goes up faster! I understand pacing yourself but if after 15minutes your mana/end bar hasn't dropped below 90% during chain pulls you're wrong! (barring of course being lvl80 and stacked with lvl95 regen buffs) The point is: bring the pain!
-DPS = tank mitigation and healer mana conservation. Think about this one for a second - if a mob dies in 30 seconds instead of 40 seconds, that's 10 seconds where the mob isn't beating up the tank and 10 seconds worth of damage the healer doesn't have to heal - but yields the same exp! This also means less time in between mobs, farther named/PH's can be pulled, and more experience and loot had by all! So I guess this one ties in with the first point, oops =P
-Assist the group. When the group wins, you win. There are lots of actions that can be done that don't add DPS but are helpful, expected many times, and when done will end in you getting more experience. Simple things like buffing, snaring, slowing, debuffing, Paragon of Spirit, group-wide Spires, etc. Pass out those buffs and win. And when you group with Somany be sure to ask him for Brell's =D
-Know your role. If there are multiple snarers in group or multiple slowers or whatever - coordinate with each other who is going to snare or slow or what have you. Overlapping these tasks can waste mana and lower DPS output, so establish who's doing what beforehand to maximize efficiency.
-Let the tank break mez. Remember, the puller is in control of the mob until it gets to camp, then the tank takes over, let him do his job. You assist the tank - if the tank's not attacking a target, you shouldn't be either. Think of it as a self preservation measure, if the mezzed mob you just woke up runs over and eats your healer, you just shot your whole group in the foot (and maybe shot them all to the guild lobby >.<) Don't be that guy, wait for the telltale "An angry mob has been woken up by Tankadon!" text.
-Bring aggro TO the tank. Let's say you're a caster sitting on your mount and you accidentally gank (steal) aggro and the mob runs over and starts eating you. You can use your earth elemental AA ability, feign death, cast your Concussive Blast line, memblur, whatever you have to reduce aggro while standing in place, OR if you're standing rather far away from the tank, move closer to him. But whatever you do DON'T run in circles! In fact don't run at all! By running away you can outpace the tank and/or run out of range of the healer. Get in range of the tank's taunt and swing aggro ASAP and let him save you. On that note...
-Avoid aggro. This is a big one, the part that trips up lots of DPSers who put out lots of DPS while DPSing =P. The biggest concepts here are: aggro is a team effort and dead DPSers = no DPS. When anyone who's not the tank has aggro and is taking damage that the tank should be, efficiency is lost through the healer's manapool. It's a self-preservation thing too, dead toons get no exp. So in the effort to avoid taking unnecessary damage, here are some tips:
1.) Melee take your stun augs out, they're high aggro. Replace with pure direct damage procs or +dmg augs, much lower aggro.
2.) Take Taunt out of your kick + disarm hotbutton. This one was a stupid mistake I made on my ranger. I combined multiple abilities, including Taunt, into one button while i soloed to keep them trained at max, but I had to take it out of the macro quickly once I got into a group.
3.) Use your aggro-reducing abilities. Jolting Kicks, Roar of Thunder, Feign Death, Fading Memories, Concussive Blast, etc.
4.) Forget about Root. Once a mob is in camp I have never encountered a need to root it now that everyone and their brother has some kind of snare and Finishing Blow AA's go high enough to matter. Root produces what's called 'proximity aggro' where the closest player character to the mob gets whacked, regardless of who has the most aggro. So don't use it. And mages put that earth pet away or at least turn off his root casting in group.
5.) Assess your tank. If your tank is a beastly protankins and you only ever see his name in the HoTT box, feel free to assist sooner and/or increase your intensity as you are able. But anything less than this and you'll have to find a happy medium with doing mass damage and staying under the mobs' radar.
6.) Wait to assist. Give the tank a few seconds to establish aggro, and then assist.
7.) If you as a melee accidentally gank, turn off attack for a few seconds while the tank regains aggro. When you're swinging you're still generating aggro, so help a brother out and you'll get beat less.
8.) Snare at the end. Snare around 40% is my rule, that way you have time to recast if it's resisted, and by then the tank has aggro well in hand. No use snaring at 96% when the mob won't run until 20%.
9.) Take off gear with aggromods. If you have gear with an aggromod on it, such as a mask with Echo of Anger on it, take it off or swap it out for one with no mod on it. You'll instantly produce 22% less aggro =P
10.) Click off haste if you're producing a lot more aggro than your tank. You'll lose DPS, yes, but you won't be dead = worth it.
11.) Switch tanks. Ok if you as the level 95 melee simply can't trim enough aggro to not gank from your lvl85 tank - be the tank! If you can take the hits and hold the aggro then have the tank switch to a DPS role and you can let all your DPS and aggro fly!
That's about all I've got for now. Please post comments/further tips/anything helpful/call me names, I can take it =P See ya'll in game!
TANKS
Ok having played 2 tank classes extensively, I know this job inside and out but after having seen some big mistakes in the post-85 game recently I hope this section doesn't come off as harsh. Let's get down to it - as a good tank you'll be the keystone of a successful group. When you are good at your job everyone else can shine as well! Gonna start big-picture and get into some more helpful tips down further.
-Aggro is your job. Getting the mobs to hit you and only you is your primary job, which is the definition of tanking. Being able to take hits is important but secondary, because it doesn't matter if you have 100k hitpoints and 10k AC if you're not the one getting hit. Stun augs, pure hate augs, agro-increasing AA lines (warrior Infused by Rage for example), your taunt spells/discs, and pure agro spells/discs are your tools to get agro, keep it, and make it your pretty little girlfriend.
-Fast pickup = win. This means get aggro from your puller as he brings the mob into camp. Knights you have your taunt and Confrontation line of spells and warriors you have your Sneer and Bazu disc lines. Start piling that agro on as soon as the mob your puller is bringing into the camp is within a safe distance, (aka frontloading aggro). Doing this will prevent your puller from getting beat like a dog and will allow your DPS and slower to assist earlier. If you need a great example of a fast pickup, watch Fivebyfive tank! For warriors the max range of your Sneer and Bazu discs is a great distance, knights will just have to be careful they don't aggro while the mob is too far away and risk aggroing roamers/repops. Remember your Confrontation or Bazu abilities are aggro-over-time, they won't provide much for instant aggro (snap aggro) so right after you hit the mob with your taunt/Sneer get that aggro-over-time ability on the mob ASAP.
-For the love of Brell don't snare or stun before the mob is in camp!! This is dangerous, frustrating as heck, and inefficient to the max. When the mob is snared or stunned outside of camp not only does it risk aggroing roamers or repops, but it adds another 10 seconds on to: when you can start building swing and proc aggro, and your group can start to engage and kill it. When everyone is standing there watching the mob snail back to camp and not actively killing it, that's wasted time. Get the mob in camp, and get it deaded. The sooner the better.
-Taunt and frontload aggro before breaking mez. Tank 101 here, but I wouldn't mention it if I didn't see my healer get eaten and the group all but wipe while playing my bard. This is called "no-damage" tanking, casting your aggro spells and discs and taunting before turning on attack and breaking mez. Since every spell an enchanter casts is high-aggro (mez, slow, debuffs), and because healers doing a lot of healing can generate a lot of group-wide aggro, if you wake up a sleeping mob without getting aggro first, it may just run over and EAT the player with the most aggro. Then the group loses efficiency while waiting for the dead to recover.
-Get first aggro. Pay attention to your surroundings - if you see a roamer incoming, hit it with your taunt or Sneer spell before it aggro's anyone else in the group (if you have a mezzer be sure to turn off attack before switching targets). Then you can return to the first mob in camp and finish it off. Doing this will keep your DPS unharmed and give your mezzer more time to react.
-Peel the next mob that's incoming off the puller. During chain pulls (when your puller is pulling mobs one-after-another in quick succession) often your mob in camp will not be quite dead before the next mob is on its way in behind the puller; so grab it. You do not need to be targeting a mob 100% of the time to hold aggro on it, and if the first mob is going to be dead in less than 6seconds or so, just stay on the 2nd mob and start building aggro on it while the DPS finish off the first. Then they can immediately assist on the 2nd mob. The Extended Target Window makes this part of the job a WHOLE lot easier, and this transition move is very efficient and super-smooth! *Note - If you are using DPS mercenaries in group, designating one of the DPS players in your group as the Main Assist will keep the merc on the first mob instead of it jumping back and forth.
-Communicate with your group/puller. Since you are the one making the difference between the group killing the mob or the mob wrecking the group, it's important to let the group know if you're going AFK.
PULLERS
You guys, with the tank's cooperation, will set the pace of the group. Again I'll mention: these tips assume that the tank is not the puller.
-Pulling = a smooth hand-off to the tank; you want low aggro and low damage. Here's some helpful tidbits for doing that:
1.) Pull Macros: These macros will shoot one arrow/throw one throwie at your target. For chain pulls I omit the group announcement because it gets old fast. You can also make a separate macro for the announcement if you like.
If you normally have a bow in your range slot and use that to pull, use this macro:
/autofire on
/pause 2
/autofire off (can also use /attack on)
If you use a range item and need to swap in your bow or your throwies, use this macro:
/bandolier activate THROW (make a bandolier with your throwies in range and ammo slots)
/autofire on
/bandolier activate MELEE (bandolier with your melee weapons and range item)
/autofire off
/gsay INCOMING >> %T << (optional, or /vg 002 for the voice macro)
-Mob placement - stand by your tank! When you're pulling the mob into camp, run into the camp and stand right next to the tank. Help your tank out by placing the mob right in front of his face, and doing this will prevent the mob from getting behind the tank - which makes it harder to target, especially in first-person mode (catches breath after that raging run-on). It's super frustrating when the puller runs by the group with a mob like a jet flying by an aircraft carrier. If your tank is just a second behind with that approach, he could miss the mob and you have to double back. Forget all that, because it's more running than you want to do, and many camps aren't big enough for that anyway. Ideally your tank has read the Tank section of this post and he'll snatch the mob quickly without you getting a scratch.
-Timing is the name of the game. This is a big one for exp grinds/lesson burns or loot camping - the goal is to always have a mob in camp being killed. As the puller you need to be aware of the respawn times of the content you're pulling, the presence of roamers and when they path, and the amount of time it takes your group to kill one mob. Respawn times vary usually by zone, but can vary by camp or even by one mob (for example Grounds and Katta mobs respawn in 6-8 mins, which is 2-3times faster than most zones. In Loping Plains, northern goblin camp, the sentries around the perimeter of the camp respawn in 6mins, whereas the rest of the mobs in camp take 18-20mins). The rate your group kills and how far away you're pulling from will determine at what % of the monster's health you need to run out and grab another. You don't want your group standing around not killing because that's not productive or efficient.
-Again, DON'T SNARE ON PULL! Everyone who can snare - don't do it while pulling. It's harder for the tank to taunt off of you and it slows down the killfest. If you're a necro and you're soloing adds alongside the group for extra fun or as crowd control, hey go for it, but the ones for the group - don't snare.
-Know the content. Know where the named are (Google search 'everquest named maps' and/or ask in group), and /con and ask before pulling. Knowing where the loot-dropping named are is SOMUCH win, so take mental notes when you see them or get told where they spawn or what their ph is. Don't pull raid mobs or quest named if exp or loot (respectively) is the goal; for example if you're exp'ing in Wall of Slaughter your group probably doesn't want to see INCOMING >Cipheron< get ready!!
-Know your tank. This one just takes experience with your tank. Observe how well they're taking hits, how fast they're picking up the mob, whether they want you to pull doubles or whatever it may be. If the tank is getting wrecked hardcore, see if there¡¦s anything you can dispel off the mob before it gets to camp (bards/ranjas/casters). Pulling with dispel is a little slower, but faster than the tank dying. If they are routinely slow on the pickup and you are getting beat like a dog every mob, you can either mez the mob in place for them to break (bards/chanters) or feign death a little ways in front of the camp so they can pick it up from a range instead of bringing the mob all the way into camp and risking you and the healer getting ate before the tank gets aggro. If he's wondering why you're doing this, explain (somehow in nice words, or if not in nice words, at least in /tell) that if he tagged the mobs sooner you wouldn't be doing this.
-Gauge your group's DPS to determine your pulling range. The respawn rate and the time it takes your group to kill one monster will help determine the maximum range you can pull from. What you don't want is to be pulling from too far and then get repops on the way back; you always want to be in control of what's following you back to the group. Also, if your Sanctum Somnium group that's comprised of 2 knights and 2 lvl 82 DPSers wants a particular named, you'll be able to guesstimate after a few mobs whether it's going to be feasible to clear to the named or try to pull the named/ph's to the group without clearing. With very low DPS, you may not be able to clear to the named before repops. Conversely the higher your group's DPS the sooner you¡¦ll have to run back out to grab another mob. (ie running out when the mob in camp is at 40% with high DPS or range vs 10% with low DPS or short range.) I was in a group in Old Bloodfields with 5 absolute win players and me pulling doubles as fast as I could with my bard to keep anything alive in camp. I was pulling an entire quadrant of the zone and spending mere seconds in camp for the handoff - talk about MASSIVE DPS! HUGE adjustment from my usual pull rate, each group will be slightly different and adjusting your pull rate on-the-fly will be required.
-ALWAYS watch the group's health/mana/edu levels. When peeps are out of mana/endurance they can't hold aggro, heal, or DPS effectively and therefore are not ready for mobs. My rule is usually 15% mana for healers is minimum to grab mobs; that leaves a little room for error. If you look back and see the tank at 30% health, pause a second and make sure the healer isn't linkdead. I'm not saying don't pull unless everyone is above 80% mana/end just when everyone is below 10% you may want to ask before proceeding or just take a voluntary break. And I'd recommend checking with the group before pulling a named if mana/end levels are questionably low, particularly in VoA content where the named are especially challenging.
-Communicate with the tank/group and watch for their feedback. Watch group chat, watch for the healer or tank saying 'AFK bio' or 'one sec, phone' etc. When starting out, watch for the tank and healer's 'Ready', the DPS can catch up. I like to always announce in group when a named is incoming, or ask if we're ready if mana/end levels are low. The tank may want you to wait on pulling a named if all of his defensive abilities are still on cooldown, for example.
-Chain pull unless the tank says otherwise. This is the term used for constantly keeping a mob in camp, one after another with minimal downtime. Obviously this is efficient, but if your tank wants you to slow down for whatever reason, do it. Maybe his connection's bugging or he's semi-AFK for something or what have you, just communicate and cooperate.
-Disregard antsy DPSers until the TANK agrees with them. While pulling I've come across DPS who have wanted to go faster than I'm pulling. Take what they're saying into account, yes, if you're dragging @$$, pick it up. But if you're keeping a good pace and your tank likes it, keep the rhythm going and they can STFU. If the tank is the one saying you need to go faster, then it's time to beat feet and get moar mobs incoming! (which goes back to knowing your tank)
-Stay within your camp. Ok a classic example of this is the House of Thule Lower Floors east and west courtyard camps. In this case there is a nice big line down the center dividing the 2 different camps. Typically where the rage starts is when one side spawns a named and the other side's puller crosses the line and tags the named. Don't be that guy. If you want the named, ask the other group if you can pull it, and expect to be rejected - but don't just take it. You can move to a bigger camp if you run out of mobs, or take a few minutes AFK for repops or pull in a different direction if possible, but don't take mobs that aren't yours. It's not courteous, and in our bitesize EQ community we know that everyone knows everyone, and you never know who's watching. For example, I did about half of my warrior's Jonas Dagmire hand aug quests with some random toon I'd never seen before and at the end when he had to leave for raids and I asked him who his main was he said the guild leader of Viking Alliance (an uberleet Euro raid guild at the time who had helped during some NCG raids) I was like, oh snap - glad I wasn't acting a fool during this group >.> Friends are good to have, and your EQ community faction stands to take big hits by your taking other people's mobs.
DPS
By DPS I mean the damage-dealing classes, pure melee / hybrid / caster it doesn't matter, and also the act of dealing damage (it's used as every part of speech =P). Anyway, all can benefit from following these basics. Big concepts for DPSers: max damage + group assisting, all while avoiding aggro.
-Pour on the damage. This is completely common sense but MAN it irks me when I see a melee standing there just /autoattacking and not casting or using discs or abilities, or seeing a caster throw 2 nukes during a 40second mob fight. Come on! Melee burn that mana/end - that's what it's made for! Think of it this way - your mana/end bar and your experience bar have an inverse relationship, one goes down, the other goes up; one goes down faster - the other goes up faster! I understand pacing yourself but if after 15minutes your mana/end bar hasn't dropped below 90% during chain pulls you're wrong! (barring of course being lvl80 and stacked with lvl95 regen buffs) The point is: bring the pain!
-DPS = tank mitigation and healer mana conservation. Think about this one for a second - if a mob dies in 30 seconds instead of 40 seconds, that's 10 seconds where the mob isn't beating up the tank and 10 seconds worth of damage the healer doesn't have to heal - but yields the same exp! This also means less time in between mobs, farther named/PH's can be pulled, and more experience and loot had by all! So I guess this one ties in with the first point, oops =P
-Assist the group. When the group wins, you win. There are lots of actions that can be done that don't add DPS but are helpful, expected many times, and when done will end in you getting more experience. Simple things like buffing, snaring, slowing, debuffing, Paragon of Spirit, group-wide Spires, etc. Pass out those buffs and win. And when you group with Somany be sure to ask him for Brell's =D
-Know your role. If there are multiple snarers in group or multiple slowers or whatever - coordinate with each other who is going to snare or slow or what have you. Overlapping these tasks can waste mana and lower DPS output, so establish who's doing what beforehand to maximize efficiency.
-Let the tank break mez. Remember, the puller is in control of the mob until it gets to camp, then the tank takes over, let him do his job. You assist the tank - if the tank's not attacking a target, you shouldn't be either. Think of it as a self preservation measure, if the mezzed mob you just woke up runs over and eats your healer, you just shot your whole group in the foot (and maybe shot them all to the guild lobby >.<) Don't be that guy, wait for the telltale "An angry mob has been woken up by Tankadon!" text.
-Bring aggro TO the tank. Let's say you're a caster sitting on your mount and you accidentally gank (steal) aggro and the mob runs over and starts eating you. You can use your earth elemental AA ability, feign death, cast your Concussive Blast line, memblur, whatever you have to reduce aggro while standing in place, OR if you're standing rather far away from the tank, move closer to him. But whatever you do DON'T run in circles! In fact don't run at all! By running away you can outpace the tank and/or run out of range of the healer. Get in range of the tank's taunt and swing aggro ASAP and let him save you. On that note...
-Avoid aggro. This is a big one, the part that trips up lots of DPSers who put out lots of DPS while DPSing =P. The biggest concepts here are: aggro is a team effort and dead DPSers = no DPS. When anyone who's not the tank has aggro and is taking damage that the tank should be, efficiency is lost through the healer's manapool. It's a self-preservation thing too, dead toons get no exp. So in the effort to avoid taking unnecessary damage, here are some tips:
1.) Melee take your stun augs out, they're high aggro. Replace with pure direct damage procs or +dmg augs, much lower aggro.
2.) Take Taunt out of your kick + disarm hotbutton. This one was a stupid mistake I made on my ranger. I combined multiple abilities, including Taunt, into one button while i soloed to keep them trained at max, but I had to take it out of the macro quickly once I got into a group.
3.) Use your aggro-reducing abilities. Jolting Kicks, Roar of Thunder, Feign Death, Fading Memories, Concussive Blast, etc.
4.) Forget about Root. Once a mob is in camp I have never encountered a need to root it now that everyone and their brother has some kind of snare and Finishing Blow AA's go high enough to matter. Root produces what's called 'proximity aggro' where the closest player character to the mob gets whacked, regardless of who has the most aggro. So don't use it. And mages put that earth pet away or at least turn off his root casting in group.
5.) Assess your tank. If your tank is a beastly protankins and you only ever see his name in the HoTT box, feel free to assist sooner and/or increase your intensity as you are able. But anything less than this and you'll have to find a happy medium with doing mass damage and staying under the mobs' radar.
6.) Wait to assist. Give the tank a few seconds to establish aggro, and then assist.
7.) If you as a melee accidentally gank, turn off attack for a few seconds while the tank regains aggro. When you're swinging you're still generating aggro, so help a brother out and you'll get beat less.
8.) Snare at the end. Snare around 40% is my rule, that way you have time to recast if it's resisted, and by then the tank has aggro well in hand. No use snaring at 96% when the mob won't run until 20%.
9.) Take off gear with aggromods. If you have gear with an aggromod on it, such as a mask with Echo of Anger on it, take it off or swap it out for one with no mod on it. You'll instantly produce 22% less aggro =P
10.) Click off haste if you're producing a lot more aggro than your tank. You'll lose DPS, yes, but you won't be dead = worth it.
11.) Switch tanks. Ok if you as the level 95 melee simply can't trim enough aggro to not gank from your lvl85 tank - be the tank! If you can take the hits and hold the aggro then have the tank switch to a DPS role and you can let all your DPS and aggro fly!
That's about all I've got for now. Please post comments/further tips/anything helpful/call me names, I can take it =P See ya'll in game!
