kathandira wrote: »

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

If you get a boss or big threat foe focused on your tasty little dps butt, kite them TO the tank, not away. It is ever so much easier for the tank to lock down and taunt a foe if you bring it to him than to try and chain it in when several smaller foes are in the way or it is too far away.

I know it was said before, but try to let the tank open the fight and get things set up. The slight delay before unleashing your dps should pay dividends by having the primary boss and some of the trash held in a nice tight killing zone for you and your wonderful AoEs.

Same goes for Healers. I've watched too many healers run around like a chicken with their head cut off when they get aggro. Just run to the Tank, and then stand still until the tank pulls them off of you. You can take a hit or two in most cases if you have protective spells, and of course healing.

And if you die, then a DPS will pick you up. Just don't run around in circles around the room trying to escape the boss. You are only making matters worse and making it harder for the tank to pull aggro off of you.

Assuming the tank is an actual tank, I agree.

If the tank is a fake tank who's refusing to slot a taunt and who isn't going to pull the boss, I'm perfectly capable of standing still and taking it, but I will never shame anyone for running. Its the bank's job to hold aggro and its the fake bank's fault for refusing to slot a taunt in the first place.

I've done a dungeon with not one but two people running Maw. VCoA1 so it was more annoying than detrimental but yes it does get used in group finder setups, and two will hide even rather large bosses.

"....And if you do insist on running ahead because of your 'leet deeps', be prepared to spend the boss fight lying on the floor whilst I drag the boss right over the top of you."

This is a great idea! So much can be communicated without saying anything! I'd probably pull the boss off the corpse after a short time so someone else can rez their sorry butt. After all, those guys running ahead usually DO have respectable DPS. As a tank, I really, really love it when someone comes in with high DPS. It makes everything easier and faster.

Soriana wrote: »

1. All that free acreage behind and beside me is NOT FOR YOU! That is the bad place, the no no zone, the place where dreams go to die.

I got one simple rule for the dps when Iam tanking: you pull it? You tank it!

And on top of that: if a tank dies, its a healers fault. If a healer dies its a tanks fault. If a dps dies its their own damn fault!

There, I said it.

I'm DD who at least is aimed to drop liquid lightnings between tank and boss. There are so many great pieces of advise in this post that I had no idea about simply because I never looked from a tank perspective, no matter how much I'd want to be helpful. This post has to be stapled to the very top.

I'm going to hijack the thread just a moment and say the 2nd worst place to stand is behind the healer.

I'm usually on my healer in group activities. I try to position myself so the boss is between me and the tank. I get close enough that my AoE heals will hit me and the tank keeping us alive. If you are between me and the boss chances are while keeping the tank alive I will keep you alive. I do know I have a habit of sometimes getting to close to the boss but usually there is a safe place there for DPS to stand. If we find ourselves standing in something nasty then sure get out of it quick as you can. Then when you can get back into the area where my heals will hit you when they hit the tank. Standing in front of the healer also gives you the benefit of Combat Prayer and other fun helpful things.

I do understand that distance matters when using a bow so there might be a reason for a player to be behind me. I might not see you back there though if a lot is going on so if you are getting hit hard you might wanna get between me and the tank for a quick heal. I try to keep an eye on you for those oh $#!+ moments but just in case I lose you be prepared to run between me and the tank to get your heals. And if instead of getting right behind the healer (a lot of bow users do this and even move with me to stay behind me as I move) get off to the side where it is easier for me to see you. Not in front of the boss but off to the side some is fine.

Okay the tanks can have the thread back now.

OrphanHelgen wrote: »

So before we dd's apply to your rules, I think all the 99.9% other tanks out there should learn the rule of tanking first, which is do not move the boss at any time, no matter what boss. And that is also for the first taunt. Boss stand perfectly on spawn, all we need to do is put our dmg on him and go.

No. No no no no no. Please for the love of Akatosh, I hope no tanks out there actually take your advice literally.

Most bosses you shouldn't move. Some bosses you should absolutely move.

Just a few off the top of my head:

• Sanctum Ophidia: Stonebreaker - if you leave him perfectly on spawn then you'll have to deal with him and all of the overchargers at the same time, and in the vast majority of groups that means you're going to have a lot of people falling over, with a good chance of a wipe. The tank pulls him most of the way across the bridge so that you take him out first, then everyone goes to his spawn point and you deal with the overchargers.
• Sanctum Ophidia: Ozara - if you tank Ozara perfectly on spawn then the DPS will have to constantly switch their attention and their ground effects between Ozara and the overchargers who periodically spawn. Not only does that make the fight take longer, it also makes it way more likely that people will not unpin other people in time to keep them from getting killed. You should pull her to beside the door that an overcharger periodically comes out from, and then hold her there.
• Maw of Lorkhaj: Vashai & Skinrai - not only do the 2 tanks need to periodically swap bosses while everyone else stays on their respective sides of the room, but whoever is tanking Vashai at any given time will need to move out of the negate field he periodically puts down on the tank, and that means moving Vashai with the tank.
• Spindleclutch 2: Vorenor Winterbourne - the tank should pull him from his spawn point up the path to where the rest of the group will be waiting. This will not only keep him in any ground effect AOEs while he's doing his phase where he teleports to each group member in turn (because everyone is clustered together), but it's a foolproof way to do hard mode, because there's no risk of accidentally catching any of his sacrifices in any AOEs.
• Selene's Web: Selene - after the drop down from the web, the tank should pull Selene into a corner and keep her there. This makes it much easier to deal with the adds that spawn, because they'll funnel towards the group from one direction, and nobody but the tank needs to worry about getting out of the way of her bear flop (because she's facing the tank and nobody had to move around her and the tank to deal with an add).

I'm sure there are others where the tank should absolutely move the boss (if I took the time to give it some thought I'd come up with them), and of course that's not even considering the ones who periodically move around on their own no matter what the tank does, and then need to be pulled back to where the ground AOEs are (if feasible).

I cannot hit 'Agree' enough times on a few of these posts. Very concise points.

Signed : a tank who just PUGed.