Tank question

[select20]

Hey folks, leveled my first tank, a Jugg. He's in full Columi/Tio gear. I'm a bit frustrated with him when it comes to more than tanking three mobs at a time. I know to a certain extent I'm not going to be able hold them all, but maybe it my old tank self, I hate seeing loose mobs running around everywhere. It really irks me to be honest.

Could someone tell me how well Assn's and PT's do in the same situations? One thing I really like about the Jugg is the playstyle seems fast, might be my imagination or the character animations, who knows.

Thanks

[Forsedar]

PT's would do a much better job at managing multiple adds- but unfortunately it comes down to your group. If everyone is just randomly attacking any target they see fit then holding aggro on everything will still be difficult. If your DPS attacks your primary target while you grab minor aggro on everything else, then things should be fine.

[Elmi]

In flashpoints: make dps attack weak mobs first while you build agro on the stronger ones. If your healer or you still have trouble - assign marks and/or cc.
In operations: assign marks. This way you can more or less tank one enemy at a time and only build minor threat on the secondary targets until it's their turn. Also cc.

Generally speaking, it's not as bad if dps or healer draw some aggro in SWTOR as in other MMOs.

[select20]

In flashpoints: make dps attack weak mobs first while you build agro on the stronger ones. If your healer or you still have trouble - assign marks and/or cc.
In operations: assign marks. This way you can more or less tank one enemy at a time and only build minor threat on the secondary targets until it's their turn. Also cc.

Generally speaking, it's not as bad if dps or healer draw some aggro in SWTOR as in other MMOs.

Yeah, I've started noticing it's not always bad to let dps take the weak stuff. But again, seeing loose mobs just rubs me the wrong way. I just want to do a better job than I'm doing now is all. I don't even remember the last time a group I was in wiped on anything, it's just the loose mobs thing. If I felt like I even had an ounce more control I would be fine.

---------- Post added 2012-11-19 at 08:46 PM ----------

Bump for more suggestions on the Assassin.

[Deleted]

Sorry I can't help with the Assassin thing...I've not got one.

But the tanking on the Jugg with lose mobs I can comment on.
It took me a while to get used to tanking in TOR as there are more spread out ranged attack mobs than I was used to, initially I found myself running around like a headless chicken trying to get aggro on all the mobs in a group. If there is a group with weak and strong mobs just make sure the DPS are focusing on their attacks to take them down ASAP while you build up aggro on the elites etc. obvisouly if there is a strong within range grab it but dont let yourself chase them around just for the sake of it. A half decent healer and DPSers should be able to handle one or two strong mobs.
If you have lost more mobs than the rest of the group can handle I find intercede is useful for getting into melee range of any stray mobs beating down on your healer/DPSer...build a bit agro on it/them then force charge back to the elite/champion.

I have to say that for flashpoints I find my Jugg tank more fun than my Vanguard tank.

[select20]

Sorry I can't help with the Assassin thing...I've not got one.

But the tanking on the Jugg with lose mobs I can comment on.
It took me a while to get used to tanking in TOR as there are more spread out ranged attack mobs than I was used to, initially I found myself running around like a headless chicken trying to get aggro on all the mobs in a group. If there is a group with weak and strong mobs just make sure the DPS are focusing on their attacks to take them down ASAP while you build up aggro on the elites etc. obvisouly if there is a strong within range grab it but dont let yourself chase them around just for the sake of it. A half decent healer and DPSers should be able to handle one or two strong mobs.
If you have lost more mobs than the rest of the group can handle I find intercede is useful for getting into melee range of any stray mobs beating down on your healer/DPSer...build a bit agro on it/them then force charge back to the elite/champion.

I have to say that for flashpoints I find my Jugg tank more fun than my Vanguard tank.

Awesome thanks for the advice. I really like my Jugg, the story made me even more attached to him. I'll keep trying to get better. Like you said, the "Chicken with its head cut off" is exactly how I feel and come out of an FP frustrated. I'll keep at it, I'll probably put my pvp Commando on hold for now and level an Assn or PT when I can.

[RohanV]

You really only need to tank elites and champions. The dps should be taking out things from weakest to strongest, and they can dispatch normals and strongs on their own.

Also, don't be afraid to use crowd control if there are multiple elites or champions. Unlike WoW, people in TOR are more than happy to CC. Just find out what they can CC, and assign them a mark at the start of the run.

[select20]

You really only need to tank elites and champions. The dps should be taking out things from weakest to strongest, and they can dispatch normals and strongs on their own.

Also, don't be afraid to use crowd control if there are multiple elites or champions. Unlike WoW, people in TOR are more than happy to CC. Just find out what they can CC, and assign them a mark at the start of the run.

I've never really done this. I've had a few guildie healers say that in this game they generally let the Healer dictate the pace of the run and if they want CC or not. This has been my experience in my month or so of tanking HM FP's anyways. I've always been fine to let them do it as I'm pretty new to tanking in the game and didn't know the runs very well.

[Psychlon]

Hi

I've got each tank and there isn't much difference between one and another. Usually I'll wait till everyone is close to 5-10m and I'll inc. You have enough defense cooldowns to survive one group.
Don't bother to try and tank every mob, especially the weak once. It's more important to interupt high damage spells to make it easier on the healer, apart of that, tanking elites and champions has priority. If you can spare the time to stun/ kick stronger mobs you can do it. Leap+Smash will give you the initiative for groups, don't blast your taunts right at the beginning.

[Semihage]

The dps/healer can actually take quite a bit of dmg from FP trash.. In fact sometimes I wonder if a tank is even needed at all for clearing trash (definitely for boss of course)

[Keren]

I've never really done this. I've had a few guildie healers say that in this game they generally let the Healer dictate the pace of the run and if they want CC or not. This has been my experience in my month or so of tanking HM FP's anyways. I've always been fine to let them do it as I'm pretty new to tanking in the game and didn't know the runs very well.

Well, most of the generel flaskpoint structure has already be named. DPS will kill weak and normal adds. These ones are not your problem! As a tank you will always focus on the strongest mobs around! Also remember that you can taunt on the enemy your already tanking at will be set to 130% of your aggro level that fraction second before. This will help you later to maintain aggro even in the first few seconds in bossfight where most dds went full out.

The pace is a other disucssion. Generally as a tank I dictate the pace. Mostly I watch the general health level of the group and the different energy/heat/whatever and decide if the healer can sustain another group or if it will be a real danger. When you get more gear and your healer is good equipped, you could run through the flashpoint without even regenerate once

[Psychlon]

When with a sorcerer healer I'll slow down the pace, however when running around with our guild sorcerer healer I'll give him a challenging pace

[Vankrys]

assassin and PT tank have much easier time with AOE tanking. Especially assassin who has tons of aoe spell.

[Alvito]

Yeah, I've started noticing it's not always bad to let dps take the weak stuff. But again, seeing loose mobs just rubs me the wrong way. I just want to do a better job than I'm doing now is all. I don't even remember the last time a group I was in wiped on anything, it's just the loose mobs thing. If I felt like I even had an ounce more control I would be fine.

---------- Post added 2012-11-19 at 08:46 PM ----------

Bump for more suggestions on the Assassin.

I much like yourself had a hard time getting used to tanking and not having total control on all the mobs all the time. With some classes you can do it or come very close to always having them all but with the way the game is set up you don't really need to. As others have pointed out if you have control of the gold and silver mobs then everything is fine.

[select20]

Thanks for all the replies. Definitely helps a lot and I've seen some really helpful techniques.