Need Agro

[Bloodgod]

Hi guys.

I group with a lot of casters and I'm forced to act as main tank with my BL.  It actually works fairly well cause I've got quite a few defensive AA's.  My question is...  What are the best spells in the BL spell book to gain agro?  I would assume maybe slow and incapacitate.  Looking for most mana efficient/fast casting spells to pull agro from a caster.  I've been grouping with a shaman lately and he draws tons of agro.  Also, does my slow spell draw agro if it does not take hold due to the fact that he's already slowed by the shaman?  Just wondering if "spell did not take hold" draws agro as if it were resisted.

I find myself in positions where I need to pull a mob off of a caster and don't always do it in time.

[Yiktiki]

When I find myself tanking, I slow... obviously, then I use flash of light regularly while I'm in agro range (be careful about getting out of range though... they run off) as its a fast casting high agro kinda spell.

Usually it works like this,

slow on pull>pet engage>slower dot(plague)>engage>faster dot (scorp ven)>nuke or FoL (repeat as necessary)

I have little problem keeping agro.  I will have to remind myself to pat attention now, just got a Time dagger which procs a hate reducer... not a tank dagger for sure.  =oP  I have yet to see a benefit from the 12% backstab though damnit.

[Mtinie]

Scorpion Venom
Incapacitate
Annul Magic
Tainted Breath
Envenomed Breath
Sha's Revenge

These seem to be some of the best that I use for gaining agro.  Annul and Scorpion Venom though seem to pull it quick enough (try two fast Scorpion Venoms in a row if you need to move a mob to you, but dont care about mana output or maximizing damage)

[Bloodgod]

Part of the problem is with multiple pulls.  If I pull two or three I need them to stay on me and I can't seem to grab agro on all at once.  Other thing is that I was looking for most mana efficient.  When grinding it's too mana intensive for me to slow and dot every mob unless I have C3 or higher.  Even then it's tough with rebuffing.  I can try FoL, never used it before honestly  :oops:

[Llorath]

If you are grouped with a slower ( like a shaman ) and are tanking, this is what i do :

1. Ask them to wait about 5 seconds after you engage to cast their slow ( this gives you a chance to get in at least 1 cast of slow that will either be resisted, or land, both of which generate a nice amount of agro ).

2. Load up Tainted breath ( unless you have a TON of mana comming out of your ears, casting multiple scorp venoms to gain agro is fairly hard on mana ).  Tainted breath gives similar agro to scorp venom, at the cost of a lot of damage, BUT the gain of very little mana expenditure.  You can chain tainted breath a mob and after 2-3 of them it WILL leave whoever it is hitting and come for you, unless they are being low hp frenzied on.

3. Load up Incapacitate.


For me it looks like this when i am tanking :

Slow on inc > sic pet>call assist (if needed)>Tainted Breath+ melee>Tainted breath if needed.

On mezz breaks i use incapacitate ( doesnt break mezz ), then tainted and melee and have very few problems with them ping ponging.  If they do go for someone else on break, just TB them again and they come right back.

I used to FoL before, but it can be dangerous if somehow you get out of melee range while the mob is blind.  Its (FoL) great outside, or great if you want to prove to a caster you can hold agro no matter what they do (ie tell your wizard friend to chain nuke, then TB + FoL a mob and keep it FoL ed, and let them watch in amazement as they cant pull agro off of you ), BUT FoL can be so dangerous i dont use it on every mob.

[Bloodgod]

Oh, Annul Magic adds lots of agro?  Cool, that spell doesn't cost too much to cast either.

Great ideas all!  I also didn't think TB would draw to much agro cause of it's low level.  You guys have given me lots of stuff to try.

Thanks!

[Rixis]

Annul Magic won't cause much aggro at all(Unless I'm the one getting annulled! :x) .  Pulling with my cleric using dispell I've found that someone can grab aggro off the pull as soon as they engage.

I stopped using FoL just because of the tight quarters I usually fight/duo in(Droga).  Instead of Incapacitate, try the lvl 49 Listless Power, which also has a faster cast time.

Slow + TB + Incapacitate will usually keep aggro on me with most.  If I need to snap aggro back, a TB or Incapacitate/Listless Power will do.

Also, it is my understanding that a spell not taking hold will not generate aggro.

[Yiktiki]

You can also use the lvl 20 slow (Drowsy) its cheap and pretty fast casting.  If you have a support staff keeping you healed then it might be a good enough slow... I don't remember how much agro you get if its bouncing off a better slow, so can't say its the best option if you are slowing w/ Sha's Revenge first.

[Tastian]

Tainted breath is the main spell for me.  I'll open with revenge even if there is another slower.  Sometimes they won't bother slowing over me and sometimes they get resisted or whatever.  Worst case I have great initial aggro.  Then I drop tainted breath.  Tainted breath ~ Turgur's for aggro.  I used to pull mobs off shaman pulling with turgur's just using tainted and s/s quick.  Tainted is cheap and it does dot, but usually isn't an issue if you use it right and pick your targets.  Tainted also casts very quickly.  I keep incapasite up if there's someone else slowing/mez'n.  If a mob is mez'd and already slowed better than revenge I incapasite then tainted to break mez.  One thing I do is start building aggro on mez'd mobs well still tanking another.  Usually you'll see "xxx is awoken by Tastian" "you gain party exp" hehe.  Slows are great and scorpion venom is too, but between slowing/fero'n up to 4 people and everything else it can be hard to actually scorp most mobs.  Also tainted breath is so cheap and fast I can use it as I feel I need it.  If you spot a shaman drop a second dot or notice a wizard crit big and start casting again you can slip in more aggro before you lose it.

[Ragnarson]

I usually chain cast 2 slows back to back.  Then about 40% of mob's health, I will cast another slow to make sure I keep aggro.

[Jaeren]

One thing to check and while it may seem stupid, make sure pet taunt is on. I've gotten in the habit of summoning pet & turning it off, sometimes forgetting that fact ;)

Edit: I also moved this (leaving a shadow topic in the general forum) to the Library since it's a helpful thread for those of us that need to get agro :)

[Kjin]

I usually chain cast 2 slows back to back.  Then about 40% of mob's health, I will cast another slow to make sure I keep aggro.

This is almost exactly what I do. I open up with my 65% slow, then chain cast my lowest level slow. If I need more aggro, I alternate between them, chain casting both of them. It gives me pretty good taunt abilities, although it does get tiresome after a while.

[Morganti]

keep your pet Proc as Spirit of the Storms...even over Spirit of Rellic
200 hate per proc is kinda nice...much better than 75 per proc =)
use Listless Power, and FoL, when i am main tanking...i have the following 8 spells memed

1. Pet Heal
2. Chloroblast
3. Scorpion Venom
4. Tainted Breath
5. Big Slow
6. Drowsy
7. Incap
8. FoL

[Tastian]

"keep your pet Proc as Spirit of the Storms...even over Spirit of Rellic "

Sorry, but there's no way I would give up the extra damage and the landing stun procs in certain areas for more aggro for the pet hehe.  Using slow or tainted or incap or a few other spells you can hold aggro over just about anyone without even melee'n.

[Dakat]

Annul Magic works great at pulling. Most mobs are sowed and this will keep them from running and catching you. It has a decent agro built in. That agro affects the mob your casting on, not the mobs in the area.  The spell has a low agro radius which will keep adds to a minimum.

I use :

Annul Magic
Sha's Revenge
Incapacitate
Scorpion Venom

I just remind the others in the group not to cast until mob is in camp and I have at least landed slow.  Even if the shaman in the group is slowing, if you got your slow on the mob first and it stuck, agro to the shaman shouldn't happen.

Agro proc weapons work well.  Any proc weapon that reduces the mobs AC has a real high agro as well.