pet tanking

[Illiyana]

Almost all summoned items are 'placable' meaning you can place them in neighborhood plot or house. So you can stock up on pet gear and store it in this fashion and that way be able to reequipp whenever needed.

Good point, I have seen them around the GGH, but never thought about using it as storage.

Thank you,

[Greyowl]

If you got to buy them, save your pp on mage weaps. The dps increase from those is like 100dps. AC gear, +atk gear on the other hand really add value. And if you wanna go seriously mad, buy rune proccing weaps and fero/cleave items.

[Zorthaz]

Don't forget your 2.0 click if you pet tanking and also switch your pet to defensive stance spell wise.  If the mob is too high for pet stun to land, use one of the debuff procs.  Rune procing weapons are fun as are cleric/druid/shammy hammers with group heal proc.  There use to be a cleric hammer that wasn't marked primary only and the pet could dual wield them.  I am pretty sure they fixed that.
-Z-

[Illiyana]

With my current nightly group, me, and 2 necros (no boxes), and 3 Healer mercs, my pet can easily tank Arx Mentis trash, but not Named.  We end up using 3 healers, because any other mercs just die with our group dynamics, and sometimes even the healers derp it and insist on tanking  :roll:

I am not sure that summoned armor will help my pet tank a named, but when we are down to 1 healer, my pet often dies, or I have to help heal. 

Does anyone have experience with TDS T3 mobs and pet tanking?  Should I bother getting my pet suited up?  If I do get it armor, would it be able to tank a named or at least tank a trash mob with 1 healer so I can continue to focus on DPS instead of scrambling to keep my pet alive?

[Greyowl]

1. [...] and 3 Healer mercs

2. [...] I am not sure that summoned armor will help my pet tank a named  [...]

3. [...] focus on DPS instead of scrambling to keep my pet alive?

-> 1. 3 Healer mercs dont do any good. One will just stand there and do nothing. Set 1 on reactive and one on balanced. Make the 3 Merc a wizzy on burn.

-> 2. It will by a good amount.

-> 3. Bst dps when not meleeing is pathetic. Better slow, cripple (spell and Roar of thunder AA), and atk debuff (Ravens strike ?sp?) help heal and (rune ofc) and let the wiz merc on burn do the work (see above).

[Illiyana]

-> 1. 3 Healer mercs dont do any good. One will just stand there and do nothing. Set 1 on reactive and one on balanced. Make the 3 Merc a wizzy on burn.

-> 2. It will by a good amount.

-> 3. Bst dps when not meleeing is pathetic. Better slow, cripple (spell and Roar of thunder AA), and atk debuff (Ravens strike ?sp?) help heal and (rune ofc) and let the wiz merc on burn do the work (see above).

1 - The reason we use 3 healer mercs is the necros use swarm pets, lots and LOTS of swarm pets.  They have macros that chain together 4 or 5 swarm pet spells.  Since the bulk of the DPS is done with no appreciable amount of agro, any other type of merc gets agro and dies.  We use 3 because when things go pear-shaped, the healers die, while we Feign/Possum.  Sometimes just one healer will die, sometimes 2, and sometimes all 3, but even when all 3 die, we can still win, because the swarm pets are doing all the DPS.  I just watch my agro and Possum every once in a while.  The necros can even FD their pets, to clear their agro, unfortunately my dog-dog will die at that point.

2 - I will have to give it a try, but of late I have been busy getting everyone through the PoWar Anniversary mission.

3 - Very true, I really do not pull my weight in this setup, but my friends did toon swaps and are both playing necros while I play my Bard or Beastlord.  Other nights I will group with more mainstream group configurations and do alot more DPS.

[Kimolimilama]

I have been playing around in TDS for a bit, but soon after getting there realized I cannot tank anything in T3.  my typical group make up is also dictating how I play.  I group with 2 necros and use 3 healer mercs.  We tried a tank merc for a bit, but they just die too quickly.  Granted, we do not have a full AA tank merc, so that could be the problem.  Both necros have a macro set to cycle through their 5 swarm pet spells, so it gets pretty ridiculous with the number of pets fighting the mobs.

So, for me I just stand just out of melee range, my pet tanks the mob for us ( I have better pet AA's than they do)and I fire off my Disciplines since they have a bit longer range than melee, then fire off my nuke macro once it refreshes.  I am not playing to my classes full potential, but the necros DPS is so sick, I pay for my keep by having to be the alpha looter, and designated dead toon when things go south :)

When I solo, I tank for my pet.  I have tried being pet healer, but it is too boring for me, I like to get in there and fight.  Though the last time I tried it was before the AA grant and I was not configured for pet healing, I had focussed my AAs on DPS for both of us and protection for myself.  Now that I got the grant I could probably play pet healer, but that is not my style and TDS mobs hit too hard.

A friend of mine told me this: "If you can't hold aggro, if you can't take the hits, or you can't keep the mob from moving = you aren't tanking."

Truth be told, what you explained as your group dynamic, it is very slack 'Pet Tanking' - more of 'Swarm Tanking'. It can work to kill mobs, no lie, but it's not tanking.

If you want to actually use your Warder as a proper tank - I'll combine my 3-Player group setup and Pet Tanking together in a response/help for you.

My 3-Player group setup is: 1 Bard, 1 Beastlord, 1 Necromancer, 2 Wizard Mercs, and 1 Cleric Merc. We set the Bard as the Puller and Beastlord as the Tank & MA. Beastlord always sends his Warder in on the mob 1st and doesn't change target unless need be, as the Wizards are following his cue on what to nuke. Necromancer uses his pet, and does his stuff (no real need to explain this), and like any proper player he makes sure not to overaggro.

There isn't any need to have Wizard Mercs on BURN, as they will just cause aggro shifts in that stance. Cleric Merc doesn't have any problems healing - as long as you have slowed the mob. If one Cleric Merc doesn't seem to work for you - swap one of the Wizard Mercs to a Cleric Merc. This occasionally is needed on NAMES. Control those Mercs! If they seem to be too close to the Pets - turn them off and move them back (the Mercs, not the Pets).

---> Since your group utilizes 2 Necros, whom are set in their own method of playing, you may be stuck doing what you have always done. Don't expect the same methodolgy when you play with others, though.

---> Do not be a sloppy player and expect the Mercs to do all the work for you. You need to practice pet control and coordinate with your group members. Tossing a Promised Heal, and the occasional Direct Heal on your Warder, is a must.

[Illiyana]

Blackfists, I really like your idea of pet equipment.  Though I am not a smith, I have a friend who is.

Your spell setup is similar to mine, except I usually don't pet heal, and I have not been using Natural Affiliation, but I am going to load it up and see how it works.  I have all 5 nukes setup in a macro, though sometimes I just pop off Maelstrom and Bite depending upon the situation.

When I say my pet tanks, I mean that it holds agro throughout the fight when using swarm pets.  If we throw in a wizard merc, then no, it loses agro for a couple seconds until the merc is dead  :-P

[Zorthaz]

Healer mercs can work if:

a) you block all of their slow heals on your pet (everyone with a pet that can take dmg needs to do this.  Block the slow heals on the toons also)
b) only have one pet taking damage - multiple targets taking damage freaks out healer mercs.
c) make sure only the "tank" pet is taunting


With all the swarm pets, I would think about dropping all the healer mercs and just using wizard mercs on balanced and just keep throwing pets at the mobs.  With three pet classes tossing out pets so fast, why worry about healing them?

[Greyowl]

Well, with mage agro weaps, defensive stance and taunt on, i have yet to see my warder loose agro on a wizzy merc on burn.

[Kurishta]

 what good is the dimensional warrior stuff if pet isn't100?  Is there a decent option for this idea if we don't have tds?

[Zorthaz]

Pretty sure the pet ignores level requirements on gear.

[Kurishta]

Reahahaheally?
Would this also apply to level req to proc the uber pet weapons?

[Khauruk]

No, proc level is checked.

[Zorthaz]

The proc on the hammer is mostly a snare (small stun).  If I was going to use player made weapons I be looking at ones with lifetaps, runes, or debuffs.

-Z-