New Beastlord pet question

[Peta]

I recently created a Beastlord and got to level 9 last night.  I will be summoning my first warder when I play tonight.

I intend to play this character only in solo situations for the most part.  I have a question about soloing with a pet.

What tools are available to a BST to control agro between the BST and his warder?

I know that I can toggle /pet taunt on and off.  Do all warders, even the level 9 one, taunt?  How often do they taunt?  What else can I do to shift agro off me and onto my pet when I have agro?

When my pet has agro, what are the quickest ways to switch agro back to me?

Anything else I should know about juggling tanking duties?  Also, any soloing tips in general would be appreciated.  I have read some of the guides here and on eqbeastlord but I'm sure there are plenty of tactics that I haven't heard of yet.

[Merescata]

Aggro for you = getting into aggro range of the mob.
Aggro for the pet = you being out of aggro range of the mob.

A bit simplistic, but generally correct.

Others on this boards will have more complete explaination to be sure.

[Tardar]

If you are in melee range, a PC (you) will always get agro over a NPC (your pet).

The only way to transfer agro from you to your pet, is to go easy on your own agro.  Your warder will taunt from the beginning, but depending how much agro you have built up, it might take a while for you to be able to back out, and let your pet tank.  So go slow with your agro, if you want your pet to hold it.

[Tastian]

Getting aggro off your pet is as simple as stepping into melee range.

Getting aggro from you to pet depends on what you are doing.  For most beastlords simply stepping out of aggro range and the pet will take over.  However, later on if you slow + dot + proc lots then the pet might not take aggro right off you.

[Peta]

So, if I have agro, I want to turn off attack, stop casting and wait for my pet's next taunt message.  At this time, my pet is higher on the hate list but the mob keeps hitting me because I'm still in melee range.  When I take a step back, the mob will instantly turn on my pet.

Is this correct or am I still misunderstanding something?

[Tastian]

Doesn't have to be a taunt.  I mean the pet hitting mob could raise it back over you on the hate list or getting a proc later on or whatever.  Unless you are decently twinked though you should almost never have a problem backing out and pet taking aggro if you plan to use this tactic.  Last beastlord I played I went 65 levels, 150AA and was using an SoD MH before I actually tried to back out and pet didn't have more aggro than me lol.  Like I say if you slow and get some resists and poison dot X 2 then try to back out it probably won't work, but the pet has really high aggro generation.  You'll just have to play around with it some to get an idea for what works for you.

[Oneiromancer]

Well, it should be pointed out that the first pet proc buff is at level 15.  Still, at those levels the pet is still going to be generating more aggro than you in general.

Game on,

[Tastian]

Yeah first proc is 15, but the pet with taunt on will be taunting (/duh yes I realize what I just said lol), and it'll be doing more damage.  Once you get 15+ and factor in the procs, then 39-59 where pet has haste and you likely don't, etc it's usually just not close.

[Eatbugs]

So, if I have agro, I want to turn off attack, stop casting and wait for my pet's next taunt message.  At this time, my pet is higher on the hate list but the mob keeps hitting me because I'm still in melee range.  When I take a step back, the mob will instantly turn on my pet.

Is this correct or am I still misunderstanding something?

Yes, but keep in mind pet taunt can fail. (just like player taunt)  Generally if the pet has proced a couple of times it will have aggro anyway, whether you've turned attack off or not.