New To Pet Off-Tanking

[Saab]

Hi...$$$

I am 46 and doing more  and more LDoN's, and groups, as I soloed mostly to 40. Did a few LDoN's this past weekend that we really didnt have CC  class. I was trying to use my Pet to off-tank adds...but it is rather difficult to 1) peel a add off the group  ( even if i target one, pet attack ) he tends to stay on whatever it first hits.

I see a lot of posts by folks using pets to off tank. How is the best way to learn to do this as quickly as possible. DO I need to get within melee range and agggro the asdd my self, pull to a side and leave pet on it then?

Thanks for any help and experience provided.

Saab  -  46 Beastlord - Vah Shir - Firiona Vie

[Eatbugs]

Usually best if you're going to pet park to a) choose a mob no one else has hit yet (helps if you're pulling, but not necessary) and b) stand back a bit and aggro it with spells - once you have aggro and have pulled it to the place you want to park it, wait until your pet grabs aggro from you and leave the mob there on your pet.  Try to choose a spot that isn't presently being occupied by the healer or casters in the group, and let the group know the mob is pet parked. (or some overenthusiastic melee player may jump on it to try to offtank it)

Also, be aware that when the mob most of the dps is on gets below 20%, your pet will switch targets, (assuming the main mob has hit you or cast anything that will put it on your pet's hate list) so try to choose a spot where the mob you've pet parked can follow your pet without getting in melee range of anyone in the group.  (Not always possible, but something to keep in mind.)   It's possible to keep the mob you're fighting off your pet's hate list if you're not tanking, but it may involve repeatedly using /pet back off and letting the pet reaggro on the parked mob.  (and groups tend to get irritated if you keep spamming them with pet responses. :P)

The problem at your level is going to be what spells to use for aggro.  I normally use a combination of slow and Incapacitate, (or its lower level version, Listless Power) which you don't have yet - repeated slows may work, or slow + poison DoTs.  (I don't recommend using Flash of Light for this, as the mob may take off into the distance if you're not in melee range when you have aggro.)

Pet parking gets a lot easier once you have the higher level DD + stun pet procs, as the process of pulling initial aggro and having your pet grab aggro from you gets much faster.  (/pet hold comes in very handy for pet control while parking as well.)

[Xarilok]

First, make this hotkey:

Line1: /pet back off
Line2: /pause 1
Line3: /pet attack

Now, to pet park:

Pull the mob off the crowd with poison dots.  The level 22 one works nice.  If no one else agroed the mob, 1 cast and a sit should do it.  Pull it away, and spam that key until the pet starts attack the one you want it to.  Don't spam it unless necessary.  If the pet is not getting hit or cast on, 1 press will do it.  Pet spam is annoying, remember that.  If the pet is gettin hit, spam it fast, for a few seconds and that will usually do it.

Make sure you have the one you want parked targetted while hitting that key.

What that key does is make you pet tank its mob, even if the other gets low on health.  As long as you arent tanking the other, your pet will not run in and assist when the other gets low on health.  If you get hit, you pet will assist on low health, just like any other npc.  In ldons the time one mob goes from 20% to dead usually isnt long anyways tho.

However, the level 39 pet is rather crappy, and I would suggest leaving your pet to help the group, and pulling one off and tanking it youself, as you should out-tank your pet by a good margin, at least until 49, at 46, the level 39 pet is light blue, almost green to you, and starts to really suck.

Usually, when I am grouped, and someone else it tanking, and we get an add, I just slow it, and get agro on it, and let it smack me while I kill the first with my pet helping me.  Getting the first dead asap is usually best.

At 62+ you can get a pet focus item, which makes the pet regen much faster.  With a 50% slow or better, and that regen, the 62% pets can offtank w/o getting healed, which is why higher level beasts have thier pet offtank.  Healing a pet offtanking is counter-productive.

[Oneiromancer]

At 62+ you can get a pet focus item, which makes the pet regen much faster.  With a 50% slow or better, and that regen, the 62% pets can offtank w/o getting healed, which is why higher level beasts have thier pet offtank.  Healing a pet offtanking is counter-productive.

Actually, it was changed recently that (at least a DPOC) focused pets don't regen at the accelerated rate if they are on a mob's aggro list.  Instead the regen starts a few ticks after the mob is dead.  It's been discussed on other threads on this board already and verified in-game.

The focus is still a great thing to get but it doesn't really help with off-tanking anymore in the regeneration aspect.

Game on,

[Tastian]

"Actually, it was changed recently that (at least a DPOC) focused pets don't regen at the accelerated rate if they are on a mob's aggro list."

Actually my tests showed the pet didn't regen at the accelerated rate if it was the focus of the mobs attention.  In the tests I did in PoN if my pet was tanking a mob and I did /pet hold it wouldn't regen, if I stepped in so the mob turned to me the pet would start to get its accelerated regen rate again.  I haven't tested again recently though.

[Oneiromancer]

Ah, really, I didn't realize that.  In terms of off-tanking the difference doesn't help much I suppose.  I just misinterpreted what had been said before, sorry about that!

Game on,

[Xarilok]

I didn't mean to /pet hold while pet off-tanking, but the fact that you can offtank with pet for a good while, and so long as the pet doesnt die before you can get to the mob it is tanking, you can just let it regen after the fight and not heal it.  I know they nerfed the /pet hold 'expoit' and rightly so.  It affected mages moreso, as they could /pet attack, get a good amount of agro on pet, and /pet hold while the burn the mob down, and have a pet at full health at the end.

I dont like being at 15% health after a fight, but my warder doesn't mind it at all.  Just let the pet regen on its own, and you can offtank with it and use no mana doing so.

[Eatbugs]

Keep in mind the massive pet regen on pets that aren't in combat only applies to pets summoned with the DPoC aug, though - I doubt anyone is going to have that at 46, so pet offtanking will take some healing.  (In fact, as you mentioned above, the 39 pet is going to make a fairly awful tank for the next few levels at 46 - I really wouldn't try to do much pet parking until getting the new pet at 49.)