Empress aggro

[Pakratz]

While I'm enjoying the big hits from this spell, I'm really having aggro issues with it.  On the few raid fights I've used it on it's drawn aggro off MT, even over zerkers on burn fights.  This is a very bad thing.  I have never ever pulled aggro from MT on a raid before using this spell.  Never.  I havent used it much in groups since werewolf is a much better dam/mana (I don't have a poison focus), so I can't speak to how much of an issue it is there. 

I doubt I'll be using this spell much if at all on raids.  It's just not worth the risk.   I'd very much like to see this puppy aggro-reduced if at all possible so I can include it in my arsenal.

[Khauruk]

I've not a clue what you're raiding, but here's a post about warriors that have upgraded past the Redfang belt having flaky agro lately.  Perhaps that's the cause?

http://www.thesteelwarrior.org/forum/showthread.php?p=240394

[Tigrah]

I love stealing agro, I can actually hold my own in a lot of situations so this thing drawing huge agro doesn't bother me, it's more of a when/where to use the advantage of it.

if the clerics/chanty's are starting to get major agro, then using this spell could save the raid, that was why I started trying to be an agro controller to save the groups. I see a great deal of exploitable advantages to save groups and the healers in raids from this spell.

[Pakratz]

well i was thinking about retracting this statement after enjoying the big nukes and occasionally taking aggro (which can be handy in group situations), but darn it all this spell has gotten me killed several times on raids now.  I just gotta not use it is all.  I now get aggro over all zerkers and rogues and am the 1st to die when tank goes down and take aggro off tanks every other fight or so if not careful - prior to gettin this spell I NEVER ONCE took aggro over a raid tank.

So caveat emptor with this spell.  Wish it had less aggro, but it is handy to have a fast aggro spell in our arsenal.

[Blarp]

I'm an Agrro Whore my Self, B4 we got alot of uppgrades i tended to Take agrro off most Tanks of any type war pla sk alike
i hve yet to get this Spell i dont have thwe tie to get alot of faction cuz i am still deployed atm, I liek to be in the top 5-6 on agrro list my self i can tank the hits if i pull it off, witch i have done a few time  in DK and in demi, most the clerics and druid know it will happen with me tho, back in tavic days tanked died and i was MT on tuna for his last 30 or so% ( not the fake) thats a Fun thing to do, out tank the tanks when they go Down.  But now days i have my finger on RORT if they are big hitters just in case, i offten main tank, so agrro is good For us i think i owuld Dump 50 aa's into a taunt key =-) even tho its gimp as hell i would like one hehehe its all in your play style i gues. just e careful sueing this spell if it pulls agrro for you, wait untill liek 75% then nuke i  normly unke every 20 sec's if that and use my DODh pet  with Growl running as well,  thats me tho i liek to play a Very high Dps/agrro beastlrod.


Spc Whitney, Johnathan M.

[Farinea]

Ok this is the first I have heard about this spell - and I can find no reference to it on alla - can someone please tell me is this a quest spell? vendor bought?...on my server 7th Hammer - I have found only one high level bl who is nice enough to answer my questions...I have been playing a little over a year - still so much I dont know - but I am loving this site - you guys have some great advice!

[Rhoam]

Bite of the Empress is a new spell from the Buried Sea expansion. It can be purchased from either the pirate vendors in Buried Sea with Doubloons and amiable?? faction or from Katta as rank2 of the spell with kindly faction and around 200-250 orum?? You cant use orum to buy anything in either place without the appropriate faction level.

I have been using BoTE in groups and have not stolen agro from a "good" tank with it. I have stolen agro with it from a lesser geared lower level tank that did not have anger augs for some reason.

[Nusa]

Basically, the TBS expansion holds your spells hostage until you've spent enough effort factioning to buy them. Generally by the time you have the faction, you have more than enough coin. And sadly, it really does take a while to earn the required faction...not something you'll bang out in just an evening. You need a different faction for rank 1 spells than rank 2 spells. I'd advise skipping the rank 1 spells in most cases because of that.

Right, the Katta Castellum rank 2 version spells for beastlords are:
http://lucy.allakhazam.com/spell.html?id=10374&source=Live, buyable at indifferent. Upgrade to Feral Guard.
http://lucy.allakhazam.com/spell.html?id=10387&source=Live, buyable at kindly. New poison nuke.
http://lucy.allakhazam.com/spell.html?id=11870&source=Live, buyable at ally. Upgrade to BE.

[Farinea]

Thanks for the info - I was looking into it last nite and found all this out - guess Sony really is forcing us to explore the new exp if we want our spells - I hate that.....

[Perriinn]

Farinea, I'm on the 7th.  Your welcome to send me a tell anytime if you have questions.  As for Bite, I have used this quite extensivly since I got it (which was about 2 days after the expansion went live.)  The spell is awsome but yes it has alot of aggro to it.  If you are not prepared to take a few hits with some control you will have no problem using it.  I have yet to once pull agrro from a tank while chain casting it on raid named mobs in TSS, but yes if a tank dies I am one of the top on the agro list.  Trash mobs are quite a different story, I have ended up tanking them quite oftem from casting Bite too quickly.  I have found it pretty safe to cast around 75% (like someone mentioned) if I do not want to end up tanking the mob.  I love to see the big hits also from it (with tss poison focus I am normally critting for around 6800 if you use glyph of destruction the highest I have seen so far is 11,070) the high agro associated with the spell is the best part of it.  Once our poison dots agro was taken away it became alot more work to grab agro if you needed but with bite now I can usually grab it very quick.  I beg and pleed to everyone lets not get sony looking at the aggro from it because I don't know that we will ever get another spell/ability to match it again.

[Farinea]

I absolutely will Perriin - cause I got a few burning ones that no one can seem to help me with atm! Thanks so much!

[Kitathia]

For anyone wanting the TBS spells but aren't able to solo or get Katta group I can warmly recommend doing the Skellie hand aug  http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/quest.html?quest=4188;mid=117736856345544851 a lot of these tasks are very soloable for a casual bst. Some require kiting or/and healing help if you tank. I have gotten 8 of the bones ( out of 27 bones) and I'm amiable (if not a little higher - haven't checked faction in a little while) . I have also soloed a lot of the faction quest in Barren Coast - the light blue mobs are giving me 1/2 blue AA per kill and are very soloable. You will however need a group ( or 2 more people ) to do the missions to obtain the Doubloons to buy the spells with.

Granted Pirate faction only allows you to get Rank I - but it's better then none. I got a nice 5.3 K crit on my Bite of the Empress.  The aug is nice too.

KitKat