Taunt Works ... if you keep at it!

[FluffNStuff]

There has been a lot of talk about the uselessness of bears lately, and while BERSERKER is great, it is not for all bears. I was on my keeper staff mage doing some keeper tote runs and when there were bears, I realized I was STILL holding agro against the keeper, and decided to figure out why.
I ran a test today with the help of Lesrider (thanks!) and some other mage / birds that joined. I was on a bear, and when we got to the keeper, I did not attack. Instead, I just used taunt every time it cycled to see if a bear's low damage affects its tanking ability. What I found is that the first two taunts did not seem to do anything, but after that the keeper latched on to me, and I became the target despite doing no damage to him while the other four were bombing away at him. I kept taunting and he kept focused on me while the 'artillery' was free to pound on him with out a scratch.

So what the tests show is that Taunt does work, but it seems to 'build up' agro on the bear. This means when you have your damage dealers pounding away, a bear needs to hit taunt, and KEEP hitting taunt every time it becomes active. This will allow the bear to soak up the damage, and once again become the tank he was designed for.

[Arterra]

O_O aaahhhhh stackable aggro...

well the only prob then is that easy die mobs are unaffected.

[Superzarop]

If you taunt while keepers shield is on, your mates wont do any damage, and therefore u will remain the target.
But in the other hand, this prooves that heals and debuffs do not generate aggro in the way that damage does, or do not generate aggro at all. This also prooves that keeper cannot take damage at all when hes shield is on, despite all the rumours.
Good job Fluff, you have done a great contribution.

[FluffNStuff]

If you taunt while keepers shield is on, your mates wont do any damage, and therefore u will remain the target.
But in the other hand, this prooves that heals and debuffs do not generate aggro in the way that damage does, or do not generate aggro at all. This also prooves that keeper cannot take damage at all when hes shield is on, despite all the rumours.
Good job Fluff, you have done a great contribution.

Keeper stayed on me even when his shield was down, and he targeted me before his shield went up the first time.

[Blaquehaaart]

Yeah...taunt is great on longer fights...just gotta spam it, which isn't a big deal because there is no mana cost and a dodge buff. Once all the debuffs are up, and if kept up, no one in the group takes damage. Tanks aren't very important in the game for that reason. Warriors are only good at taking that initial spike damage before the debuffs go up...otherwise, anyone can be a tank.

Eh, all the debuffs like hell scream and crushing blow should be spamed though...just not stomp!

[Sickofwork]

If you taunt while keepers shield is on, your mates wont do any damage, and therefore u will remain the target.
But in the other hand, this prooves that heals and debuffs do not generate aggro in the way that damage does, or do not generate aggro at all. This also prooves that keeper cannot take damage at all when hes shield is on, despite all the rumours.
Good job Fluff, you have done a great contribution.

I don't think that's entirely true. Many times when I do a run, I don't even bother doing damage, just focusing on party maintenance. There's been countless times where I've been in a boss fight and have done nothing but heal, but still find myself being attacked by the boss (and no, it's just me receiving damage from a regular mob).

In regards to this whole topic, I thought that aggro-over-time was common knowledge? I've never played an MMO where that wasn't the case. I'm sure there are some that don't utilize it, but for the most part, many do. I mean think about those groups that do the Overlord glitch. The best way to do it is by having the tank run around the middle of OL's area and build up some hate before going out to do the wall-bug. That's why it's so important for the tank to try and spam any skills that he has that will continue to build hate in his/her favor. Because of most boss fights not lasting terribly long, asking the DPSers to hold off for a few seconds so the tank can build hate is rather moot.

[Seratonin]

I think it just depends on play styles. I don't like playing with bears because most don't know how to hold aggro. The don't even crowd control very well either... Crowd control and taking hits is what they are built for, and some people don't know how to do it... It really helps to have a bear that knows what they are doing in the party. I hope the new elite dungeons make bears worthwhile again, and necessary for party. But yes, taunt works.

[Sickofwork]

I think it just depends on play styles. I don't like playing with bears because most don't know how to hold aggro. The don't even crowd control very well either... Crowd control and taking hits is what they are built for, and some people don't know how to do it... It really helps to have a bear that knows what they are doing in the party. I hope the new elite dungeons make bears worthwhile again, and necessary for party. But yes, taunt works.

Agreed. It seems like most just stomp, stomp, stomp. Since there really isn't any major form of crowd control for any class (sleep, extended root, etc.), it's so important for tanks to learn how to maximize their abilities.

[Blaquehaaart]

If this game was a lot lot harder. Yes...bears would be helpful in groups, because of their amazing CC abilities. However, this game is designed in which spam aoe is the most effective method to clear a dungeon fast, which trains people to play that way. Most people that understand CC, aggro, dps, healing, off tanking, and pulling roles learned so from other MMO's where knowing your role is much vital for successfully being able to get through the endgame.

For the most part, bears CC is great for mobs, beckon is great for keeping groups together. Stomp is also another great move for moving people around board and getting groups off of the casters...although, it is extremely misused and abused...as are other knock back moves from other classes. Super mega slash is good to, because you can pretty much stunlock with it.

Taunt is actually a very good aggro builder, however you have to do it a few times for it kick in. Although, in long fights, you shouldn't have a problem holding threat. In other MMO's, taunts don't build aggro, they work an entire different mechanic, instead, they force the mob to attack the tank for a certain amount of time, after which time the mobs assesses who has the most amount of threat.

Another problem is that a lot of people that play dps classes go all out on dps, and don't understand when they should let up. However, in this game that method works, which is why tanks are useless...

[Yellowhawk]

Hey fluff, congrats on the guadarian

[skavenger216]

Another problem is that a lot of people that play dps classes go all out on dps, and don't understand when they should let up. However, in this game that method works, which is why tanks are useless...

I agree, its quite annoying when someone pulls aggro from me, keeps on just bombing away, dies, and then proceeds to blame me like " wtf tank.... hold aggro". Maybe you should try cutting the dps down for a sec or 2 when u pull aggro so I can get it back? But like you said, in this game that method works, mostly cause of the short CD on revive.

[Pharcyde]

I think we could make some epic parties if we use this tactic . I wanna try now!