Originally Posted by
GoodSyntax
My strategy as a Rogue to assist my tanks is:
- Drop veil into the middle of the mob pack, this gives the tank room to work within while managing aggro so he always gets the armor buff. So while the Rogues/Sorcs at the fringes may be able to get the DMG & Armor buff, the tank inside will always be buffed and better able to control aggro without having to pot furiously and worry about trying to stay in the smoke.
- Prioritize targets. As Crow said, kill mobs in order of threat level. Don't scatter your attacks across every mob in the pack. Pick one, pound him hard and kill him quickly. There is nothing more annoying than being surrounded by 4 or 5 scorns and a healer all with < 20% HP because your Rogues are running in circles sniping everything while the tanks is furiously trying to hold onto aggro. The most threatening mobs seem to have a very short attention span, so they are not only the most dangerous, but also the most difficult to control.
- Consider yourself the off-tank. Stay with your tank so he can manage aggro best, but also be aware of mobs that break from the pack to go get your squishies. A quick Aimed Shot at a breakaway mob is usually enough to bring it back to the group. Fighting in the pack allows you to best use your Aimed/Nox/Pierce combo to keep your crit stack up so you kill things quickly, but also helps to keep the mobs contained within the tanks Windmill radius. It will make the tanks job easier if one of his better geared Rogues are capable of shedding aggro off of the squishies and bringing it back to the mob cluster. As an added benefit, if your tank uses Vengeful Blood, staying in close proximity means you get a free mana spigot.
- Use your pet AA's wisely. Whenever you see your tank is at the brink of losing control of the mob pack because skills are on cooldown, sometimes an Ethyl AA is all the time needed for Windmill to cooldown so the tank can pick aggro back up. Also, if you are about to start a run to the boss (bypassing a lot of mobs), lead off with Malison's AA (for the Dodge), Scorch's shield, etc. These types of buffs means the tank can wait another second or two to before blowing Horn, which does make a significant difference on some maps (like Jagged Trail). Other examples of useful things is using pushback pets like Vixen, to push mobs into a corner to pack them in tightly, using George/Kelvin on one-hit bosses like Algaran where tanks Horn is on cooldown. Sometimes, especially on the run to Rendtail, a Vixen pushback when your lead tank is stunned by the troll can save everyone some plat, so be aware of the situation and the pet AA's at your disposal.
- If you are a fringe Rogue, and you notice a few mobs rushing towards you, don't run away and spread the cluster too much. The better option is to run the mobs back towards the cluster and exit out the other side. This gives the tank a chance to reacquire aggro. If Rogues/Sorcs start running away whenever mobs start attacking, it stretches out the pack and makes the tanks job impossible. Help a brother out and keep that pack tight. This makes DoT skills and crowd control skills more effective, so it's a win all the way around.
- Take out the totems! Whenever your group draws a shielded shaman, take out the totem! Even if that means breaking from the rest of the party, not taking down the totem will lead to trouble. The best way to do this is as soon as the tank draws aggro, run through the pack (don't attack anything...keep your threat level low so the mobs follow the tank), and kill the totem. Then, you can return back to the mob pack with a charged Nox (for the DoT) and get back into the fight.
To be honest, the off-tank suggestion is only suitable for Rogues that are super comfortable running elites and are capable of evading red zones and spotting the tell-tale electric windups of the scorns. Off-tank style Rogues will likely die more often, and it isn't a strategy for everyone, but that's what I do. If you have Dragonebone Daggers, the AoE stun proc in the middle of a tight pack can be devastating!
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