Just some tips for the new TankerFollow

Some hints and tips on being a good Main Tank:

1. Get as much AC as you can, as resists as possible and USE A SHIELD. MT should normally be a heavy armor class such as Paladin(Shadowknight), Guardian or Berzeker. A good rule of thumb on deciding whether to use a shield is for mobs that con green or blue, you dont need a shield. For mobs that con yellow, orange or red a shield is strongly recommended. White is a gray area. Think of your healer (s). The less AC and block you have, the more damage you will take. The more damage you take, the harder your healer(s) have to work. If you drain your healer by taking too much damage, you will be a dead tank.
2. Lead but dont bully. Strongly encourage a rogue group member to stay with the group and let the MT pull and do his job.
3. Dont be selfish. Help group members finish their quests and they will help you finish yours.
4. You will ***** up. When you do, take responsibility for it, dont blame others.
5. Try and conserve some power for the extra taunts you might need or if your are a Pally the occasional emergancy heal you might have to use. My two most commonly used combat arts are Adept IV Wild Swing and Adept IV Knee Break (Being that I am a Berserker). They use almost no power and are effective at Adept IV.
6. Signal your intention to pull or attack with a macro using the %t chat command to indicate the target you intend to attack/pull. Make it clear to your healers and mages that your macro is their signal to buff you.
7. Keep your healer alive even if it means sacrificing yourself to do so.
8. Dont get overconfident. Dont let success go to your head and make you believe that you are invincible. Overconfidence leads to bad decisions and bad decisions lead to a dead MT and dead group members.
9. Watch where you stand and encourage the members of your group to do the same. Good group placement and location can prevent unexpected pops and adds.
10. I cannot be a good MT if I am not allowed to lead the combat and choose the targets. If you have a problem letting your MT choose targets and lead the combat, go solo.
11. Be nice to your healer. Good healers are worth their weight in platinum.
12. When you die, dont panic, death happens. Get your shards back and move on. Try not to make the mistake that got you killed twice.
13. Try to hold MOB agro, if you lose it, dont lose your cool. Buff the member who draws the agro and place yourself between them and the mob as you try to get the agro back. Casting group buffs during a fight can help you keep and hold agro during a fight.
14. Carry extra food and drink and dont hesistate to share it with group members who run out.
15. If you are getting tired or cranky, give the MT role to someone else before you get yourself and everyone in your group killed.
16. Always remind your healer to give everyone a rez item (essence or feather).
17. When you lose a target or it dies, hit tab to target the next one.
18. Spend some coin on skill upgrades. They are at least as important as the items you use.
19. Treat your group members with courtesy and respect and they will keep you alive. Always welcome new group members and thank all group members for their help. If a group member is new to grouping and does not undersand their role, teach them, dont treat them like they are a stupid newbie.

I personally rarely kick any member of any group that I lead as MT. I make it clear who is in charge and if they have a problem with that, they usually leave on their own. Being in charge does not mean being dictator in a group. It means working with your group, not ruling over them. Groups are volontary, group members can leave anytime they want so try not to aggravate them. I always try to help any group member complete a quest that involves killing mobs in the area where our group is. I rarely criticize group members. Encouragement and complements will get you much farther as an MT than complaining and criticisizm. The goal of the MT and group leader should be to make sure that everyone has a good EQ2 gaming experience. A good gaming experience means treating others with respect, getting lots of exp and most importanly having fun because it is after all a game
It seems that Monks and Bruisers are very upset about not being included in the list above. When I am convinced that they can be as effective at MT as the heavy armor fighter classes, I will include them in the list. If a Bruiser or Monk wishes to be MT and can get others to follow, more power to them. I am not going to recommend it to anyone until I am convinced that it is a viable option.

This was not intended to be a guide but it seems to be turning into one. if you have suggestions or comments to add, please post them. A good Main Tank knows that he can always learn for others. That knowledge can safe his/her life and the lives of the group members

Some added Info

) The main-tank's job is to hold aggro. He will be spending most of his power taunting the mobs, group-buffing, etc. in order to hold aggro. It will annoy him no-end if you are competing with him for aggro by performing similar arts and spells, so try not to AoE (area of effect, such as Divine Wrath), as it damages all Mobs in the encounter, and if the MT isn't directly hitting them, will throw you to the top of the list for everything other than the MT's current target.
2) ASSIST! For the reasons stated in point 1... Nothing is worse than the ST(Secondary Tank) pulling all the mobs but the one the MT is actually hitting. This is usually due to the ST AoE'ing or not assisting the MT.
3) If you aren't directly tanking, your role as secondary tank is primarily to add DPS (i.e. concentrate on dealing large amounts of damage as quickly as possible), and to peel mobs off healers and casters. Since you aren't being hit, you don't need a high AC - so always carry a 2H weapon or some Dual Wield Weapons for exactly this occasion. I always carry Dual Wield and 2hd weapons, and a 1hd & shield. This guarantee's I always have the tools for whatever role I fill in the group.
4) Peel mobs of healers and casters If the MT loses aggro on some Mobs in a group encounter, and he is obviously having trouble getting aggro back onto them, switch targets to the Mob bashing your casters and taunt like crazy. The healer(s) still have two people to heal, but you die a lot slower than a caster
5) If you see adds (additional mobs that weren't intentionally brought into the fight), peel them as soon as possible. The MT will probably want aggro for adds on him, but he'd definately prefer you to steal the adds than a caster.

This is for tip number 6...letting others now your intentions to pull.
For those that havent made a Macro before here is how to make one.

Open your menu in game (EQ2 button)

Goto Socials and click the Macro Tab.
Select an open Macro and a window will open up with 3 lines on it

on the first line type this if you want to make a Incoming mob Macro

(basic info, you can add what ever you would like the Macro to say)
Line 1: /gsay Incoming %t

What this would say in group chat would be

John Doe says to group, Incomeing a Firerock Hill Giant (if you had a giant targeted)

the %t command puts what ever you are targeting into your macro.

This lets the group know that you are pulling a mob, what the mob is and its time to fight.

You can get as creative as you want with your Macro with the wording. Just to remember to add %t to the part where you want the name of the mob to be entered.

Also in the Marco window you will see you can pick what picture you want your Macro Button to look like.
Select the one you like then click/hold and drag it to our Hot Button widow.
This allows you to target mob, Click Macro Hot button and let others know whats happening.

Hope this bit of Info helps some of the new Tanks out and Good luck.

Edited, Tue Mar 8 16:32:57 2005 by Dedraco

Edited, Tue Mar 8 16:43:51 2005 by Dedraco

Edited, Tue Mar 8 16:42:03 2005 by Dedraco

Edited, Tue Mar 8 17:09:16 2005 by Dedraco

Edited, Tue Mar 8 17:06:04 2005 by Dedraco

I would add:

If you die, don't blame anyone. You are a team, if someone dies, its everyone's fault. Don't blame the healer for not keeping you alive. Don't blame the rogue for stepping back to get behind the mob and accidentally aggroing an add that killed you. Let it go. Move on, pull the next one. Agonizing about who's fault it is doesn't do anyone any good. As the MT its often your job to "take one for the team". If you die while letting everyone else live, you've done well.

Be courteous but firm. A group can only have one leader. If you aren't it, keep your mouth shut. Its best if the MT gets to decide the targets, but if the MT isn't the leader, then the MT needs to follow instructions. I have no problem with following my guild leader's lead when he's in the group. He tends to take charge. At that point I go into "point me at the mob" mode, and he simply tells me what to kill and I do it. Maybe its not optimal, but he's very alpha, and its easier to just take the secondary role than to spend a bunch of time wrestling for control and getting everyone killed.

You are the MT, you aren't God Almighty. Don't go Arnold Schwartzenegger(sp?) on everyone. If people aren't following your lead, there's a reason. Maybe you aren't good at leading, keep practicing. Maybe you are making bad decisions. Have someone else lead and pay attention to their style. As the MT you are often the leader, by default, so its important to understand leadership skills and learn them.

Just a general rule, don't argue about loot. Decide ahead of time. Nothing breaks up a group faster than loot disputes.

Don't keep changing directions. If the group has decided to do X, don't say "oh but we're getting real close to mob y and I need that". Quite often you'll have pissed off 5 people by changing direction even though you got mob y. Now you've hurt your rep. Be decisive and keep things moving and people will want to group with you more.

The macro thing is really nice to do as a tank. I played a tank (SK) in EQlive so when i switched, I automatically made my macros for pulling. I was surprised at how many tanks do not do this.

wow keeljoo thought it was "correct" that means you made a nice post.

I agree with every thing too, well put.

Good post. One thing not to confuse folk.. is you put Adept IV as your spell level which doesn't exist. I assume you mean Apprentice IV spells.

Those are some good points and will get you far. Only tips I have to add is try your best to stay up on gear and spells. If you have that covered then doing things like using potions and high level food to boost stats is a plus.

I don't level very fast as I like to stop and build up cash and have the best stuff I can get my dirty fingers on. Rare weapons imbued armor adept 1 and adept III spells( master one is over rated for most classes on most spells not worth the pp) reguardless of what anyone says this will make a world a difference and can determine if you are the mt or the st.