Herc Tanking

Chobsi - Heavens Tear

I just got my herc so I have been tanking some of my bhs. When I pit my herc on a group of mobs it seems that the group each attacks one of the mobs so that they all run away from my herc except the one it's on. I'm afraid that if I send my herc to grab one of the 2 that gets pulled off I'll lose the one I have on it. Any tips to tanking the trash pre-boss mobs?

LloydAsplund - Sanctuary

Tell the squad not to be morons and only attack the one that herc is attacking (if you're the primary tank). Hit each mob once, then focus on one until its dead, then move on to the next mob. If they dont listen let them die (unless the person who stole aggro was the single cleric).

Ninnuam - Sanctuary

If there's a mix of melee and ranged mobs, hit the ranged with the herc. The melee's will hit herc, and reflect will prevent you from grabing heal aggro. If they're all ranged, either pull them one by one, or get a hit in on each one before healing.

That's basics. As for the squad, have them assist attack you so that they're hitting the same mob you and herc are. If they can't, it's expected they'll steal aggro. Not your problem. If it were me I'd call them a noob and lol at their dead corpses.

If dealing with a group of melee mobs, either cycle targets until herc gets a bash or two in on each mob which should be enough aggro generated for you guys to aoe. If you prefer not to, and want to kill them one by one, the squad should act accordingly and again assit attack you and hit the same mob you and herc are hitting. Again, if someone decides to aoe before you have a chance to do that, or keeps on attacking random mobs, it's not your problem.

Vitenka - Dreamweaver

You know? I'm gonna disagree with standard advice here.

My strategy is this.

The herc grabs aggro on the whole group of mobs. By, as you say, hitting the ranged and magic ones and letting the melee ones get reflected.

The herc can't hold aggro very well, so everyone chooses one of the mobs that the herc is NOT hitting (preferably one of the ones that reflect isn't helping with) and peel it off and crush it.
Then they pick the next mob - and this one should take a little longer to lose interest in the herc.
And so on.

If you all attack the main one, it'll usually peel off quickly, and so will the one after that etc. etc.

Obviously, if the herc is the ONLY thing capable of being a tank then you can't do this, and you just have to get everyone else to lower their damage output.

Edit: Or you wait a while ad let rip with the aoe, then go crazy with everyone running round and sending aggro in every possible direction. Which is fun once in a while, but probably not very efficient.

Edit2:
Your actual problem - as long as no one actually hits the mobs that herc has collected, they should stay on it. (And if they're melee this even applies if people heal) So yes, you can send the herc to hit something else.
If your group rushes off and each hits a single monster... that's usually a bad sign. But if they survive it, then is it actually a problem? It's a bad habit to get into, for when they do runs of their level, but "Crazy BM mode" can be fun as a nice change of pace.

Kyuu_rei - Heavens Tear

Chobsi - Heavens Tear wrote: »

I just got my herc so I have been tanking some of my bhs. When I pit my herc on a group of mobs it seems that the group each attacks one of the mobs so that they all run away from my herc except the one it's on. I'm afraid that if I send my herc to grab one of the 2 that gets pulled off I'll lose the one I have on it. Any tips to tanking the trash pre-boss mobs?

One thing I learned with herc on Range mob mixed with melee, is to always hit the range mob first (or pull the range mob first).

If you are confident that Herc is able to survive 2 mobs hitting him at once, then you should always attack the range mob first, while putting on reflect to gain aggro on the melee mob that's being a busybody b:laugh

Using this method, even when you heal the Herc, aggro will not be gained on you on the additional mob. Just make sure reflect has bounced off at least twice before attempting to heal.

Actually, in Instances, it's better not to risk fighting a 2 or more range mobs at once (depending on area space and mobs layout and if you are solo-ing), because chances being those runners asking their buddies for help is high.

When pulling range mob, always pull it near to you to give allowances for it to run around, without their buddies joining in the fun b:laugh

LloydAsplund - Sanctuary

Actually.. ignore my original advice. Instead, zhen the mobs to death. Cleric can start BB. Wizzies with DB, archers with BoA and you (veno) nova/59 ulti the mobs until they die.

Sevas - Heavens Tear

Pick a stack of melee mobs. The mobs you normally see Zhenners on will do for you as well. Just note that you'll be fighting Zhenners, other herc venos, and aoe BMs for some of these mobs.

L78 Seaspray Bladewolf (Near DWP)
L83 Demonic Rogueknights (These are hard to cluster but you can kinda aoe them *Burning Heart*)
L84 Rockenwolf (*Burning Heart*)
L80something Spider things by Camp of Intrepid

Once you finish your 89 culti you can AoE in Hell.