Damage Dealers & a barby question

Lessein - Sanctuary
Lessein - Sanctuary Posts: 152 Arc User
edited July 2010 in Barbarian
I'm currently in my barbs BH39
I'm holding aggro fine thankfully.
But I'm with a squad filled with DD's
1 wizard, 2 psychs, 1 BM

Like I said aggro isn't being a major issue at this point.
However the wizard said something that really made me wonder - she said "Nobody can hold aggro from me"

My initial thought was "you're a wizard, I have a wizard, I could steal aggro too if I wanted, but I'm a better wizard than that..."
Since I first created my wizard (being as I was a cleric before that & had seen what happens when DD's steal aggro), I was under the impression wizards should hold back on bosses to avoid stealing aggro and that if I did spam my skills & stole aggro it would be my own damn fault!

I explained to her, that being a DD it should be her objective to NOT steal aggro, and act accordingly - since a DD that "cant not steal aggro" isn't really much of a DD.
To which she replied that it was the tanks job to keep aggro and it was not her fault if they did not succeed.

This raises the question: She is indeed right that it is the tanks job to keep aggro, and under normal circumstances I would consider it the tanks fault if a party member stole aggro. However if a wizard spams their skills non-stop and a barb is doing everything that they should technically be doing (spamming up-to-date aggro skills & Beastial rage with appropriate mag cancelling) - but the wizard STILL steals aggro, is this the barbs fault for failing to keep aggro? Or is it the wizards fault for not controlling their damage?

Writing it down like that the answer seems fairly obvious to me - damage dealers are there to deal damage not tank, and if they are unable to deal damage without stealing aggro then they are not doing their job properly.
Or am i wrong? some guidance would be appreciated!



Another issue is chi - I thought that once I got my second spark - my chi would at least be less of an issue. But this was apparently not the case, the problem was that every time I attacked a mob the psychs & wizard all attacked too. Meaning that I had to use chi just to hold the mobs on me... I had beastial rage on the whole time but my chi continued to fall.
How can I hold aggro from DD's while still allowing my chi to build? Or is it simply just a matter of trying to build my chi before-hand?
Post edited by Lessein - Sanctuary on

Comments

  • Vorgen - Sanctuary
    Vorgen - Sanctuary Posts: 276 Arc User
    edited June 2010
    Ok to your first question:


    If a barb is doing everything in their power to hold agro and a DD is just dropping bombs as fast as possible......Thats their fault. Cut and dry no buts no exceptions. This game is based on TeamWork not i am gonna tank all and be the hero. There are some people out there that believe that they need to show off their power no matter what the cost....and when the party dies or a good majority of them its the tanks fault. I will confess i have made mistakes on my psy in a bh party or what not and have paid for that mistake. But i dont blame a barb for it because it tends to be just that, my fault. So when it comes to holding agro and such do everything in your power to hold agro. But if that wizzy or psy or hell even a cleric just hit with everything they got. Let them die! Maybe they will learn, if grudgingly, that they need to hold back.

    Now as to your second question:

    It's a pain gathering chi for your skills Beastial Rage is a huge help in that but often your gonna have to build some chi before a fight with the boss. A veno helps immensely with the chi passing skill they have but unfortunatly we sometimes are not lucky enough to get a veno. Some tips i have is that you tend to do alright with at least a +3-4 weapon. Means you'll hold better agro at your lvl which is of course the idea. i tend to spam my 2 agro skills then hit beastial rage and use surf and aclarity of beast smack a normal hit or 2 and repeat. With that combo i tend to keep agro and keep my chi bar full. Also more then your looking for i know but Frighten is a really good skillto get lvled up.....reduces the average amount of cost for repair bills if you spam thatb:victory.

    I hope that i have answered your questions and some not voiced. Sometimes we are unappreciated as a tank class. But let me tell you when you take something that no veno, cleric,wizzy, or archer has any hope of tanking you get a good sense of pride in how far you have come. Keep up the good work my friend and do your best at what you do.b:victory
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Lessein - Sanctuary
    Lessein - Sanctuary Posts: 152 Arc User
    edited June 2010
    your answer was perfect, thank you!
    And I'll try your suggestions out!
  • Vorgen - Sanctuary
    Vorgen - Sanctuary Posts: 276 Arc User
    edited June 2010
    np bud happy to help
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • XylolyX - Heavens Tear
    XylolyX - Heavens Tear Posts: 1,097 Arc User
    edited June 2010
    Not sure what level your barb is exactly, but I'll assume he's in the 5x range... At that level unless the wiz crits 2 or 3 times in a row you should be able to hold aggro. I say that with the experience of having a 7x wiz crit for 70K and then crit again for 45K on Qianji and holding aggro.

    That being said, the wiz should hold off a bit, since her aggro stealing endangers the entire party. Same with archers.

    For gathering Chi, Frighten and Roar are great tools, as are alacrity and surf impact (I may be wrong but it seems the more mobs you hit with your aoe, the more chi you gain.)


    Also, as a tank, bestial rage should either be in cooldown or be activated. They fixed that bug from a long time ago so you should have no problems inside instances when spamming skills and bestial rage. One thing I would keep in mind is that devour, which is an awesome skill, is a chi killer- so use it only when full or when establishing aggro.

    So basically what Vorgen said.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Lvl10XBarb
    Lvl10XArcher
    lvl10XAssassin
  • VlLKASS - Sanctuary
    VlLKASS - Sanctuary Posts: 1,396 Arc User
    edited June 2010
    b:shutup Urgh at that lvl you shouldn't be having agro issues unless it's on multiple mobs.

    A DD ain't fail if they pull agro, it could happen, but if she continuously is doing that & it's causing problems for the squad... Either you're not doing smth right or she is a fail & doing it on purpose.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Vorgen - Sanctuary
    Vorgen - Sanctuary Posts: 276 Arc User
    edited June 2010
    Well not all wizzy's realize it but they do pull agro way to often because they believe that a barbs agro skills should be able to hold no matter what they do. Some do and are complete @sses its sad but true. Just let the wizzy know ahead of time that your strong but if they crit to much they are done.

    It's more of a job if the wizzy is not informed of the fact that if they do spam their skills as much as possible they are gonna die because i am sorry.......but i will let you die for no other reason then i am not going to fight to hold agro. After they go squishy i will have to be read to catch the boss before it turns its attention to the cleric......lol as we all know.....cleric must not die! X3. Now if a fist bm pulls agro...let them if they can tank then provide DD instead no sense in fighting for agro. Its a pointless waste of time considering they crit more often. You will only waste chi and endanger the party. So if they can tank it let em tank it. Should they squishy then be swift bud. Well thats my extent of tactical knowledge of boss hunt runs. Lol hope that also helps if anyone got further instruction that i have no clue about please by all means post. I am still learning.b:victory
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Havoc_Greg - Raging Tide
    Havoc_Greg - Raging Tide Posts: 10 Arc User
    edited June 2010
    It is a painful truth that some people forget and pay for the consequences:
    Keeping aggro on Barb it's almost a team work, cause and effect, not only of a barb himself.
    There is to many ways to steal aggro from us, however there is some ways to retrieve it.
    Squad mates should not to perform as usually in soloing, for party common benefit though.
    Most of DD's never reply me for his dead, those who does I said him:'' I'm not a Cleric to keep U alive...'' b:laugh
  • / gellus - Heavens Tear18
    / gellus - Heavens Tear18 Posts: 3 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    If a barb is doing his job correctly, and doing it well, then fine, all is good.
    If you have some psychotic moron trying to have an aggro pissing contest with you... then no, all is not good. DD should know how to control their output so they don't die, or possibly get anyone else killed.
    I'll admit that I have occasionally taken aggro and yeah that's my fault. I should have not been spamming skills, 'nuff said. Learning from that still, and anyone else who is a DD or helps DD should learn how to control their damage. Happy functioning squad = happy outcome.

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