A good puller.Follow

I'm a Monk and after being in many groups where the tanks also pull I can add that this is not the best way to manage damage.

I'm putting out only slightly less damage per round than the tanks now. Yes it looks like it's a lot less but remember I get two strikes per round. So a WAR might hit for 25 and I might hit for 2X12. I digress..

The point is the WAR still puts out more damage and hence I often end the fight with almost full health and often no heals during the fight. That is just a waste of available HP especially when fighting IT's.

I often have a hard time convincing groups to let me pull and take some of the early damage. This serves several purposes:

1) At least one tank will start the battle with full health.
2) Being a Monk after the Tank engages it will naturally obtain agro after a few hits, thus saving my poor *** from certain death.
3) Becuase it's unlikely that I'll need a heal during the remainder of the battle the WHM has to cast less heals overal and so has more MP at the end of the battle.

Lets face it if the tank has 300HP and a the best healer can heal at 75HP a max of 10 times during a fight. If the WAR starts the fight at 225, due to damage taken pulling the creature, then the healer can heal the WAR for a max HP of 975HP over the entire battle vs 1050HP if the war started with 300HP.

Obviously the WAR will not be the only recipient of the heals. It serves only to underscore the point that, that 75 points the WAR loses pulling a creature could mean the life or death of the entire party.

So let the Monk take the early hits. Save the tanks HP and save the Monks heals to after the battle. You WHM out there should be demanding that the vokers should not pull due to using up more heals than they would otherwise.

When you ask tanks to pull ask your self a simple question..

If someone else were too pull would I want my tank to start the fight with 3/4 health, especially when fighting an IT? Well the answer is no! You need the tanks to start with full HP so the WHM has to heal them less. Let the classes that are not likely to hold agro pull.

It's not really a case of anger management. That's the WAR's job and will do so quite efficently with their damage output and provoke.

It's a matter of reducing downtime and increasing odd's of killing higher level creatures, namely IT's.

I'm not having a rant. I don't mind if tanks pull most of the time. I do however, mind tanks pulling IT's and getting back to camp at 50-75%. It usually spells doom or a long rest for the WHM post battle. These groups are not the fastest XP generators.

Peace.

Yamakamui
We have a good LS on Leviathan. It is called Chimera and we are trying to expand it right now. There are lots of people around your level. Send a tell to Elpheas....thats me....or email me at rahl_the_seeker@hotmail.com.

I have never been the puller but I think a rdm could do it with enfeeble spells. I usually end up enfeeble then nuke or enfeeble then heal until I run out of MP then its melee. Whatever I can do to help. I was in a group the other day where the tank didn't keep hate and I was having to try to cure the WHM everytime he cast spells. We died too much for only about 50-60 xp per mob. We changed tanks and everyone started living longer and xp went up to 80-100.

I think for a THF it's easier to Use Sneak Attack just before throwing your boomerang. Then head back to the group. Once your tank provokes the mob swing behind it and /attack. Depending on how long it took you to get back to the PT your next SA may already be ready, or pretty darn close. Additionally, using a ranged weapon, when done right, will allow you to make it back to camp unscathed 9 times out of 10. Course...you will tend to confuse your WHM as to why they don't need to heal you right after pulling a mob.

I absolutely agree. If the puller is taking hits initially, then it needs to be made up for at some point during the battle. Because if you want to keep your chains going, the puller should be leaving to pull a new mob as soon as the last strike lands.

Best suggestion for pullers is to work with the rest of your group. My method is pretty simple:
1.)Ask that the tank provokes the mob off you as soon as it is in range
2.)Talk to the mages and work strategy. I prefer to continue pulling non-stop until a mage asks me to hold. But if the mages would rather tell me when to pull another...that works too. (more downtime though)

I enjoy being the puller. It cuts down on the down time, because i am scouting out the area for the next mob. I am a ninja. I cast blink on myself then go pull with a boomerang. I laugh when I see people walking backwards and getting hit or the provoker running and seeing the flashes of red on him as he is getting smacked by the mob. Most of the time I don't get touched. I run past the tank and he provokes it off me when I get back. if by chance I got to close or the mob moved while I was pulling then I have my shadows to protect me. So alot of groups I been in make me the puller.

"Eh.... I guess you aren't used to having 2 healers in your party or you lack experience then ^^ Splitting dmg DOES save downtime if you do it right. As EVERY whm knows, Divine Seal + Curaga = 180 hp per person for 60 mp. 60 mp = 2 1/2 Cure 2 which adds up to 225hp. If you have 2 whm, just allow one to rest after doing said technique and rest while the other heal when the next battle starts. By the time the other one used up his/her mp for curing, you will be med decently enough to cure for the rest of the battle (unless you are one of those low mp, but why would you be a mage :P). "

Sure.. if you have 2whm in a PT then that's a great approach.. However, I was thinking more along the lines of a standard XP pickup group.. I've only been in a few groups with more than one whm.. In fact, I've been in more groups WITHOUT a whm than with 2. So as I mentioned, situational..

Plus, against IT caliber mobs, splitting damage on tanks erratically (like when random monkB with voke spams it every now and again) makes it harder to anticipate the next hit and keep the tank healed.. last thing I want is to let them get too low because I'm healing the OTHER tank that no longer has aggro and the mob to whip out a special attack to finish them off. However, with a little coordination - i.e. timed provokes and working with the other whm on heals, it works just fine..

Overall, my input was based on a pretty normal xp pickup group.