Pet as tank?Follow

I've seen lots of references to using your pet as the tank. My question is basically for hunting solo, for right now. When I send my pet to 'tank' if I start attacking, the moment I do more damage than my pet, the mob breaks off my pet and comes to me anyway. So much for tank. If I just let my pet do the attacking, and heal him, he does the damage, thus I get far fewer XPs out of the battle. Am I doing something wrong? How much do you use your pet as the tank?

Growl... uh.. umm... Growl... wait let's see... Growl

Well, I do belive Jigensan is correct.. Prior to getting growl going, I had numerous issues of drawing aggro over my pet.

Presently I am using a level 26 Bear, and I am 26... I have issues now trying to pull aggro off my pet if I want to. Even with the Drawing Fire attack. I need to find a beast with the inate cower ability because I have yet to learn that pet ability.

So, Get a bear, with growl, bite, and claw, and most likely you will not have issues with too much aggro.

Good luck

I'd like to add a few things. ...

Hunters are NOT inept in Melee combat, however they are far more effective at Range. Some things to consider about Pet tanking and Hunter tactics.

*Concussive Shot [I think its around level 16 you get this]--If you pull with this, it slows the target by 40% for 10-15 seconds.

*Pet Attack and Pet posture--After firing Concussive shot I send in my Pet. If its in a congested area, where aggro could be an issue, I hit Passive on pet posture instead of Defensive, Passive cancels the pet attack and brings it to me, when it seems safer to attack and its still within firing range I turn Defensive back on and wait for a Growl. Growl is a taunt that increases the hate on the Pet, usually turning the focus to the Pet. If you have to back up until you are in minimum range (just outside of the "you are too close" flagging).

*Stings--use either of the available stings, I prefer the Searpents Sting (I think thats what its called, I've forgotten) over Scorpid Sting.

*Hunters Mark--Hit the target with this, marking the target on the map and increasing Ranged Attack. Follow up with an Arcane Shot and then continue to regular fire [Hunters are the only class with Autofire, meaning you do not have to keep clicking the fire button].

*Intimidate [TALENT]---Increases the Pets hate by 50% for 10 seconds. I have a tank pet, and I LOVE this talent skill. It has saved my butt more times than I can count.

*Scare Beast---This is more effective that players think. Get the first beast down to 3/4 or 1/2 health, scare the second, this should give you enough time to kill the first and have your pet Growl the second.

*Dealing with multiple targets---It's GOING to happen, you'll go to pull one target and you'll get 2 or more. Now...how do you deal with them. The most effective way is to target hop (selecting the targets one at a time) and use the Pet Attack, wait for the Growl and the focus to switch to the Pet, then hop to the next target. When all the target are focused on your Pet, back off and start pummeling the tagets. DO NOT forget to Mend your Pet. Your pet will keep you alive [I recommend training all the Mend Pets ranks and putting 2 points into Improved Mend Pet in the Talent tree for Beast Mastery], use First Aid if you have to [Bandages work on Pets too]. Watch your Pet's Focus bar (brown 'mana' bar for Pets)Claw drains it very fast, you want to keep some for Growls; while Bite drains the Focus bar, its not quite as fast. If the Focus gets to less than 1/4, turn off the Pet's special attack [Claw or Bite] and use only regular attacks and Growl until the bar is about 3/4. Focus management and hp management on Pets is a important tactic to keeping you alive in situations like this. The tactics of level go something like this; you and your Pet can take on targets that are no more than 3 levels above you (safely) 1-on-1. 2-on-1 and either you or your Pet will probably die in the process. At 1 below your level, your level, or 1 over your level, you could probably take 2; you'll be torn up, but you'll probably live to heal your wounds. At 3 or more below your level, you could probably take down 3 or 4 with your Pet and good tactical management, again you'd be 10 kinds of torn up; but you'd probably live. Multiple targets also make good use of Mult-Shot. Use it as often as you can in these situations to hit up to 3 targets at once.

*Eyes of the Beast, Eagle Eye, Disengage and Fiegn Death---Fiegn Death has saved my butt from simotaneous Beast attacks more often than I can count. If death seems like the only option, Fiegn it I say; what more could really happen, you'll probably die anyway, so why not try faking them out first. The Eyes of the Beast trick: When I've managed to work myself into a corner and getting out is going to be tough, I use Eyes of the beast to garner agro I need to get out, once I've opened a hole I change back to me, Cheetah Aspect and run off, hitting Passive on the way or Raise Pet after the fact. I use Eagle Eye to look over hills and around corners, and I try to Disengage before I Fiegn Death; IF there is only one target. Fiegn Death seems to work well on Beasts, but not as well on Humanoids...still it is worth trying over simply dying.

Cower/Distracting Shot with Traps--before you send in the Pet set a trap on the ground; start your attack, if your pet is getting its butt kicked, right click on growl to turn it off, right click on Cower to turn that skill on, let your Pet Cower and fire Distracting Shot to switch the hate to you. Switch to Melee, use Mend Pet, hit the target with a Wing Trip, and Strike, turn off Cower, turn on Growl, and back off to pummel the target. This'll give your Pet a brief 'rest'.

Also....There seem to be 3 variety of pet styles [each of the 17 beast categories seem to fall in 1 of the 3]

*1: Tank Pets----Pets with high armor and medium to low damage attacks. (these are great for soloing tank pets, good in groups if you are the primary puller) [i.e Turtles and Scorpids]

*2: Damage Pets--Pets with lower armor, but fast attack speeds and high DPS (damage per sec). (better for PvP and quick kills of levels lower than you, good in groups if you are supporting) [i.e Cats and Spiders]


*3: Hybrid Pets--Pets that are a mix of both, they generally have medium DPS and speed and moderate armor. (better if you like to duel and solo, good in all groupings)[i.e Wolves]

Pet abilities seem to be upgradable on the multiples of 8; as in level 1, 8 , 16, 32, etc. So if your pet is level 32, start looking for Rank 5 pet skills (except Growl which is vendor taught to you only and on every 10; as in 1, 10, 20, 30, etc).

Hope this Helps--

Ironfoot of Proudmoore



Edited, Sat Dec 18 20:44:15 2004 by Trixzy

Another way to help your pet to keep aggro is build up it's Focus through the Talent Points.

Pets are marvelous tanks! Growl is your best friend when using your Pet as a tank.

Here's how I open combat while trying to solo against a lone target.

1. Trap -
I can't stress the importance of traps when hunting solo, they save you on ammo and increase your pets ability to tank for longer without having to rest. First thing set down your highest damage trap. (Please don't use frost trap, although useful for taming pets, it is nearly useless when attempting to gain exp quickly.)

2a. Set my pet to attack-
As my pet rushes in to attack the mob I continue to step 2b. Then on to step 3.

2b. Range attack using Serpent Sting-
Your ranks will determine damage for this attack.

Currently I'm level 40 and use Immolation Rank III and Serpent sting Rank 5. So as the fight starts I do 340 dmg over 15 sec from Immolation and 210 dmg over 15 sec. Doing the math that's 550 dmg in 15 seconds for standing there having only shot once.


3. The mob is now charging you.
As you took the first shot at the mob, it has started to charge you. Right after step 2, use your concussive shot, this will slow the mob down giving your pet the chance to hit it with Growl. ( your pet will begin tanking at this point)

4. Attack as per normal
If your pet loses hate or you think they may begin to I use spirit bond. This causes your pet to start to heal you as it attacks. Can you say extra extra hate? If things get hairy I can resort to using intimidation which also increases your pets threat.

No matter how you slice it following these steps will give you a aggro free fight every time.

*Disclaimer - If your pets growl is too low of a level and is resisted by the mob, you will get aggro, this usually only happens in the few levels prior to attaining the next growl. At this point go back to attacking mobs only 2 levels above your own or 1 level above your own.
Also I am a Beastmaster, I've devoted all my points into making my pet a tank, it has increased focus, damage & crit abilities.


Edited, Thu Jan 6 16:07:11 2005 by Tycon