So really been enjoying my new Monk. I had been mostly grouping with higher levels so I really never got beat on much. My defensive skills are all maxed but I just havent done much soloing since around level 70. Well I finally hit 96 tonight and was able to use all of the new gear I bought. With only self buffs I was able to hit 80K health and 7200 AC. I have CA and CS to my level as well as the other defensive AAs. I figured the daily quests would be easy as hell to solo. Went to do the first one in Bloodfields. Mobs went down pretty easily so I was really feeling it. Next decided to head to Valley of Lunanyn. I spent A LOT of time there with my Mage so I am very familiar with the zone and what I should be able to handle. I started soloing there with my Mage at 92 and stayed until 100 because it was so damn easy and I had pretty bad gear. I figured OK if mage in crappy gear could do this easily then certainly being in full Tier 1 RoF raid loot with AC augs this should be a joke. The only joke was me. My merc struggled to heal on singles me and if I got an add I just had to FD and let the merc die. What am I doing wrong? When I use stuff like Voidstep and Earthforce it is easier but once they wear off I go back to getting destroyed. How could my mage do this at 92 and I am having trouble in full raid gear?
Mage pets are OP? Probably the fact that the mage pet you were using is a tank (which can tank better than most actual PC tanks). Mage pet's main downfall is multiples but it sounds like you are getting singles therefore the pet will tank way better than you'll be able to as a monk.
What other aa's do you have? Just CA/CS? How are your augs? What kind of weapons? I've seen level 95 monks tank farmers and such in a pinch in group gear, not sure why you can't manage in raid gear. I'd imagine they don't live long with that large kick monks get? (I once saw a ranger kill a trooper in just a few seconds, so I imagine monks can do similar?)
Your first mistake is comparing yourself to a mage. Mages are one of the best moloing classes out there, you aren't. Your other problem is you aren't used to playing a melee as a tank. And then there's merc management. As for getting adds, the solution is simply not to get adds; you are a class that should be able to get singles at will, the rest is knowing where to fight. Mercs...you do have a J5 healer? Is it set on reactive? When you begin a fight, don't use any defensive stuff up front, or the merc may get the idea you don't need that much healing and not kick into high gear like it needs to. Tanking...save all your defensive stuff, including mend, as long as possible...don't use any of it until you're forced to supplement the healer, and then only use one thing at a time...save something for the next bad round. DPS...as much as you can manage...the sooner it's dead, the sooner it stops hitting you. Remember all your clicks and kicks and stuff, no lazy monk mode. Stun abilities are especially nice, because it's not dpsing when it's stunned.
pretty sure you can HS them. I totally forgot to do my J5. Hope that will help some. isnt it better to set yourself as puller so if you are trying to split adds and get hit a few times he doesnt start healing and get agro?
Get J5 if you haven't yet. It makes a big difference. Also, go to eq>character>blocked buffs. Manually enter complete heal. After that, as you're fighting right click any heal over time heals your merc casts on you and add to the blocked list. The result is the merc only casting quick, relatively potent heals. If that doesn't work it's easy enough to unblock them. Also the healer will draw more agro but as a monk that shouldn't be an issue
If its iffy never use earth force first hit mend first. Then immediately hit earth force by time earthforce is done you can hit mend again when its needed. Just use disc management
Versus what Bryan mentions, I would do that but a slightly different way. Rather than right click block, I'd possibly suggest making a hotkey to block and one to unblock things like the current "promised" spell and the current "elixir" spell. Reason for this is, for times when you aren't the tank (are in a group with either a regular cleric or merc), you may very well want these on you. So a quick hit of a hotkey toggle you might find easier than remembering to do the block/unblock. And there is a keyboard command you can type for blocking/un that you can put in the two hotkeys.
Do you have the return kick aa to make you immune to riposte and are you using your aura? A monk would take a huge amount of riposte damage with how fast they swing.
Do you have Planar Agility and Armor of Wisdom maxed as well? At 92 and just recently 93 I am relatively happy with my monk's tanking ability with a two hand weapon /w the 2hb defensive AA. I can also hold my own well with h2h weapons provided I use my discs. We have plenty of them and some have a low cool down... USE them. Make SURE you mark yourself as tank when soloing with a merc.
Make sure staff block is maxed and go 2h. It really is a night and day difference as far as survivability goes.
At 96 I can tank in Valley with no problem in ROF T1 group gear, using h2h weapons. I don't have nearly the AC/HP that you get with raid gear either, using a J5 merc. Also, I don't have a ton of AAs, I think I'm just shy of 3k right now. Not sure what the difference is, but I don't even use discs when fighting singles. If i get an add I might pop earthforce or just use crane to try to drop the mob I'm fighting so that I can move on to the next.
I was able to molo the Valley quests starting at 91, though it was pretty dicey. Once I got the 92 gear upgrades, it was cake. As you saw, the J5 merc is a big difference maker. I would also recommend making sure you have good AC augs in every slot. It makes a huge difference as well. Try rasper's guide for a good list of solid augs from the past few expansions.
Never get set as puller if you need to tank. One step too far from merc and it completely ignores you.
