Advice on effectively using a tank merc?

Discussion in 'The Newbie Zone' started by Tnslife, Mar 15, 2018.

  1. Tnslife New Member

    Hello everyone,

    To start, sorry if I get long-winded; I'm a typaholic.
    Next apology...if this question has already been posed and answered (and I suspect it has), I'm posting because I can't find it.

    I'd like to ask for anybody's advice on how to effectively use a tank merc in my current situation (I'll lay it out). If possible, I'd like to request no digression about whether or not tank mercs suck or are awesome, etc.; just advice on how to use them best.

    So...the situation...
    Returning to game after about 9 years. My main is a rogue. Returned to game, made him heroic to jump 10 levels and get some better gear and more aa's. My guildies have been great, helped me get a few things, PL me a little bit when they can to help me catch up to them, but due to my typical play times or them needing to do content that would squat me fast until I level up more, I've got to grind mostly on my own. LFG doesn't really yield many opportunities these days.

    So I got myself a T5 journeyman healer merc, and she's been working out really great. I put her on reactive, set myself to puller, and she's managed to keep me up just fine, even with two adds on me. Sometimes I can shake aggro to her for a split second, but I get it back pretty quick (not surprising). I've only died once with her, and that was due to LD.

    Except tanking rogue is slooooooww exp. So now I'm thinking, I need a tank to grab aggro so I can really do what I'm meant to do. But I can only have one merc, and I know I need the healer. Solution...learn to box a second char. Problem...pretty sure I can't box a tank with my rogue. Need to box a class that doesn't need to constantly shift position around. So I decided an enchanter would be something I could manage that would be useful, and I could grab a tank merc for the enchanter.

    Now, I'm a poison addict rogue; only time I don't use poison is taking out grey cons for ts loot. Typically, I'll proc a DD poison with either aggro reduction or slow poison. Poison proc rate has been very good; it's useful.

    So, with this setup (and I know there will be a learning curve, here), how can I most effectively manage the tank merc? Also, can I expect said tank to reliably hold aggro over me if I'm using hate reduction poison? Also, is it possible that he can keep aggro if I use my slow poison to give the boxed enchanter less work (either way, I'll still be using evade, of course)? Is there anything I need to know about tank merc behavior to prevent unnecessary disasters?

    Many thanks in advance for your experience and advice.
  2. Gio-Cefalu Augur

    Make sure you set the merc's "role" as a tank. This should make him fire off his defensive discs and hold aggro better, as opposed to using your tank merc as just extra DPS. I know that sounds silly, but someone mentioned it to me when I first came back, and then I noticed my merc tanking a lot better.

    Additionally, you could consider using a pet class along side the rogue instead of the chanter. This doesn't really answer your question directly, but a pet class (mage and BL in particular) can tank pretty well with their pets, and most of what you need to do can be macroed pretty well for boxing. I think the mage in particular is easier to box than a BL, and the earth pet (or air pet) is really strong for tanking.

    Unfortunately, I don't know of single class that pairs really well with a rogue. Melee classes are hard to box because of positioning, and if the "main" class you pick is already a tank, then you can box the other classes easier.
  3. Ebine Augur

    I don't think I would use an enchanter unless your having issues with pulling multiple pulls and need crowd control. You said you would use slow on your rogue. You can try the enchanter but I think I would go with a mage and water pet with aggro weapons. In the long run the mage pet will get aggro over the merc or at least mine usually does. At the start of the fight the J5 merc gets it and the mage pet takes over a bit later. You can make a button for the mage. Send the pet in and add 4 nukes with pauses on them. Then you don't have to touch the mage. It looked like your just wanting a second char that does't take much work. I would say if your stuck on that type of char then I might go with a bard. If you just want to leave a char alone I think you would get more out of the bard than then enc. I am sure your making the other char a heroic so I would play around and see what you think works best.
  4. moogs Augur

    It looks like what you really need is a friend or two to group with. If you lack the patience, the other option would be a second account. Choose any class you like (casters are much easier to box) and have a tank merc on one character and a healer merc on the other character. Then you're free to rogue it up. Set yourself as the group's main assist and set the tank mercenary as the group's tank. (Right-click the player window for yourself and the merc in the group window.)
  5. Lizzarn_01 Journeyman

    Unless things have changed you do not want to use a tank merc. Have you thought about a mage? The pet can tank and you don't have to do anything. Then you can have two cleric mercs, and occasionally use nuke with the mag. Set one to reactive so it only cast fast heals.You may want to block Heal over time spells on your pet.
    Unfortunately, as you increase in level the mercs scale progressively worse since they do not have AAs. Perhaps, find some light blues you can easily solo? Although, that's gotta be pretty tough on a rogue.
  6. Tnslife New Member

    Ty Gio and Moogs for the info about using group roles. I'll definitely be trying that out.

    Lizzarn...As my level increases, I'll be switching to group with my guildmates, so not overly concerned about tank merc losing effectiveness at that point.

    Moogs...your option about second account with tank merc on one and healer merc on other is the plan. If I did have any friends who wanted to play the game (I don't), then I would definitely do that without question. Only one of my friends actually has a computer, lol (everyone else is hooked on their phones and don't feel the need to have a computer; their interests lie elsewhere).

    About boxing a pet class...here's where I'll need more information if you guys and provide it. I've never played a pet class so I don't know this...will a mage pet (I mention that because it's what's been most recommended in this thread so far) actively taunt in some way? My understanding is that tank mercs will actively try to keep aggro (is this wrong?). With tanks, I'm less concerned about their defensive capabilities because I'm pulling stuff that my rogue can tank easily with merc healer. What I need most is to keep the mobs backside exposed to my rogue, both for dps and also so my backstab skill will continue to go up as I level (I don't think backstabbing from the front even with chaotic stab provides skillups).

    Ty again for your input everybody.
  7. Tnslife New Member

    Possibly stupid follow-up question...

    Although, because of positioning mostly, I cringe at the thought of boxing another melee with my rogue...I do play my rogue very well. I've heard about people boxing a tank w/ rogue on autofollow and using the tank to position mobs for the rogue with audio triggers to notify when rogue is out of melee mob melee range, and rogue does require less attention now that the game allows automation of backstab. Most of my rogue discs and AA abilities I've tied together to a few macros that won't conflict with cooldowns and timers (spent a lot of time setting that up correctly, lol).

    So the question (knowing full well that there will be a learning curve)...would boxing a SK with my rogue be overly difficult? SK has always been my preferred tank to group with, and they hold aggro over me pretty well. Then 2nd merc could be either another healer or maybe caster dps. Thoughts?
  8. Quatr Augur

    If you need a tank in order to be able to backstab, you have 3 dual-boxing options: a real tank, a pet or a tank merc.

    A dual-boxed tank is a lot of work. You need to gear it up, you need to mash buttons and you need to keep it positioned properly. At higher levels you need your second account to be All Access because you'll need to use Prestige equipment.

    A pet class takes less work. All you need is a "pet focus" item which helps you summon tougher pets. Magicians are ideal because they don't require much button-mashing, their pet is pretty buff and keeps agro well (mages can summon agro pet weapons), and you can let All Access expire on the second account once you have enough pet AAs.

    Tank mercs get progressively weaker as you level up. Even with maximum merc AAs (which take a long time to acquire) and the best merc gear they are not very good. You'll have to keep the second account subscribed because subscription is required for J5 mercs.

    Based on the above, if you expect that you will need a second box for a short period of time as you level up and then abandon it when you start playing with your guild mates, then the tank merc may do. On the other hand, if you want to keep the second box around as a long term option, a Mage may be a better choice.
  9. moogs Augur

    I'm not sure how things are now, but my understanding is that a warrior has better passive aggro than an SK. In other words, you'd need to mash more buttons on an SK than with a warrior.

    I use a tank merc and also box a mage and enchanter, so it's the tank merc and 2 pretty strong pets. I usually do content that is a couple of expansions older, so having a weak tank merc isn't that much of a drawback. Mages are extremely easy to play and box and they have the strongest non-player tanks available. I would start there.

    With the tank merc on Aggressive stance, he maintains aggro even with the two pets taunting. This is with a J5 merc so it requires a Prestige account as Quatr mentions.
  10. Tnslife New Member

    Wow, thank you everyone. Lots to think about. Think I'll try the various options and see what works best for me instead of sitting around thinking it out. Thank you again for all the suggestions and advice.
  11. Zhaunil_AB Augur

    I am a WAR and i box melees (ALT-Tab'ing over) - it's an XOR really, when you think about full effectivity, but works well enough. A SHD is more "fire+forget" agro-wise, but otherwise (taps especially) more button-intensive than the WAR.
    If SHD has "always been your preferred tank", then go with the SHD - for group content at least.
    But ANY tank should, after some time-investment, be easily able to hold agro over you.
    And if you find that you will still have issues, use Xtar to watch the agro of key-personnel so you can switch back to the tank "in time" for an extra taunt or two.
  12. Tnslife New Member

    Very late reply (and possibly nobody will see it)...

    Firstly, I'd like to again thank everybody who offered opinions/suggestions.

    Secondly, I thought perhaps (in case anybody else ever has my same questions), I'd respond by saying what I ended up doing.

    I decided to start a second account, roll up an SK, and 2-box with healer merc and melee dps merc.

    It took me a lot of time and customization of hotkeys and key broadcasting to get the SK and Rogue to blend what they were each doing at any point in time, but once I got that figured out, things have been going quite well. It turns out that I need to give more attention to the SK (which was not ideal because I just love playing my rogue, but it works out easier that way).

    I've also discovered that an SK is actually a pretty good puller as well. Even better for me is having the tank being the puller. No need to try to transfer aggro once mobs are in camp. SK does well enough that I rogue can use slow poison instead of de-aggro poison, which helps (but only slows the mob I'm attacking; multiple mobs REALLY need attention on the SK big time.

    Anyway, it's been working out very well; a lot easier than I expected it would be to box two melee classes. I'll pull with SK and run back to camp, running past the rogue, then turning around. Assist hotkey makes the rogue /autofollow the SK. Mob gets to be the middle of the sandwich. I quickly swap attention to the rogue to get distance right (not too close or too far from the mob), and then switch attention back to SK and use SK for mob positioning.

    Now I just need to teach my fiancee to play so she can take over the SK :)
  13. Grecojin New Member

    I know this is a very late reply.
    I box a Shaman, and Monk both currently lvl 97. I use the Tank Merc. I have also grouped with guild mates in content unto lvl 105. This group also uses a Tank Merc. I use poisons with my monk. In all of the above the Tank Merc has no problem grabbing and holding agro. For blue and white mobs the Tank Merc and early handle double pulls and can deal with triple pulls most of the time. The shaman normally slows and dots the additional mobs.
    I use sting of the wasp often for pulling doing up to 3% damage on the pull. Depending on the mob the monk may or may not get hit before the Merc takes agro. However this is not a problem as the monk can take a few hits, and has mend. Also the Merc Healer is very good at fast healing.
    One last thing most of the time I do not slow single pulls.
    In short I do not know when the J5 Merc Tank can not tank group content but I believe it is above 105.
  14. Sigpa0s Journeyman

    Once you get the smoke trap AA on the rogue, it will be a better puller/splitter on any mobs that can be mez'd. For anything that is immune to mez, the SK using Hate's Attraction AA + snare AA (midair) + feign death is useful for splitting as well.