How well do monks tank (assuming good AAs, but ZERO raid gear (including from a previous expansions, no slot 8 gear). Can they handle a slowed group named for example?
Can Monks survive doing it, somewhat. It's definitely no where close to a real tank. A few of the RoF T3 probably max of older expansions, but even then that is with some good healing support. It is probably your best option if you want a melee DPS that can tank sometimes.
Monks are TERRIBLE tanks. Aside from one ability that generates a decent amount of aggro, monks will have a very very hard time holding it. As far as taking damage, they are on the higher end of melee. But really except for 1 or 2 defensive cooldowns you won't get far at all (T1 trash of RoF *at best*) without some really good heals.
Im thinking of making a monk to pair with my enchanter. So everything would be slowed and crippled. Agro wont be an issue since charm pets don't see that big on the agro, and my chanter can handle nuke agro just fine. Think this would work at all?
I think you'll survive with a healer merc, and slow helps some but most tends to get mitigated. I think you'll struggle with named mobs. And that's assuming you hold aggro.
sounds like it might be doable, as besides slow/cripple, enchanters can give everything a 24% miss chance, and once every 30min a 50% miss chance and decrease hit damage by 40%. Or are you guys already assuming that
No raid gear, I would say no on nameds. Trash no problem, nameds will most likely kill your monk quickly. Can you stun the nameds at all with your chanter? Guess might be possible if at least one of your stuns landed.
All named are immune to stuns. The big miss/hit damage debuff (mental contortion) lasts like 3 minutes. And the smaller miss chance abilities are basically at will. There is deep sleep (24% miss chance): a proc from casting a mez. But since named are immune to mez, you can just chain mez a few times till it procs, and it lasts a few minutes. Then the constriction line of dots, that gives a 9% miss chance, also usable whenever.
Really depends on the particular named's mechanics. It'll probably be tough, and depending on the named's mechanics it could be impossible for some.
3 minutes is good, guess it depends on your other classes / DPS Can try it, with your debuff should be ok I would think, but without it... I dunno, some of those are pretty mean.
I'll agree with the first line, but the second is way off. My monk using T1 RoF group gear did T2 trash just fine with a healer merc and no group.(Before T3 was out, so no, it's not because of newer AAs.) Spent a small amount of time in Chelsith, and it seemed workable there, too. T2 names were doable with full-group support, but it depends on the name, and being able to burn is a must for holding aggro on a named mob. (Otherwise, you have to your other DPS players to your ability to hold aggro.) Choose wisely, and it's workable. Also, learn which abilities you can and can't have up simultaneously. ie you can't use earthwalk and terrorpalm, but you can use shaded step and terrorpalm, or impen and IoT. There's also the issue of when you can activate them, even if they can be used at the same time. Casters will be your friend, with the ability to use Silent Casting making aggro somewhat easier. If you're running an enchanter, I believe they have some older buffs that mod aggro generation, in either direction. They don't last long, but the recast isn't bad, either. Scorpion's Agony potions should help aggro generation. Rune proc augs are good as well, might as well have some available. DPS is important to downing a named. The longer the fight goes, the worse your monk is going to tank. We weren't built for the long haul on tanking, so get it dead, and expect your emergency abilities to be in use constantly. Don't neglect your 2handed AAs, because they'll help you tank in a pinch. Though aggro will drop off, they'll help you stay alive. Important for solo/box work, IMO, as well as names when your discs aren't cutting it alone or are running out.
When I said what I said, I wasn't thinking about Staff Block. So there is that, but you also have to consider the huge reduction in DPS when using 2hand weapons. The lack of dps is going to be the cause of many deaths when fighting named mobs, where dps can make or break the fight. This also needs to take into consideration you are at a point where you can afford to start putting AAs into those abilities, as they are not cheap. I've boxed an enchanter with a monk and it's a great combo, but even then I would still use a tank merc. If you are boxing I just don't see any reason to use a monk tank over a tank merc unless you are mass killing light blues. Don't get me wrong, monks make really good "Oh !" tanks. But we just aren't designed to do it except in a pinch, and it irks me when people say monks make good tanks because that just simply isn't true. There is a huge gap between taking damage and being a tank.
I have a raid-geared monk and a group geared warrior. With a chanter stunning, either can tank group trash easily. For named, the group warrior with about 5K AAs is way better than my max-AA raid-geared monk. Getting and keep aggro will probably be a bit of a problem for a group-geard monk. Make sure you use synergy and stunning kick optimally timed for max performance.
