Necro: Ways to tank

Discussion in 'Casters' started by Ryanxp, Jul 10, 2016.

  1. Ryanxp Augur

    I've been having trouble soloing certain named keeping ' Goober ' alive.

    What are some methods You go about when dealing with some powerful named?

    I tend to keep 2 runes active in spell gems and my AA rune. I recently added the increased durability for pet, which helps.
    Has there been any changes, additional spells in your lineup, or any useful things you do differently on tough fights?
  2. Ravengloome Augur

    Killing the mob faster is guaranteed and proven strat to increase tank survival.

    But are you asking how to tank with a necro or to increase pet survival.
  3. Ryanxp Augur

    Namely, increasing pet survival.
    Some fights are guaranteed longer, burn or not. On all bosses, I will tend to use all my burns, though
  4. Venau Augur

    1) Suspend another pet before the fight.......have it ready to go in case your first one dies
    2) FD your pet when he's at about 40% health and make sure u have a set of swarms up to tank

    You'll basically be flopping yourself and your pet for a good portion of the fight. Once the mob is beaten down a bit go ahead and hit silent casting and do your burn.

    You can molo the majority of named this way. It does, however, take some practice.

    Obviously the more pet AA's you have.....the better your performance will become.

    Use Aegis AA every time it's up. Have Forceful Rejuv available in case u need to reset your swarms cool down when things get a bit sticky.


    Lot's of times I'll use the above technique to kill a named without ever going into burn mode. It's a great challenge and really helps u learn how to manage aggro (flopping your pet to drop aggro, flopping your toon to drop aggro, flopping one or both to let swarms tank for a bit while your FD pet is getting healed by your merc).

    Hit me up in game if you have any questions or other ideas. I'm on Tunare server.
  5. Venau Augur


    Are you asking if, as a necro, it's possible to pet tank a named from the most recent expansion? As in just let him stand there while u cast your DoTs like u do on a normal mob?

    If so........the answer is....a necro pet cannot do this. You need to be more creative.
  6. Siddar Augur

    There is no named you cant realistically tank in TBM

    Cascading Bloodshield
    Fortify Companion
    Reluctant Benevolence for pet heals.
    Pet heal over time AA (it also has a defense buff)
    Tradeskill armor for pet
    Swarm pets> Scent of Terris> Fire nuke> Undead Slow to slow the mob before main pet takes agro
    Silent casting to keep agro off you
    w1ckedgamez likes this.
  7. Ryanxp Augur

    Thank you, Venau! I'll try to remember to ;tell you sometime. I'm zek.ryanxp; would love to talk sometime about our class!
    I've not considered about FDing pet when he's low -- that's a great idea. My problem is even T1 CotF named (in DH HAs) I have trouble with... The T1 named in TDS I've easily taken on and haven't had issues with.

    Yes. That's usually my lineup. My spell gems I always have Phantasmal Ward loaded and will use AA rune when pet gets in trouble (I use the Lv.102 warrior pet and will typically rune before he enrages, but definitely have that leeway if needed). In difficult named fights or ones I haven't taken on before, I will load Cascading in spellgems and rotate between Cascading and AA.

    I have all 3 pet heals hotkeyed: Mend Companion, Self-Sacrifice (low on AA so the heal seems to only be about 10%), and the HoT heal. Fortify Companion I've yet to use much (I'm really bad with AAs and it wasn't until near Lv.100 before I learned of Death Blossom / Bloom when talking to another nec, facepalm), but I've added Fortify into my lineup
    Any good time to use Fortify Companion?
  8. Ryanxp Augur

    Aha
    Just checked Fortify and will definitely include this
  9. Reincarnated Lorekeeper

    Venau is dead on with the flop trick. We have been doing that for ages since they added the aggro meter. It was probably one of the best advancements for a necro, to see just about when you would be summoned, and or who had / held aggro.

    Back before the swarm pet nerf, it was possible to "spin" pets, a term loosely coined by another necro friend of mine on Bertox, by casting swarm 1, swarm 2, swarm 3 if needed, and balancing your pet's aggro / health with those swarm pets. Rinse and repeat until the mob dies, never getting hit once.

    Think of it this way, when you have swarms up, even just the 1 spell version (3 pets) that you can cast now, you have 3 other bodies there to distract a mob.

    So, if your pet is taking a beating, you can opt for some swarm pets, and then FD your primary pet long enough to drop aggro, then stand them back up. You may want to FD yourself or you will find your aggro gets you summoned.

    It's really not that hard to do, and it amazes me how many necros don't understand this key principal. The entire purpose of playing a necro is to avoid being hit and do all the dps you can. This is a little harder now than it was, but you should be able to easily solo most named mobs at least up to the current expansion with nothing more than group gear and a good set of skills. The challenge is half the fun.

    So, if your a necro who has no idea how to fight a mob that summons, try this trick, and practice it. Half of Everquest mobs summon, your missing half the game if you can't achieve positive results here.
  10. Ryanxp Augur

    The problem I'm seeing with pet flop is my runes. Cotf DH HA named hit for 20k and sometimes multiple times. The runes take most the damage and when my pet gets low on health, I give him another one. That leaves enough time to sink a few hits and let him get healed. Cascading is 20 or 30 sec recast and AA is near the same, and I rotate. Now, when he gets that low, I understand I can send in a swarm, flop my pet for heals, and FD, and rinse repeat, but I don't see how viable it really is. The named simply seems too hard.
    That won't stop me for trying them again. But it just seems to answer my dilemma, at least for now.
  11. Aegisfayng New Member

    You should have a few ranks in extended swarms aa, keep your swarm pets up at all times. With pet taunt on they'll sit just right below it on the aggro meter. Using blocks and the like will increase the amount of time you have to DoT a mob up before sending in another swarm, and/or at higher levels just burn it down.