I have been leveling up a SK with some friends and now approaching level 90, but I seem to suck at holding aggro over some of them. I was under the impression that SK aggro was very good, so it is obviously my own sucking that is happening. I am mostly in HoT T2 type gear including the anger mask from Library. I currently try and do Confrontation, Darkness a Lifetap and Spear. Just keeping those down during the fight. I would add DoT's, but my mana drains so fast like that. Anything else I should be doing or does it get better?
I'd highly suggest reading http://www.evilgamer.net/forums/index.php for SK specifics. Real knowledgeable folks there, who've made a LOT of great posts for SKs.
If you're pulling, pull with Terror. It overrides the initial hate cap. If not, hit mob on inc with Terror, then AA Snare while waiting for spells to refresh, then C__ for Power (aggro over time keeps you afloat), bash or any AA that gives aggro [AA snare, AA bite, Explosion of Hate/Explosion of Spite (unless you risk aggroing neutrals like sentinels in grounds), debuff clickys], Terror. Basically you use CfP early to keep adding aggro while doing other things. Cast Terror whenever its up. Use AAs that debuff/nuke, clickys that debuff/nuke, abilities (bash/disarm) while waiting for spells to refresh. You can cycle one other spell in while waiting for terror to refresh. I recommend the instant cast dots that have a debuff component (Dire Constriction/Insidious Blight) as the debuff adds its own aggro. If you've cycled in both debuff dots, cycle in Blood poison dot as you get the quickest aggro from the highest damage dot. You can also make a spam key for use during spell refresh that includes AA snare, AA bite, bash, disarm. Hit it and whatever is up will get used. edit: Terror is your best aggro generator (other than Harm Touch). That is probably the sole reason that you are having aggro issues. If you are still having issues, load up the 81 terror and cycle that as your second spell instead of the debuff dots.
What classes are the "friends"? Always remember, agro management is the groups responsibility too. You mentioned wearing a hate mask, are you also using Touch of Iglum or Voice of Thule AA to bump your agro mod even further (i.e. they stack with worn mod)
Good point. You should be using Touch every couple minutes. Don't bother with VoT - that's for buffing other classes. Touch is a higher aggro mod (15% vs. 14%) and gives you a hp buff and nuke aggro. I can maintain aggro with a wizzie and two rangers in the group with only Touch (no worn)...but it's a lot of work.
Voice of Thule aa at higher ranks is the best aggro mod spell available. I usually pull with hate over time recourse as its aggro is generally low on impact but yields over time. This leaves a terror available to cast before mob ever hits camp. With a good hate mod item and voice, Aggro should be easy. As you gain more aas better weapons and rune proc augs, it's generally a snoozefest in most groups. I rarely have to cast terror, I honestly just chain taps these days. If aggro becomes a problem, re-arrange your spell lineup as needed to have more terrors and debuffs available to cast. With the hastened aas, the 2 aa aoe instant terrors are generally up for every pull. Sk Aggro is pretty easy, you just have to use the tools available appropriately.
Don't forget to keep the defensive rune peoc up it is free aggro. You can also use aggro poisons if you find yourself struggling.
Thanks for all the tips. I was ignoring Terror in favor of Confrontation. I looked at the spell and only saw the: "1: Increase Hate by 1" so figured it didn't do much. But just now noticed the: "Hate Generated: 4086", so I am guessing that is what makes it so good? I haven't bought the snare AA yet, I guess I assumed the spell version would yield more hate generation, but if the AA version does generate nicely and at no mana cost it does sound good. Someone asked what the rest of the group was, shaman, 2 wizards and a monk. I don't lose aggro a ton, but it is so borderline that it freaks me out, which is why I wanted to see about some tips. I would rather not have them hold back if I can improve myself.
I believe it was coded that way to override initial hate cap (400 I think). It hits for 1 and then hits again for 4086. The only purpose of Terror is to provide hate and its the best we have at it. The amount of hate generated from debuffs is 1200, unless specifically coded otherwise. The spell version has the benefits of being instant cast at 87 and having a damage component. The AA is usable during the global spell refresh, has a higher snare (65% vs. 40sih%), and costs 0 mana. The spell version was asked for as an instant cast dot that still did damage to unsnareable mobs. I never even bother with the spell any more. Voice of Thule is a higher % hate mod than Touch but is not available until level 100 (rank 1 is 14%). Until then, use Touch. At rank 2 (90) it is a 1926 aggro nuke, a 15% mod, a 1337 hp buff, and a 1337 heal (and I believe half of the aggro of the amount healed).
