Drawing aggro, how not to.

[Ryan220]

I have a question about how to avoid drawing or attracting aggro.


I have a L7 WF Wiz that is great to play but it sometimes attracts the mobs even if im hanging back a bit.

What can i do to stop or reduce this? Hang back farther?

Suggestions much appreciated

[Spiderwight]

Mobs will aggro onto the first character they see, but they'll switch to characters that are hurting them.

Let other players go in first and get the mobs' attention. Once they've got a few blows in then the monsters won't aggro onto you unless you deal lots of damage to them. Of course, if that damage is enough to kill the monster then it won't come after you. If you're using Firewalls then it's almost inevitable that you'll acquire aggro eventually, but Displacement+Jump in your firewall ought to keep you alive long enough for the mobs to burn to a crisp.

Throwing a Charm or Suggestion onto one mob in a group (from the very edge of the spell's range) will tend to aggro the whole group onto that monster, which means they'll ignore you for the first section of the fight.

If you took Diplomacy you can use it to shed aggro, but this takes time and is not appreciated by your nearby casters/healers/rogues who the monsters go after instead...

[Ryan220]

Some excellent advice thanks.

I never thought of using charm.

I usually just lob a Firewall down amongst the teams melees and spot shot with wands. It makes sense now that the mobs are going to be looking to batter the person thats just tried to roast them alive

[Missing_Minds]

Mob AI is also programed to give casters a higher priority on who to kill first.

Some races seem to have an "agro magnet" attached to them worse than others also.

I've found that bard halflings seem to have instant agro even rooms away that they've never stepped into. Yes, I have tested this out empirically.
I've also noticed that rogue WF seem to have agro a lot as well. It seems as if they have a bit higher hate generation, which works well for the tanks, but not so much in other cases.

[tihocan]

As a L7 wf wizard with wall of fire, you should *want* aggro! :p

[Ryan220]

As a L7 wf wizard with wall of fire, you should *want* aggro! :p

Very true, but you know how it is, the melees get upset if i dont leave them at least something to wave their pointy things at

[Cam_Neely]

When I was building up my first Wiz, I built it out to spend 10 AP on the reduced threat, and posted it on my guilds forum for feedback. One person pointed out "agro can be the best form of CC" which is very very true. Using Jump, haste and/or Exp retreat you can control a large group of mobs and kite them around very well.

[Ryan220]

When I was building up my first Wiz, I built it out to spend 10 AP on the reduced threat, and posted it on my guilds forum for feedback. One person pointed out "agro can be the best form of CC" which is very very true. Using Jump, haste and/or Exp retreat you can control a large group of mobs and kite them around very well.

Had to look up 'kiting'.

So kiting would be fireballing a group of mobs to draw aggro then drop a couple of firewalls close to each other and let the mobs chase you whilst going in and out of the firewalls?

I like the sound of that, thanks

[phalaeo]

I've found that bard halflings seem to have instant agro even rooms away that they've never stepped into.

Oh, ****- really???? :(

[Talon_Moonshadow]

In general, they need to see you to agro on you. Although certain conditions can allow them to agro on you through walls/doors...etc.

But I believe this to be mostly because doors that can be opened, do not seem to block line of sight for the monsters, nor do random walls in some newer quests that can have walls in different places in different instances.

Monsters have a limited sight range but seem to be a little slow to react. this means sometimes being last into the room does not guarantee your safety.

Entering a room Invisible or in sneak mode helps.

Try to use other obsticles to limit line of sight....sticking to the sides of a hallway seem to help a little....at least if it has rocks and corners and things that you can use.


things that I do:

Hang waaaayyy back. Then charge in when I see monsters move toward someone else.

Turn up your video draw distance to max.....so you can see them from farther than they can see you.

Open doors from the side....to use the doorframe to block line of sight.
Same thing....wait till they visually agro on someone else then charge in.

Go into sneak mode right before an encounter.
Be Invisible

Charm one guy in a mob immediately.
They almost always prefer to attack the traitor in their midst. (at first)

Lead with CC spells.
This may get you agro, but agro from an immobile enemy is nothing to worry about.

And one piece of advice to remember: just because you have agro from one monster, does not mean you have agro from all of them.

So do not do anything to agro more enemies.

Run back....not forward.

Or move to a spot that wil help other players (maybe unwillingly :D ) take agro from you.
firewalls and blade barriers are good for this...so are great swords.

Monsters with so-called random agro can be exploited to your advantage.
They still need to see you to agro on you.
They lose (change) interest fast....and will not chase you very far. (usually)
they may not reagro on you if you are now too far for them to see you.

So drag that pesky devil back to the party....then back up out of range and try again.

This last part may not actually be true....or maybe it is buggy. As I have seen Devils teleport a long way to get to someone....especially that rednamed one in the Shroud.

Also, while actually losing agro is difficult, you can take action to give monsters a better target....like using Invisibility or sneak in a room full of your friends....even after you get agro can help. Especially with random agro monsters.

Many strange things can happen with agro. the game always really knows where you are...and sometimes will have a monster agro on you for no precievable reason.

But it also bugs out and has monsters that cannot seem to (correctly) agro on you even if you stand right in from of them. (this shows up a lot when using stealth and invis) Usually it is just a delay....if you wait a few seconds they usually will begin to attack you again normally.

[Tyobane]

I've found that bard halflings seem to have instant agro even rooms away that they've never stepped into. Yes, I have tested this out empirically.

I cannot emphasize enough how true this is for me. The infernal creatures will storm past others just to attack my halfling bard. Glad I am not the only one to notice this!

[jkm]

Had to look up 'kiting'.

So kiting would be fireballing a group of mobs to draw aggro then drop a couple of firewalls close to each other and let the mobs chase you whilst going in and out of the firewalls?

I like the sound of that, thanks

the easiest way to learn is look for some youtube videos of ddo casters. varis had a video of his sorc soloing von3 back when the level cap was 12 and i learned a ton from imitating him. from there you just form your own style.

[Cam_Neely]

Had to look up 'kiting'.

So kiting would be fireballing a group of mobs to draw aggro then drop a couple of firewalls close to each other and let the mobs chase you whilst going in and out of the firewalls?

I like the sound of that, thanks

Yep that would work. Another way would be you place a Firewall inbetween you and the bad guys. They notice you or your party and run at you, though the firewall. At this point you have the most agro, as you have done the most dmg to them, so they will follow you. They are now on 'your side' of the firewall. Run and jump though them back to the other side of the firewall, and they will follow you back though it. If the melees in your party see what is happening, they will park themselves right in the fire wall, and swing at the badguys as the run though, helping to kill them quicker.

If a melee pulls agro off you, and is parked in the firewall, now they are not only beating on the bad guys, but your fire is doing DoT (dmg over time) helping to kill them quicker.

Can be dangerous, but very useful and and effective use of SP (Spell points)

[Ryan220]

Thanks for the replies.

I had a look at the varis vid and im impressed.

Ive only been a L7 for a short while but can see the only essential spells are blur, haste and firewall if used sensibly

[nibel]

Ive only been a L7 for a short while but can see the only essential spells are blur, haste and firewall if used sensibly

And Jump. Dont underestimate a +30 to jump while kitting through a firewall.

[Hadrian]

Ive only been a L7 for a short while but can see the only essential spells are blur, haste and firewall if used sensibly

You'll hardly ever use Wall of Fire in certain parts of the game. Some of the higher level areas are filled with targets that are fire immune.