Epic Lord of Blades - Main Tank Advanced Guide

[Shadowaras]

Another thing/question i would like to add/ask : I've been surprised several times by an unexpected reset on a Rain of Blades.

Here is how it happenned to me :

LoB fighting, he is around 15%, i got aggro. He starts doing his RoB position, so i mic-call it, toss an intimidate on him when everyone is out of him, and keep shield bashing. However i've seen a second intimi procing on his head when he got up again, and he went into the center aggroing someone random. I would have said, someone procced his intimi and was unlucky.
But i was the ONLY guy in the party (no back up) who had enough intimidate to get him on me. The next intimi guy was standing around 50... so not enough (i know everyone i run epic with, so i know no one could). And anyone was away anyway when that second icon procced.
Is there a kind of reset DURING the positionning of the LoB himself when he RoBs ? Is it WAI ? When is the good moment to intimidate when he RoB ? (I thought when blades are starting to get out of his back).

Wasn't a wipe, but could have been without my half elf intimidate. I wouldnt like that to happen the day my 2 intimis are off.

Any suggestion ?

The sure thing is he dont reset agro on rain of blades .. so if u sure u have agro no reason to intim although is good if u off timer to throw 1 just in case so he dont accidently run off after some1 in the center... now the other thing u said about the intim icon i have also noticed it on other quests with different toons and i think is a bug of some kind randomly procing intims over mobs heads without having intim in the party .. dunno exactly why or how it is caused though.

[Shadowaras]

5 stars and +1.

Obviously not only do you know the mechanics very well, but you explained them in a very clear, effective manner. We are already starting to tank epics in my guild using the strategy you described.

Thanks for helping out the community!

indeed and if u can implement half of wat he said in each raid would make it alot easier to fo through even if not a speed run

[Blue_wizards]

indeed and if u can implement half of wat he said in each raid would make it alot easier to fo through even if not a speed run

Thank you very much guys :-)

I'm glad this guide is accomplishing its purpose

[Arshan]

The sure thing is he dont reset agro on rain of blades .. so if u sure u have agro no reason to intim although is good if u off timer to throw 1 just in case so he dont accidently run off after some1 in the center... now the other thing u said about the intim icon i have also noticed it on other quests with different toons and i think is a bug of some kind randomly procing intims over mobs heads without having intim in the party .. dunno exactly why or how it is caused though.

It's basically about dots.

I usually have the LoB for 20 seconds on me until someone gets it (and i intimi right away).

However on rains of blades, he seems to be turning really weirdly, and dots often get him while he should be under my 6 second guaranted aggro timer.

I always toss a second security intimidate on RoB now... working well so far. Just would like to have something 100% reliable to use.

Thanks for input

[Blue_wizards]

It's basically about dots.

However on rains of blades, he seems to be turning really weirdly, and dots often get him while he should be under my 6 second guaranted aggro timer.

Thanks for input

Hi there,

I'm sure you know that th new intim mech no longer promises you have agro anymore. It just puts you on top of the hate list with a small buffer and gives you a stacking bonus to hate. (50% without a shield, 100% with a shield).

Are you reffering to the general Mob hate checklist?
The way i understand it is that any mob in the game "checks" his hate list every few seconds and adjusts agro acordingly. You must have noticed this at the begining when you chase the lord of blades you might tag him then have him run off some more after his initial target and while he is out of melle range andwithout you tagging him some more he then turns back to you.

I do not believe intimidate resets the timer for this hate check list so if you hit intim just b4 the LoB next hate checklist and a caster scroes a crit on his dot or dots i can see how you can lose agro.

My suggestion, Have one caster (prefebly sorc with capstone) use Anathema ring so if dots pull agro you will know who has it and can isolate them from the rest of the party.

[Blue_wizards]

The sure thing is he dont reset agro on rain of blades .. so if u sure u have agro no reason to intim although is good if u off timer to throw 1 just in case so he dont accidently run off after some1 in the center... now the other thing u said about the intim icon i have also noticed it on other quests with different toons and i think is a bug of some kind randomly procing intims over mobs heads without having intim in the party .. dunno exactly why or how it is caused though.

Hi Shadow,

I bet you've seen this a lot especially in low levels. I remember people calling out "Hi my hireling just intimed". I don't believe it's a bug, i think it's kinda cool actually.
The way i see it, whenever a mob takes a single devestating hit (ToD, frenzied barb crit + lit 2 proc and such) he wil be intimidated by the toon that did it. Something in the lines of "Hey! That hurt! I'll get you now"

The reason I believe you see it a lot at low levels is because it has something to do with the ratio between mobs total hp and your damage. Mobs Hp scales a lot more from level 1 to 20 then PC damage.

[Shadowaras]

It's basically about dots.

I usually have the LoB for 20 seconds on me until someone gets it (and i intimi right away).

However on rains of blades, he seems to be turning really weirdly, and dots often get him while he should be under my 6 second guaranted aggro timer.

I always toss a second security intimidate on RoB now... working well so far. Just would like to have something 100% reliable to use.

Thanks for input

as blue stated above ..the intim has changed its mechanics .. it no longers lock down agro for any amount of time 1,6 or 12 sec .. It works like this .. the moment u hit intimidate it gives the hate amount (in mobs hate list ) of the highest threat(player) has accumulated + a percentage that derives from the intimidate skill score u have (dont know the exact math to calculate this number). So say u intim right away with no1 else to have hit the mob...you will get only your intimidate percentage bonus (since no1 else on hate list to add his accumulated agro )... if a bbn comes with an esos with 1 blow only and crits he can overcome that bonus and turn him right away in 1 sec only or a crit spell by a caster !!!

So the ideal use of the intimidate skill would be .. grab intial agro swinging your weapon .. w8 for the dps to come and beat him a bit and w8 for the agro to shift to em .. at that point u hit your intim giving yourself the highest accumulated agro +your bonus which will give u a significant headstart on hate than any other player in party (long enough for your intim to cooldown ) ...If you are a half elf and have 2 intimidates by all means start off with an intim .. will give ya tha bonus +50% or 100% bonus on your hate generation ..and u have the second intim for when the agro shifts.

Hi Shadow,

I bet you've seen this a lot especially in low levels. I remember people calling out "Hi my hireling just intimed". I don't believe it's a bug, i think it's kinda cool actually.
The way i see it, whenever a mob takes a single devestating hit (ToD, frenzied barb crit + lit 2 proc and such) he wil be intimidated by the toon that did it. Something in the lines of "Hey! That hurt! I'll get you now"

The reason I believe you see it a lot at low levels is because it has something to do with the ratio between mobs total hp and your damage. Mobs Hp scales a lot more from level 1 to 20 then PC damage.

Yes blue i had suspected something like that was the icon .. meaning on a radical agro change where some1 does a crit or such it shows u the agro shifted and beware ... and indeed it happens usualy while leveling ..

[Arshan]

as blue stated above ..the intim has changed its mechanics .. it no longers lock down agro for any amount of time 1,6 or 12 sec .. It works like this .. the moment u hit intimidate it gives the hate amount (in mobs hate list ) of the highest threat(player) has accumulated + a percentage that derives from the intimidate skill score u have (dont know the exact math to calculate this number). So say u intim right away with no1 else to have hit the mob...you will get only your intimidate percentage bonus (since no1 else on hate list to add his accumulated agro )... if a bbn comes with an esos with 1 blow only and crits he can overcome that bonus and turn him right away in 1 sec only or a crit spell by a caster !!!

So the ideal use of the intimidate skill would be .. grab intial agro swinging your weapon .. w8 for the dps to come and beat him a bit and w8 for the agro to shift to em .. at that point u hit your intim giving yourself the highest accumulated agro +your bonus which will give u a significant headstart on hate than any other player in party (long enough for your intim to cooldown ) ...If you are a half elf and have 2 intimidates by all means start off with an intim .. will give ya tha bonus +50% or 100% bonus on your hate generation ..and u have the second intim for when the agro shifts.

Dots are indeed the win Time the LoB lands, crosses the platform + runs on caster, like 4 or 5 tics can happen, making the intimi totally meaningfull.

The **** always happen on resets, where dots aren't effecting so much => Back off people and lemme swing a wee to make some aggro.

Totally makes sense. The intimi icon coming from nowhere remains a mystery to me still ^^

[Shadowaras]

Dots are indeed the win

The **** always happen on resets, where dots aren't effecting so much => Back off people and lemme swing a wee to make some aggro.

there is no need to w8 for ya to build agro if the dps know how to open up their attack... have your heavy hiitter with full hate gear go always in first (after u have initial agro )..and w8 for the agro to shift to him (u have saved your intim ) once it does hit it !! ..u gain his hate+ your bonus .. and fight continues smoothly allowing every1 else to dps with no fear of 2 ppl accumulating same hate on mobs list and turn him again ... your cooldown passes easily and when he turns again same deal hit it again !!
So is good before u start the fight to assign a hater among the dps ..tell him to have full hate gear on and depend on him to lead and open all dps attacks .. so u can bounce your hate off him and fight goes smoothly .. rest ppl should not have hate gear so he only has clear lead on hate generation.

Basicaly especialy for non-helfs that have only 1 intim the rule is ..If u have agro u dont hit intim ... it is only used if u lose agro to get it back .

[Arshan]

there is no need to w8 for ya to build agro if the dps know how to open up their attack... have your heavy hiitter with full hate gear go always in first (after u have initial agro )..and w8 for the agro to shift to him (u have saved your intim ) once it does hit it !! ..u gain his hate+ your bonus .. and fight continues smoothly allowing every1 else to dps with no fear of 2 ppl accumulating same hate on mobs list and turn him again ... your cooldown passes easily and when he turns again same deal hit it again !!
So is good before u start the fight to assign a hater among the dps ..tell him to have full hate gear on and depend on him to lead and open all dps attacks .. so u can bounce your hate off him and fight goes smoothly .. rest ppl should not have hate gear so he only has clear lead on hate generation.

Basicaly especialy for non-helfs that have only 1 intim the rule is ..If u have agro u dont hit intim ... it is only used if u lose agro to get it back .

Just meant back off for 1 swing to make sure i'm the first one hitting the LoB.
But to be honnest, even playing an half-elf, the main rule is still if u have aggro dont intimi.
The second intimi is more a security than anything, if you happen to fail a roll (shouldnt happen) or if someone finds funny to kite the lob so you miss your first intimi.
A VERY appreciable security, but not something to rely on, the timer is too long.

We actually totally agree, i just explained not well at all what i meant

[Shadowaras]

Guys i run an epic lob today tanking with my stalwart and noticed something weird ..when he start to fly he becomes inactive (he name goes white and u lose target).probably they wanted to fix the bug where he has jumpd and ppl could still hit him .. the thing is though that they messed up targeting so when he reappears u have to reaquire b4 u start ranging causing u to miss couple of ranged hits until u do .. now that not so much problematic unless u r in the final fight .. with all those mobs around was kinda hard to get him targeted and range again .. is it just me or u noticed that also guys?

[Blue_wizards]

Guys i run an epic lob today tanking with my stalwart and noticed something weird ..when he start to fly he becomes inactive (he name goes white and u lose target).probably they wanted to fix the bug where he has jumpd and ppl could still hit him .. the thing is though that they messed up targeting so when he reappears u have to reaquire b4 u start ranging causing u to miss couple of ranged hits until u do .. now that not so much problematic unless u r in the final fight .. with all those mobs around was kinda hard to get him targeted and range again .. is it just me or u noticed that also guys?

Tanked a hard LoB today on my monk and noticed the same.
I think this was done in order to disable the "cheat" where people marked him b4 the quory comes out. Ganging up on him after each of his crosses at the 5% phase while leaving 1 archer alive.

This indeed makes it harder to get him under control everytime he jumps up. The stratergy of using a dotter to gain initial agro and then intimming it off him just gained another advantage. Altough that's asuming the DoT spell stays on him when he jumps as it did b4 this change. Needs to be tested