Area effect taunt questions

[wold]

I finally got area effect taunt... 1) Ranger getting slaughtered (~ 1/2 bub left) I figure what the heck: mash area effect taunt: no effect. Question one is there a low hp aggro problem which is more hate than this?So how low (eg one bub etc) of health is too low and a waste of the aa?
2) If shammy slow is resisted, mash ae taunt, get aggro, shammy again resisted will mob reaggro and thus effectively waste this, or does it last for a while? In other words is it like taunt and put you up by +1 (if thats actually what taunt does) or is it like EB and raise you by some quantity of hate?
3) Someone mentioned a z axis problem, if you are leved does ae taunt not work? Or is that in regard to certain zones?

Thanks for sharing your experiences of ae taunt so I don't have to reinvent the wheel :)

Quakr Tectonicus
Barbarian Warlord and 250 Smith, Drinal

[Isk]

1) low health aggro > *, can't beat it. Happens under 1 bub of life.

2) AE taunt puts you on top of the hate list by a little bit, but it's not like EB. A resisted Turgur's will prolly draw aggro off ya.

3) Nah, levitation doesn't make AE Taunt ineffective, sometimes it actually helps. Some zones don't allow levitation tho.

[Khabok]

The Z axis thing is only against certain real tall mobs, where they seem to be Above the area it covers. So in those cases Lev actually helps to get you closer to them.

[Blacktalun]

Any problems with zones such as kedge keep that using an AE taunt might actually aggro something in a room above or below you? or does this only work on critters that are already engaged.

[Riaden D'Marr]

like Iskandar said low hp agro > all once your below 2 bubs life odds are you wont get agro back with AE tuant.

As for the shaman if he gets a resisted slow unless your in raid no pont in re attemtping soon as gem pops. Even with AE tuanting off him your AE tuant only move you to top of hate list wont keep you up top by itself.

[Isk]

Yes AE Taunt can aggro mobs through walls, ceilings, floors, etc. It's not so much a problem now as it was at first but ya still gotta watch it.

[Phantron]

I'm pretty sure a mob's physical location is at where you've to right click to loot it. So if you imagine the face-down corpse standing up and look at where you've to loot, that'll give you an idea of how tall the game considers the mob is at. Since AE Taunt has a height limit, if you're too far below where the game considers the mob is at, you can't effect him.

Low HP aggro will outaggro anything except another low HP aggro within a certain range that varies from mob to mob. For most mobs this range is long enough that it doesn't really matter but on some mobs like Sol Ro (maybe the only mob) you can get down to a pixel of health and still walk away safely.

AE Taunt puts you at top + some unknown amount. It's most certainly not enough to cushion you against another slow assuming it's cast right away.

[sordail]

My Experience with AETaunt is this:

It will turn all mobs to close me, to me, gaurenteed...but.....its very temporary.. If anyone hits, casts, yadda, yadda, on any other mob than the one Im on, it will turn away from me again.

Frankly, I was told that AEtaunt was the single greatest AA a warrior could get. It is helpful. But frankly..only temporary..and well..Im not that impressed. Its primary value is grabbing aggro when the MT falls on a boss mob. Then , It is VERY good. But for grinding, minimal.

Needs to be bought, but defensive aa's are more important. IMO

[Solinar]

Pullers brings 2 mobs to camp, room respawns with 1 more, and a roamer aggros.

Next thing you know, you got 4 mobs in camp and your at half HP with a CH 5 seconds away. CH lands, you have 1 tanked, the chanter has mezzed one, and 2 charge the cleric. AE-taunt _ disc will save your group, where nothing else will.

It is probably the single most valuable AA for the exp group grind.

[tarsk]

*nods*, I agree with Solinar totally

It shines in exp groups, because exp groups are so much less controlled. Raiding is a very controlled situation, and you have 40 people there to deal with adds or whatever.

[Loosscru]

That last circumstance could work or......your chanter could just pop an AE mez as soon as everything started going badly. You imideatly break mez on the one you were allready fighting and pop that normal taunt, chanter goes through mezzing the other 3 with longer mezzs, meanwhile the shaman heals the cleric then starts slowing everything while you and the rogue finsih off the mob and wonder why you ever brought that wizzy down here if all he was going to do was gate as soon as it got fun.

Frankly AE taunt is a highly situational skill. 48% of the time you use it, it didn't need to be used. Another 48% of the time you use it, it will be too little too late. Its that 2% that actually makes a diffrence. My best advice is to Ignore the AE part and remember that it is a taunt that can't fail. Use it when you realy need one mobs attention immidatly (like it 1000dps and has taken an intrest in your cleric a bit too fast). Let the crowd controllers do thier job.

[tarsk]

I pop AE taunt when there's no chanter in groups - AE taunt + riposte disc, and your shaman can slow all of them at his leisure and won't get any aggro, regardless of how many there is

[Solinar]

That last circumstance could work or......your chanter could just pop an AE mez as soon as everything started going badly.

I assume your talking about word of morrell here. If any mob resists it, chanter is dead. That mob will rush the chanter and interupt casting, 2 seconds later the other 3 will rush the chanter (as morrell only lasts 2 seconds) and the chanter has 0 chance at living.

Much better to let your tanks tank, while you single mez 1 at a time imho.

[DurgoECI]

Another situation where AETaunt is a lifesaver:

Occasionally we'll be fighting somewhere in tactics that will require killing a few Diaku Elite's. These things hit incredibly hard and fast. Usually a typical battle goes one of two ways:
1) I pull, start attacking, and get an early EB proc. At this point, the healer(s) heal without trouble, and the enchanter tash/slow's with no problem.

2) I pull, start attacking, and don't get an early proc. Sometimes in this case, an early patch early, or tash/slow will cause the elite to turn. I immediately hit taunt. More often than not, this gets me aggro back, and we're fine. However, in those cases where it doesn't, I immediately follow up with an AETaunt. If I didn't have AETaunt, someone would die in this scenario. If it was the cleric, the group wipes. Elites hit so hard unslowed that by the time taunt refreshed, whomever got the aggro would either be dead, or frenzied and dead shortly.

[Fabianz]

That last circumstance could work or......your chanter could just pop an AE mez as soon as everything started going badly

Best case scenario where none resisted and normal taunt work... Word of morell last for 6 sec, add in the 2.2 sec recast for gem to reload and you down to 3.8 sec. That is enough time for 1 mez(bliss 2.5 sec). That means if there is more than 2, the 3rd, 4th, and so on will be smacking on the ench and he is dead.