Korgin

Hi Guys

I'm a new guard lv 8, I spent some time reading these forums and found them very helpful but one question I have that I wasnt clear on was about aggro on groups of mob encounters.

I was torn between making a zerker and the guard, but what I understand is that guard takes better spike dmg, is mainly for raid tanking named and gernally speaking better equppied to live 'I'm not flaming zerkers! - as I havent really played either class yet.

So heres my question, one thing I keep reading is that that at lv 80 many heroic instances etc have lots of group mobs - want I want to know is simply, does the guard have the tools to do group encounters ok? this is the only niggle I have about the guard class before continuing to level up. I think I understand the zerker would be easier with their CA's but just let me know if the guard is stilll ok?

Thanks for any feedback.

Saladin

If you know what you are doing then yes. If you keep reading around and experimenting yourself you will work out ways which suit you best. Heroic group content can be tanked by any tank. The easier ones can be tanked by a warlock i kid you not.

Sure Sks brag about sweeping through easy zones very quickly but that doesn't really beat the fact that Guards are still the best single target tanks and with a little tinkering, in group zones, they would do just as well as any other tank class.

Ixer

With the right AA setup and the right proc gear holding AOE aggro comes alot easier.

Such as agi for the 40% aoe auto attack and mutagenic burst gear. I usually carry a couple pieces that I can switch in to help out with this.

Korgin

Hi Guys

Thanks for taking the time to reply, much appreciated.

I got the answer I was looking for, guards are fine with aoe encounters, just got to maybe work a bit harder possibly or set-up AA for it. Thats great news, I dont know really how guards play yet..or zerkers..but I like the sounds of guards so I'll continue on with my major niggle answered about the class. Cheers.

Fungie

Guards are the worst of the plate tanks at tanking AoE stuff, but you can spec agi3 and also get a mutagenic piece. That will make you "ok", but you will still be below any other plate tank.

Saladin

More simply put:

Guards Best single target tank-->Raid and Heroic content.
Guards good enough in group aoe encounters.
Guards don't do adds in raids--for that you have zerks, pallys and sks but am sure people would disagree.

Salarionn

False Black Bear !!!! Any class can suck at something or be good at it. Do we take a back seat for AE tanking raid adds, yes i will agree to that, but he is asking about heroic crap.

We can do just fine in any heroic zone. I pull multiple groups every time i hit a heroic zone without any agro issues. You just have to tinker around with your casting order and AA's to best fit your style of play.

The best advice you can get is simple, Dont let anybody tell you that you cant do this or that because you play a Guard. Dont allow yourself a crutch before you even start.

__________________

Karadawn

Guards do suck abit on Group encounters, but they arent that far behind other tanks. with a bit of thought with AA setup ie Agi line ( dont waste to many AA's here just enough to get the extra AE) and a few target changes during the fight (so you dont lose aggro to Other people's AE's). You should be Just fine. Guards just need to work a little harder than other fighters to keep aggro suffiently in group encounters

__________________

Davngr

guards have ok AoE agro the list goes as follows:


pally(plus ae dps amends) = SK > zerk > guard > bruiser > monk

tbh unless you plan on raiding i woulden't roll a guard the other tanks are just better at herroic content.

why take a tank that does 1.5k dps when you can take a tank that does 3k dps?

Ixer

Not sure what your doing, most instances im pushing around 4k+.