The other day I found myself in a group with a Sentinel who had really great DPS (damage per second), but he didn’t know some of the basics about working with a group in a MMO. This is a short tutorial on grouping for the benefit of new players.

 

Roles

 

There are three basic roles in a group. First there is the tank. The purpose of a tank is to make all of the bad guys hit him (this is called “holding aggro). Second there is the healer; he regenerates your hit points when you take damage. Third there is the DPS whose purpose is to do damage.

 

Crowd Control (CC)

 

Before the battler begins, or right after it starts, some classes have the ability to take enemies out of commission. This allows the group to focus on the rest, and then get around to the mobs that are controlled. The idea is that you do not want to break CC before it is time to do so.

 

Targeting

 

Finally there is the question, “which of the bad guys should I attack?” You must choose the correct target or the group will not function well. The general rule is that you should always be on the same target that the tank is on. This way instead of healing all of the group members the healer should only need to heal the tank since he has all the agro. Another way of determining your target refers to a group where there are weaker and stronger targets. In this case you should target the weaker members first and then join the tank on the harder targets.

 

Companions

 

Your companions are also broken up into these three categories. For the Sentinel, your first companion is a tank. T7 will get agro on all of the members of a mob if you send him in first. Then you can take each of them down one at a time. You have a healer, two tanks, and two DPS in your companions. Find out which is which as you serve the DPS role.

 

Communication (See below for the author of this point.)

 

Any experienced player worth playing with, does not mind playing with a noob ~ so long as they know you're a noob. Tell people you're still learning and ask for advice, and you'll hear a lot of good things. If you're a healer ask the tank. If you're a tank, ask the healer. If you're a dps ask the tank AND the healer. Communicate- and people will add you to their friends list, and ask you to come with them for group content. If players are mean, put them on your ignore list ~ and meet someone else.

 

Conclusion

 

If you study and use these group basics you will always be welcome in a group.

Edited August 19, 2012 by ahnog

As a healer, I strongly dissagree with your advice on targeting for dps players.....In fact I tend to put dps players who target the tanked mob habitually on my ignore list.

 

It actually relieves a lot of healing preasure if the DPS in the group kill the weakest mobs as fast as they can, and ignore whatever the tank is "tanking". It also helps the tank perform their job correctly, if the dps do this. If DPS players attack the tanked mob too soon after the start of a battle, they often "out aggro" the tank, and then get injured greatly. The weak mobs may not have many hit points, but they will dish out a considerable amount of damage if left alive, while the group focusses down the strongest enemy in the group.

 

This is especially true for the melee DPS builds.

 

If you're a DPS, and the tank doesn't ask you to attack the mobs in a firing order, assume they want you to kill the additional (adds) first. These adds are also usually the enemies that will attack the healer, if they are not killed.

As a healer, I strongly dissagree with your advice on targeting for dps players.....In fact I tend to put dps players who target the tanked mob habitually on my ignore list.

 

It actually relieves a lot of healing preasure if the DPS in the group kill the weakest mobs as fast as they can, and ignore whatever the tank is "tanking". It also helps the tank perform their job correctly, if the dps do this. If DPS players attack the tanked mob too soon after the start of a battle, they often "out aggro" the tank, and then get injured greatly. The weak mobs may not have many hit points, but they will dish out a considerable amount of damage if left alive, while the group focusses down the strongest enemy in the group.

 

This is especially true for the melee DPS builds.

 

If you're a DPS, and the tank doesn't ask you to attack the mobs in a firing order, assume they want you to kill the additional (adds) first. These adds are also usually the enemies that will attack the healer, if they are not killed.

 

 

agree on everything stated. as a healer its frustrating if the dps dont target the adds because you will get agro off them, which will make the tank work harder trying to take the agro of everything. dps should take out the weakest mobs first, they may not have strong defenses but they are a sustainable offensive force

Definitely go after the adds and clear them out while the tank holds the boss. That's the purpose of tanking. When they're all dead, attack the boss.

 

If you're using CC on an NPC, it's really helpful to mark it and say, "CC on the star" or whatever you're using. It only take a second or two and is immensely helpful to others.

As a healer, I strongly dissagree with your advice on targeting for dps players.....In fact I tend to put dps players who target the tanked mob habitually on my ignore list.

 

It actually relieves a lot of healing preasure if the DPS in the group kill the weakest mobs as fast as they can, and ignore whatever the tank is "tanking". It also helps the tank perform their job correctly, if the dps do this. If DPS players attack the tanked mob too soon after the start of a battle, they often "out aggro" the tank, and then get injured greatly. The weak mobs may not have many hit points, but they will dish out a considerable amount of damage if left alive, while the group focusses down the strongest enemy in the group.

 

This is especially true for the melee DPS builds.

 

If you're a DPS, and the tank doesn't ask you to attack the mobs in a firing order, assume they want you to kill the additional (adds) first. These adds are also usually the enemies that will attack the healer, if they are not killed.

 

Of course you are right. My guide was intended to be a short guide so I didn't get into that detail. I'll edit it.

ya, speaking from a healing and tanking standpoint, its annoying as hell to see everyone jump on the elite first, and ignore the adds. It always seems to be a particularly bad habit when playing with marauders. They all seem to have the same mentality

As a healer, I strongly dissagree with your advice on targeting for dps players.....In fact I tend to put dps players who target the tanked mob habitually on my ignore list.

 

It actually relieves a lot of healing preasure if the DPS in the group kill the weakest mobs as fast as they can, and ignore whatever the tank is "tanking". It also helps the tank perform their job correctly, if the dps do this. If DPS players attack the tanked mob too soon after the start of a battle, they often "out aggro" the tank, and then get injured greatly. The weak mobs may not have many hit points, but they will dish out a considerable amount of damage if left alive, while the group focusses down the strongest enemy in the group.

 

This is especially true for the melee DPS builds.

 

If you're a DPS, and the tank doesn't ask you to attack the mobs in a firing order, assume they want you to kill the additional (adds) first. These adds are also usually the enemies that will attack the healer, if they are not killed.

 

This is usually true. In most games that I've played, tanks continually switch targets in multi-mob pulls to make sure that ALL targets are on the tank while dps wails away.

As a healer, I strongly dissagree with your advice on targeting for dps players.....In fact I tend to put dps players who target the tanked mob habitually on my ignore list.

 

It actually relieves a lot of healing preasure if the DPS in the group kill the weakest mobs as fast as they can, and ignore whatever the tank is "tanking". It also helps the tank perform their job correctly, if the dps do this. If DPS players attack the tanked mob too soon after the start of a battle, they often "out aggro" the tank, and then get injured greatly. The weak mobs may not have many hit points, but they will dish out a considerable amount of damage if left alive, while the group focusses down the strongest enemy in the group.

 

This is especially true for the melee DPS builds.

 

If you're a DPS, and the tank doesn't ask you to attack the mobs in a firing order, assume they want you to kill the additional (adds) first. These adds are also usually the enemies that will attack the healer, if they are not killed.

 

Actually, thanks! My first two toons to 50 were a healer and tank, so i'm just now leveling dps, and even though I get frustrated by the same thing as a healer, I made that very mistake earlier today.

Even when soloing my healer, I would send my pet at the strong mob first, to establish solid agro, then switch him to weaker ones to kill them first.

Of course you are right. My guide was intended to be a short guide so I didn't get into that detail. I'll edit it.

 

I hope you don't feel like I was flaming your post or anything.

 

This a great little quide for new players, just thought that 1 point was a little dangerous. The only other thing I think you might add in there somewhere is this.....

 

Communication...

Any experienced player worth playing with, does not mind playing with a noob ~ so long as they know you're a noob. Tell people you're still learning and ask for advice, and you'll hear a lot of good things. If you're a healer ask the tank. If you're a tank, ask the healer. If you're a dps ask the tank AND the healer. Communicate- and people will add you to their friends list, and ask you to come with them for group content. If players are mean, put them on your ignore list ~ and meet someone else.

If you do right clik button on your keybord or laptop or what ever you will be able to hit the person'S name and then there will be some opsoins and if you one ivite to group that is what you hit thank you,

ya, speaking from a healing and tanking standpoint, its annoying as hell to see everyone jump on the elite first, and ignore the adds. It always seems to be a particularly bad habit when playing with marauders. They all seem to have the same mentality

 

Yeah they also seem to love using Smash/Force Sweep next to CCed mobs...

As a tank, I would like to add that it is usually necessary, in the first seconds of any fight, to let the tank attack first before any cc's are applied or before DPS start hitting stuff. The reason I say this is because in a fight, the first person to attack or cc is the first person targeted, and if it isn't the tank, then a) the person who is targeted is going to get burned down a bit on health, a setback to the healer, and b) the tank cannot regain the initial aggro of the mobs well (especially if the other group members start attacking as well) and may need to use a taunt (which is better used in situations when the tank is losing aggro later in the fight).

 

Word of advice to the non-tanks regarding crowd-control: Wait for the tank to make the first move. If you have a cc that cannot be used in combat (i.e. stealthing cc's), or cc's that are channeled for a period of time (i.e. Force lift / whirlwind), let the tank and the rest of the group know when and who you are going to activate the cc. If your cc can be used during combat, let the tank attack the mobs first, then apply the cc to the designated target.

 

Word of advice to the tanks regarding others' crowd-control: If you see a party member beginning to cc an enemy, react accordingly: If it is a cc from stealth, wait to attack the mob until the stealther is out of range of aggroing the mob (in or out of stealth) and out of range of AoE damage from the mob. If it is a cc that is channeled, attack during the cc's activation so that your attacks reach the mob before the cc does. CC's generate some amount of threat, so be ready to aggro mobs close to the cc'd enemy because after a short time, if not attacked, they will revert to attacking the cc'er or the healer, either of which is a big no-no.