First of all, I did run a couple of succesfull Flashpoints as the group's tank, so I know the basics. Since I am currently approaching 30-ties in level, I know just the more basic skills. And as I play FP after FP I see a returning problem in my gameplay.

 

I have hard time keeping the attention on multiple targets at once. Any decent AoE class will eventually steal a couple of mobs from me, resulting in the healer to split his heals to the entire party instead of just me. Any Vanguard is going to be a hard time for me tanking.

 

So as I saw this problem returning, I tried to address it with means currently available to me. So I picked up Cybertech and constructed myself some grenades. And since they are cool and fun to use, the long cooldown makes them very situational. I am also quite uncertain if it's better to light the targets on fire to add agrro generation or to stun/freeze them in place to have an AoE mob controll.

 

If anyone more experienced could help me out with keeping the attention of multiple targets as low level Guardian, I would be very grateful, as I hate to hear "FFS tank, keep them of me!!!"

 

PS.

I tried to ask players to focus same targets as I do, but it doesn't work very often as a lot of them are douche with a god ego or simple have a lot of AoE skills in their rotation and can't work their way around those.

Edited September 14, 2014 by Schanez

PS.

I tried to ask players to focus same targets as I do, but it doesn't work very often as a lot of them are douche with a god ego or simple have a lot of AoE skills in their rotation and can't work their way around those.

 

For this last comment, the ones who are not focusing the same target as you are doing the right thing. A dps should burn down the weakest mobs first and leave the strong ones till last, so they dont go after the healer. They die in 1-2 hits anyway. This leaves the tank to hold onto the enemies that might actually do damage to a DPS if it doesn't get obliterated in 3 seconds, which is whats gonna happen because the DPS aren't 20 levels above the content you are running.

 

As for holding threat at around level 30, all I can suggest is replace slash with sweeping slash. Due to threat multipliers in the tree, sweeping slash generates about as much threat as a normal slash does on a non-guarded vig guardian, only its an AoE attack.

You do have to make the mobs bunch up though.

 

Also guard the highest burst dps of the 2. If a DPS is pulling aggro off you, he's the primary target to guard. Healers should only be guarded if the fight has constant unavoidable raid-wide AoE damage, or if there are so many targets you'll never have a chance of holding aggro on them and thus need to keep the healers alive (this is rare, but the Operations Bosses of Gate Commander Draxus and Corruptor Zero are good examples of this, as is Dread Master Bestia)

 

AoE threat on a guardian is a total ***** to keep up though. You really, really need guardian slash + saber reflect to be able to hold AoE threat (alongside all the buffs to cyclone slash in the tree), but you can't do that until level 51. So just hold the big guys in flashpoints, and leave the little guys to the DPS (at least until you get Guardian Slash)

Edited September 15, 2014 by TACeMossie

Well, that more or less sumed up what I was thinking would be necessary. Yet I never thought about guarding a DPS... I am always yelled at to guard the healer... Seems like taking advice from random players isn't the best idea after all. Either way, thank you for claryfying this to me. I am currently playing Powertech and Guardian, both tanks and can't simply stop wondering at the lack of AoE threat generation on the later.

 

Powertech is a master of AoE pulling, flaming, igniting and bombing.

Pretty much most has already been stated.

 

Later on you'll get your AoE taunt and things like saber reflect. But if you're in a group of like 7 mobs, two are elites/champs and the rest are weaker. You want to hold the Champs/elites. Dps needs to burn down the rest. Usually Maras/Sents are who get auto guarded when I enter a fp but that's because they're maratanks.

 

Best of luck.

You also have an AoE taunt (Threatening Scream on the Juggy). If you see your mob is breaking up, hit it. Even if they do not return to you it reduces damage for who they do attack.