Necro's: Tap Tanking?

[Ocura]

I can't remember exactly when it was on live, but as a cleric I was always in awe of a friends necro who could tap tank all day long in our 50's. Is that plausible on P99 or was it something that was changed on an expansion at some point that made it possible?


I know he geared for hp over everything else, but he seemed godly to me and I always snagged him for groups because of how well played his necro was (taught me just how much a nec could bring to a group, seriously he was awesome). So, I decided to have my go at a necro on p99 and bring to the table all the lessons he taught us when I played a clr. I doubt I'll rock as much as he did but damned if I'm not going to try. He was actually a rock solid cc man and could off-tank without scaring my cleric. But, right now my nec on p99 is just a baby.. of course I can tap tank at these levels but wondering if that will run out or if it remains a solid tactic at later levels.



Sorry posting from work so as always my post may be disjointed, and rambling.

[Swish]

I've not tried it to know its doable, but I think with a good set of cleric buffs (including a symbol) on top of HP/stamina geared he's probably in the driving seat to do some tanking in the absence of an enchanter as the lifetaps are ample!

Rooting of course works just as well as offtanking, lets not ignore that... my cleric would regularly stun a 2nd mob and move it away from the action to root it if there was no enchanter present (worked especially well in KC and camps with a bit of space to move). Be the best you can be whatever you play :)

Screaming Terror is a great pull spell to split a camp... just be sure to be FD before it wears off (with the pet tanking the mob(s) that came along) or that mob will add as well.

[Nagash]

The necro will need some good gear (lot of HP/mana) and some good sets of buffs to do this. Remember they don't have access to defensive AA's here and their defensive and dodge caps are fairly low (resp. 145 and 75) so they get hit often and hard.
So as an answer: doable? Yes. Realistic? Depends. Sustainable? I very much doubt it.

This reflects my experience as a 51 necro.

[Tecmos Deception]

Seems like AC would be more beneficial to tap-tanking than HP, no?

[Splorf22]

I did a set of AC tests on Loraen (and Sakuragi). I was really surprised to find:

"AC: 1053 Max: 140 (10.0%) Min: 32 (15.7%) Avg: 79. AvgDI: 80. PredDI: 86. Z: 0.43 ATK: 1857"
"AC: 1016 Max: 140 (8.0%) Min: 32 (22.7%) Avg: 76. AvgDI: 84. PredDI: 86. Z: 0.41 ATK: 1725"
"AC: 960 Max: 140 (12.1%) Min: 32 (18.2%) Avg: 83. AvgDI: 86. PredDI: 86. Z: 0.47 ATK: 1807"
"AC: 874 Max: 140 (24.7%) Min: 32 (8.6%) Avg: 91. AvgDI: 81. PredDI: 86. Z: 0.55 ATK: 1944"
"AC: 680 Max: 140 (19.6%) Min: 32 (7.8%) Avg: 89. AvgDI: 81. PredDI: 86. Z: 0.52 ATK: 1427"
"AC: 593 Max: 140 (20.5%) Min: 32 (9.4%) Avg: 93. AvgDI: 87. PredDI: 86. Z: 0.56 ATK: 1360"
"AC: 702 Max: 140 (18.8%) Min: 32 (14.1%) Avg: 87. AvgDI: 84. PredDI: 86. Z: 0.51 ATK: 1443"
"AC: 515 Max: 140 (23.3%) Min: 32 (10.3%) Avg: 93. AvgDI: 86. PredDI: 86. Z: 0.57 ATK: 1184"

The first 4 are Sakuragi and the second 4 are Loraen. So when fully geared on Loraen I was getting hit for 87-89 damage on average; on Sakuragi 76-79 . . which is only about a 15% difference (of course Sakuragi has almost twice as many HP when fully buffed, has more avoidance, and has more 'defensive' disciplines like riposte' but still. It's not THAT much).

In practice I have killed L54 mobs solo by slowing, meleeing with the RoA/animation, and using Bedlam to heal.

[Nagash]

I did a set of AC tests on Loraen (and Sakuragi). I was really surprised to find:

"AC: 1053 Max: 140 (10.0%) Min: 32 (15.7%) Avg: 79. AvgDI: 80. PredDI: 86. Z: 0.43 ATK: 1857"
"AC: 1016 Max: 140 (8.0%) Min: 32 (22.7%) Avg: 76. AvgDI: 84. PredDI: 86. Z: 0.41 ATK: 1725"
"AC: 960 Max: 140 (12.1%) Min: 32 (18.2%) Avg: 83. AvgDI: 86. PredDI: 86. Z: 0.47 ATK: 1807"
"AC: 874 Max: 140 (24.7%) Min: 32 (8.6%) Avg: 91. AvgDI: 81. PredDI: 86. Z: 0.55 ATK: 1944"
"AC: 680 Max: 140 (19.6%) Min: 32 (7.8%) Avg: 89. AvgDI: 81. PredDI: 86. Z: 0.52 ATK: 1427"
"AC: 593 Max: 140 (20.5%) Min: 32 (9.4%) Avg: 93. AvgDI: 87. PredDI: 86. Z: 0.56 ATK: 1360"
"AC: 702 Max: 140 (18.8%) Min: 32 (14.1%) Avg: 87. AvgDI: 84. PredDI: 86. Z: 0.51 ATK: 1443"
"AC: 515 Max: 140 (23.3%) Min: 32 (10.3%) Avg: 93. AvgDI: 86. PredDI: 86. Z: 0.57 ATK: 1184"

The first 4 are Sakuragi and the second 4 are Loraen. So when fully geared on Loraen I was getting hit for 87-89 damage on average; on Sakuragi 76-79 . . which is only about a 15% difference (of course Sakuragi has almost twice as many HP when fully buffed, has more avoidance, and has more 'defensive' disciplines like riposte' but still. It's not THAT much).

In practice I have killed L54 mobs solo by slowing, meleeing with the RoA/animation, and using Bedlam to heal.

How often did the mobs hit your warrior vs your enchanter?

[Autotune]

It is possible on some mobs, depending on your gear and their levels. However, a string of interrupts and bashes will ruin your day (which happens often on this server). If you have a cleric healing you also or druid, it should be fine for those periods.

A necro will never be able to replace a cleric and/or tank for groups that want to be able to constantly pull. Better to do what necros do best, increase the efficiency of a group and help CC when needed (this includes off-tanking).

[filthyphil]

Don't even try it in Kunark.