Weapon Choice for Monkly Tanking?

[TheFishyOne]

'ey guys.

I'm a 35 Iksar Monk, and when I group, I'm usually told to tank. I can't hold aggro worth a damn, however. I usually tank with a trance stick in my main hand, and a Cane of Harmony in the other. My unbuffed DEX is only 108, tho, so it doesn't proc often. I have 2x +5 STR +5 DEX rings, but they'd require taking off my AC and HP rings. I also have a Wu's Quivering Staff on me. Given the preceding, which gear would you equip if you were a level 35 Iksar Monk who usually has to tank when he groups?

[JayN]

Stop using wu's they are absolute crap especially at that level.

For agro id say youd be better off using cane in primary and barehanded in off.

7dmg weapon in primary is crap for agro

[Spacebar]

As monk, you aren't going to hold proper aggro like a warrior/SK/Pally/ or even ranger. Maybe if you have an Adamantite Club or some other high-aggro weapon, but even then you'll want to root-tank. Basically, group with a rooter or don't group with people who do more damage than you.

You should really just focus on keeping the weight down to 14 stones or below and get the HP/AC. All healers can root, so just have the healer root stuff and be the closest to it when fighting.

[Spacebar]

Also, a few more tricks:

-Disarm every time it is up. This generates aggro (even if they don't have a weapon, i believe, and even if it doesn't disarm them).

-Beg. You need to stop auto-attack, but if you click beg, it will also generate more aggro.

[TheFishyOne]

Thanks for the tips, Spacebar. I didn't know Disarm should be spammed when tanking.

JayN, 35 is high enough to proc the trance stick. Does the proc improve with level? Yeah, it's only 7 DMG, but it's fast as hell. I'll give what you say a shot, in any event.

[Spacebar]

An added point about your current weapon set up. I think it is ok for what you have access to. This is based on the conventional wisdom for aggro and damage calculations.

Basically, weapon damage itself doesn't matter as much as ratio for damage output. Also, weapon speed is an important factor for increasing damage (and also for generating aggro, or it should, at least):

*Trance stick is 7/18= 0.38889 . Of course, this isn't that great consider what monks can get and I'd suggest upgrading to a Jade Mace when you can. But the proc should generate ok aggro, but nowehere close to an Adamantite Club, which is another wep you could eventually put on your list. Either way, the delay of 18 on the trance stick surely means that with your current set up it should go in the main hand for damage bonus, like you are doing.

*Cane of Harmony = 12/25 = 0.48. Better ratio and slower delay, should be in off-hand, like you are doing.

*Fists at levels 35-39 for iksar= 11/34= 0.323 . As such, I wouldn't suggest using them over any of your weapons at the moment.

A final note, I really think root-tanking is the best option for any monk who is tanking. Monks weren't really designed to be proper main tanks. They can soak the damage, but you are really going to gimp the group's potential damage output if you want to hold aggro like a warrior (basically because monks can't unless the dps in the group is piss-poor).

[Sarius]

Maybe consider going outside and kiting mobs. Intimidation is stupidly over-powered. The success rate seems to be around 80-90% at max skill per level on low DBs

[DrKvothe]

You can ask melee to wait a few seconds to engage. Also, consider switching targets early so that you can build some threat. Ask your casters to root liberally.

[JayN]

have the healers root and you root tanking GL!

white dmg is going to be your main agro, fast crap dmg wont hold agro; just letting you know from a higher monks perspective, ditch the wu's.



They are only decent while being under dmg cap

[Spacebar]

Well, i guess the best thing is to test it out. Don't be afraid to ask the healer to root, though. If they complain, they are being silly.