Hello all.
Being bored with no Internet I decided to wipe out this little guide on mage aggro control. As we all know, Mages are a high-utility, high-DPS, high-risk class. We get one of the lowest HP ratings in the game and only have access to cloth armor meaning that we are extremely squishy and thus prone to quick death. It might not seem very apparent to you at first, but as you progress throughout the game aggro management becomes a very important part of instance playing, especially in the end-game instances where your typical melee mob can completely knock you out of the fight in 3 or so hits.
The following is a collection of what I consider to be very good practices that will help you keep your aggro under control and make the most out of your DPS capabilities without dying every other pull. Hopefully some of the information in this small guide will be helpful to you in any way.
This small guide is intended to deal solely on the topic of aggro control when doing DPS on an instance. This is simply a preliminary draft; your feedback and thoughtful disagreements on the issue are greatly appreciated.
First Contact
Generally speaking, either the MT or the mages/priests will be handling the pulling (this depends on the instance and the type of pull). When the mobs start running towards the party, it is extremely important that you let the MT make contact with the mobs and build some aggro before you start attacking. If you hit a mob before the MT has had any chance to build aggro, the mob will come running straight towards you and you will make the MTâs work harder because he will have to take aggro off you on every single pull.
Your selection for opener spell is also very important in determining the initial aggro. Mages that open with fireball or pyroblast should be shot, plain and simple. Unless your MT is inhuman, using a pyroblast or a fireball as openers guarantees aggro and extra work for the tank. Now, what spells are good openers? Basically, anything that is low damage and thus low aggro. Reasonably speaking, the only spell that falls in this category is Scorch, as it lets you maintain a constant stream of DPS without building up much aggro. Gently scorching the mobs also gives you more nuking options, as you can fire a volley of AM when clearcasting procs, or switch to a more powerful frostbolt or fireball when the mobâs health falls below 50% or so.
I cannot overstress the importance of Scorch; itâs a great DPS, low aggro spell. Being critically specced changes things a bit, though. Personally, I am not a great fan of critical builds for instance play because I donât enjoy unexpected critical hits drawing aggro away from the MT. I would rather have +damage, low crit gear that gives me a far greater control of my damage output. If you must absolutely use a critical build in an instance, using a Rank 1 frostbolt to slow down the mobs before you do anything is a great way of helping the MT get aggro from you if you happen to crit on your first Scorch.
Speaking of Rank 1 frostbolt, always keep that spell hotkeyed. If you are on pulling duty, it always helps to fire a quick frostbolt with negligible DPS to make it easier for the MT to get the initial aggro after the sheeps, saps and/or shackles have been made.
To wrap it up, if you see the MT trying to get mobs off your ass on every single pull, you are doing something wrong.
Just because you can cast it, doesnât mean you should be casting it.
Yes, I know your mana bar is almost full. Does it mean you should be spitting out fireballs every three seconds? Hell no. To put it simple, watch your damage output and donât be one dimensional. Just because you are fire doesnât mean you should resort to spam fireballs (or scorches if you are critically specced); same goes for frost builds, donât just spam frostbolt.
The best way to control your damage output is to alternate between scorch and your main damage dealer (be it fireball or frostbolt), with a volley of AM thrown in when clearcasting procs. Alternate your spells in such a way as to mitigate sudden aggro build-ups from critical hits. For example, if your first fireball or frostbolt crits when the mob is at 60% or 50%, it is a good idea to follow up with a scorch to alleviate the high increase in aggro instead of another fireball/frostbolt. Regarding arcane missiles, getting a clear cast on your very first spell doesnât mean you should missile right away. Remember, AM is a massive DPS spell and thus high aggro.
Lastly, you are not a machine gun, you are a glass cannon. Wait a few seconds in between casts; not only will it do wonders to your aggro management, but it will help you conserve mana. Your DPS is already good enough as it is; casting spells like a machine gun will make you draw aggro pretty fast even with Scorch. Plus, it always helps to see how much damage you do to the mob before you start casting anything, as it gives you a very good idea of what you should use as a follow up.
When Things Go Wrong â¢
So you drew aggro. Take a few milliseconds to evaluate the situation before you hit the Frost Nova hotkey (hopefully Rank 1) and break all the sheeps and shackles. Being a mage, you should be standing far away from where all the blood is being spilled; this should give you a very good picture of where all the sheeps/shackles are so you can decide whether or not a quick cast of frost nova will be enough to help the MT get the aggro back.
Other very good alternatives to frost nova include popping up a mana shield, running to the mob and letting it beat on you so the MT has to cover less ground to get it off you. Blinking in the direction of the mob is also a very good idea, as the mob will make a U turn to catch you, thus running in the direction of the MT.
If you are frost specced, Ice Block is also available. The main problem with Ice Block is that it dumps aggro from you; the aggroed mob just stops walking towards you and makes a beeline for the next target on its aggro list, which is usually the healer. This is particularly bad if you are fighting against very hard hitting melee opponents (virtually any melee mob in the high level instances falls into this category). Mages are expendable when compared to priests, so unless you find yourself in a situation where you are really needed (i.e., a boss fight), donât Ice Block.
If there is one thing you shouldnât do when you get aggro, is keep attacking. If you draw aggro from a level 60 elite that is at 50% health, mass-spamming AM is NOT the answer. Such a mob can probably kill you 10 times before you can take him down from 50% to zero by spamming AM. The only exception to this rule is if the mob is at 5% or lower health.
Nukinâ
For me, nukes are instant-cast, high-damage, high-aggro spells such as Fireblast and Cone of Cold. The easiest and quickest way to rack up aggro is to nuke. In other words, only use your nukes as finishers or when the mob is at about 30% or so health. Now, you would think this makes perfect sense, but I have seen level 60 mages pulling with Fireblast, and it happens more frequently than you would think.
There is, however, a very valid reason to nuke and draw aggro. Suppose your healer gets aggro in a very tight situation (i.e., the MT is already busy fending off 3 or 4 mobs). You can fireblast the mob, hopefully drawing aggro away from the healer, and then root him in place for 8 seconds with Frost Nova (make it 16 if you have Cold Snap). Neutralizing a mob that is attacking the healer for 8 seconds can make all the difference on those âoh crapâ situations, especially if you are five-manning any high-level instance.
Your MT May Vary (YMTMV)
Not all players are equal, and not all warriors are protection specced. When you are playing with a warrior you donât know, always start slow on the DPS and push it up slowly so you can get a feel of how good he is at keeping aggro. Protection specced warriors are by far the best when it comes to holding aggro, and they are pretty good at getting aggro back from you if you screw up, but it doesnât mean you should go crazy on the DPS. The best warrior on the server canât save your ass if you keep stealing aggro from him; in fact, he might just refuse to do anything and leave you to deal with the mob just to teach you a lesson.
Arms/fury warriors are also pretty good at holding aggro, but not as good as protection warriors. Now, I have never played a warrior, but it has been my experience that arms/fury warriors have it more difficult to get aggro back from you. If you know you are playing with an arms/fury warrior, you need to be conservative with your DPS in order to avoid getting killed.
To assist, or not to assist
When you are in a party or raid group for any instance, you are expected to assist either the main tank or the main assist. Main assists are typically needed in situations where thereâs not enough crowd control to neutralize all mobs and the MT has to be running around hitting multiple targets, making sure they all stay on him (such as Upper Blackrock Spire). As a mage, itâs very important that you assist or else you risk drawing aggro. Sometimes battles can get out of hand in places such as UBRS, and nobody is going to notice when that Blackhand Assassin is eating you because you were the only one that attacked him.
However, if you happen to be in a really bad group where people donât assist, things can get very dangerous. Even if you are assisting and are using your assist macro, if only 2 more people are assisting you risk drawing aggro. You need to carefully watch the health bars of all the mobs (hint: use the âVâ key), and make sure you are attacking whatever is losing health fast. Mages just donât have the HP and armor to afford drawing aggro and getting killed because a crappy raid group doesnât know how to assist.
The same applies to five man groups, whose success on those âoh crapâ moments depends solely on assisting. If you happen to be on a five man group and somehow extra mobs add to the fight, itâs better to just stop attacking once the current target dies, and watch health bars so you can identify that one mob that is losing health faster so you can assist. Donât panic if you need to stand still for 5 whole seconds of chaos before you can decide what to assist; you are far more useful to the group if you can assist properly after those 5 seconds than if you die in 2 because you decided to fireblast a random mob.
Bosses
Bosses come in different sizes and flavors, and have their own unique and annoying abilities. Fortunately, there is no single fire-proof strategy that can be applied to every single boss in the game, other than common sense (otherwise the game would be dull). Depending on the type of boss you are fighting, you may start with slow DPS and gradually increase towards the end when it comes to your typical boss, or simply go all-out DPS (volley after volley of arcane missiles) in the case of head bosses.
As a general rule of thumb, if you are fighting a boss that has an ability that makes the tank lose melee range or contact with the boss (i.e., knockback, stun, etc.), you should downright cut off your damage output or else you risk drawing immediate aggro and getting one-hit killed (âKing Gordok mortal strikes you for 3200 damageâ comes to mind). Bosses that use ranged attacks such as casters are sometimes more dangerous than their melee counterparts, simply because itâs not that obvious to tell when you have drawn aggro from them; you get hit by a few spells and die, as opposed to watching a huge and ugly female mass of rock suddenly turn around and start walking towards you. When dealing with these types of bosses with ranged attacks, itâs better to position yourself such that the tankâs back is not directly in front of you. That way itâs easy to tell if you have drawn aggro because the boss will turn to face you and start casting.
Lastly, thereâs the issue of Ice Block. Boss fights are one of those situations in which Ice Block comes in handy, especially if you are in a five man group. As a mage, you play a very important role in the success of the fight because of your massive DPS, so if you went overboard on the DPS and drew aggro, Ice Block together with Cold Snap can help save your ass at least twice during the battle. You can even use Ice Block to your advantage in case the tank dies, since you are probably the next on the bossâ aggro list. As soon as the boss keeps running towards you, kite him as long as possible before Ice Blocking so that you give the other party members a chance to inflict some crucial damage.
In most cases, you can treat bosses as you would any regular mob. Use common sense and start building aggro slowly so that you can let loose with massive DPS at about 50% without having to worry about drawing aggro.
Final words
To summarize all that has been discussed here (and for those of you that like bullet lists instead of just random thoughts hastily cluttered in sections), the key points that must be taken into consideration when playing the mage are as follows:
Being bored with no Internet I decided to wipe out this little guide on mage aggro control. As we all know, Mages are a high-utility, high-DPS, high-risk class. We get one of the lowest HP ratings in the game and only have access to cloth armor meaning that we are extremely squishy and thus prone to quick death. It might not seem very apparent to you at first, but as you progress throughout the game aggro management becomes a very important part of instance playing, especially in the end-game instances where your typical melee mob can completely knock you out of the fight in 3 or so hits.
The following is a collection of what I consider to be very good practices that will help you keep your aggro under control and make the most out of your DPS capabilities without dying every other pull. Hopefully some of the information in this small guide will be helpful to you in any way.
This small guide is intended to deal solely on the topic of aggro control when doing DPS on an instance. This is simply a preliminary draft; your feedback and thoughtful disagreements on the issue are greatly appreciated.
First Contact
Generally speaking, either the MT or the mages/priests will be handling the pulling (this depends on the instance and the type of pull). When the mobs start running towards the party, it is extremely important that you let the MT make contact with the mobs and build some aggro before you start attacking. If you hit a mob before the MT has had any chance to build aggro, the mob will come running straight towards you and you will make the MTâs work harder because he will have to take aggro off you on every single pull.
Your selection for opener spell is also very important in determining the initial aggro. Mages that open with fireball or pyroblast should be shot, plain and simple. Unless your MT is inhuman, using a pyroblast or a fireball as openers guarantees aggro and extra work for the tank. Now, what spells are good openers? Basically, anything that is low damage and thus low aggro. Reasonably speaking, the only spell that falls in this category is Scorch, as it lets you maintain a constant stream of DPS without building up much aggro. Gently scorching the mobs also gives you more nuking options, as you can fire a volley of AM when clearcasting procs, or switch to a more powerful frostbolt or fireball when the mobâs health falls below 50% or so.
I cannot overstress the importance of Scorch; itâs a great DPS, low aggro spell. Being critically specced changes things a bit, though. Personally, I am not a great fan of critical builds for instance play because I donât enjoy unexpected critical hits drawing aggro away from the MT. I would rather have +damage, low crit gear that gives me a far greater control of my damage output. If you must absolutely use a critical build in an instance, using a Rank 1 frostbolt to slow down the mobs before you do anything is a great way of helping the MT get aggro from you if you happen to crit on your first Scorch.
Speaking of Rank 1 frostbolt, always keep that spell hotkeyed. If you are on pulling duty, it always helps to fire a quick frostbolt with negligible DPS to make it easier for the MT to get the initial aggro after the sheeps, saps and/or shackles have been made.
To wrap it up, if you see the MT trying to get mobs off your ass on every single pull, you are doing something wrong.
Just because you can cast it, doesnât mean you should be casting it.
Yes, I know your mana bar is almost full. Does it mean you should be spitting out fireballs every three seconds? Hell no. To put it simple, watch your damage output and donât be one dimensional. Just because you are fire doesnât mean you should resort to spam fireballs (or scorches if you are critically specced); same goes for frost builds, donât just spam frostbolt.
The best way to control your damage output is to alternate between scorch and your main damage dealer (be it fireball or frostbolt), with a volley of AM thrown in when clearcasting procs. Alternate your spells in such a way as to mitigate sudden aggro build-ups from critical hits. For example, if your first fireball or frostbolt crits when the mob is at 60% or 50%, it is a good idea to follow up with a scorch to alleviate the high increase in aggro instead of another fireball/frostbolt. Regarding arcane missiles, getting a clear cast on your very first spell doesnât mean you should missile right away. Remember, AM is a massive DPS spell and thus high aggro.
Lastly, you are not a machine gun, you are a glass cannon. Wait a few seconds in between casts; not only will it do wonders to your aggro management, but it will help you conserve mana. Your DPS is already good enough as it is; casting spells like a machine gun will make you draw aggro pretty fast even with Scorch. Plus, it always helps to see how much damage you do to the mob before you start casting anything, as it gives you a very good idea of what you should use as a follow up.
When Things Go Wrong â¢
So you drew aggro. Take a few milliseconds to evaluate the situation before you hit the Frost Nova hotkey (hopefully Rank 1) and break all the sheeps and shackles. Being a mage, you should be standing far away from where all the blood is being spilled; this should give you a very good picture of where all the sheeps/shackles are so you can decide whether or not a quick cast of frost nova will be enough to help the MT get the aggro back.
Other very good alternatives to frost nova include popping up a mana shield, running to the mob and letting it beat on you so the MT has to cover less ground to get it off you. Blinking in the direction of the mob is also a very good idea, as the mob will make a U turn to catch you, thus running in the direction of the MT.
If you are frost specced, Ice Block is also available. The main problem with Ice Block is that it dumps aggro from you; the aggroed mob just stops walking towards you and makes a beeline for the next target on its aggro list, which is usually the healer. This is particularly bad if you are fighting against very hard hitting melee opponents (virtually any melee mob in the high level instances falls into this category). Mages are expendable when compared to priests, so unless you find yourself in a situation where you are really needed (i.e., a boss fight), donât Ice Block.
If there is one thing you shouldnât do when you get aggro, is keep attacking. If you draw aggro from a level 60 elite that is at 50% health, mass-spamming AM is NOT the answer. Such a mob can probably kill you 10 times before you can take him down from 50% to zero by spamming AM. The only exception to this rule is if the mob is at 5% or lower health.
Nukinâ
For me, nukes are instant-cast, high-damage, high-aggro spells such as Fireblast and Cone of Cold. The easiest and quickest way to rack up aggro is to nuke. In other words, only use your nukes as finishers or when the mob is at about 30% or so health. Now, you would think this makes perfect sense, but I have seen level 60 mages pulling with Fireblast, and it happens more frequently than you would think.
There is, however, a very valid reason to nuke and draw aggro. Suppose your healer gets aggro in a very tight situation (i.e., the MT is already busy fending off 3 or 4 mobs). You can fireblast the mob, hopefully drawing aggro away from the healer, and then root him in place for 8 seconds with Frost Nova (make it 16 if you have Cold Snap). Neutralizing a mob that is attacking the healer for 8 seconds can make all the difference on those âoh crapâ situations, especially if you are five-manning any high-level instance.
Your MT May Vary (YMTMV)
Not all players are equal, and not all warriors are protection specced. When you are playing with a warrior you donât know, always start slow on the DPS and push it up slowly so you can get a feel of how good he is at keeping aggro. Protection specced warriors are by far the best when it comes to holding aggro, and they are pretty good at getting aggro back from you if you screw up, but it doesnât mean you should go crazy on the DPS. The best warrior on the server canât save your ass if you keep stealing aggro from him; in fact, he might just refuse to do anything and leave you to deal with the mob just to teach you a lesson.
Arms/fury warriors are also pretty good at holding aggro, but not as good as protection warriors. Now, I have never played a warrior, but it has been my experience that arms/fury warriors have it more difficult to get aggro back from you. If you know you are playing with an arms/fury warrior, you need to be conservative with your DPS in order to avoid getting killed.
To assist, or not to assist
When you are in a party or raid group for any instance, you are expected to assist either the main tank or the main assist. Main assists are typically needed in situations where thereâs not enough crowd control to neutralize all mobs and the MT has to be running around hitting multiple targets, making sure they all stay on him (such as Upper Blackrock Spire). As a mage, itâs very important that you assist or else you risk drawing aggro. Sometimes battles can get out of hand in places such as UBRS, and nobody is going to notice when that Blackhand Assassin is eating you because you were the only one that attacked him.
However, if you happen to be in a really bad group where people donât assist, things can get very dangerous. Even if you are assisting and are using your assist macro, if only 2 more people are assisting you risk drawing aggro. You need to carefully watch the health bars of all the mobs (hint: use the âVâ key), and make sure you are attacking whatever is losing health fast. Mages just donât have the HP and armor to afford drawing aggro and getting killed because a crappy raid group doesnât know how to assist.
The same applies to five man groups, whose success on those âoh crapâ moments depends solely on assisting. If you happen to be on a five man group and somehow extra mobs add to the fight, itâs better to just stop attacking once the current target dies, and watch health bars so you can identify that one mob that is losing health faster so you can assist. Donât panic if you need to stand still for 5 whole seconds of chaos before you can decide what to assist; you are far more useful to the group if you can assist properly after those 5 seconds than if you die in 2 because you decided to fireblast a random mob.
Bosses
Bosses come in different sizes and flavors, and have their own unique and annoying abilities. Fortunately, there is no single fire-proof strategy that can be applied to every single boss in the game, other than common sense (otherwise the game would be dull). Depending on the type of boss you are fighting, you may start with slow DPS and gradually increase towards the end when it comes to your typical boss, or simply go all-out DPS (volley after volley of arcane missiles) in the case of head bosses.
As a general rule of thumb, if you are fighting a boss that has an ability that makes the tank lose melee range or contact with the boss (i.e., knockback, stun, etc.), you should downright cut off your damage output or else you risk drawing immediate aggro and getting one-hit killed (âKing Gordok mortal strikes you for 3200 damageâ comes to mind). Bosses that use ranged attacks such as casters are sometimes more dangerous than their melee counterparts, simply because itâs not that obvious to tell when you have drawn aggro from them; you get hit by a few spells and die, as opposed to watching a huge and ugly female mass of rock suddenly turn around and start walking towards you. When dealing with these types of bosses with ranged attacks, itâs better to position yourself such that the tankâs back is not directly in front of you. That way itâs easy to tell if you have drawn aggro because the boss will turn to face you and start casting.
Lastly, thereâs the issue of Ice Block. Boss fights are one of those situations in which Ice Block comes in handy, especially if you are in a five man group. As a mage, you play a very important role in the success of the fight because of your massive DPS, so if you went overboard on the DPS and drew aggro, Ice Block together with Cold Snap can help save your ass at least twice during the battle. You can even use Ice Block to your advantage in case the tank dies, since you are probably the next on the bossâ aggro list. As soon as the boss keeps running towards you, kite him as long as possible before Ice Blocking so that you give the other party members a chance to inflict some crucial damage.
In most cases, you can treat bosses as you would any regular mob. Use common sense and start building aggro slowly so that you can let loose with massive DPS at about 50% without having to worry about drawing aggro.
Final words
To summarize all that has been discussed here (and for those of you that like bullet lists instead of just random thoughts hastily cluttered in sections), the key points that must be taken into consideration when playing the mage are as follows:
- Let the tank get aggro before you do anything.
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- Open with a low aggro, low damage spell.
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- Donât be one-dimensional; alternate between spells.
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- Learn how to deal with sudden criticals by switching to low damage spells.
<>
- Assist in killing whatever is losing health fast.
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- And the most important of all: know the capabilities of your tank.<>
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With practice, I promise you will be able to learn how to push your DPS to the max without drawing aggro. Also, if you have not yet discovered the wonders of Scorch, you will be amazed at how effective this nifty spell is for squeezing in some fast DPS without drawing aggro. Plus, itâs always fun to see random mages get killed every other pull because they are trying in vain to out-DPS you by mass-spamming fireball.
Edit: Okay, I give up. Somebody please tell me how to get that bullet list-thingy working. :(
The gods made heavy metal and they saw that is was good
They said to play it louder than Hell
We promised that we would
When losers say it's over with you know that it's a lie
The gods made heavy metal and it's never gonna die
- Manowar
They said to play it louder than Hell
We promised that we would
When losers say it's over with you know that it's a lie
The gods made heavy metal and it's never gonna die
- Manowar