Monster agro when in Party

Bunch of friends and I are looking to play together HC mode. And one of the things I am considering in my build is how important is survivability WHILE IN A PARTY. In order to help determine this:
Does anyone know exactly how does Agro work when there is a party of players attacking a mob? Do the mobs target people at random, based upon proximity, who is dealing it the most dmg ect ? – is it within player control who the mob attacks.

IE, wondering if the melee can take a ton of survivability talents, hit the mobs for 1-3 seconds, and then me in my range glass cannon build go POW!

Is this different between boss type mobs and normal mobs?
Melee mobs vs range mobs?


Please note this is NOT a thread about is survivability important in general. This is a thread about Agro mechanics ,AKA tanking as other games call it.
(So please don't ignore the concept saying 'well he can't tank them ALL, bit of AoE dmg, ect. - I know this, so build will probably be a Tin cannon instead of a steal cannon - type build)
Well just make sure the tank in your group as enduring cry/shout or whatever that aggro move is. Decoy totems are beautiful things too.
thx dashgalaxy86 for a response, but it didn't really answer my question of the mechanics.
what you gave was a 'here is a solution that if player X users taunt ability Y he will have agro'

that answer doesn't allow me to extrapolate to any other behavior/situation.

anyone know any details about agro mechanics ?

what radius mobs attack you is part of this discussion, but not the focal point by any means - as this is a multi player discussion and not just soloing in which radius is the only relevant factor.

thanks.
Well, I don't party often (but when I do...), so my information probably isn't that accurate. I sometimes duo with my cousin - his character is "squishier" (less effective health/armor/evasion/resists than the character I'm using to play alongside him. I find that mobs tend to focus him more often than not. I even try to draw aggro by running ahead first, but monsters will often swap targets to him once he arrives. Could just be me noticing that more often than when they target me, since it requires more attention, but figured I'd throw it out just in case.
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Last edited by MonopolyLegend on Jul 2, 2012, 12:58:59 PM
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finnmaccool wrote:
thx dashgalaxy86 for a response, but it didn't really answer my question of the mechanics.
what you gave was a 'here is a solution that if player X users taunt ability Y he will have agro'

that answer doesn't allow me to extrapolate to any other behavior/situation.

anyone know any details about agro mechanics ?

what radius mobs attack you is part of this discussion, but not the focal point by any means - as this is a multi player discussion and not just soloing in which radius is the only relevant factor.

thanks.


Agro mechanics are totally random outside of the specific taunt skills. Mobs don't necessarilly attack the closest person (often seen with goats and roas) the person doing the most damage, or any other combination of anything. They just pick someone, and sometimes pick someone else, and sometimes they switch in the middle.
TehHammer is not a crime!
There's no aggro in this game.

Monsters have different behaviour. Most seek the nearest enemy, but target switches happen once in a while.

If you go 100% glass cannon on some characters, you're gonna have a really bad time.
Last edited by Pwntheon on Jul 2, 2012, 1:56:40 PM
There are aggro mechanics.

  • Generally, enemies target whatever they see first or whatever damages them first, whichever happens initially.
  • When you stun an enemy, it will select a new target afterwards, based on the above rule.
  • When an enemy takes damage, it has a percentage chance to change targets to whatever dealt the damage. This was 1/8 in an older beta version, but it was discussed that this seemed too low of a chance. I don't know if it's changed at all since then (0.9.1, I think?).
  • The rarer the enemy, the more likely they are to target a player instead of things like totems and minions. I don't know the specifics for this, but I've definitely noticed it. It's likely that their chance to re-target based on damage is much lower than normal enemies.

Also, about Enduring Cry: don't count on this skill as a way to keep aggro 100%. It's abuse-able, and that won't last forever.

So, some ideas that may help:

Make sure your tank character deals damage to enemies to keep their attention. Many of them will switch to other party members if he's not able to keep them distracted. I'm not sure, but I have a theory that damage reflection mods on gear may help with this, as that would be a source of damage every time an enemy hits the character.

Make sure that all nearby enemies are actually focused on the tank before other party members start attacking. Instances such as projectiles pulling off-screen enemies can be countered with intelligent use of Enduring Cry or powerful attacks that stun.

Tanking is going to be difficult in this game, because there are no mechanics designed specifically for it. PoE isn't meant to have party roles like those found in MMO's and similar games. You don't have your tank, healer, and dps; you just have a bunch of different builds. Some creative players have come up with effective tank characters and support characters, though.
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Last edited by WhiteBoy on Jul 2, 2012, 2:05:50 PM
If it's a % chance to switch targets on damage taken, wouldn't doing LESS damage and attacking LESS often prevent target switching? Of course, if a monster switches targets, you'll want to damage it until it changes its focus, but if something is focusing you, don't attack it until you're out of things that aren't focusing you?

It might be beneficial then as a tank, to have a skill which temporarily gives you an attack speed buff, in order to try and regain monster focus (especially of enemies like Brutus or Rares). Tell your friends to use hungrier, slower, harder-hitting attacks, rather than spamming attack speed/casting speed or whatnot.
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Last edited by anubite on Jul 2, 2012, 2:18:02 PM
That would explain why enemies tend to go after my cousin more. He's playing the "DPS" role while I'm supporting with auras, curses, and status effects (alongside a minimal amount of damage). He is attacking very quickly, likely giving enemies more chances to target him.
Former player moderator, valued poster, and early-adopter responsible for The Blood Dance.

GGG has forgotten where they came from. As a result, I no longer support the deceitful, corporate Tencent slave sellouts running this game.
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anubite wrote:
If it's a % chance to switch targets on damage taken, wouldn't doing LESS damage and attacking LESS often prevent target switching? Of course, if a monster switches targets, you'll want to damage it until it changes its focus, but if something is focusing you, don't attack it until you're out of things that aren't focusing you?
I don't think the amount of damage dealt has anything to do with it, but you're correct that attacking less should put you in a safer position.

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anubite wrote:
It might be beneficial then as a tank, to have a skill which temporarily gives you an attack speed buff, in order to try and regain monster focus (especially of enemies like Brutus or Rares). Tell your friends to use hungrier, slower, harder-hitting attacks, rather than spamming attack speed/casting speed or whatnot.
This is likely the best thing to do on bosses, but I believe they have a much lower chance to change targets when taking damage. This could be good if the tank takes the aggro, but very bad if he loses it.

A strategy that may be useful is placing Frost Walls between yourself and the tank/enemy long enough for the tank to take control. I've used this method very effectively on solo minion builds in instances where I'm being swarmed by normal enemies or chased down by a tough boss. You can still attack over the wall with certain skills, so you can start attacking again as soon as the tank is ready.

Resolute Technique may also be very beneficial to ensure maximum chances to re-target the tank. If his attacks don't hit, he's not dealing damage.
Closed Beta/Alpha Tester back after a 10-year hiatus.
Kiwi pets and Spark spam FTW.
Last edited by WhiteBoy on Jul 2, 2012, 2:34:59 PM

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