Captain Knockback

I was leveling MRD the other day with cnj, arc and mch in tam tara and mobs were flying everywhere was pretty funny/ frustrating.

I was on SCH the other day and had just started applying dots on a mob an just as I do the last one, bam! The mob is across the room and bane is wasted.

From a mch perspective: Do use blank. Every chance you can because it IS part of your dps priority system IF what you are fighting is immune to knockback (as others have said) which is most things but trash 50+ in dungeons. If you are fighting something non-immune then you simply don't use that skill. It is all about priority and maximum effectiveness.

When tanking i hate it. Sorry guys if you knockback a mob you can deal with that mob, im not going to keep wasting unmend, unleash, shield toss or provoke to get back a mob

i think most MCH wouldn't mind they are kite masters, kiting mobs for the win

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by seekified

I play MCH a lot these days, and my approach to Blank is to wait until tank has aggro on a pack, pick the thing that's not the primary target, Blank it and bind it. Tank takes less damage, healer can DPS more and by the time our primary target is dead the bind wears off and the mob rejoins the pack. Everyone's happy, right?

Chime in, people. I don't want to be that guy annoying all the tanks and melees.

---

Unfortunately, you are that guy. Usually in dungeons its all an AOE spam so if something gets knocked back it takes extra effort to kill it. If anything just use it when the mob is like 10% HP and you're sure you can finish it off yourself.

Playing mob ping pong with 2 MCH and a WHM can be lots of fun but unsually I only used it to finish off a mob.

It's something that I would save for near-dead targets. Or ones that are positioned against some obstacle to prevent knockback.

Despite it being necessary to squeeze out YOUR optimal damage, there are things that must be assessed for it to roll out smoothly. First and most obviously, if your party is able to place ground AoEs or the other DPS rely on melee, just don't use it. Even if the melee has alternative targets they can use to avoid breaking their flow.

Also try to assess the skill level of the tank (no I'm not talking about how high his level is or the abilities he's unlocked, but more his apparent understanding of his role). Some believe that it's the tanks job is to waste the enemies efforts as much as possible (this is correct). The other kind think it's their job to make sure the enemy can hit them at every possible opportunity besides AoEs. The latter are stupid and will probably run after the knockbacked enemy regardless of whether it screws up the position of all other enemies, whether it was their target or not, OR whether they still maintain highest aggro. Or they will just express fury at you out of an unbending and ill-thought-out disdain for any and all forms of knockbacks.

It's not worth the risk in some DF parties. Even if you're being careful not to tamper with the efficiency of others, you could still be throwing yourself in the firing line of a vote-kick.

And if you're going to try to use it "near" a wall rather than right up against a wall, make sure to pay attention to your tank, especially if they're a warrior. I've had MCHs Blank an enemy that was near a wall but not right next to it figuring it was okay because they couldn't move MUCH... while I had Raw Intuition on after having the mobs perfectly positioned so that they're all hitting me from the front. That couple steps was just enough to make me eat crits.

Killshots only. Same as Fluid Aura has always been.

This doesn't work so well for an MCH or SMN, but if I'm tanking and a WHM uses Fluid Aura, I completely ignore the mob they hit, assuming they wanted to tank it. I only pick it back up when it's the last one in the group. Doesn't work as well for MCH or SMN since its the healer who pays for their choice, not them =\