Monster/Player Enmity aka (Hate)

I'm surprised no one has posted a thread about this, but let there be one from here on!

I'm sure most people realize the enmity distribution system is pretty bad in this game so far. I think they have made some major improvements to the battle system already, however, I think the next main thing that should be addressed is the enmity. It is a fundamental aspect of battle in any MMO and I believe there are some holes in it atm.

1. I think enmity in this game should be cumulative, like in FFXI. Example, I provoke a monster, and when someone passes the same enmity threshold that provoke gives me, the monster turns on them. (Providing I did nothing but provoke for the sake of this example.)
I don't like that Provoke only "lasts" for a certain amount of time, granted within that time, the monster will stay on you, however, after that it becomes very easy for others to gain enmity. I especially don't like that buffing abilities, such as Ferocity or Blindside, generate enmity. There's nothing more frustrating than trying to setup a Blindside WS and have the monster turn around because I used 3 buffs. It's ridiculous.

2. Because the enmity is so out of whack, the monsters are usually running all over the place, leaving battle positioning and tactics in the trash. (Battle positioning, supposedly was supposed to be a big part of this game.)

All in all, I believe this issue is one of the biggest that needs to be addressed. Without the correct enmity distribution, party tactics will always be undermined even with class uniqueness.

I agree things are completely out of control right now. But it's not just one patch fixes all enmity issues forever; Changing enmity is an ongoing process through an MMO's life span that is always being changed to maintain balance (though there is not much currently.)

Provoke is only spike hate (sets you at top of the hate list for a small amount of time) I think the main issue is people are ONLY using things like provoke and taunt to keep hate. When in reality as a GLA you should be riding phalanx and other abilities and WS that generate long term or "Build up" hate.

Agreed. I think enmity cumulation would be a fantastic addition but what I've had most trouble with personally is multiple target tanking. Seriously, if they're going to expect us to fight multiple targets at once (which many, many of the levequests do) we need aoe provokes.

War drum is incredibly weak in terms of an aoe provoke as well. And even with what abilities we do have at our disposal, like you said, enmity is all over the place anyway. It's very hard to secure hate on to a single target in this game. And considering unlike FFXI, I actually get to be the meat shield I always wanted to be, I'd like to see it be even more effective with more aoe enmity generation abilities.

Also, I think provoke could stand to use just a little bit less stamina. Perhaps 2/3 of what is currently used toward it considering how often we have to use it. Between my shield abilities and spamming provoke I find little time to actually participate in the battle in terms of damage and using offensive abilities.

Please do not mistake my above statement to mean I want to drop zomglolwtfpwn damage on the mob. I'm simply stating that between using my sentinel abilities and spamming provoke and taunt, I don't feel like I'm contributing much to the battle. And just because I'm the tank doesn't mean that's all I need to be, especially when one considers how versatile the armory system is.

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Originally Posted by Scobill

Agreed. I think enmity cumulation would be a fantastic addition but what I've had most trouble with personally is multiple target tanking. Seriously, if they're going to expect us to fight multiple targets at once (which many, many of the levequests do) we need aoe provokes.

War drum is incredibly weak in terms of an aoe provoke as well. And even with what abilities we do have at our disposal, like you said, enmity is all over the place anyway. It's very hard to secure hate on to a single target in this game. And considering unlike FFXI, I actually get to be the meat shield I always wanted to be, I'd like to see it be even more effective with more aoe enmity generation abilities.

Also, I think provoke could stand to use just a little bit less stamina. Perhaps 2/3 of what is currently used toward it considering how often we have to use it. Between my shield abilities and spamming provoke I find little time to actually participate in the battle in terms of damage and using offensive abilities.

Please do not mistake my above statement to mean I want to drop zomglolwtfpwn damage on the mob. I'm simply stating that between using my sentinel abilities and spamming provoke and taunt, I don't feel like I'm contributing much to the battle. And just because I'm the tank doesn't mean that's all I need to be, especially when one considers how versatile the armory system is.

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You might wanna try the Marauder ability "Warmonger"
It is an AOE taunt that adds a buff (or debuff depending on your point of view) that increases enmity for quite a while....

I always had trouble keeping hate for leves on PUG with my friends till i started using Blood Rite and its conjurer equivalent. Very efficient but it feels kind wrong.