Aurum Vale tanking horror

Hi, I'm new to tanking and just got my WAR to 47. I had some trouble getting DD first room going (noone would join!) so I decided to run the dreaded AV.

My first run-in with AV was as a SCH. It was horrible. I thought it would go better since that last time was all tank's fault (he pulled an entire room with two goldvines).

No such luck.

Every trash I pulled had yet another trash pack jumping into the fray, entire map was bottlenecked mess and the easiest things were the bosses.

I had a terrible time in AV.

What's my problem? Why is every other trash reacting to my pull like half way through the first pack?

I know that some mobs patrol areas so I always pull far away from a pack's original location.

Nope. Some random mob will always target the healer every pull.

A dungeon like this is killing my drive to play a tank :(

The easiest way to handle Aurum Vale is to pull mobs back a fair distance. It might irritate the A.D.D. DPS players out there but it will ensure a more healthy party environment, making your job (and the healer's job) a lot easier.

In the first few rooms it is also possible to grab a normal group AND a patrol, which will at least give you the opportunity to build hate and prepare cooldowns. Just make sure your gear/healer can handle it.

Simple answer, but hope it helped. Good luck!

AV is SO much fun on tank, don't get discouraged. As Bran said, in that dungeon and especially that first room, pull mobs back to the edge of the starting tunnel for the first 3 or so pulls. When determining which mobs to pull there's two things to keep in mind; first is that the frogs will drag you to them once aggro'd and this can cause you to accidentally pull more mobs so either pull the other nearby mobs first OR make sure that occupying the space between you and the frog won't cause you to aggro more mobs and run back once he pulls you. Second is to watch for the wandering mobs and get them first if they're within range, in the first room that would be frogs and wisps I think they're called. Make sure the WHM doesn't have regen on you before you pull, and make sure you give your party a heads up if you can; "hey, I'll be pulling most of this room back here". Something else worth noting is that provoke has a greater range than your tomahawk and if you're confident in your enmity management then it's great for long distance precision pulls.

I had a horrible AV run the other day first time tanking. The things i had a easy time with was..pulling small mobs at a time..back to whatever entrance i came in at. It was slow and meticulous but it worked when dps wasnt trying to pull other things in for me. Perhaps that's what was happening to you as well?

Dont give up though, i wanted to give up after the wiping to the last 2 bosses a few times but without that type of fail how would we strive to be better?

Step #1: Don't run AV.
Step #2: Farm the first mass pull of DD forever.
Step #3: There is no Step #3, you'll be 50 by the end of Step #2.

Not a big fan of the "if it's too hard, don't try" mentality. This dungeon scared me off the first time I tried it, it was my first ever dungeon fail. But learning the fight, I gained valuable experience that's served me through out the game as a tank and as a healer, such as using the castbar for dodging, using Provoke for ranged precision pulls, and using Eos on sic is sometimes better than micromanaging (first and last boss). This is one of those fights where knowing it well adds value to you as a player in being able to support your friends and your FC because everyone needs to clear it, and not many tanks/healers are able and willing.

That's my stance on it anyways, but I enjoy being useful and being able to help people through things, including random DF newbies.

It's not too hard. It's really easy. It just happens to be one of the few 4 man dungeons before 50 where boss mechanics are actually relevant and everyone has to pay attention. Which means that it's hell in Duty Finder. If you're really set on clearing it, run it with 3 people from Party Finder. Talk about the boss mechanics before you head in, be cautious on trash pulls, and it'll be a piece of cake. I'd just like to note, however, that the mechanics of AV are very specific to that one dungeon. It teaches you to be overly cautious, and then you're in Wanderer's Palace where it's better to take things at a faster pace. I really don't like AV, not because it's hard, but because it's a giant annoyance that takes dreadfully long to finish and you get less experience than just spamming the first room of DD, which the OP was planning to do before running AV. I like AV's bosses though, I think they're great - but the rest of the dungeon is a giant time sink.

Also, maybe I'm wrong, but I thought they phased out needing to clear AV? I remember a lot of people complaining about it and then some adjustment was made. Could be wrong though, foggy memory.

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Originally Posted by SpookyGhost

I'd just like to note, however, that the mechanics of AV are very specific to that one dungeon. It teaches you to be overly cautious... I really don't like AV, not because it's hard, but because it's a giant annoyance that takes dreadfully long to finish... the dungeon is a giant time sink.

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Totally agree with this, the mobs are such a slog. As a tank class I feel like even full clearing DD is a better use of time than running vale. it seems like its such a small dungeon they decided to artificially inflate its run time by cramming it with hordes of trash. I also hate that the whole dungeon feels like a significant step up from DD and yet you don't have anything in your skill kit that is different than DD.

To be honest, I wish there were more dungeons like AV in the sense that you need to be a bit careful on pull. More risk = more fun!

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Originally Posted by Branimus

The easiest way to handle Aurum Vale is to pull mobs back a fair distance. It might irritate the A.D.D. DPS players out there but it will ensure a more healthy party environment, making your job (and the healer's job) a lot easier.

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As a DPS, I personally appreciate tanks who pull the first few sets of enemies back to the entrance in AV. It makes my job a lot easier because it means I don't have to be dancing around pools, which then means I can burn them down faster.