Need advice on big pulls with WAR

Hi guys, I'm leveling up my WAR (currently 56) and every now and then I have trouble with big pulls. My main is PLD and I have no problem with shield lob and flash to pull my groups together.

My problem is when a group is spread out I might not be able to hit everyone with overpower and sometimes I find myself having to stop and reposition just so I can overpower all the targets and keep going. This isn't very ideal for pulling and if the healer starts healing me I either need to stop pulling or risk losing aggro to the healer.

What's a more fluid method of running multiple groups together and being able to aggro the whole group without stopping and without losing aggro before I'm done with the pull?

Treat each group as individuals and don't worry to much about the groups you have already tagged and are trailing behind you.

As you are approaching a group you need to appraise their formation and spread, moreso than with PLD where you can kind of just run through the middle with Flash. If there is one mob that is off on it's own while the rest are more grouped up, use Tomahawk to tag the one that is off by itself and then run to the side of the mobs that are nicely grouped (have the group between yourself and the mob you tagged with hawk), use Overpower on them and then just keep going with the pull. Tagging the outlier mob with hawk will agro them from greater range and get them moving towards you before you end up getting close enough to the other mobs to cause them to agro on you which will result in it being better grouped up. If the outlier mob is really far off, you can potentially use Provoke to tag them since it has longer range.

Basically since Overpower only effects in front of you instead of all around you like Flash, you need to appraise the mob group you are approaching and think of how to best position them and yourself so that they are "in front of you" without having to really stop. As I pointed out this will often times require you to quickly face to the side or sometimes even behind you to make sure they are grouped nicely before using Overpower. If they are already nicely grouped you can usually just hit them with Overpower right as you are getting up on them.

It may be a little more complex than with PLD but it soon becomes second nature and it helps build up the habit of better appraising the mob groups as you are going to pull which makes you better at mass pulling in general no matter the tank you are playing.

Lastly, while you are not there yet, when you get Equilibrium at lvl.58 it can be very useful for easing a big pull. If the dps and healer are going all out on the mob pack that you have already tagged and you are worried about potentially losing agro on any of them, popping Equilibrium can help give you a slight agro boost on them as well as ease any healing that you might need during the pull.

As Touch says, it just takes a bit of practice lining up the cone vs circle AoE. Overpower actually has fairly generous range and width, just gotta figure out which one to target so that it will aim the cone in an appropriate direction for picking up the group. It's not entirely bad if you have to do it a couple times, but most every group can be hit with 1 properly aimed overpower.

As for stragglers, you can use oGCds like Equilibrium, Infuriate, Unchained, Vengeance, etc and it will generate enough aggro to at least face pull the mobs towards you (assuming heals aren't ticking). It's not a lot but it will help with positioning overall on certain pulls so just something to keep in mind.

It really isn't that complicated actually. First off all, don't use Tomahawk/Shield Lob/Unmend on group pulls - you will usually get to the mobs before your gcd is ready again and have to stand for a second looking dumb, while waiting until you can use your AoE. On PLD/DRK just run into mobs and pop your AoE on the way. Second, sprint is your best buddy(which makes it even more likely that you will reach mobs before your gcd ends) both to make sure you aggro things first and to reduce auto dmg when pulling.

As WAR what I do is, I run through the group first and as I pass them they already start gathering together to follow me so I just turn camera right away and Overpower them, then run to the next group. There are very rare cases where you have to adjust a little, like the 3rd group in Scalla.

Ok thanks guys. I'll start practicing those techniques by soloing some lower level dungeons and maybe pulling a little less than I'm generally used to until I really get the hang of it.

Once I have the group together it's easy sailing but I really need to work at getting those first initial pulls in nice clean groups.

To add to all those comments above, you can also play with LOS to pack annoying mobs such as casters.

Thrill of Battle + Defiance Equilibrium generate healing threat, so if you aren't in danger of dying, using them once you have the packs aggroed (but not gathered) gives you sufficient threat and allows the healer to have a heal come in before your other threat abilities come out.

I don't have Equilibrium yet, but I hadn't thought of using Thrill of Battle during a pull. I'll try that out.

Thanks again guys, I practiced this quite a bit this weekend and it makes a lot more sense now.

Plus I made it to 60! :)