Beating mobs to 5% life?

[Starvald]

Hello there,
I am a bit puzzled about something that I have now repeatedly observed in several dungeons and maybe someone else has an answer to that.

Several times now in several different dungeons have I seen different members of dps classes beating a mob down to about 5% of its life bar. After they reached this magical value, they switch to the next mob in the pack and start beating that one down...leaving the tank and healer...and sometimes the other dps to finish killing the first mob off (if the second dps isn't doing the same as the first dps which I have also seen a lot of times by now).


The question that is bothering me for quite some time now is: WHY? Why leave the mob at 5% and starting beating onto the next one like a crazy person? Are they hoping that the first mob dies from the surprise of being beaten to 5%? Or maybe they are hoping that such a sever beating is enough to force the mob to retreat? Do they think that the tank with his massive dps can oneshot the mob? I am not quite sure how this is beneficial to the dungeon progression because it certainly isn't faster in any way.

Unless I am not in on the secret of speeding up dungeon runs by leaving mobs alive.

So anyone has a clue? With a good tank this normally isn't that much of a problem as mob cycling should have given him some sort of hate cushion already. But it is a bit of an annoyance because it forces the tank to stay on mob number 1 and kill it while eager dps are hacking down the hate cushion on mob number 2.

I would just really like to know why they are doing it and what the supposed benefits of that behavior are.

PS: In case you think that they just want to let their dots do all the work....i have observed this with and without dots on the mobs.....and 5% is more of a guesstimate than an actual value...sometimes it is more sometimes it is less.

[Raldo]

Only the tank should be switching early.

The only logical reason for DDs to switch early is so they can get their DoTs started on the next monster, and that's a bit of a stretch. They're probably switching since they think the other DD is going to kill it before their GCD is back up or something.

[Teleniel]

If there are dots ticking on a mob.. .they will slowly kill it off while you focus on another one, or if you use a few AoE attacks. Often times playing Bard and Summoner I am focusing on a variety of different enemies to spread DoT spells (very high MP/TP/GCD return if they tick fully) which often means I'm ignoring the enemy with very low health unless I have a quick action to finish it off.

[Mjollnir]

Sounds like it could be the tank switching early to build enmity on the next mob and the dpses using a shoddy target focus macro meaning they auto-switch alongside the tank.

Target focus makes it easy to see the initial tank focus without the tank having to mark (or the player having to use their eyes). Presumably if, say, someone lets a pre-scripted bot do the 'hard work' for them, it's using a script that maintains target focus.

Does that sound legit, or am I such a bot-hater that I'll blame everything on them? *dons darksteel foil hat*

[Amnesia]

I am a bit puzzled about something that I have now repeatedly observed in several dungeons and maybe someone else has an answer to that.

Several times now in several different dungeons have I seen different members of dps classes beating a mob down to about 5% of its life bar.

Next time you're in a party that does that, you should ask them the reason. Then please post the answer here.

[Subucnimorning]

They're probably switching since they think the other DD is going to kill it before their GCD is back up or something.

^ this generally is why I do it, wasting GCD's is no good.

[Mjollnir]

Ooh, I know MAYBE they're using a parser and know that any 'overkill' they mete out would negatively affect their parse results, so they move on before it's dead so their full output is soaked up?

[ChaozK]

For MNKs and DRGs it sometimes makes sense, since they have a combo system. For example DRGs basic 1-2-3 combo ends with a 300 potency attack which would be kind of wasted if you unleash it on a mob with that low health. Same with combos that end in a dot like MNKs demolish. It probably makes less sense for ranged dps though (with the exception of SMN).

Sounds like maybe their judgement of a mobs health was a bit off.

[Reiterpallasch]

I usually tab around to put dots on different targets. It's a substantial dps increase (meaning everything dies faster), and it should be easier on the tank as it's not so much damage that they can't keep the mobs on them.

That said, those same dots will kill off a target that is almost dead, allowing me to focus on the next target in line. It's a matter of efficiency really.

[Kasandaro]

I know on SMN I'll sometimes switch early, if I'm putting on new dots and Garuda still pounding on the old mob.