GLA <25 and keeping enmity

[Sadana]

I find macros and tanking abilities don't go well together, if you need to do something quickly then you are stuck in a macro and can't do it quickly.

My opening macro actually speeds things up since I don't need to manually mark a target nor do I need to type into the party chat box. The only action taking place is Shield Lob so there is no interference with other actions.

[Themis]

Nice to see another rise to the challenge of being a tank. Keep it up.

macro stuff

(Note: 'm not sure what the best way would be, but I do think it's best to go with what works for you rather than in general/best.)

I've started putting my macros the other way around, proccing the GCD before I use any buffs/OGCD abilities. I've gotten into the habit of weaving in 1 OGCD between GCDs, so having an OGCD go before GCD causes me to screw up at times (I'll hit Savage Blade thinking that Fast Blade went off, but it didn't because FoF did instead, for example). Not often, but when it happens, it's frustrating and not too great on keeping aggro.

I try not to macro too many things, as I prefer the option of deciding when to use particular things at specific times. That said, some abilities are either too staple (FoF) or just there because (Bloodbath), and those tend to be good candidates.

I have only two macros on Paladin (not counting party message ones):

/micon "Fast Blade"
/ac "Fast Blade" <t>
/ac "Mercy Stroke" <t>
/ac "Bloodbath" <me>

and

/micon "Savage Blade"
/ac "Savage Blade" <t>
/ac "Fight or Flight" <me>

I don't macro in Spirits Within, simply because I don't want to use it if I suddenly find myself with too much lost HP. Whilst I'm always watching for when the recast is up, I'm also always checking my HP and making sure I'm fairly high; maybe >75-80%. It's also worth not having macro'd because it has a Silence effect. Against some mobs, you really don't want to be wasting it just for the damage/enmity.

The issue you have, though, is that you do need to remember what buffs are on what macros. I don't have these accessible outside of the macros (I play on controller, so I try to conserve space as best as I can), so making sure I know where to find them is necessary. That's not too hard, though, as I have a good memory for that. But through this, I can do something like:

Shield Lob > (Flash here if multiple mobs) > Fast Blade (triggers Bloodbath) > Fast Blade (triggers Fast Blade) > Savage Blade (triggers FoF*) > Savage Blade (triggers Savage Blade) > Rage of Halone

*I don't like using this early, and prefer to have the damage bonus where the damage/enmity counts. There's too much wasted buff time if you have to Flash once or twice. On single target/bosses, it's not as detrimental, but multiple mobs, having FoF matter for longer means you can build better enmity when target cycling.

I will be adding that Shield Lob/RoH macro, though, minus the marking (if I ever have to use it again, I'll remove the marking). I never even thought about it, but RoH is a better choice if mobs happen to be close when trying to use it, considering the larger enmity bonus (even if potency/damage is less). I still tend to use Flash if I notice, though.

[Rufalus]

Gladiator skills are very feeble at the low levels. I think unless the DPS are only hitting a single target then it's hard to hold everything, and even then your skills designed to raise enmity only barely keep you ahead of enmity drawn by others in the group. In my experience, a lv50 paladin playing endgame encounters is much easier to hold enmity, so in regards to that aspect the game gets easier as you progress to more difficult content which is odd. Low lv dungeons are harder to manage enmity but I wouldn't worry about it.

[AlexanderRed]

Gladiator skills are very feeble at the low levels. I think unless the DPS are only hitting a single target then it's hard to hold everything, and even then your skills designed to raise enmity only barely keep you ahead of enmity drawn by others in the group. In my experience, a lv50 paladin playing endgame encounters is much easier to hold enmity, so in regards to that aspect the game gets easier as you progress to more difficult content which is odd. Low lv dungeons are harder to manage enmity but I wouldn't worry about it.

Nice to know. alot of content in this thread has helped a newbie like myself. i somewhat know how to do my job. (although Macros on a PS3 controller seem DAUNTING to me for some reason)

[Ultimatecalibur]

(Note: 'm not sure what the best way would be, but I do think it's best to go with what works for you rather than in general/best.)

Agreed. I just listed those to showcase the type of macros I use that can help out when playing on a controller.

I've started putting my macros the other way around, proccing the GCD before I use any buffs/OGCD abilities. I've gotten into the habit of weaving in 1 OGCD between GCDs, so having an OGCD go before GCD causes me to screw up at times (I'll hit Savage Blade thinking that Fast Blade went off, but it didn't because FoF did instead, for example). Not often, but when it happens, it's frustrating and not too great on keeping aggro.

I'm usually pressing until I see the GCD trigger before moving on to the next stage of the combo so I rarely run into that problem.

I try not to macro too many things, as I prefer the option of deciding when to use particular things at specific times. That said, some abilities are either too staple (FoF) or just there because (Bloodbath), and those tend to be good candidates.

Agreed. I actually have Bloodbath macroed into Rage of Halone.

I don't macro in Spirits Within, simply because I don't want to use it if I suddenly find myself with too much lost HP. Whilst I'm always watching for when the recast is up, I'm also always checking my HP and making sure I'm fairly high; maybe >75-80%. It's also worth not having macro'd because it has a Silence effect. Against some mobs, you really don't want to be wasting it just for the damage/enmity.

I have an alternate set up on control scheme 2 for fights where Silence Interrupting is nice/necessary that has a version of the FoF/Fast Blade macro without Spirits Within, but for anything but those fights I just use Spirits Within as an extra damage off gcd attack

The issue you have, though, is that you do need to remember what buffs are on what macros. I don't have these accessible outside of the macros (I play on controller, so I try to conserve space as best as I can), so making sure I know where to find them is necessary. That's not too hard, though, as I have a good memory for that. But through this, I can do something like:

Shield Lob > (Flash here if multiple mobs) > Fast Blade (triggers Bloodbath) > Fast Blade (triggers Fast Blade) > Savage Blade (triggers FoF*) > Savage Blade (triggers Savage Blade) > Rage of Halone

*I don't like using this early, and prefer to have the damage bonus where the damage/enmity counts. There's too much wasted buff time if you have to Flash once or twice. On single target/bosses, it's not as detrimental, but multiple mobs, having FoF matter for longer means you can build better enmity when target cycling.

My opening salvo for most fights looks similar:

Shield Lob > (Flash x 4 if multiple mobs) > Fast Blade (triggers Fight or Flight) > Fast Blade (triggers Spirits Within) > Fast Blade (triggers Fast Blade) > Savage Blade (triggers Bulwark) > Savage Blade (triggers Savage Blade) > Rage of Halone (triggers Blood Bath) > Rage of Halone (triggers Rage of Halone)

I will be adding that Shield Lob/RoH macro, though, minus the marking (if I ever have to use it again, I'll remove the marking). I never even thought about it, but RoH is a better choice if mobs happen to be close when trying to use it, considering the larger enmity bonus (even if potency/damage is less). I still tend to use Flash if I notice, though.

Yep 500/750 enmity for 60TP beats 360/540 enmity for 120TP.

[Classikal]

Gladiator skills are very feeble at the low levels. I think unless the DPS are only hitting a single target then it's hard to hold everything, and even then your skills designed to raise enmity only barely keep you ahead of enmity drawn by others in the group. In my experience, a lv50 paladin playing endgame encounters is much easier to hold enmity, so in regards to that aspect the game gets easier as you progress to more difficult content which is odd. Low lv dungeons are harder to manage enmity but I wouldn't worry about it.

It's not that the Gladiator skills are weak at low levels, it's just that you have very little to work with. 2 GCD rotation(Fast Blade -> Savage Blade) doesn't produce as much enmity as you would optimally want. But it is still more than doable if you know what ou are doing. Shield Lob -> Flash x2 or x3, (depending on how comfortable you feel with your enmity generation), than rotating Fast Blade -> Savage Blade between all the mobs your holding works just fine to hold hate. If you feel you need an extra boost after you start rotating Fast Blade -> Savage Blade throw in a Flash here or there.

Once you learn Rage of Halone though, it becomes a no-contest. No DPS no matter how good will be able to ever pull hate off you as long as you manage your single target rotation properly. I rarely mark mobs when I queue for dungeons, even before I learned Rage of Halone. After the Shield Lob -> Flash x2-3 opening, I just rotated my 2 GCD rotation on the monsters in order based on enmity bar values, (Flash if I felt I needed it) and rarely has issues.

After Rage of Halone and Shield Oath, it's a joke.
It's also a complete joke for Marauder in the early levels, especially if you can cross class Invigorate.
But it's definitely more difficult in the early levels for Gladiator.

You can't, WAR can only pull cross-class skills from Gladiator and Pugilist. I wish they could get Invigorate.

[SpookyGhost]

You can't, WAR can only pull cross-class skills from Gladiator and Pugilist. I wish they could get Invigorate.

Marauder can is what he's saying.

[Sadana]

Nice to know. alot of content in this thread has helped a newbie like myself. i somewhat know how to do my job. (although Macros on a PS3 controller seem DAUNTING to me for some reason)

I'm glad it's helping others too! ^_^ Thanks so much, guys!

Using macros on a controller helps with space issues. As a mage, I have also found that learning to swap between crossbars is vital (imo). On each class, I keep similar spells on certain numbered crossbars to help remember what's where. Since I have so few GLA/MRD skills yet, I am not sure how I will set up my crossbar(s) with new skills I learn.