[Sulsil]

A guide to Kiting for AH raids.


Short Version:

Items for the kiter:

*Get ready (Hp's Buffs, Rune, Vie, and remove all Damage Shields. If material decide a direction to kite)

*Get the Target's agro (Snare, Jolt, Stun, Flash of Light, Fear any non damage method of generating big agro)

*Maintain control of the Target (HoTT, F9 till you get a view showing you and the Target, re cast as you can)

*Use of self potions for heals and Heals over Time (HoT) can be very useful.

Items for Non Kite Team:

*Do nothing to affect the Kiter until the leadership says otherwise (this includes MGB's, Heals, Buffs, and Songs)

*Low Life Agro by others must be avoided for the Kite to succeed.

*If Peel is needed a dedicated team of players skilled in peel method should be prepped before the kite starts.

*If a heal is called for by leadership use Heal over Time (HoT) or Regen.

*Should you get agro from the kite team take the path of the kite and die asap, under no circumstance lead the mob to the raid

*Do not sit while in range of the kite.

*Control your pets, pay special attention if an Area Effect is in play. /Pethold should be used liberally.


Long Version:

Raid Kiting has the objective of keeping a target mob busy "chasing" the Kiter (aka The Rabbit) and busy while the rest of the raid deals with issues present by the encounter and is ready to focus on the target mob. Kiting is usually reserved to classes who do it well, (Bards, Necros, Druids, Rangers, Paladins) but fact is anyone can do it if they have the right know-how

First the kiter must get the attention of the target mob. Generally, in the case of raids, this comes with some important consideration.

99% of raid mobs summon which combined with their striking power usually means a dead Rabbit. But mobs do not summon until at 95% health. So it's critical that the Kiter get the attention of the mob without damage and ensure that during the kite they so do no damage as well. In the case of Bards, Rangers, and Druids most of the time we use a snare which has the joint purpose of slowing down the mob and generating a lot of agro at the same time. Bards can also cast debuffs while kiting which make them one of the priemer kite classes. Paladins often use stuns. Once you have the mobs attention you must run, usually in a circle and must maintain "control" of the mobs agro.

Knowing you have agro can be helped by a few tools, best by far is the leadership AA Health of Target's Target (HoTT). HoTT tells the kiter without doubt he/she does have agro. Also adjust your view from first person view to a wide "Look Down" view which might show you and your mob at the same time. In desperate situations you can get below 15% heath and get Death Agro and hang on to the kite, very tricky to pull off but if successful can be very powerful.

Many factors affect agro control of the kited mob, the most important being Death Agro. If any mob in the range of the target gets under 15% heath all area mobs, including the target, "Finish Off" the low life person.

Other factors include percetion from the Target that his target is being "aided" and thus he must kill the "Closest" of his enemies. Often since the kiter is moving away from the Target the closest enemy is one who Healed, Buffed, MGB'd, or had a benefical song which reached the kiter. Don't assist the kiter in any fashion unless you are specificly told to do so by the raid leadership.

Kite peel is tricky and requires a fair amount of teamwork, usually a strong on/off agro player is needed to peel (Bard Fading Memories, SK, Necro or Monk with Feign Death.) Again it comes down to who is the target's closest enemy. The On/Off agro class get the attention of the trailing mobs. Usually by hitting or snaring the end mob and running toward the raid. Then agro is turned OFF and a 3rd peeler can smack the furthest away mob to single or even double pull the mobs wanted. Peeling is tricky but not hard for experienced players.

I would like this guide to be the ultimate guide to raid kiting for AH'ers and thus would appreciate as much input as possible. My data is far from complete and needs you to fill in the gaps. In particular I would like to see specific guides for each class which might be asked to kite in a raid.

Thanks for your attention

Sulsil

Potential Kite Spells

Snare, Flash of Light, Flamelick, Tangling Weeds, Fear, Harmony of Sound,

[Ehhd]

I don’t think the kiting was really the problem last night. I had to regain my train multiple times (no small feet for a monk, since I had to resort to Low HP agro to do it) because people would accidentally grab agro. The reaql problem I saw was people not knowing how and how not to assist the kiting.

So two things I’d like to add to your list;

If you steal agro from a kiter – run their path with them until you die. Do not go to the raid under any circumstances short of a COTH or FD’d memwipe.

If a kite needs healed. Move out of agro range of the raid and do low agro HoTs or Regens. If you get agro – die and be happy to take one for the team. If you don’t get agro keep your eyes open – you did move up on the hate list and you could be the next target of choice.

[Korinne]

Basically the short of kiting:

1. Don't touch the kiter in any way shape or form
2. Don't sit or get below 50% hps within aggro range of the mobs being kited.
3. Don't touch the mob(s) being kited in any way shape or form unless you are the kiter.

The kiting wasn't the problem...it was the first 2 I mentioned above. Rezzing people presents an almost insurmountable problem as they zone in with 33% hps.
_________________
It takes talent to lose oneself. Now where was I?

Korinne Neverfound, Lost Druid of Norrath

[Culdahl]

I blame auldaen...

On a serious a note, I think the wipe(s) was a good thing....we have all become a bit complacent during our raids recently due to our success and the level of difficulty of the encounters. Agnar may be gimp, but the event requires some discipline...perhaps doing more difficult encounters from time to time (one's we don't expect to win) will help keep us sharp.

P.S. - No ONE was to blame for the agnar debacle. A few people made some mistakes, but, all in all, it was just a series of really bad circumstances. Had Kor not LD (damn cat) she would have been able to clear up the instructions before things went south...also, I think we had some really bad luck during kites in which the kiter lost aggro for a split second (aggro will erase after a certain period of time), just as the furthest trailing mobs were within proximity of someone in the raid. We could have those same mistakes 100x and still win that event every time....was just really bad luck IMO.

[Celephane]

[Olidan]

I don't do much kiting - but I do know that I once asked Trackwell what spell he used for it (on Agnarr specifically) and he told me he preferred a very low level ranger DoT spell called flame lick (something like that).

Many kiters recoil in horror at the though of using any damage spell to kite, but I guess because on a mob like Agnarr the damage is so insignificant he doesnt really register a drop in HP anyway - it seemed to work very very well.
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[Suegar]

I know as a rogue now I basically can't kite unless, well, still haven't figured out that unless =x On calli before (my druid) id use a combo of snare and the fire debuff, and never lost agro that I can recall.
Also, assuming you can land a snare on the mob being kited, I would then tend to walk backwards because you can control your distance from the mob being kited perfectly.

[Auldaen]

My thoughts on Kiting:

the best way to gain and keep aggro on a mob around a raid force is to start with a snare, the highest DoN snare is a little short lived, but is very hard to resist, don't worry so much about the duration, as you will be casting relatively frequently. The Raid mobs tend to be of fairly high level and have the ability to drop the snare early, so I tend to snare every 45 seconds to every minute. Once snared I will make sure i keep aggro on a mob with, yes, Flame lick, a DoT that has a quick cast time, quicker refresh time, and does a whoping 13 dmg per tick - most raid mobs, heck even most solo mobs that summon will never loose more than 1% health while flame lick is warming their backsides. I will recast flame lick to hold aggro every 15-20 seconds - maybe longer - but fairly often.

One of the main issues with kiting a raid mob is LAG - you are doing fine - until you turn the corner and have to look at the raid force, wham, your graphics card is screaming in pain, and your monitor is trying to keep up with all those changing pixels, and to the mob - it is like you are a deer in the headlights, and he is the mac truck about to spaltter you on his grill, Reminds me of Good fellas - ma can i borrow a knife? to combat this I tend to look at my feet, scroll out and see a top view angle of me and - maybe the mob, well if I can see the mob, it tells me I gotta keep runnin.

Another big problem is your health, it is never good for the raid to have the kiter die while kiting, leaving an angry mob with no one to chase. I have 1 bag in my inventory full of health potions, both HoT's and Instant heals. If you are kiting a caster, chances are you may get a spell cast on you, rarely is this a buff, so a HoT potion can usually overtake the damage you take. Also, as a ranger I can self heal, know where your toggle button from mob to self is and if the mob is snared (aside from some OoW and higher mobs) you can get ahead far enough to cast a self heal, which will further enraged kited mob, into chasing you further.

The Real tricky part of kiting a raid mob and staying alive to kill it is the transfer, as a ranger I don't get an FD that keeps me in zone, with buffs. So there are a couple options, the first, which can work with most mobs, unless they have a very powerfull DD spell they like to cast is, once the raid is ready, stop at the tanks feet, hit WS, turn around and Ranger tank, casting Jolt every chance you get. (it may be advisable to load Jolting Blades- anti aggro proc) and hope you can transfer aggro to the taunting/ discing warrior/pally/SK before WS drops (45 seconds) The other option is not as safe, but may be needed, and to have jolt loaded, and the last go around or two, instead of casting your aggro spell, cast jolt. run, cast jolt, run etc...

Option 3 - return to bind...

Aggy is a fun one, what i have done in the past, is drag aggy upstairs, kite him around the room Karana is being held, This keeps aggy away from the raid, avoids all the adds, and gives you less lag issues, if the raid force can spare it, it is best to have a team of 2 or 3 in case 1 kiter goes down. 2 rangers can swap heals, and kiting detail as needed.

one of the worst things that can happen when kiting is to go LD of course, the seccond is to have sow/soe drop in the middle of the kite, make sure if you only have 1 buff up - to have sow up.

-Auldaen

[Sulsil]

One of the things about AH is we are an ah hoc group. Each night we arrive and have to make do with what shows up. As such I like to be able to do anything asked of me. Now of course I can't Port folks or such but I can offer some things which might not be expected of my class. If each of us can take a smiliar attitude they become what the military calls force mutipliers, or what your boss probably calls more work with the same pay

Agnarr was just the event which provoked me to get typing, I have seen several instances where leadership has asked folks to tackle a task which they have never even attempted. I recall pretty clearly a raid of RZtW where one of the kiters on the fake RZ had no idea what was expected of them, a crash course ensued but the kite failed.

No one wants to disappoint Sheiara or Korinne so will try it even if not 100% certain of the expectation, and often times they succeed and a good learning experience occurs. However, I would like to also give folks a chance to learn by reading first and doing later. AH is not a guild and training, other than the On The Job varity, doesn't occur.

A series of good guides can help change that. We those thoughts in mind I would like to refocus on a guide for kiting.

Sulsil

[Culdahl]

Culdahl's kiting guide -

1) Make sure you kite first and ask questions later....you only slow the raid down with your pesky questions of "how" and "where".

2) Always start your kite off with your biggest DD spell....this lets the mob know who's the boss and shows off your l33t powers.

3) Kite the mob as close to the raid as possible....what good is pwning a mob if you can't show off your uber kiting skillz to the rest of the raid?

4) If you can, bring a bot toon and place him in the center of the raid...you can then cast high aggro spells, which will help keep the raid awake (and achieve #3).

5) Try to grab aggro from the MT at all cost while kiting....makes sure those lazy tanks are doing their jobs.

6) Call for a CH and time it so your kited mob is on top of the cleric just as the CH lands...that'll learn him or her to use HoTs


7) Kite your mob through several other mobs and repeat steps 1-6.

[Korinne]

/smacks Culdahl really hard upside his thick skull

It is a good idea Sulsil and I agree that we learned some things last night and it was a humbling experience...much like the night we *cough* wiped to Solusek Ro.
_________________
It takes talent to lose oneself. Now where was I?

Korinne Neverfound, Lost Druid of Norrath

[Shieara]

One thing about kiting that noone here has mentioned.

On several occasions I have seen someone try to kite an aeing mob, and end up getting summoned because a pet user didn't keep tight control of their pet. The pet got aggroed by the ae and it damaged the mob enough that the kiter got chewed up.

So, /pet hold and the /pet focus commands need to be used liberally in any encounter where there is kiting. If you do not know where your pet is you should immediately put it on hold and redirect it against your target after you have confirmed an aggro list wipe with the /pet back off command. Better to lose some potential dps then have a pet out of control. Bottom line is you should always know where your pet is and what it is doing. Pets are not a fire and forget weapon...you have to consistantly control them, reposition them, back them off, etc.

As a side note, for those who get blinding spells (bst and shammy I guess?), flash of light is the most aggro of any spell I have ever seen. It will rarely if ever land on a high level mob, but omg it ticks them off so much. Of course it comes with its own risks../shrug.

[Ardnasc]

Pallies get 'Flash of light' as well (one of the first spells I got at level 9). Yes it does really tick off the mob with little or no damage!

In the past when I wanted to learn to kite I switched to a bard alt - I've now gotten pretty good at kiting with the level 40 and below bard songs.

Now I think I better work on kiting (just in case) with my pally spells. So if you see me in some out-of-the-way zone with a bunch of green cons chasing me please don't think I've lost my mind!


Still learning,
Ardnasc

[Muvar]

It doesnt fear the mob it blinds it (ya if it lands not good for kiting hehe). If it has aggro on you and is close enough to hit you it won't wander off. However, if you are far away from it (or move back from it while it's blind)...it will run off aimlessly. But, I think the point was that it gets resisted like low level fear spells.
One of my SK friends uses those religiously to hold aggro.
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Stuff I leave on my corpse

[Shieara]

Yeah. FoL is one of those spells where there is an element of risk involved. However, if you are kiting say...Agnarr...there seriously is no chance that spell will land. Same thing if we decided to kite the wrulons in HoHb for Mith Marr instead of offtank...they're so mr there would be no way it would ever take hold.

Like anything else it is a tool that you have to decide whether the risk is worth it.