-How "NOT" to tank the VVD map-
or - Ode to Hurl
-Oh sweet Vivian, how I love thee XP-
Among my group of vent/sg friends, few maps provide us with the same level of quick XP farmage as the fabled Bile/VVD map. Now I will admit that this is not the best farm in the world, but a fast paced freaks map with a resetable AV is good enough in my books. Whenever our current SG toons hit that 40ish zone we all start to drool at the prospect of spending a day cleaning out this mighty fine Freak map over and over again.
Since alot of the veteran players have left this game for other endeavors as of late, and it seems as though the current crew of tankers are still a 'lil green (no disrespect to the current vets or experienced tanks); I thought I might make a very brief guide as to how "not" to tank this XP bonanza. Actually I guess it just so happened that this guide is being written from an experience last night while farming VVD/Bile, but this will problay hold true for just about any map in the game. So sit back, enjoy, and hopefully this will provide a 'lil help for the newbies as to proper tanking protocol for high lvl/fast paced farm mishs.
1. Please for the love of god, do not open a mob spawn up with "Hurl". This is not a proper alpha absorber and should not be used by a tank, from range, before the mob has been properly herded and locked down.
2. Please for the love of god if you do "accidentally" open the mob spawn with a ranged "Hurl", be quick to rectify the mistake and begin to herd/taunt with an added fervor.
3.Please for the love of god if in either the case of #1 or #2, please, pretty pretty please, do not stand there slack-jawed watching as the mobs scatter like cockroaches in bright light. Immediately start herding/taunting to regain control of the aggro. Do not just pick the nearest Lt. and start trying to submit the will of his face to that of your fist.
4. Please, please, please for the love of god do not ever open up a mob spawn with a ranged "Hurl". Never, ever for any reason. I mean like serious, don't even think about it. And if you do think about it, just remember that your account will immediatley be nerfed and all subsequent accounts associated with your persons.
Okay, so now to the bread and butter of this post.
Setting - Peregrine Island
Time - Last night 07/09 roughly 7PM pst
Mission - Vivian Van Dyne
Team makeup - 42/3ish all around; 6 man makeup; trolls, def, scrap, blast, and tank
Outcome - absolute hillarity and a whole lot of laughing on ventrilo, mission objective remains incomplete.
So my SG/vent buddies and I have been runnin VVD the last two days together. The ol' skip Viv, farm map, smash Bile, rinse and repeat. Normally we have an abundance of tanks avail. as most of us have rolled one to at least high 40's if not 50. Anyway, we are short the tank and decide to recruit from PI. Leader finds a tank within minutes and we figure we are ready to rock.
Now I must note here, that our group has the ability to shred large/high con maps because of vent and familiarity with each other, with very minimal drag or downtime. Anyone who has gotten into a groove with other ppl and been rocking vent or TS know what it's like when you have a well meshed team of 6-8 absolutely blasting through maps with no regard for criminal life. We were doing that mercilessly up to this point.
So back to the story. We enter the map and see the familiar first spawn of two mobs right next to each other, by the edge of the water, just as usual. Two bosses, prolly, 4-5 lts., prolly 7-8 minions, you know the usual stuff. So we all prepare our trays pop our toggs, buffs, and the such and sound off
"Ready!"
What happened next quite literally felled my soul from my body.
The recruited tank takes two steps forward and fires off "Hurl". First thing that I thought as I saw him stoop to the ground and wrench his pile of concrete free was,
"awww man, he accidentally hit the wrong button."
Hey it happens, in fact I have done that same blunder numerous times on numerous toons; popping build up instead of hitting my heal, accidentally leaving the power queued, etc etc. Anywho, not really worried here at this point. If the tank can be quick, the mobs wont scatter and he can reobtain the aggro before the shizz goes haywire. So we wait. And wait. And Wait for what seemed an eternity (ok maybe like 3 seconds, but you know how long that can be sometimes.) No charging, no herding, the tank just targets the closest Lt. and heads to it for a "how do ya do." By this point the mobs are closing in on us so I figure I better do something.
I pop elude and instantly head for the nearest group of four, make with the build up and fire off my cone attack. Perfect, got their attention. Without pausing I strafe left into another mob of two, and SD; side step left again and circle the last and largest grouping, while triggering cone again. OK, mission accomplished and the mobs are real angry with me. Once the team saw the mobs gather on me they pounced and we quickly cleaned the mess up. Just Lockdown and Throwdown, it's really that simple; controllers FTW!!! I love 'em and cant live without 'em. But thats another thread.
So whatever, shizz happens, newbs happen, hey we make mistakes...It's a game not life...
Leader says "um [censored] was that?"
-no response
Leader then says "okay, Tank, plz do not open with a ranged attack, plz herd and hold for containment, debuff, etc."
-no response
At this point we are already conjecturing on vent with one another as to what will happen with the next mob. Oh well, maybe a communication error or whatever, hey we're experienced players and can control the occasional mishap. Plus it's all just fun 'n games anyway, right.
Next mob. We all pop toggs, buffs etc and sound off
"Ready!"
Immediately I see Tank take two steps forward and bend down to sunder a rock from the very earth he is standing on...
Simultaneously one of the most serene moments I have ever had on CoX, five vent voices in unison, all saying...
[censored]
and a hunk of Terra Firma hurling skyward; aiming to scatter with extreme prejudice.
As the Tanks map status was revoked by the team leader truer words were never said on a vent server...
*long sigh* "well folks lets try another tank, they cant all be Leroy's right?"
You have close to no clue what you are talking about. And most of the devs crappy ideas came from real men of genius such as yourself.