Bruiser generates Taunt?

Anyone know?

I am asking this because a friend tried to solo an AV mish and he said the AV never really ran around.

I took my Merc/Storm and the AV not only ran around so much but flew so high too. I had to use snow storm to bring her down.

I suspect Bruiser has taunt in his punches and that's why the AV didn't run when he fought her.

None of his attacks show up as having a taunt, but I'm pretty sure he has the 400% taunt modifier on him, which would keep enemy attention much better than anything else anytime he attacks.

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None of his attacks show up as having a taunt, but I'm pretty sure he has the 400% taunt modifier on him, which would keep enemy attention much better than anything else anytime he attacks.

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Since Bruiser is using Brute's mechanism, I assume he can generate some "taunt".

Could this explain why that same AV barely runs against Thug/FF and runs/flies like crazy against my Merc/Storm? She literally moves around so much. She would run to another room, to the corner, or even flies to the ceiling.

The problem is she is Gravity/Psionic Assault AV. T_T My Merc/Storm has zero resistance in Psi dmg and I don't have it on myself either. I have 4 pet uniques but I just don't have mez protection for myself and psi resistance. If I chase, she would go to a corner and then hit Shockwave and 80% of my pets are dead (sometimes including me).

If I don't chase, she would regen back to full health and then snipe me for over 900 damage and I die. I didn't want to use bodyguard mode since I have the least defense against her attacks. My pets at least have 16% defense to all (I use Maneuver and Steamy).

It was very frustrating. I am actually really proud of my Merc/Storm but I really can't do much against Gravity/Psi Dominator AV. She has holds, stuns, aoe and all psi dmg.


I tried to solo her at relentless level and I just couldn't do it. My friend's Thug/FF did it. (although he didn't say if he beat her at relentless, I assume he did)

If she doesn't run around, I think I'll have a much higher chance of beating her.

IIRC the snow storm, tornado, and freezing rain powers generate some degree of "flee" mechanic as well... though I'm pretty sure EBs and above resist those flee effects.

I dunno what to say, really. That set up is big bane for you. I'd recommend coming with BreakFrees, some other inspirations, and just being persistent.

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IIRC the snow storm, tornado, and freezing rain powers generate some degree of "flee" mechanic as well... though I'm pretty sure EBs and above resist those flee effects.

I dunno what to say, really. That set up is big bane for you. I'd recommend coming with BreakFrees, some other inspirations, and just being persistent.

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I've tried several times already. I can't beat her when she runs around like that. She is not just running a bit... she literally runs from one room to another room and then if I chase her, she comes back to hit me. If I run to lure her to me, she snipes me which hurts A LOT.

I've tried it without snow storm, she flies in the air (which may not be a bad thing now that I think about it)

If I don't use freezing rain, I lose a lot of dmg output.

When she runs, it ruins my formation. If I don't follow, she regens back too quick.

I just can't deal with /psi dmg against my merc/storm I guess. I mean I can deal with /psi against normal mobs but not soloing an AV that does nothing but psi dmg (oh and her Singularity is annoying too but I usually kill it first).


I just wanted to know if Bruiser can generate taunt and maybe that's why when my friend's Thug/FF fought her, she didn't run. It coudl also be freezing rain causing trouble or snow storm or both.

Take the immob from your patron.

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Take the immob from your patron.

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The Bruiser has no Taunt in his attacks, however he does have a Threat rating of 3, the same as a Brute. (This would be the 400% modifier LtZerge mentioned) The Fury mechanism does not attract aggro itself, this is coded into a Brute's (and Tanker's) attacks.

Gang War does have Taunt coded in its attacks. Necro's Grave Knights also generate Taunt with their Siphon Life. Your friend might have used Gang War, that would explain it.

Although, Freezing Rain/Snow Storm could also be the problem. There is nothing in FF to cause a foe to flee like that. If you're worried about dealing damage, remember that FF doesn't get a damage boost at all. Of course, it's better protection from Psi damage than your Storm defenses...

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IIRC the snow storm, tornado, and freezing rain powers generate some degree of "flee" mechanic as well... though I'm pretty sure EBs and above resist those flee effects.

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There is a fear or flee component to some of storm's powers. I thought it was tornado and lightning storm. I can confirm though that it affects EB/AVs. I would try to solo them on my Illusion/Storm controller and could never get the kill as they would run away from my lightning storms and regenerate most of their health back.

What makes it worst is I couldn't immobilize them

So I tried the same Gravity/Psi Assault AV at relentless again using Fortunata and Night Widow.

I believe this AV is coded to RUN so much. She flies and runs around like she is trying to "lure" me or something. Is this something new to certain type of AV (Dominator?).

My Fortunata spent 20mins fighting and then eventually I ran out of endurance. I took her down to about 15% of health.

My Night Widow spent a lot of time chasing her. I don't have -fly so it gets annoying when she flies high but NW's ST damage is a lot higher. I took her down to about 15% and then god-mode crashed. I used god mode too early. I believe my NW can take her down if I have better god-mode usage. Maybe Poison Dart's 25% -regen stack??


Anyway, I didn't bother using my Merc/Storm again. It's too much stress on me. Oh and I do have aoe immb but I can't immb most of the time. She just runs so much.

Gravity/Psi is like a total counter to my Merc/Storm though. I have 4 pet uniques so if the AV does energy, smashing or lethal, my pet's resistance are at least 50%+. And if AV does Fire and Cold, my pets have about 30%. And I have no mez protection so I have to sacrifice slots for BFs.

Which AV is this? I'd like to run my MMs against her.

I can ssure you he does generate taunt, but it doesn't initiate Gauntlet.

I know this because he held Synapse's Attention away from the rest of the team for QUITE some time before Synapse knocked him away. (We didn't have Brutes, so no one else generating Taunt)

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Which AV is this? I'd like to run my MMs against her.

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It's just my friend's customized AV and he made it for his scrapper friend (Spines/SR) to beat and he tested the AV with his Thug/FF. His Spines/SR scrapper beat it (Impale has immb so the AV is at least immb for 25% of the time) so I wanted to give it a try but I think I made a mistake by using my Merc/Storm. Gravity/Psi Assault is definitely a great counter to me.

In fact, Dominator bosses are quite tough... they use a lot of assault powers which is a good mix of range/melee and aoe. And then they control too.


My original intention to create this thread is to find out if Thug(/FF) has any way to keep AV still, at least for most of the time. When I fought against that AV, she ran so much. I have not seen an AV that runs as much as she does. She has fly too.


You have to watch out for her Drained Psyche. If she hits you and your pets, you can forget about hurting her for at least 30s.


I can get the Arc ID if any of you wants to try. It's a 2-part. First part is easy.

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I can ssure you he does generate taunt, but it doesn't initiate Gauntlet.

I know this because he held Synapse's Attention away from the rest of the team for QUITE some time before Synapse knocked him away. (We didn't have Brutes, so no one else generating Taunt)

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The Bruiser generates Aggro. He does not generate Taunt. There is a difference, but it's subtle. In effect, any Taunt power multiplies its aggro effect (it doesn't do damage, but it much generate some aggro number) by some huge number, say 100,000. This means there is NO way to pull aggro off of a target that has Taunted except with another Taunt.

In the absense of Taunt, aggro works like this. The damage that an attack does is multipled by the Threat modifier. (Plus one, I think. Threat has a minimum of zero) So this means that a Bruiser would generate an amount of Threat due to his attacks equal to 3+1=4 times his damage. Since the Bruiser's attacks are typically very high damage, such as KO Blow and Haymaker, this has a good chance to be a higher value than any "squishy" on the team, which would normally have a Threat of 1. You as the MM have a Threat of 2, but your attacks are such low damage that it might as well count as 1. And your other henchmen, while they also have a Threat of 3, will not be doing as much damage per attack as your Bruiser.

Once aggro is established, you have to do TWICE the amount of damage (modified for Threat) in order to pull aggro OFF of that person. So if your Bruiser pegs aggro with a KO Blow, it's very unlikely a non-Brute or Stalker would pull Aggro off of him. The Stalker, of course, will have mechanisms to throw off aggro, so he shouldn't be grabbing any. That basically means that any other MM, Dominator, or Corruptor on the team will probably need Provoke himself to pull the aggro off the Bruiser. IF the Bruiser got in the first punch.

Gauntlet is in effect multiplying the damage by the Taunt modifier. So it's like a Tanker or Bruiser has a Threat rating of like 400,000 or 300,000. (Instead of 4 or 3) Then again, for a Brute that would be ONLY on the target he's hitting, foes around the target would only get the normal aggro, unless he uses actual Taunt. The Bruiser would actually have exactly the same Threat, 3, to foes around the target he is hitting. (Although the Bruiser would still do less damage than the Brute, unless the Brute was much lower level than the Bruiser and had no Fury)

I am not sure about how long aggro lasts. Taunt durations are listed, but aggro, I'm fairly sure, decays, and I can't say what that rate is. I don't even know if it falls off quickly, all at once, or if it decays over time. If the latter, then as a Bruiser or other tanker continues to punch, he should continue to stack aggro, building it up higher and making it even harder for him to lose it. Your Threat rating could effect this, too, which might explain why Brutes and Scrappers seem to hold aggro for a long time with spiked damage, but the more fragile types only seem to hold it momentarily.

In addition, I believe being in melee has a large effect on aggro as well. Foes seem reluctant to leave a melee with a foe right next to them to attack a foe further away, even if the aggro is greater. So again, Bruisers would be very good at holding aggro. Even so, I've pulled aggro off my Bruiser before, and I know it's possible. It really seems to be a matter of random chance, most of the time, normal aggro results in certain attacks being aimed at other members of the team that might not have as much aggro.

So in short, Taunt is the only thing that is 100% effective. It isn't necessary, though, and you can hold aggro well enough if you just send in your Bruiser first and let him get aggro. This is the way I play, and it works perfectly well for tanking, maybe even as good as Tankerminding. My Bruiser can't really take as much damage as a Brute, but he can serve for one in a pinch.

I should also add on the original topic that the association between Taunt and Flee is a bit of an unknown as well. I know that aggro alone does not counter the Flee reaction, and in fact, too much aggro (or just too much damage) may cause the foe to Flee. If the foe believes that he is not making progress in defeating the tank, even if he's hitting him, he could run away. Taunt appears to be the ONLY way to counter this. And even at that, again, I think if you Taunt a foe that is seriously below your level, sometimes that will make him Flee. I'm not really sure how the rules work.