Taunt Question

A simple question for a complex issue: Do the various sources of Taunt form a Tank stack?

I have a /Dark Tank with Taunt and all the bangs and whistles. Yet I STILL find Blasters and the occasional Scrapper peeling off aggro. The Scraps I'm not as worried about but I take Tanking very seriously. If I've jumped into a Spawn and hit Taunt (51s duration), Soul Drain (13s duration), Cloak of Fear (toggle, should tick over automatically), Oppressive Gloom (same) and then throw an attack is that Mag 20 Taunt?

If so, how do I keep losing aggro? If not, then how does it really work?

Thanks in advance.

I am running a Willpower Tank. Worst Taunt Aura in the game. I get laughed at by all the other tanks. Luckily, i have huge def numbers, so mosta that crap misses me.

Seriously tho, without running down all the math, levels, adds and crap (Cause i dont have it memorized, and dont wanna research it.) Taunt hits 5. Your Aoes and Auras hit what they hit. You need to attack to hold agro. The meaner the opponent, the faster they will shake off agro and go for the blaster. I have crap for agggravation working for me, so I try harder. I get right in the big guys face, Taunt, and hit with my biggest attack. My best attack is of course to lead with tier 1 for Bruising and then hit the big attack, BUT I do not do this in a hot fight. Too F-ing busy. With Taunt and a big hit I let the main guy know i am there. Also, I use my Aoes to hit as many minions as possible, so they are agro'd towards me, at least some. Just keep taunting the main guy every time it comes up. DO NOT depend on it working 51 seconds or whatever. An AV can shrug that off like a 1000 pt attack. Keep in their face. If you can keep the meanest things attention your team will have your back, and they should be able to handle minions, Lts, bosses, and the occasional EB. Stay in the AVs grill. You will keep the agro. If you notice a blaster getting taken down by the "I eat Blasters" Boss while you tank the AV, sure, try to spare a taunt to throw that way. But it is secondary job for you. The primary rule for scrappers and blasters around a good tank is this one "You peel it off, and it is yours, kill it." The primary rule for Tanks is "Stay on the AV", with everything you got.

If your team is very mannerly and professional (or just lazy) you can herd your 16 up into a tight little crowd and then they can come in and start wailing. This rarely happens. So, jump in fast, get the big guys attention, and get to work.

If you are not dealing with a AV but an EB, all hold true, just scale down. You tank the EB, they do their work. If only a Boss, Same. If you need to tank an Lt. for your team. Well, I got nothing.

Having recently re-specd my main tank again, I can honestly say getting right up and personal in the big guys' face WILL get the lieutenants and minions interested in you anyway.

Gauntlet is a great thing!

I'm new to the game, only been playing 6 months so... but, from my experience in the tanking seat, the more you whale on the higher ranked foe, the more likely the mobs ranked below him will turn on you. Chuck a taunt or two at them and they soon forget about the blasters and scrappers.

AoE's are a good way to get aggro too, everytime you hit a foe, you taunt him and all foes around him to attack you. So you can imagine what an AoE would do with that.

Yep, Big Boss Eyepatch. My SS Aoe comes in late, Footstomp at 38. But it is a godsend. Large area. Knockdown. Really irritates the minions. Plus, wailing on their boss does seem to put a little worry in their eyes. I also use AoEs from my Epic Pools, depending on build. They are great for lobbing at a bunch of minions. Again, tanks are not trying to damage with any of these, just aggravate the crap outta stuff. Your team is your sword, keep the shield (your ability to hold agro) pointed at the biggest threats, anything else is gravy.

Thanks for the help gang.

Btw is there a bind to target Bosses first? Sometimes the mobs are so tight I can't pick them out from a distance.

My ss tank is a good shield now, Ive respec'd to the advice Ive been given, did it again recently, still accounted for Set IO's for the future in the slotting when I have enough funds to pay for them all... but even just running SO's I can see big benefits

He runs perma rage now which means +80% dmg to all attacks! I mean, it was doing a good whack of pain without rage. When I go after the big guy its a straight war of attrition one that I don't often lose. And my big blue man can deal up a face full of smackdown that would do a scrapper proud. Thanks to perma rage.

I mean tanks arent' all about the damage for sure, quite often I just literally spend more time taunting and footstomping than actually punching. Especially on a team mostly of the other damage specific AT's, they will kill anything provided they are not the focus of attention. When on a team, I don't try to kill stuff, just distract it. But I will always throw a few hands at the boss or whatever the highest enemy rank is.

Aggro cap is 17. Loss of aggro could be dependent on who you are fighting. Some npcs will latch on to the first team mate they get to percieve. Attacks may miss and taunt durations may get resisted. 13s duration base power credential, on an npc doesn't mean 13s and in laymans terms could mean squat. RTTC duration is bad, the moment some npc has left the aura they could be anybodies add to that other peoples threat levels be they scrappers or brutes can add up to more than yours. Being point could mean you get all the tohit debuffs and the affect is gauntlet misses. Willpowers probably have to do more recoveries and chase aggro in a team of people who don't allow for consolidation. Slap many IOs into taunt.

Going by your example, I would have to agree you have either exceeded your agro cap... Or, and I think most likely, it is the Cloak of Fear. It makes for some great mitigation, but I don't think it's really the greatest at holding the threat. Often, feared mobs will counterattack whoever hit them and return to retreat/cower status, but if the fear duration happens to end there, you may have an agro containment issue.

My advice, drop Cloak of Fear as a standard toggle, and use it more for situational cases. Use Death Shroud for your taunt aura, calling on CoF and Opressive Gloom when the situations are right. That alone may up your performance. It's not failed my Dark/Dark yet.