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Keyan here, new member via Unbroken Circle of Valor.
Lesson I'd like to share is sneakpulling.
Any class with Sneak can take advantage of this, though some more than
others. For the best effect, a long range attack is needed. Bows,
throwing javelins, what-have-you.
In a nutshell, you pick a mob, turn on sneak, thump the mob a good one.
If successful, only that mob will come, no other. There's a lot more to
it, let's get some details.
Firstly, a brief bit of info on aggro range. Mobs have this invisible
series of concentric circles around them. The outermost circle is their
standard aggro range. If you're standing within that circle, unless you
have some way of avoiding it, you've aggroed them. Another, slightly
smaller circle, is the chain-aggro range. If another mob runs by aggroed
and paths through the chain-aggro range, first mob will join in the hunt
if they're the type to assist. Too, the higher level you are, the less
likely the mobs are of aggroing. This last bit varies greatly. Some mobs
never stop aggroing, some green mobs assist xp mobs, etc. Learn as you
go.
Sneakpulling involved dealing with both of these aggro types.
Firstly, you have to learn on a case-by-case basis. Each mob, each zone
has different aggro characteristics. When sneak-pulling... it's like
having a weaker, but mana-free version of Harmony on all mobs. All mobs,
not just the ones you're pulling from. At it's core, Sneak has two
effects. It makes you Indifferent from behind a mob. It also has the
effect of reducing aggro range on all mobs, for you alone.
So, you have two mobs standing side by side and want to pull only one...
how now?
If they're facing each other, you have to have range. Lots of range. The
more range, the better. Now that you have that, you can Sneak, and shoot
your bow, or throw you forged javelin, or whatever. If your sneak is
good enough, and/or the aggro characteristics are in your favor, you've
now got one mob coming your way. We're not done yet, though... you're
still sneaking. Good, keep sneaking. Once you unsneak, you've set all
the aggro ranges back to normal. Give it a sec, let the mob that's
headed your way get away from his buddy. Once he's clear, then drop
Sneak and hightail it to your group.
If they're facing away from each other, or otherwise not within each
other's line of sight, even better. So long as you're still sneaking,
mobs won't chain aggro onto mobs outside their field of vision. I've
sneakpulled two mobs shoulder-to-shoulder, facing the same way. Sneak up
behind one mob, whack it melee, run (crawl rather, still sneaking) off,
until outside of aggro range of the second mob. Unsneak, so I have a
chance of getting back to group in one piece... voila. Of course, having
range is recommended. Melee sneak-pulling is... hazardous. I do know
that many monks have learned this trick and happily use it to their
advantage.
One caveat here... pathing. Once you have sneak-pulling down, the only
problem you'll have is pathing. Each spot, pathing is different. You
must learn as you go. If a sneakpulled mob paths near or through another
mob, there's a good chance of chain-aggro. If in doubt, warn the group,
keep your sneak up as long as you can, to avoid adds.
A master sneak-puller can make single-pulling look like child's play.
Learn it, use it.
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