A Guide to Good Grouping

A full group consists of six members. In the ideal group, each member has his or her own function, and each class can serve one or more function. However, while any single group member may be able to serve more than one function, don't let that happen. Each group member has one specific role (described below) on which to concentrate. Staying in your role saves energy, and provides less of a chance for someone to become confused and endanger the group.

Most players learn how to function in groups when their characters are in the middle stages of development (teens through forties). During this time, they learn not only their role in a group, but the roles of each of the other classes. Learning these roles early will reward you richly, in much smoother group experiences, faster leveling, and more fun overall!

Group Roles And Suggested Classes

Main Tank

Often, you will hear people calling out for Tanks without knowing what their real meaning is. Not just any melee class can serve as Main Tank! Warriors are ideal Tank classes, and here is why: The role of the Tank is to take damage, not to deal it. The Tank, at its best, is a role in which the player gets the attention of all of the pulled mobs and lets them beat on him. After he has the attention of every pulled mob, he targets the first one to be taken out (choosing the strongest mob, or a caster) and all other roles must assist the Tank. In this way, mobs are killed as quickly as possible and the only person taking damage is the one who can take it. The Tank may also be the Puller, but it's not recommended. The ideal class for this role is one that can wear plate or better armor, has a Taunt skill (maxed out), and can dish out moderate damage. DOT spells cast by a Tank are also valuable in that they really put the Tank way higher on the mob's Hate List, keeping the mob focused on the Tank and not on other members of the group.

Suggested Classes: Defensive Warrior, Shadowknight, Paladin

Punisher

The Punisher is the one that lets the mob know that it made a mistake in coming after this group. After it's assured that the Main Tank has the attention of the mob, the Punisher steps in and goes toe to toe with it. The role of the Punisher is to do massive damage to the mob. He deals severe amounts of damage and, ideally, doesn't get hit very much. This is the role that usually does the pulling, because it reduces down time. If you have to wait for the Main Tank to regain most of his HP before he goes out for a pull, that's time wasted. The ideal classes for this are ones that have high evasion skills, Dual Wield, Double Attack, and low-delay weapons.

Suggested Classes: Monk, Rogue, Ranger, Offensive Warrior

Defender

It's likely that everyone has been in a group situation where a spellcaster has been jumped because of his spells. Usually the Main Tank is too busy to notice this and correct the situation until a huge mess is made (caster gets hit, screams that he needs a heal, cleric heals him, pulling the mob, etc.). This is where the Defender steps in. When a pull is made, the Defender steps in like the Punisher does, and assists in the beating of the targeted mob. The role of the Defender is to defend the casters, if one of the pulled mobs aggros on a caster. She allows the mob to beat on herself, while alerting the Main Tank of the situation. The Main Tank then steps in and reclaims the mob and the Defender returns to smacking the Main Tank's targeted mob.

The other role of the Defender is to keep an eye on spellcaster mobs (who should always be the first targets in any pull). Whenever the spellcaster begins to weave a spell, the Defender steps in and bashes the sucker. This interrupts spellcasting 90% of the time and saves everyone a headache. An Ogre Shadowknight is a perfect class for this role - they have a built-in bash, they cast mean DOTs that taunt, they have Taunt, and they do a fair amount of damage in melee combat. Paladins work fairly well here, too, in that they can heal the caster who has the mob on them, thereby aggroing the mob onto themselves and away from the caster.

Suggested Classes: Warrior, Paladin, Shadowknight, Ranger

Healer

If possible, get a Cleric for this role. Clerics have the best heals in the game, they are the most mana-efficient healers, and have the best HP and AC improving buffs. However, because it requires a certain playing style that is hard to adapt to, clerics can be hard to find, and good clerics are even harder to find. In any case, you may substitute a Shaman or Druid for this role, which can work well if you have good players in the Main Tank, Punisher and Defender roles. The main role of the Healer is is to heal the Main Tank. If the Main Tank is the only one taking majority of the damage, then the Healer is only concerned with the health of one party member, and can leave that player targeted. The only thing they need to do after that is start the heal. A healer should only heal any of the melee classes when they are at half health, for two reasons:

Any other way is mana-inefficient, and
Each time the Healer does a healing, he risks pulling the mob onto himself.

When not healing, the Healer should always be meditating. There is absolutely no reason for a Cleric to have to yell "OOM!" at any point during a pull. If a cleric finds herself to be at full mana, she should recast all buffs during the next downtime. That is a much more effective use of the Cleric's mana than nuking, or stunning. Many experienced players will disband from a group or kick out the offending cleric if they see them nuking frequently.

Suggested Classes: Cleric, Druid, Shaman

Nuker

This is another role that carries a lot of prestige, but usually it is not played very well. The role of the Nuker is to finish a fight. When a mob is at mid-to-low health, the Nuker can apply their attacks to finish the fight as quickly as possible. As mentioned above, Nukers taunt mobs very easily. To reduce the possibility of that happening, spells should be cast from a good distance behind or to the side of groups. The more distance between the Nuker and the offending mob, the less chance of it turning on the Nuker. Only nuke when the mob is at half or less health.

The other role of the Nuker is to finish off green mobs. A nuker should always save a bubble of mana in the event that a green mob is pulled (a frequent occurrance). When a green mob is brought down to approximately one-third health, it will begin to run to get help. The Nuker should step in and finish it off before it creates a catastrophe. At least half of all trains are caused by green mobs getting away, and getting friends. For example, in Unrest, a group allowed a single, low-level mob to escape with minor damage. The group assumed the green wasn't coming back, but it actually went all the way to the top of the Estate and pulled the Animated Hand, which proceeded to execute all six group members in rapid and gleeful succession.

Suggested Classes: Wizard, Necromancer, Magician, Druid, Shaman,

Utility

The Utility role is one of little action, but great importance. The role of the Utility character is to provide the group with abilities and spells that make life in a dungeon so much easier. Shaman are good for this role, as they have innumerable buffs that can be applied to the melee classes. Because of their versatility, Bards also perform well in the Utility role. They can buff the whole group, debuff the mobs, provide mana to the casters, and assist the Main Tank in melee. The Utility class is also one that should have some ability to heal. They can serve as a secondary healer in charge of the casters and last minute heals on the off chance that the Main Healer goes OOM, LD, or some other very bad thing. If the class has offensive DOTs, all the better. When full mana, they can cast these and make the life of the melee players that much easier. However, the Utility role should follow the rules set forth for the Healer and Nuker roles when performing these duties.

Suggested Classes: Druid, Shaman, Enchanter, Bard

Puller

The Puller is the only role that is permitted to be shared by someone in the group who already has a role. The Puller role is usually delegated to the Punisher, who usually has the traits desireable in a Puller. The most important trait for a good Puller is the awareness of the player. An foolish player in this role can ruin a group with a single, horrendous pull. A smart Puller knows what to pull and where. Rogues make good pullers because they can hide and sneak past both living and undead. They can survey most areas before pulling, and give a status report to the group of what's exactly plausible to come with him on his way back. Rangers above level 22 are the best outdoor-zone pullers. With the spell Harmony, you will fight nothing but singles when a Ranger pulls, and you'll only fight what you want to with the Ranger's Tracking skill. In tighter dungeons, especially indoor ones, Rangers lose their appeal as Pullers because Harmony doesn't work and Tracking is reduced to some players call "Ranger Radar." Monks and Shadow Knights make good Pullers after 17th level and 30th level, respectively, with their use of Feign Death. It takes some practice, but you can pull small groups of mobs with that skill. If all else fails, send out a Warrior. They can take a beating but they have very little control over what they pull.

Suggested Classes: Monk, Rogue, Ranger, Warrior

Crowd Controller

This is the most frustrating role for anyone to play. Very few people understand this role at lower levels, especially the other group members. The role of Crowd Controller is invaluable! At higher levels, some zones are inaccessible without a good Enchanter or Bard. Literally, if you go in without one, you will die, end of story. The duty of the Crowd Controller is to control excess mobs. Whenever possible, ditch the Defender and take a Crowd Controller, because you won't have to worry about stray mobs attacking your casters: they're all mesmerised! After the pull is made, the Bard or Enchanter mezzes every single mob that was pulled. From there, the Tank determines the priority of the kills (casters first, then the strongest to the weakest melee mobs). Everyone assists the Tank except for the Crowd Controller, who holds the mobs in mez. This is the cleanest, safest grouping strategy in existence. With a solid group and a good Crowd Controller, you will be amazed at what you can do. However, if you have a bad group, the Crowd Controller will be the first one to die, guaranteed, usually followed by the Healer.

Suggested Classes: Enchanter, Bard

Pets

People speak of pets as though they are a 7th group member. But, if not well controlled, a pet can be a headache, especially in cramped dungeons like Najena or inside the Estate of Unrest. In some situations, it's wiser not to summon a pet. The AI code for Pets is less than ideal, causing unsupervised pets to do things like break mezzes, pull additional mobs, or just to sit there doing nothing. Unless the pet's master has knows the Pet commands perfectly, and has them all hotkeyed, and uses them perfectly, the group may be better off without pets. Because of their extensive reliance on pets, Mages usually have the best pet control of all the pet-summoning classes.