How to Lead a Team

[Valdis]

I've noticed that many team leaders out there seem unaware of how to successfully run a pickup team. Many more seem unaware of what makes up a successful team. Although many of those people probably don't read these forums, I'll post what I've learned as the leader of teams and task forces (up to level 25) from the perspective of someone that's played every archetype (my main is a level 25 storm defender).

Basics:

The commands you need to know as a team leader are:

/invite (name) - this command invites the person with (name). You can also invite people with the find button on the team menu or by right clicking on them.
/sk (name) - invites a person to be a sidekick. You can also right click on them.
/findmember - not as useful for the team leader, but it allows others to access the find menu of the team section. I've found it very useful. Others cannot use the invite button, but they can relate names of people to the leader for inviting.

Leadership:

In most pickup teams I've been in, there has been a real ambivalence on what to do. This doesn't work, the group will waffle, and probably fall apart if noone moves things along. You need to suggest something; people will probably go along with anything, but you have to suggest something to start the conversation. Running missions, hunting, whatever. When you're in the mission, make sure everyone knows who to follow so you don't end up pulling multiple groups. If things are going badly, you need to make sure people understand that they need to assist one another. Whether you like it or not, as the leader, you are usually in charge. On the other hand, I've seen successful teams where someone not the leader is leading the team. That's fine too, as long as everyone knows who's calling the shots. (wouldn't it be nice if we had a change leader command?)

Keeping it moving:

If you want to keep a team going, you need to recruit. Constantly. Between every mission or every few minutes in a hazard zone, check the find menu. This is really the only way to keep the team size up. Otherwise it will attrition away as people leave. Its a constant struggle to keep enough people involved in the group. Try to keep the downtime between missions to a minimum. If you have to go AFK, at least pick the next mission so people can start heading there. A word on starting battles. Never start a battle with an AoE unless you're a tank. You will die. Maybe not the first time, but you will. I see it all the time. No archetype except a tank can survive the counterattack from the enemy (maybe some scrappers could, but their AoEs are generally small). If you have an AoE, wait to use it until after the first volley of single target attacks has gone through or the tank has aggro. If you have controllers/defenders, let them get off a few debuffs/holds before letting all hell break lose with your AoE. This will save you lots of debt.


Team Building:

Although with pickup groups you often can't pick and choose what you want (with tf groups its more important), you can try to aim for a successful group. Be sure to travel to other zones to look for people if you're still short of the number you're aiming for. First off, you don't need a full time healer. No, you don't. Really. Some of my best teams have had no healer and some of the worst have had 3. What you need is diversity. I had a team with 7 blasters and 1 empath once. We were horrible. Absolutely terrible, people died all over the place. Some guiding points for teams with 6+ people.

- You need meleers. Two scrappers work well, or a single tank. If you can't find meleers you'll need 3-4 controllers/defenders to keep the enemies debuffed and held.
- You need one blaster or two scrappers at least. Ever seen a team of 6 without any damage dealers? Too slow, the controllers could probably solo faster.
- Multiples are not good in some cases. Two of the same blaster, scrapper, or tank is ok. Two of the same controller or defender is less so. Having two different controllers or defenders is much more powerful than two of the same kind. Its really a huge difference.
- If someone mentions a friend online, grab them. Why? There are several reasons. The two friends probably will work well together since they know one another's abilities. Also, the person has friends, so the likelyhood they are a well adjusted human is better. And of course, it'll make your teammate happy, which is always good.
- Sidekicks are underrated. You can safely sidekick someone up to 10 levels lower than you. Below that is a bit problematic because it means they have far fewer enhancements and powers. When recruiting a sk, you should tell the person that before inviting them so they don't look around and say, "I think I'm in the wrong group".
- You should sidekick people who take damage first. This means blasters that are aggro-magnets first, then scrappers, then tanks, then whoever else. Its unnecessary to sk people three levels lower (especially with the purple patch fixed) unless the team is having a very hard time.
- A team should probably be all within 4 levels (after sking).

In smaller teams, its easier to make a team. With 4 or less, you can get away with just about any combination and do just fine. Also, if your team is a mismatch and not very effective, you're better going to hazard zones where the number of mobs is limited than trying missions (where the number of mobs scales with team size).


Managing Missions:

As leader, your main job (after recruiting) is managing the missions. First, you select missions from the team mission screen. If you click on the mission, without hitting select task, the mission icon will appear on your nav bar if the mission is in the same zone as you. This will save you having to continually hit select mission while looking for one in the zone you are in. Also, if you select a different mission after you have entered and left a mission, then reselected the current mission, the mission will be reset. It will be readjusted for the current number of people on the team, and all the mobs will be restored (i.e. you will have to restart the mission). This can be useful to lower the difficulty after people quit, or to raise the difficulty after people join. Also, if everyone alive leaves the mission (leaving only dead people), the mission will sometimes reset. I'm not sure about the specifics of this, its been erratic in my experience. Also note, that if you have started an instanced mission, and the person who holds the mission quits, you can complete the mission normally.

The level of a mission will depend on the level the mission holder was when he got the mission and the team size. The enemies in a normal mission will be either the mission level, or if the team has 5+ people, the enemies will be the mission level+1. If the mission is front loaded, the enemies at the front will be 1 level higher than normal, and drop off to up to 8 levels lower than the mission level. Given all this, it seems to be ideal to pick missions of people within 0-2 levels of the highest level person in the group, assuming the whole group fits within a 4 level span after sking. If most of the team is lower or uncoordinated, pick a lower level person's mission. Sidekick's missions will always be too easy for the group.


Are you ready to lead a team?

The things you need to lead a team are:
- A stable connection (an unstable leader is a bad thing).
- A good command of English (or whatever language the team is speaking, I've only been in one non-English team, a group of French people who were very nice to use English for me).
-The ability to type well. This can be underrated, but its really needed.
-Patience.


Good luck out there, hope to join your team some time. Add your comments if you feel something is missing (or plain wrong). Anyone adding high level post-25 content would be appreciated.

[PunkRolex]

Just to add/amplify a few things:

It's a VERY good idea to ask the defenders and controllers coming on your team if they have an abilities that need to be explained to the group. Sometimes it's surprising what other players don't know.

Designate someone to call "Run" and someone else to pick initial targets. Three Blasters sniping three different Tsoo Sorcerors aren't doing your group any favors. Along those lines, make sure your teammates know how to assist others (target a teammate and your powers hit his/her target). I'm regularly shocked when I do a TF and find blasters and support types who don't know about that.

Sometimes a leader is a leader in and out of combat. Sometimes the leader is out-of-combat only. In any case, it's a good idea to have someone calling tactics. Tactics are frequently the difference between a very easy and a very, very hard mission.

Ideas for Discussion:
Use cover for most of your team while pulling vs. general participation in the initial moments of a fight
Lead with Pull vs. Rush vs. AoE Blast/Mez
Having Blasters hold back AoEs, or having blasters lead with them (usually that's dumb but it makes clumps for greens die quickly).
Getting everyone to follow a melee-type (if a tank or scrapper accidently wanders into a fight, he's more likely to survive it)
Staying close for buffs/heals vs. spreading out to protect from AoEs and being surrounded
Combat rezzing or not?
Recall friend when teammates are badly hurt or not?
Are there going to be an (de)buff/heal priorities?

Obviously not all of those things will come up.

It's also important to establish some kind of order WRT to training/selling/visiting contacts. I try to set break times and make them clear: Every second or third mission I give my teammates 10 minutes to do those things. I hate being in a group with a 10 minute break between EACH mission because one guy needs to sell now and another guy needs to train later and someone else...

As a combat leader it's also your responsibility to notice when endurance breaks are needed. This especially important for leaders with END efficient builds! Nothing worse than having the guy in charge dart ahead while the rest of the team staggers behind, running on fumes. Happens WAY too often.

[Ex_Libris]

Awesome guiide with some great info! Thanks. :)

[Spymaster]

I wonder if it would be worthwhile to write up the:
"HeroCorps standardized Playbook"

It would be a list of all the "calls" to issue standard "orders"

eg:

"Alpha Strike " = tank rush in and grab aggro. Everyone else follow in.

"Ambush" = everyone get behind a corner or hide while the blaster pulls with a single target attack. Blaster then hides as well.

"Echelon formation" = everyone stay very close to the defender to get those good buffs and heals in combat. No running forward.

"7/10 split" = Two controllers in group. "Left" designated controller mezzes or holds the left side, "Right" controller messes of holds the right side (so they're not wasting effort on same targets). Melees and blasters concentrate on middle targets first.

----

Be cool to have a standardized playbook, then email it (ingame) to everyone I team with.

Hopefully a good playbook would catch on and get wide distribution.

[Decker122]

Excellent basic MMO team guide and a great customized guide for CoH. My only addition to the leader part of the guide would be:

Recognize when someone isn't a team player and needs to be kicked from the group, regardless of his level or abilities. You can usually tell this on a few conversation lines or the first couple of battles. Scrappers who constantly ignore orders and charge head into battle, Blasters who use AOEs without regard for the group, or Healers who are lagged out or can't follow with the group fast enough are all group members which should be politely avoided and/or discarded. Having a half-***** team member - for whatever reason - will usually bring the whole group down and should be replaced as soon as possible. Fight some greens and blues, and then issue a few private polls using /tell to make sure everyone thinks roughly the same way before you have a mass group exodus.

Do not be discouraged if you have to lay down the hammer and your SC TF group dissolves early or your newbie Perez group never takes off. It's always better to wait 5 or 10 minutes and reform with potentially better recruits than die a few times and spend hours re-earning debt. If you sense a teammate or two not working out in the first couple of battles, ask him to shape up or boot him manually. If it's a key member such as a tank or a healer then you're better off without him and better off waiting for a better replacement.

A good group leader will scold but not bully, he'll nudge but not mock, and he'll kick instead of wasting time with some big argument. This leader will desingate a Main Assist when possible, instruct support troops such as healers and blasters what do target, and make sure nobody attacks whatever is rooted.

This leader will also figure out the map, know where to hunt, and know the skills of a certain type of Boss, and know whether the CC'er is too low of a level to be of use.

[Ex_Libris]

I have only a few peevs when teaming.

1) people who don't understand end:
If everyone but that player is on low end and he runs off to draw some aggro... *argh

2) the horny blaster:
thinks, "well i've got a big gun and lots of end, I'm just going to run off and pull some reds.." also, see above

3) the thinker:
spends minutes before realising that the whole team have got into a fight, spends another minute deciding what to attack.. spends a few minutes waiting for everyone to run back from the hospital.

4) the "you're not the boss of me!":
takes no orders/recommendations, often gets killed. Leaves team soon afterwards. I'm not sure why but blasters seem to fall into this category a lot....

Hon

[Valdis]

Thanks for the comments. I like your idea Fjorn, that could be a big help if you can get people to pay attention to it. It might be a bit more than most pickup teams would put up with. For an organized group or a task force, that would be nice though.

As for kicking people, I really try to avoid that. As long as things are running smoothly, its probably better to let it slide, just to keep everyone happy. Only if its causing problems do I kick someone. I had one guy, a blaster, in a group in Faultline. The rest of the group would take on some clockworks. He would run behind us and aggro a separate group and pull them to us. He would (of course) die, wasting much of my healing end, and we'd be stuck fighting 2 groups. After 3 times doing this (and warnings not to), the team leader kicked him.

I realized I left one thing out. What do I mean by a successful group. It does not necessarily mean that its the optimum for fastest xp (I have little experience with that), but rather the optimum for having noone die while moving along at a nice pace and everyone having fun. If people die a lot, the team generally gets frustrated (for obvious reasons). With teams following the guidelines I have up there, everyone has ended with no, or at least less, debt.

[DragonMage]

This was very helpful, before reading this I thought I was helping when I used my most powerful AOE as the first attack to weaken the entire mob. Heh!

[NightKnight]

All of the ideas above are great. One thing that I would like to add is some advise for those that are NOT the leader, but are merely members.

Please peeps, if you happen to get into a team where success isn't instant, or you whipe on the first pull....don't just quit the team imediately after death. The least you could do is say something before leaving, and preferably something more than "I gotta go" and quit within seconds. It's a bit frustrating when you finally get a team together and one bad pull causes a breakup. Try to give it another shot cause maybe it was just a mistake or the team just pulled mobs a bit too powerful for them. Instead of just quitting on the team, suggest what you think could avoid the whipe, or at least why you think it happened. Communicate and try to give the team at least a second chance.

I find that usually those that quit in these situations are either the person that is a novice and is scared away at the red/purple mobs.....or it is the one who is 2 levels above everyone else and thinks he/she is too good for the rest of the team.

But just leaving the Team without even explaining why is just immature! :mad:

I'm not saying you don't have a right to leave a group if you feel it isn't great...or even if you feel it sux. But give the rest the common courtesy of explaining what you are doing and why. Who knows? Maybe you were the cause of the bad pull, or maybe it was me. But whatever it is, working it out can benefit alot more than just ducking out!

---------------------------

I may be a newb at CoH, but I have been playing MMORPG's for years!
Savyor - 14 Fire/Dev Blaster
Intel Inside - 11 Kinetics/Energy Defender

[PunkRolex]

[ QUOTE ]
This was very helpful, before reading this I thought I was helping when I used my most powerful AOE as the first attack to weaken the entire mob. Heh!

[/ QUOTE ]

I love my blasters, but your most powerful AoE isn't going to drop big groups of even-con mobs fast enough for all of them NOT to at least get a shot or two off at you before a Tank gets into position to draw their aggro.

The script goes something like this:
1. Blaster lets off a fireball to start a fight. Maybe six mobs get wounded.
2. Six mobs return fire at the blaster as Tanks and Scraps run in front of him.
3. Blaster goes yellow (or worse) more or less immediately, and spends the rest of the fight getting attacked by every unengaged mob damaged by even a sliver of his fireball.
4. As a result, healer spends the whole fight using single target heals on a blaster, rather than the tanks and scraps who really need them.

If it makes you feel any better, Controllers with AoE mezzes and roots have the same problem.

[Valdis]

Yes, and defender AoEs can do the same thing. Early with my storm defender I used snowstorm on a group of yellows. I was on the ground before the healer could throw out a single power.

[this_mortal_coil]

The super hero rule books is a capital idea. We have been working (not too diligently) on team tactics lately (G.A.I.A on Infinity). The most effective is to let someone with a taunt power pull one baddie at a time to where the team is hiding. (A tanker, scrapper and Blaster handled a few missions this way with no healer). As a blaster, I have learned that whenever I try to Pull the entire mob charges in. This is never a good thing.
This may go without saying, but whatever the leader's tactics are, I reccomend Binding the commands. Saves typing time.

Maybe soon we can impliment the fastball special. Tanker throughs scrapper into the fight. could be fun.

[Spymaster]

[ QUOTE ]
The super hero rule books is a capital idea. We have been working (not too diligently) on team tactics lately (G.A.I.A on Infinity).

[/ QUOTE ]

So where do we find your playbook?

[SinisterStairs]

I think the AoEs have been underrated here: Generally speaking, it's a quick trip to the hospital for blasters who recklessly open fights with AoEs. But know who your teammates are and what their abilities bring to the table, and your AoEs will be pain free and really mop up foes quickly.

Starting at the mid-levels (22+) Controllers can routinely lock down entire mobs at a time (hold), and in those teamups, your purpose of existence is to hose down mobs with AoEs. Likewise if you're paired up with a good FF defender, 95% of any retaliation will miss, so AoEs to open a fight can be a thing of beauty. Paired up with Dark and Radiation defenders also provide ample opportunities for wholesale AoE slaughter. Of course, there's the standard provoke tanker/scrapper as well, who clumps all the foes nicely for you and preemps the aggro. AoE away!

So rather than say, don't open fights with AoEs, it's best to say: Learn under which circumstances your teammates will worship you for melting mobs away with AoEs; and know when to wait and pick your opportunities for AoEs, and thus avoid hospital tabs.

Sorry for the digression, I guess I've sidetracked this towards "how to be a smart AoE blaster" rather than leading teams.

----

To bring this back to topic, moving a team along is absolutely key as a team leader, as mentioned above. The surest sign to me that a pickup team is going to be lame and not worth my time, is when I join up and the response to "so what's the plan?" is either "I have a lot of debt" or "what do you guys want to do?" These teams have no leadership, and everyone will invariably end up standing around, attack different mobs at the same time, run off in separate directions, etc. or -- and this is what you should do too -- break up because everyone is bored.

If you're running missions for the xp, select the missions of the highest level teammates. Unless they've got outdated missions (defenders and controllers tend to have old ones), you'll get the highest level foes and thus most xp from those missions. But if you really wanna make a defender or controller's day, select their missions to knock em off their list. Also look for teammates with multiple hunt missions. If 3 different teammates all have the same "hunt X", it's really efficient to do them at once and make everyone happy.

My rule of thumb is this: If someone is significantly higher in level than the others, always run their missions first. If there are multiple missions in the same zone, do those to minimalize travel/down time. If people are within reasonable level of one another, cycle through each teammate's missions; i.e. spread the love. The exception for me is if someone's mission turns into a story arc -- it's fun to follow those to the end, and they'll appreciate the help.

If your team is going well and everyone is having fun and enjoying teaming with one another, knock off the lower level players' missions, even if they're not worth much xp. If the team is vibing well, no one will mind doing this, and makes the mission "owner" ecstatic, especially if it's a defender or controller mission.

A team slows down when people are leaving in the middle to go train/sell. (Btw, a sure sign someone is a newbie, is when they have to go train immediately on a level up, and can't wait for a break or for the rest of the team to ding.) For those kinds of players, when they cannot resist the urge to train/sell, I politely let them know, Ok, I'll look for a replacement, page me when you're ready to rejoin. (Good players know they can hold before training/selling, and the ones who can't hold typically aren't good players, so they are worth replacing. But having said that, just because I say that, doesn't mean I will necessarily kick/replace them. But it's good to put on the table so they know it's a possibility.)

What I like to do is let people know ahead of time, don't train/sell, we'll do it as a team. I guess a way to describe this is, manage and designate downtime for people to hit contacts, sell enhancements, train, etc. It's better for the entire team to break at once, rather than individuals randomly leaving in between fights to take care of personal business.

Anyways, yeah, just to restate what someone else already posted, keep a team moving. Or put most succinctly: LEAD! If someone on your team shows more experience towards the game, don't be afraid to allow them to lead. But make it clear to the team, "Ok, we're going to follow player X."

[SinisterStairs]

Some more notes:

There's different types of leaders too. There's the "keep things together" leader (i.e. the game-designated leader) who recruits and selects missions.

There are "follow me" leaders, that the teammates follow. This should be the person with the most experience in a given zone, or the "first into battle" teammate for door missions, or perhaps someone with invisibility/stealth/SS.

There is the "tactical leader" who designates what mob is being engaged, which foes need to be eliminated/neutralized first, etc. Often that person will also be the "combat leader" who initiates fights, but not always so. (E.g. the tactical leader says, this mob and take out X. But it may be the cloaked blaster who leads off with a time bomb, or a lockdown controller who AoE holds the entire mob, or the provoke tanker, etc.)

All these different lead roles may or may not be the same person, but make it clear to the team who is leading under those kinds of circumstances.

It really throws a team into disarray if four different players are all shouting "here", or people are randomly blasting to start a fight or conversely, people are standing around waiting for someone to start a fight.

[Ex_Libris]

Good guide. One thing to note though is that there are exceptions to just about every rule. One notable one that annoys me sometimes is when a person continually plays what they consider their "role" (and it usually is their role) even when a certain situation would be better tackled another way. A classic example from my experiences is the tanker who will constantly draw initial agro even when it might be better using non-traditional tactics. For example, my blaster is certainly a lot better off waiting for a tank to agro in most circumstances, but there is the occasion where we'll encounter a very tightly-packed group of low-cons that I could take down in 1 or 2 fast AoE shots (especially if I'm willing to eat some damage inspirations), saving us a potentially messy fight. But, I've encountered a few tanks who just won't allow this. "Hey, wait, let me flame this group first", "I'm tank, I lead", etc. Sometimes even after demonstrating that this tactic does work when I "call" it (i.e. find a group of mobs it'll work on and say so), some tankers will just flat out ignore it, since they see leading into all fights as "their job" and something they won't let another AT do.

Of course this can go for a lot of other situations too, like controllers leading with AoE holds, defenders leading with debuffs, etc. Maybe in the vast majority of cases it's better to do things a certain way and to follow your AT's most effective "role", but I also think it's important for groups to be willing to adopt atypical tactics, especially if they've already been demonstrated to be effective. Of course, you don't want to risk your whole group's life because your defender thinks he can melee a purple boss, but if it looks like a person knows what theyre doing and attempting it would be relatively safe, it's a good idea to keep an open mind when it comes to adopting different tactics.

[DogEared]

Good work here.

A pet peeve of mine is the "gotta train now" players.
I still abide by 3 strikes and your out, but leaving a group to train is 2 strikes on its own. Really.
I really hope this stops once I hit the 30's.

Also, it is up to the defenders and controllers to speak up about special powers.
A good leader *should* ask, but letting people know about special holds or auras (targeted heals, etc.) is up to the player.
I know I don't always explain what "the juice" is ahead of time. And I really feel bad for mind controllers.

I try to give the team a choice : this mission or that mission, this mission or hunting. Always "A or B" not multiple choice.
Usually it's either tackling the highest level mission that the controllers can reasonably handle or hunt hazard zones.
I don't have to be pushy. ;)

It would be great to come up with a glossary (lingo guide).
My MMOG experience is limited to the first month of Ultima Online, so the "leet"Q'ers leave me dazed and confused at times. :)

[Annihilatorr]

Nice guide, but since you pointed it out...

[ QUOTE ]
-The ability to type well. This can be underrated, but its really needed.

[/ QUOTE ]

"it's" in that context :cool:

[Ex_Libris]

[ QUOTE ]
4) the "you're not the boss of me!":
takes no orders/recommendations, often gets killed. Leaves team soon afterwards. I'm not sure why but blasters seem to fall into this category a lot....

[/ QUOTE ]

this is great! I've found a few scrappers that fall into this catagory and last night a healer [censored] that left when she led the attack to KS 2 people duoing when i said NOT to attack cuz it was another groups.

Grouping basics:

When u see another group killing mobs in your path...just go past them. They don't want your help unless they ask for it. Why be a stupid newb asswipe KS'er? ...and i mean that in a good way. All u do is steal some of their experience and people hate that. :p

I make groups of the same lvl most of the time. sometimes one lvl lower or higher but exp gets low when u do it. TF are a bit different. When u need people u have a limited choice and u have to go with whoever is out there.

Other good grouping basics are for people to stay close together while fighting. I hate when everyone gets all spread out. Group heals and other buffs mainly from kinetics, are lost when people don't fight in a tight group.

here are a few group commands i always use.

1. Everyone has to know what to attack and who to assist on bosses. I'd like everyone to assist me on all mobs when i play a tank but it never works out 100%. Different tactics and AE strats, means that different combos work not just the assist the tank always EQ strat....however it is nice when i play with people who do it when not AEing. I love it when scrappers assist me when i play a tank cuz i hold agro with taunt and they just open a can of whoop azz on whatever we are fighting. Mobs die so fast and i take little damage and the scrapper doesn't get a scratch while DPSing the shizzle out of things! So i don't know why people get confused with a scrapper's role in a group. They are great damage dealers and they don't always HAVE TO TAKE ON their own mobs separate from the tank. However if they are pulling mobs off of the weak members it's all good. A good tank will hold agro for the scrapper though. As in my case I provoke to pull mobs off of anyone that gets agro...be it blasters or healers. Provoke is awesome and not just to save newbie a$$es....wow, big sidetrack! -Anyways back to commands!

Attack > $target < (target me and assist)


2. Everyone needs to know when to hold up and recover end.

> END Break < (yes even u!)


3. Everyone needs to know when the group is moving.

MOVING >> follow me plz <<


4. for pulling a good message is.

HOLD HERE >> Pulling a $target << to us!


Those are just some basic messages a leader should have. I normally bind them to the numpad but u can use whatever trigger that suits u.

here's a basic bind and macro command format.

/bind numpad1 "team <color tags> <message>"
/macro <name of macro> "team <color tags> <message>"

check out the bind threads for all the bind and macro info.

later,

~viseo

[Ex_Libris]

I just wish they would add a command to pass leadership to someone else. I know you can just quit and join again, but in pickup groups... well... sometimes I just don't trust the guy next in line. :eek: Still... this guide will help a lot.

[Fire_n_Ice]

I think one thing should be added to the list of leading a team. If someone does not have their "Seek Team" toggled, DO NOT invite them to be on a team without asking. Nothing aggro's me more than to be bombarded with invites when i was trying to solo. Not everyone wants to be on a team all the time.

Just my $.02

[Sharkticon]

Great guide. I wish all players would read this. I've been the victim of bad leadership on too many ocassions.

You can't beat an overwhelming number of higher level enemies with a low level team.

I should macro that phrase because I've had to type it all too often the past few days.

[Ex_Libris]

May I add one thing. It was mentioned earlier in the guide about controllers & defenders trying to explain their powers. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! I play both a controller and a defender and there are many many times when I have been in a team were everyone got killed simply because I would put a whole group to sleep and then someone would hit the group right after me with an area attack (usually that only drains the whole group for 5 life). And this is after explaining that once you hit the enemy they will wake up. I'm sure a lot of mind controllers are nodding their heads now ;)

Anyway now that I am done with my little rant. Here is a little suggestions to the controllers/defenders out there. Usually it helps to do a /bind command that informs your whole team of your powers (rememeber to do this when everyone is just standing around playing with emotes before they start the mission).

-Here is a quick example /bind p "team Keep in mind that I am a mind-radiation controller and many of my attacks are sleep holds. If you hit an enemy while he is sleeping, he will wake up and go all aggro. This includes area attaks when I stun a group"
Now I just jotted that off the top of my head so I'm sure that someone can come up with something a little better. Having a single key that you can hit upon a team invite should hopefully help with getting a better understanding of everyones powers. There are a lot of diverse characters in this game and the better everyone understands everyone elses powers, the better off the team will be!

-Lost Paladin & XA-3 (Liberty Server)

[Bonney]

I play a scrapper, and had the good luck to be invited into a 4 scrapper team once. Everyone had to carry a few awakens, but it changed gameplay completely.

Ever since then whenever I join a team I let the Def/Cons know I fully expect to eat some floor, and will not repay a rez with the gracious refrain "Where the F was my heal !!?"

This usually gets a "lol - I hate that" and a few friendly pointers about whether they have AoE or targeted heals, etc... Much better to find that out before I'm face down.

Point is: you've paid $15 to play with other people. Teams are the most fun if you talk to them.

Bonney lvl 18 Scrapper

[Geckowallcrawler]

This all good info

My first post was about leadership. Sadly it has been deleted. And I agree - too few people read these forums to get the message out there.

The group is the responsibility of all the team members - if your leader is not up to scratch - you have to tell them too.

[Valdis]

Thanks for all the comments. While playing today it occurred to me; expect the first few battles with a new team to go poorly. Especially at low levels. It takes some time to get adjusted to your team, everyone has to learn how one another's powers work. At higher levels you have a bit more flexibility to adapt to a situation (and people know how most of the powers work), but at low levels you can't really do that. Today I had 2 people in my group die in the first encounter. Second encounter we had a couple close calls. After that noone went below 50% health. So don't get frustrated after just one try.

[Ex_Libris]

Great post, with a lot of good info.

I wanted to point out something I've noticed playing my blaster, however. Assist isn't as important as it was in EQ. Most minions, especially yellow or below, die with just a few attacks. So if it's a big mob of minions your group is taking down, assisting somebody is going to WAY overkill the poor mobs. I try to pick out of the way mobs that I know other's aren't attacking because they're out of line of sight or whatever, and get them. Yes, overkill is expected, but shouldn't be encouraged by insisting on Assist.

On the other hand, it is invaluable when taking down those big bosses, especially when there are more than one. It's inefficient when your team is split up, attacking 2 or more at the same time. Drop one quick so he stops hurting your team.

Ok, just my 2 cents.

Gnarly

[Bloodrock]

Very good point, Gnarly. I'm a young-adult tank (lvl 21), and get plagued with overkill quite frequently... since I can't change targets and attack them as quickly as everyone else can (no range, sprint off so I can save end), I typically keep the big damage-dealing mobs (bosses, Lt's) occupied to keep the majority of the damage off the team. A good tanker will ignore the urge to be "everywhere at once" and take his beating like a man, and a bad tanker will hop from minion to minion and complain about the blasters getting credit for the kill. I don't know how many times I've been playing my blaster and watched the tank hop around and fight the minions while the boss walked to each one of us and flung us around like rag dolls.

Once the minions are dealt with, then the team can converge on the tougher mobs that the tanker couldn't take out because of his medium damage ability. Even if a tanker isn't able to do much damage to a boss or archvillian, he should have enough accuracy enhancements on his taunts (a good one will have 2 taunt powers before lvl 20, single target and AE) to keep the attention of any mob up to 5 levels his senior.

Do that at the very least, and there won't be a group unhappy with the way you play... well, won't be as many at least.

[Valdis]

Good points. Assist is useful mainly when fighting those orange and higher, especially bosses or higher level lieutenants. There are two reasons to assist though. The obvious one is that you drop the target quicker, but the equally important one is that it prevents blasters from accumulating too much aggro. Usually its smart to have blasters assisting a tank since the tank will almost always generate more aggro than the blaster. I learned (very painfully), however, that scrappers are a very poor substitute in this respect. Teaming with a scrapper, he was unable to out-aggro my storm defender. Generally, if your team is killing quickly, don't bother assisting, but if you're having a really rough time, assist can really help things move along a little faster (and safer).

I'll have to put out the 1.1 manual soon at this rate.

[Straylight]

There is one thing that I have always had an issue with in the leadership column, and that is that when you become the default leader simply because you are next in line. I don't mind being a leader, and when I create a group myself, I am fully prepared to fill the role and act accordingly, but some days I really just like to be the 'little scrapper that could' and follow the team to the next group of baddies.

This happened to me last night and I asked the group if someone else would please lead or at least take point, because I was kind of tired and really just trying to level up (we all have those days) which is not to say that I wasn't willing to support my team, I just didn't want the job of conning everything and typing out long decisions (when I am tired my typing starts to look like me was Englished very goodly if you know what I mean).

Anyway, long story short, yes I led, and we had no deaths, but there was no joy in it.

My long and drawn out point is, If you want to be a leader and you are in a group suggest that you would like to take the role for a try, I guarantee that unless you are completely spastic someone will give you the oppurtunity to prove your mettle.

[Target_0]

Aw, come on people!

[ QUOTE ]
Also, the person has friends, so the likelyhood they are a well adjusted human is better.

[/ QUOTE ]

That was PURE GOLD! LOL :D

[Xaldin_Darkfang]

[ QUOTE ]
I love my blasters, but your most powerful AoE isn't going to drop big groups of even-con mobs fast enough for all of them NOT to at least get a shot or two off at you before a

[/ QUOTE ]

Not true all the time actually. 30+ can definitely take out group of whites instantly before they can respond. Yellows a couple will get to counter but not all. Oranges get a full round of ranged before they all die. Group of reds the blaster on average (depends on the mob) needs a good targeted heal after the inital barrage or they'll die in the second wave of attacks however with the heal they can kill the remaining mobs next wave if they are patched up. Its high hp (or resistant) reds and purple that it's an issue.

Mind you only some ARs and Fire have the aoe's to do this sort of thing with. You have to craft the tactics around what kind of blaster you have, not all blasters play the same. While damage doing is their role and purpose in life how they do it varies just like defender's vary in how they help the group.

[Trauma74]

Excellent post for sure, just want to highlight a few ideas as well:

1) You hit it right on the head about being patient with some close calls/deaths right off the bat, I have been in MANY teams since mid-beta and have had that happen many times to move on and find the group do so awesome at the end of the night everyone is saying "Sweet job! What a great group!" forgetting that we looked pretty sad the first couple tries. So be patient and be brave! We're heroes remember!

2) I like to lead a lot just because I'm an impatient person in RL :eek: and found that many ppl also just want to get some good 'ol exp and action and not always terribly interested in hearing about how someone's day went. So I find that if I'm not sure who's mission is best to do next, if I can JUST KEEP THE GROUP MOVING, we do much better as a whole. So just keep everyone focused and most will be happy.

Anyway, have fun!

[Valdis]

Since this is now listed in the guide to guides, I'll update it soon, but I wanted to say for now that /findmember appears to no longer work. However, the addition of the /makeleader command is a huge help.

[Arcas_NA]

Valdis, I posted a guide to the new team seek window a few days ago, and I too mentioned my displeasure at /findmember going error.

Luckily, a helpful fellow hero quickly jumped in to tell me that /search is the new command. :)

[KINGBRAT]

Great guide! I was going to write one on this same subject myself, but you have done a better job than I could have. I would like to mention a few things that have helped me in the past while leading teams though -

1 - I cant stress enough the importance of recruiting a balanced team. I try to recruit within two levels of myself up or down. I also attempt to find one of each archetype. This may not be completely necesary, but it has never hurt me. Besides I feel bad for Tanks, so I like to make sure I always have at least one.

2 - If you find that you are leading teams more than you are joining, then I would suggest rolling up a toon for the sole purpose of leading. I rolled up a Kin/Rad Defender. Not only am I a buff machine, but everytime I hit with a RAD power, I'm taking down an enemy's defense. Add leadership abilities to this and you are going to be a huge asset to your team.

3 - Keep moving! Not only should you have a plan before you begin recruiting, you have got to keep your team moving. I personaly feel as if it is easier to keep a team moving if you are just hunting instead of doing door missions, but thats just my personal taste. The main reason to keep a team moving though is so that it stays together. Once your team is split up or standing still it will quickly begin to dissolve.

[Icebyte]

[ QUOTE ]
3 - Keep moving! Not only should you have a plan before you begin recruiting, you have got to keep your team moving. I personaly feel as if it is easier to keep a team moving if you are just hunting instead of doing door missions, but thats just my personal taste. The main reason to keep a team moving though is so that it stays together. Once your team is split up or standing still it will quickly begin to dissolve.

[/ QUOTE ]

Isn't that they trueth, the ever popular "I gotta go" bug will begin to spread.. and it spreads faster than ebola.


Very nice thread here.. I wish more people would read it and follow it.. I my self and an order junkie (order as in no chaos). There are some good ideas here.

[Whataguy]

The thread is old but remains true. Rule/game changes don't change the fundamentals of leadership.

I enjoy being the leader, and it's easiest to do it as the tanker. By managing aggro and leading into battle, you can seamlessly merge "team" leadership with "tactical" leadership. My Stone/SS tanker is great fun and since I'm not always spamming attacks/buffs/etc. I'm usually able to "quarterback" the team.

Leading takes a light touch. I find a sense of humor goes a long way, especially when times are tough. Success is also good for the team. I've changed missions for the team simply to get some "wins" under our belt and learn how we operate, even if the mission was not optimal xp-wise. Once you've succeeded together, the tough times are easier.

RE: playcalling, I try to limit it to picking which group of mobs to go after or identifying specific targets (quantums, etc.). There's a fine line between good playcalling and bossing around your team.

Tanking as the leader has the added bonus of being the "fulcrum" of the group ... and so the defenders will pay attention to your health bar. I'm amazed at how well they keep me "topped off" when I'm leader.

As far as team composition, my ideal team of 8 would be:

Me -- Tanker
Scrapper or Blapper
Empathy Defender
Kinetic Defender
Force Field Defender
Controller (any)
Blaster/Kheldian
Blaster/Kheldian

That team is defender heavy, but with all the buffs, aggro management and holds the blasters/khelds will be in heaven. Having both FF and Empathy allows the defenders to be more offensive during play.

I find two tankers to be unnecessary -- the team would be better off with a different AT.

[Icegrap]

Old but good thread. I have lead many teams, some of them have been bad, some of them have been much worse, but many have been great.

Here are some tips:
1. Team should have fun. This is not army, you are not general. Sometimes big chaotic fight is good for team spirit.

2. Learn patience, stay calm, be fair, be merciful, stay logical and stay firm. Leading MMORPG team is one of most stressful things that you can do. You have allkind immature kids, morons, power players, casual players, geeks, sexy females, drooling guys and people playing from diffent kind countries and cultures, mixed to chaotic team that is trying to have fun.

3. Communicate. Discuss, tell jokes and plan what is team going to do next.

4. When team is about to starting its first mission or new player has joined to team, go through rules/guidelines:
- No scouting, unless asked. There is definately need for scouting in some missions, but scout who is running around 3 floor when team is fighting in first floor is not helpful.
- If there is tanker, then he is allways going frontman and others are following. If there is no tank, then the team leader assigns frontman.
- Frontman decides which group to attack first and what is tactic: charge, pull or herding.
- When groups are packed, one group is pulled nearer to team. Team should avoid contact with other groups.
- All players should avoid extra agro from other groups, when team is fighting against another group.
- Players that are misbehaving, arguing and/or constantantly breaking of rules are kicked out from team after warning or instantly. If two players argue with each other, then both are kicked out from team.

5. If someone is breaking rules, explain rules again and give them warning. Sending private tells for bad players is also pretty effective. However, there are also situations when you should forgive mistakes (we are humans after all - and we should have fun). There are also extreme situations when you need to kick players out from your team without warning. You are dictator in your team - break your own rules when needed. It is YOUR team.

6. KICK players. Learn to use kick - don't afraid to kick bad players from your team. It is your responsibility to kick bad players.

7. Don't create full 8 player blaster/scrapper teams. They need at least 2-3 defender/controller. Smaller size teams 2-4 are normally allways working. Use sidekicks, but remember that hazard zones have level requirements. Also try avoid teams where all potential mentors have sidekick (when mentor leaves, your team is forced to stop, because you need to find new mentor).

8. Try to find instantly or just after missions, replacements for players who have been kicked or left.

9. Keep team running. Don't wait forever some player who is in another zone. Most of players don't have patience to stand outside missions and do nothing. Maximize time used in action, minimize time used to travelling, waiting and planning.

10. Don't select too hard missions. They are either too slow or your team is dying too many times. Normally best missions are 3 levels above your team average level. Start from easy missions and move toward harder missions, if they are too easy.

[Seyda]

One thing I've noticed that often needs to be explained at lower levels is what a void/quantum is and why they should be taken out first. Of course this is only really applicable when there's a PB or WS on the team, but they do considerable hurt to other ATs also.

Many new players are unaware of what quantums/voids are and how much they can damage a PB or a WS.

[wackodraco]

Never forget the all-important
"Don't be a dumbace" clause.
That one gets lots of people.

[Dark_Psychosis]

I would also like to add that it is OK for the leader to relenquish his role (temporarily or permanently) if the situation calls for it. If someone is more comfortable leading a group and you see that, take queues from them.

Also it is important for all leaders to understand that there are no bad ideas (when communicating to team members) only other ideas. If a (insert AT) asks "hey why don't i fireball the ruin mage?" Don't just say how bad their idea is, suggest an alternative instead.

With that said... keep plans simple. Complex plans that involve pincer manuevers and a bombing run, while circling the target group won't do anything but encourage everyone to spread out.

(Just to note... I've been on teams where plans like this were suggested and the team actually tried to do it. Boy were we all dead when everything was aggro'd.)

[Altoholic_Monkey]

There are shorter shortcuts commands:

/search -- brings up the search window/find window (anyone a team can use the /search command to find other teammates.

/i playername -- invites someone to a team

[Houk]

[ QUOTE ]
One thing I've noticed that often needs to be explained at lower levels is what a void/quantum is and why they should be taken out first. Of course this is only really applicable when there's a PB or WS on the team, but they do considerable hurt to other ATs also.

Many new players are unaware of what quantums/voids are and how much they can damage a PB or a WS.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well then, this is definitely the place to explain that.

[Emerald_Star]

I tend to disagree with the people who don't allow leveling between missions. Granted, it delays the start of the next mission depending on how far they have to go and how fast they travel (if you need to leave the zone to level up, don't do it!) There is usually someone in the group who can TP them back. Picking up a new power it is often worth it. At odd levels, where you just get slots, definitely wait until Yoko breaks up the band. In rare (and wonderful) occasions, you're on a great team and level up twice. Is it really so unreasonable to let them take care of business and hurry back?

As for leader ettiquette, my pet peeve is the leader who passes you the star, tells you to find people and then demands the star back after you do the dirty work. I usually only stick with them for one mission unless the rest of the team works well [the team I recruited lol]. I think it's perfectly reasonable to ask people to check their friends list or SG partners for recruits, but the leader should ultimately take responsibility for filling out the team.

[Pyro_Muerte]

<tl-dr-qr>

How extremely onesided this guide is....

[Emerald_Star]

How so? It looks like a list of things to do and not do, which seems fairly balanced. Depending on your style some of the advice will work well and some should be disregarded.

[Kingsbury]

[/ QUOTE ] I think one thing should be added to the list of leading a team. If someone does not have their "Seek Team" toggled, DO NOT invite them to be on a team without asking. Nothing aggro's me more than to be bombarded with invites when i was trying to solo. Not everyone wants to be on a team all the time.

Just my $.02

[/ QUOTE ]

More people do not toggle there “seek team” on when they would not mind a team. That is why they have a NOT seeking team were your name is red name. I have picked up some of my best PUG’s by just doing what I wanted and they saying what the heck I will join you.
If I am busy a nice response back saying not interested now but maybe later have a good day goes to good relations with toons later. If my name is Red I don’t get any responces since they can not invite me.



[/ QUOTE ] 1 - I cant stress enough the importance of recruiting a balanced team. I try to recruit within two levels of myself up or down. I also attempt to find one of each archetype. This may not be completely necesary, but it has never hurt me. Besides I feel bad for Tanks, so I like to make sure I always have at least one.

[/ QUOTE ]

You can not always have a balanced team in an ideal world yes that is what you want. A good leader is forgiving of team mistakes. Analysis’s the situation and makes tactical adjustments in how we are going to tackle this mission.

I also like to look at each individual build…
MOBS will react different to a fire tank then how they will react to stone and an inv
FF, Dark, Kin, and Emp are all different play styles
Fire Blasters play different then Ice Blaster.

Know the Mobs you are fighting.
Freaks bunch well…
COT uses lots of holds a /dark scrapper can tank them well because of there natural negative energy defense.
Nemisis snipers don’t pull well.
Council war wolves hit squishes really really hard
Ect.




Know your terrain
What can you use to break LOS
Approaching Spawns from over here give’s me this advantage
What direction are the mobs facing, what mobs are intertwined agro and which is separate.

See how your team plays after the first wipe figure out what caused that was it a wayward blaster, a tank that couldn’t hold agro or take that agro (I.E. no defensive toggles on)
Does the troller lay down there AOE before battle. People don’t always know certain game mechanics. (to be honest I don’t think I know all the game mechanics at times.)

If you can work through it let it ride but if it is an extreme detriment let them know what is happening on the team have them make some team adjustments.

An assessment is needed after the addition and subtraction of each player.
Simple commands can work
Target through me --- pulling
All behind *****
Ect ect…

Well not tank so agro management will be difficult might have to ensure mass hypnotis is up to pose pone the alpha strike. Only blasters available better make sure I can buff there defense some. Well we are going to have to pull this because the level is too high for this PUG (next mission I will lower it some.) Dang no healers/buffers/debuffers available out there going to have to wait between groups a little

A good leader can make a bad pug into a survivable one. (might be slow and painful)

All else fails grab one of the 50’s exemp down and assist in steam rolling through the mish.

There is so many more things I could go on. These are just some of things that go through my head.

[black_barrier]

a few issues with this guide (which lies).

[ QUOTE ]

You need meleers. Two scrappers work well, or a single tank. If you can't find meleers you'll need 3-4 controllers/defenders to keep the enemies debuffed and held.

[/ QUOTE ]
eh! wrong!

you dont need a tank or a scrapper and they are problematic if you only have one in a fully ranged team. a well well buffed defender can absorb the alpha easily, and a good troller can completely eliminate it.

[ QUOTE ]

- You need one blaster or two scrappers at least. Ever seen a team of 6 without any damage dealers? Too slow, the controllers could probably solo faster.

[/ QUOTE ]

eh! wrong!
a team of 6 rads without any damage dealers will eat through any spawn faster than 6 blasters.
same applies to sonics, darks, TAs and kins (as long as there's kin trollers involved).

[ QUOTE ]

- Multiples are not good in some cases. Two of the same blaster, scrapper, or tank is ok. Two of the same controller or defender is less so. Having two different controllers or defenders is much more powerful than two of the same kind. Its really a huge difference.

[/ QUOTE ]

eh! wrong!
"damage dealers" are not force multipliers. you wanna have a numbers fight with me?




just because of these stupid comments, i completely disapprove of your guide.

and a good day to ya!

[Kingsbury]

Team make up is only a small part of being a leader.
It is how you run your tactics with the team you got. How the personalities mesh and play styles mesh.

Defender/controller debuff/buffs stack
Double SB/Double FS
2 TB's running
12 imps killing the board (might be bad. When good pets go wild.)

To say I can not have another tank because I have 3 of them already is crazy talk about crazy damage mitigation. blasters, scrappers, trollers, and defenders have no problem doing there jobs.

ohh I have a Rad can't get another one. ohh don't want double bubbles my blasters might hate that.

ohh have 4 scrappers have to find a kin or emp can't get me a TA or FF.

I am on a team of blasters a kin is useless.

These are all myths.

Been on many teams that look like dang how do they complete missions nothing matches to many blasters, not enough healing/buffing. No agro management. We have steam rolled through missions.

Been on team that are "optimized" and got wiped because someone doesn't want to help, or only thinks there job is a little part of what they can do. Or they don't even do there part a blaster who sits and watches the battle.

Someone who says I have a PVP tank so I don't hold agro and I don't care if the team dies I won't.

This is what makes bad teams the players who play the toons not so much the toon make up. 70% Player 30% team make up.

Now this is a moot point when on a team of 6-8 is fight spawns on INV and the person taking the missions is +5 levels higher then the next level. Unless that toon can solo that mish Make up will not matter. No matter how good a player you are you are going to get squished everytime a small mistake happens.

Someone who can analyze the situation, see who is on my team, know who you are fighting, and what tactics need to change because of the map can lead a team effectively.

A 9 year old can run a team that is an "optimized" team, we let my friends 9 year old do it too. (was an all SG been playing with each other for 6 months.) But he was calling the shots. Did what he wanted, pull or rush ect.

[black_barrier]

[ QUOTE ]

Now this is a moot point when on a team of 6-8 is fight spawns on INV and the person taking the missions is +5 levels higher then the next level. Unless that toon can solo that mish Make up will not matter. No matter how good a player you are you are going to get squished everytime a small mistake happens.


[/ QUOTE ]

8 frads can do it. not worth the xp/min, but they can do it quite safely. back then we didn't do it that much because of how much time it took (ie, those 20 extra secs per spawn add up quickly).. in fact, i remember going against lvl 20's when i was lvl 15. we pwn'd.

[ QUOTE ]

A 9 year old can run a team that is an "optimized" team, we let my friends 9 year old do it too. (was an all SG been playing with each other for 6 months.) But he was calling the shots. Did what he wanted, pull or rush ect.

[/ QUOTE ]

"pull"
"rush" are not advanced tactics at all.

advanced tactics is me having a tell convo with the defender so i can put disruption on him, have him run in and nuke without taking an alpha because the mobs would look at me.

advanced tactics is "hey corrs, team tp, ready it up", nd the kins queue up FS automatically, while the others hover over the nuke button waiting for the port to end so the spawn can be cleared in 2 seconds).

advanced tactics is putting disruption on a cloaked ill/ troller and having him agro the 5 mobs towards you while you hide and wait with the rest of the team (makes a herding tanker feeling like crap).

[ack! i hate the disruption nerf!!!]

...can a 9 year old pull that? haha no way.
that's how you really run a team.

sadly there are two many morons in this game for most of that to be applicable to a pug.

[Kingsbury]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Now this is a moot point when on a team of 6-8 is fight spawns on INV and the person taking the missions is +5 levels higher then the next level. Unless that toon can solo that mish Make up will not matter. No matter how good a player you are you are going to get squished everytime a small mistake happens.


[/ QUOTE ]

8 frads can do it. not worth the xp/min, but they can do it quite safely. back then we didn't do it that much because of how much time it took (ie, those 20 extra secs per spawn add up quickly).. in fact, i remember going against lvl 20's when i was lvl 15. we pwn'd.

[ QUOTE ]

A 9 year old can run a team that is an "optimized" team, we let my friends 9 year old do it too. (was an all SG been playing with each other for 6 months.) But he was calling the shots. Did what he wanted, pull or rush ect.

[/ QUOTE ]

"pull"
"rush" are not advanced tactics at all.

advanced tactics is me having a tell convo with the defender so i can put disruption on him, have him run in and nuke without taking an alpha because the mobs would look at me.

advanced tactics is "hey corrs, team tp, ready it up", nd the kins queue up FS automatically, while the others hover over the nuke button waiting for the port to end so the spawn can be cleared in 2 seconds).

advanced tactics is putting disruption on a cloaked ill/ troller and having him agro the 5 mobs towards you while you hide and wait with the rest of the team (makes a herding tanker feeling like crap).

[ack! i hate the disruption nerf!!!]

...can a 9 year old pull that? haha no way.
that's how you really run a team.

sadly there are two many morons in this game for most of that to be applicable to a pug.

[/ QUOTE ]

You talk about so many moron's in this game, by being sarcastic and spitful you do not help that "situation". If you can want to be more helpful bring up some good advance techniques people will listen this is a guide post.

I never said it could not be done, I said it would be difficult to fight that mish. and no matter how good the players are it will be difficult.

Your math is wrong lvl 15 fighting lvl 20 would be 2-3 levels above you on Inviicible. 5 lvls on invicible would be LVL 22-23's. throwing in boss's. you are still looking at player deaths.

I.E PLing LVL 50 has a team of LVL 45's they are fighting LVL 52-53. deaths will happen.

Your techniques sounds fun and I would like to try it but wouldn't it be easier for your 8 rads to steamroll over each group in the time it would take to herd all those groups.

But then that goes to what does the map look like, and what is your team make up.

(Dispertion Cap, Agro Cap)

Well if we needed the 9 year old to do your Ill/rad disburtion bubble we would of taught him that.

I never claimed that the 9 year old was using advance techniques. Like I was saying with a team of good players you don't need advance tactics.

We did that to teach the 9 year old how to run a team so when we were not around he wouldn't be so lost. (you know help out the SG thing)

We are not far off on our views about team make up is only a small part of being a leader.

I know some of the techniques i like is the tanker taunt hold on an AV. two tankers compete for taunt over the AV and are on opposite sides of the AV. If all goes well the AV AI will not attack because it will constantly switch it's target between the two tanks.

TP Scrapper/tank into Mez'd group. let them avoid the initial agro they get while the approach the group.

some times the best technique is a simple technique, not need to over complicate things on a PUG.

Why make things harder then they are.

[Stack]

[ QUOTE ]
There are shorter shortcuts commands:

/search -- brings up the search window/find window (anyone a team can use the /search command to find other teammates.

/i playername -- invites someone to a team

[/ QUOTE ]

I like /sea.