07-30-2004, 09:29 PM
Tactics for a Mage can vary wildly depending upon the group you're in. Ideally, you will party with a Warrior who likes nothing better than to taunt like crazy and let you unload. In this case, you can pretty confidently throw around your strongest spells assuming that things will be taken care of. When I took my Warrior in against Van Cleef in a party with two mages and a rogue, I was basically pressing the button for taunt almost constantly. However, despite all of them dealing out damage as quickly as they could, I kept aggro the entire time. So, at least at that level, it can be done. :)
The tougher situation is when you have a non-Warrior trying to tank (or a Warrior who refuses to use Defensive Stance). In this situation, I think you'll pretty much have to accept the fact that the mob is going to come after you and get up closer to the tanks. Start unloading from close by to the meleers. When the mob gets close, use Frost Nova to lock the mob down and back away. This will keep the mob from moving around (making the tanks less likely to say "Great, now I've got to save that stupid mage's ass yet again") and at least make it seem like they're holding aggro.
If they get angry at you over that, then I would say ask them what exactly they want you to do, instead. Most likely, they'll have no answer and you can continue, frustrated tank or not. ;) But for the most part, I don't think you'll find too many people upset because you're killing things too fast.
This is mostly from what I've seen, however, so you might want to listen to a more experience Mage over my musings, though. :)
The tougher situation is when you have a non-Warrior trying to tank (or a Warrior who refuses to use Defensive Stance). In this situation, I think you'll pretty much have to accept the fact that the mob is going to come after you and get up closer to the tanks. Start unloading from close by to the meleers. When the mob gets close, use Frost Nova to lock the mob down and back away. This will keep the mob from moving around (making the tanks less likely to say "Great, now I've got to save that stupid mage's ass yet again") and at least make it seem like they're holding aggro.
If they get angry at you over that, then I would say ask them what exactly they want you to do, instead. Most likely, they'll have no answer and you can continue, frustrated tank or not. ;) But for the most part, I don't think you'll find too many people upset because you're killing things too fast.
This is mostly from what I've seen, however, so you might want to listen to a more experience Mage over my musings, though. :)
-TheDragoon