Defensive Stance

[Olon97]

[edit: making quotes work]

If the Rogue can pull a single mob, without worry of attracting any further attention, he should do so with a ranged Throw attack, and then run back to JUST behind or beside the Tank(s) (but NOT any further, as you do NOT want the mob getting close to the casters). He then should perform a Feint, while maintaining NO offensive action towards his target (a quick left-click while running from the mob will remove you from attacking it, thus allowing you to stand still while the Tank attempts to get aggro). The Tank(s)'s job is to sit tight while the Rogue does this, and once the mob gets within range, IMMEDIATELY pull out all his aggro-inducing skills and start whailing on the mob. Casters should, obviously, wait several seconds before unloading any heavy damage, as should the Rogue, although most Rogues can handle a few beatings without trouble AND can use Feint, Gouge, or Vanish to remove themselves from harm.

First of all, if a rogue can pull a single mob with a ranged attack, so can a warrior. If the warrior does it himself, he doesn't have to worry about a feint being resisted and has a head start on locking in. Honestly, I'm fine with a priest pulling a single pull - single pulls are not the situations that require particular battle tactics, there is plenty of room for groups to adapt to slight messups and taunt handles single pulls just fine.

There are also many single/small pulls that can only be achieved with proximity (edge of vision poximity, not charging to melee range) since aggro generated by any damage delt will link social mobs with a larger radius and stronger effect than sightline detection aggro.

Now, if there are multiple mobs within aggro range of one another, the Rogue should wait patiently and observe their movement patterns. If it can be determined that they will wander outside of one another's aggro radius, then the Rogue should wait and attempt to pull whichever single mob it can. Otherwise, the best course of action is a quick Distract at short range, maneuvering close for a Sap on the secondary target (generally the target that poses the biggest threat overall, i.e. a Healer or Caster), and then turning and running back towards the party, following the same battle plan as laid out above. Should anything go wrong (it's VERY rare, but it happens), there is NO reason why a properly functioning group can't handle two or even 3 mobs, even with just ONE Tank, especially set up in the way I described above.

Oh lord, what you're describing is not what I would consider the best course of action in that scenario. Might work much of the time, but a slight slip up leaves a dead party member right where the mobs default to (hint: daze or root - pretty common in instances), meaning an attempted res will leave the healer with HUGE aggro that can't be peeled off without using extreme methods (challenging shout + retal is the only one I can think of). Multiple mobs should be pulled by the tank back to a safe area, CCd if possible and picked off as efficiently as possible (one by one if AoE can't do the job quickly).

Stop right there. Your first sentence says it all - you can't "convince" your PARTNER to support you. You're playing with a bad crowd, which is skewing your view of other classes instead of pushing you to find skilled players to group with. That's your first mistake. Your second mistake, and it's a HUGE one, is where you say that you move back to where the casters are to try and pull the mob(s) off of them. That has got to be the most homocidal thing I have ever heard.

I see no mistakes there. I lock in aggro a main target and pull other targets off of cloth wearers on a regular basis. As I said earlier, I prefer the casters right next to me (though slightly further away from the pull). I think it is just as likely that your views on these matters are skewed by the crowd you're playing with.

As a Tank, your job is to stand put and maintain aggro. If for any reason a mob breaks off from you, you are NOT to break combat with your current mob to engage the other.

Sorry, this may be true for paladins who can't hold aggro on multiple targets, but for a warrior dedicated to tanking (in attitude, gear, and talents) the latter sentence iis totally false. Breaking combat to engage other mobs is what a good tank should do constantly and this can be done without losing aggro on the primary target. I often request the group to decide on a "primary assist" (often a rogue) who they use the assist command on because if they do it on me they may target the wrong mob for focus fire. I don't consider my starting salvo done until each mob in the pull has at least one sunder or revenge on them (which will allow the healer to heal without gaining aggro).

You ARE supposed to attempt to use your short-ranged aggro-inducing skills (you have Shouts for a reason; use them), while holding your ground and keeping your original target on YOU. If your original target was the only target you were facing, then and ONLY then do you EVER move to where the casters are, at which point you pull the mob off, and then THEY back off to a safe distance once more, while you stand still and hold the mob's aggro. But if there are multiple mobs, and one should break off from you and head for a caster, it is the ROGUE'S job to pull that mob off, NOT yours.

While I do agree that having the warrior moving around mid-battle is a bad idea, casters who gain aggro should move towards the tank, IMO (if they aren't already beside him). Any rogue who wants to assist in saving a cloth wearer is a hero in my book, and I'm more than happy to let them assign themselves the "healer bodyguard" role if I fail at my job of locking all aggro before the first heal. I'll eventually taunt that mob back from the rogue to reduce the healer's mana usage, however.

A Rogue has a wide variety of skills all geared towards controlling the flow of battle. It is our ONLY advantage, so we as a class are geared entirely around it. We may be known for being DPS machines, but it is our crowd-control abilities that any SKILLED non-Rogue player relies upon us for (I learned this the hard way in an instance run that ran into a small snag; I'll get into that later). We have Sprint to aid our movement, Gouge or Vanish + Sap to stun a target (provided no other targets are currently Sapped, as only one mob can be Sapped at any one time), Kick to interrupt casting (and potentially silence, with proper Talent investment), and a plethora of damaging skills that will very quickly pile aggro onto us. The only thing the caster has to do is STOP CASTING. Don't heal, don't cast damaging spells, don't do anything. Wait for the cavalry to arrive and pull the mob off you. A Mage firing off a Frost Nova,  a Warlock casting Fear, or a Priest casting Psychic Scream are about the only exceptions to this. The overall goal is still the same, however: keep the casters in back, AWAY from the Tank, and let the Rogue control the flow of combat.

Good advice for casters who get aggro, except for staying away from the tank. What you're talking about as rogue specific is true of any player who can generate aggro and take a few hits and who has good situational awareness. I like having a caster bodyguard in the group (plenty of classes can offtank), but for that job I'm indifferent between a DPS warrior or rogue or druid or hunter or whoever. If there isn't a caster bodyguard, a group of all casters and 1 warrior can still get the job done with sufficient aggro awareness.