What is Assist?

There is a command /assist in this game, it’s shortcut key is "F", and it lets you select the target of your target.

For example: if friend A is attacking mob B, you can target friend A and press F, then u get mob B as your target.

So, Assist is when you target the same mob as the person you are assisting.

Why Assist?

To assist is to gain efficiency and viability.

If you’re in a battle with multiple mobs, it is logical to try to bring down the mobs one by one. In group work, to concentrate your firepower is very important. Instead of every party member tries to solo her/his mob, you will want to concentrate your firepower on one mob first, then move on to the next one when the previous one is dead. By assisting, you are killing mobs faster and therefore reducing overall damage taken.

Asssist allows also the tanks to hold aggro on the other targets which are not being attacked easier. And making the healers jobs easier as they now can concentrate on the tanks.

Assisting should be used in almost all kinds of groups. Even in a 2-man group, when you face more then one mob, the idea of assisting is still valid: you take down one mob as fast as possible, thus reduce the damage done to the group in general; in cases mobs can run, instead of two runners at the same time, you have only one runner to deal with. Even in a raid like in Strathomle, you can still assist the MA on the elites while the mages are AoEing the non-elites.

What is Main Assist (MA)?

So, who will then decide which of those mobs we should kill first and in what sequence we should kill them? More experienced players will designate a Main Assist in group works. A Main Assist (MA) will decide the target of the group.

All a Main Assist (MA) does is target your groups target. If we say a group leader is the general of a group, a MA is the true director during a fight, and MA is the most hard roll to play imo.

Example: Mob A and his buddies mob B and mob C are attacking your group, and they all look alike and stick close to each other. Mmm… what is the first target now? Wait, Bob is our MA, by selecting Bob and press F, you get Bob’s target. Mob A dies fast; then Bob choose mob B, you choose Bob and press F, then start to attack mob B; Mob B dies, Bob choose mob C ….. And you know that Bob usually pick up the Main Tank’s first target as his very first target.

What does an Assist macro do?

Assist macro is the way to gain nicety, so during a messy fight, you will be sure that you do choose the right target.

When the group is formed, Bob is designated as Main Assist. Each group member creates a macro as follows:
1. Press <esc>
2. Choose ‘Macros’
3. Choose name and button image
4. Edit macro text to read ‘/assist Bob’
5. Save and close

The macro can then be assigned in the key-bindings menu to ‘F’, or dragged to the toolbar as a button.

So during the fight, you do not need to select Bob to get the mob. Pressing ‘F’ or clicking the macro button is enough.

Which class or who can be a better Main Assist?

Preferably one that can take a few hits; one that does not switch target often; one who is more experienced; one that is quick-minded but still stubborn as hell and won’t change target until the chosen mob us dead.

Rogues might be the best assist class. The rogue *won’t* be changing targets much (otherwise he wastes combo points). They have also skill to use if they steal too much aggro from the MT.

Paladins aren’t best choice if they have to stop to heal the others sometimes. But they are great to take damage. So if there is more than 1 or 2 pallies in your group/raid, why not a pally.

A hunter can also be a very good assist, as they have a better overview of the fight, and the big hunter’s mark which can make the target clear. Provided: the hunter has no duty to get aggro off the mobs on the priest, or whatever can make them change target during the targeted fight; And, he should never try to steal aggro from the MT, as it involves too much moving between the fighting spot and the hunter. That is why I think close range melee class is better then casters.

A warriors can only be the MA if he does not MT or OT (’Off-Tank‘). A warrior has the skill to grab aggro on more than one mob, which is better used when they switch targets constantly in order to hold aggro, for example when adds comes and the OT needs to react. So, the warrior is not normally considered the MA (Main Assist) because of his possible multiple targets. Because warriors can take a lot of punishment they may engage two or three mobs at the same time, they will switch targets to gain agro if the raid or group lacks crowd control, thus tanking 2 maybe 3 mobs at a time. In a group where there is one warrior, he will usually be the MT. In a group where there are 2 or more warriors, the non MT warrior(s) still need to change target (eg to run to the priest the get the aggro off him, or aggro any add or lose mobs in situations when MT can’t react much).

Other caster classes or healing classes are not good to be a MA in a full 5-man group or raid. A Mage might need to re-sheep the sheeped mob, so he needs to change target during a fight and is not suitable to be MA, for example. But in 2-3 man grinding parties, even a preist can be the main assist: a ShadowWord:Pain is a very nice icon for the others to know which mob is the main target, works as well as a hunter’s mark.

Why your Main Tank shouldn’t be the Main Assist?

Provided your MT (Main Tank) has the skills to grab multiple aggro, the MT and the MA should always be 2 different people. This is because the MT will never be targeting the same mob all the time. He will need to constantly rotate between each of the mobs on him to keep building threat on each of them. If he sits there attacking the one mob that everyone else is attacking then as soon as a heal is cast every other mob will run straight at your priest.

To know this about the MT is important. This way the MT wont have his party complaining that you keep switching target and they don’t know who to attack. What they need to do is to assist the MA, not the MT.

But this is not set in stone. Different groups will have you assisting in different ways. Some groups will make the main tank the focus of the assist macro, others will have a separate "main assist" character. Bottom line – You will need an assist macro. (credit: Zarek)

But how can I do an Assist macro or whatever?

Quick and dirty option:
Target the designated main assist and press F.

Better option:
Create a macro (see ‘What does a Assist macro do?’):
/assist Bob

You will replace "Bob" with the name of the designated character everyone is assisting. Then you will create a macro, and a button to use the macro. What this does is to cause your target to be the mob which the character has targeted. So if everyone uses the assist macro, everyone will be attacking the same mob. You may need to click the button several times. And you’ll need to click it again after each mob dies.

At the start of a run, type "/macro" and change "Bob" to the name of the designated assist. All you need do now is to hotkey the assist macro, or drag the icon to your taskbar, and you’re set.

Super option:

Get the add-on called Assist Helper.

AssistHelper makes assigning main assist and using assist effectively a lot easier. It allows you to bind a number of special functions, one of which is a key to select who you will be assisting (I use ALT-F) and another is to assist the character you have defined with the other key (I use F for this).

This saves having to edit the macro above every time your in a group and want to assist a different character than the previous day. This still leaves the original assist functionality (the F key) as it was before as long as you don’t use the same key binding for one of the new abilities.

You can download Assist Helper from here: ]http://www.curse-gaming.com/mod.php?addid=227&page=2#comment

How to be a good Main Assist

Knows your MT. A MA needs to work closely to MT. MA needs to know the MT’s first target, as it is the one MT has most aggro on. Trust the tank is doing his job and will take care of the adds so you don’t run to them.

Set your assist macro to your MT. Dont break the sheep/cc before your MT.

A Main Assist is NOT a tank, try not to steal too much aggro from your MT.

Be quick. Target fast and target right.

Be stubborn. Stick to one target until it is dead.

Always kill the softest targets first and the hardest targets last. The softest targets usually have the highest DPS and utility (mages, etc.) and are easiest to kill. The next softest targets are healer types and then come the ranged guys and lastly the melee folk. When fighting bosses, it is usually best to kill their henchmen first then focus on the boss – these are cases when MA do not attack the MT’s first target.

What you need to know to assist the Main Assist

After the fight has started and the MT has grabbed agro on the mob, everyone who is NOT the Tank should assist the Main Assist. The biggest novice mistake anyone makes is to abandon the Main Assist and start duelling with non-agro’d mobs. Grouping is not about seeing how many mobs you can fight at once. It’s about being fast, efficient, and safe. Target the mob that your main assist is attacking, and help him kill it as quickly as possible.

If the MA has not yet selected a target yet, keep /assisting him until he does. He is most likely allowing the MT time to build aggro.

After /assisting, it is worth checking the de-duff icons of the new target. If the target shows a sheep, sap, shackle or sleep de-buff, hold fire. The MA may have been tabbing through the targets to find the next one. /assist again, until the MA has selected a good target.

The Healers should look out for the Main-Assists health a bit as well.

Complains a Main Assist or everyone might get:

You are not targeting fast enough;
You have no target;
You change target too often;
You are eating popcons during a fight or talking to your wife which TV program you are gonna to watch later.

Main Assist is a culture

Using MA tactic well is a question of habit. It needs a lot practice. It is more realistic to try it among guildies or ppl you often group with. MA is a culture or tradition in a guild. No matter what, the /assist command will for sure open a new window to the game.

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