The fine art of pulling....

The muse hit me, so here are a bunch of ways to get critters from the field into your group.

I. Ordinary Pull Description: This is the basic pull, where you run up and smack a creature with your weapon, then run away. This technique is best for melee classes who have greater hitpoints, since the creature will bash you all the way back to camp. When to use: Against single mobs, or wanderers. In tight dungeons. Advantages: Fast. Easy. Disadvantages: You will take damage. If the creature is not alone, you get them all.

II. Range Attack Pull Description: This pull uses an arrow, thrown item, or damage spell to pull the creature. The creature will follow the puller immediately, bringing any other creatures who were in aggessive range of the one damaged. This pull is better than the Ordinary Pull because the puller does not start in melee range. Giants, wurms, and dragons are bad targets for range pulls because thier melee range is longer than that of most thrown items or spells. In many dungeons there is no room for a range attack. When to use: In open areas. Against static spawns, single wanderers, or when you want all the creatures to come Advantages: You generally won't take damage Disadvantages: Brings all creatures. Works poorly on large sized creatures who have more melee range than you have attack range. Hard to do in tight dungeons.

III. No-Damage Range Pull Description: This pull involves casting a no-damage spell (tashani, dispell magic, reckless strength, etc) on a creature to pull him out of a group. The creature will normally run after the puller, leaving his buddies behind. It is important to cast from out of the normal aggressive range of the creature so that all do not come. This pull takes practice but is the most useful once it is mastered. For melee classes who do not have intrinsic spells, items such as egg-shaped pumice or Cobalt Gauntlets can be used for this. Giants, wurms, and dragons are bad targets for this pull because thier melee range is longer than that of most thrown items or spells. When to use: Against static spawns who are tightly grouped. Very good to break camps of semi-aggressive creatures Advantages: You generally won't take damage. A good method of breaking creature camps. Disadvantages: Requires some time to execute. Hard to use on wanderers. Not in the standard melee bag of tricks.

IV. Proximity Pull Description: For this pull, you run just into the aggressive range of the creature, then run away. It will follow you home. For this to work the creature must be facing you and must hate you. This is the best method for pulling large sized creatures since it allows you to stay out of thier reach. This is very hard to do against creatures who are tightly grouped, because you will enter overlapping aggro ranges and get many of them. A very good thing about this pull is that a creature pulled this way is easy to detach from you once you get back home. When to use: Against agressive creatures who are alone or very loosely grouped. This is the best pull against large outdoor creatures. Advantages: You generally will take less damage than on other pulls. The creatures have a low 'hate level'. Disadvantages: Does not work against unaggressive creatures. V. Stun Pull Description: This pull involves running up to a creature and bashing it to stun it, then running away. The stun effect gives you time to run out of the creature's reach, taking less damage. This is a good pull in tight quarters where ranged pulls cannot work. It is also good against casting creatures, because it allows you to get out of line-of-sight and not be nuked. Casting classes with stun spells can use this pull to the same effect as melees. When to use: Indoors. Advantages: You generally will take less damage than ordinary pulls. Disadvantages: Is not very useful outdoors or in large rooms. Not available to most casters.

VI. Hail Pull Description: This pull is a little complicated. It involves sneaking up to a group of agressive creatures from behind, and hailing one of them. The one hailed will turn around and chase you, leaving his friends sitting there. It is very important to hail from as far away as you can so that you will not take any damage as you run away. If you take damage in aggressive range, even the creatures who do not see you will come. It is also important to carefully watch that no other creatures are facing you as you do the pull, or they will come too. This pull takes practice, but it is very useful in places with two or three sentries that always face the same way. When to use: Closely spaced static spawns who have fixed facing. Advantages: Allows splitting of a camp of creatures Disadvantages: Is difficult. Does not work against unaggressive creatures.

VI. Lull Pull Description: This is the basic camp breaking pull. This pull requires someone with harmony or one of the lull series spells. The person with lull casts it on one of the creatures in a camp. Either some creatures will resist and come, or all will be lulled. If all are lulled, do some damage to one so it will come. Lead the pulled creatures far away from the camp, and kill them. If you are far enough away, the others will never come, even after lull wears off. When to use: Breaking camps or rooms anywhere Advantages: Allows splitting of a camp of creatures Disadvantages: A bad resist can kill the puller

VII. Mesmerize or Root Pull Description: This is a good pull for breaking camps, and for caster pulling. The technique consists of rooting or mesmerizing one of a small group of creatures, and taking the ones not chained down away to be killed. The locked-down creature will come to the party after a period of time. This is a very good technique for separating annoying pets from thier masters while the masters are being killed. It also allows a caster puller to get back to protection without being hurt on longer single pulls. Beware of this pull in bad pathing areas, because it can cause terrible trains. Also, be ready to pull the creature off the caster who rooted or mezzed it. When to use: Small camps or rooms (2-3) of varied level monsters Advantages: Allows splitting of a camp of creatures. Allows a caster puller to get home alive. Allows fight serialization. Disadvantages: A bad resist can kill the puller. Can cause vicious trains in dungeons.

VIII. Pet Pull Description: You put a pet in a spot in 'guard' mode. When a creature spawns or wanders by, the pet or the creature dies. If the creature lives, it comes to you damaged. I have found this is a good way to make creatures with Harm Touch use it up on a pet. This pull is best for watching hallways for roamers, checking difficult to get to single spawns, and getting rid of low level pets. In crowded areas this pull tends to anger other players, so use it with discretion. Also, using this pull in unfamiliar locations tends to kill everyone when the Big Badass spawns unexpectedly, kills the pet, then eats the party alive. When to use: When you need an extra set of eyes, have a lame pet, or need a creature to to blow off a proc before it engages the party. Advantages: Allows the real puller to be off doing something else. Makes creatures waste thier procs on pets. Disadvantages: Takes lots of pet reagents, because the pet almost always dies. Can cause trains in dungeons.

IX. Feign and Pick Description: This is an advanced technique that requires a monk, necromancer, or shadowknight. It is applicable anywhere that hard creatures come in multiples. The two roles in this are the puller, who can feign death, and the picker, who has a range pull. The puller's job is to go find a mob of creatures, bring them to a designated spot, and Feign Death. Normally the creatures will mill around the puller's body in frustration, and then wander back to home points, each on its own schedule. The picker's job is to watch the creatures after the puller has feigned, and pick off a single straggler. Once picked, the straggler is led back to the main party to be killed. When all creatures are clear the puller can stand up and assist the main party. There are several gotchas in this technique. A feigned puller must not be healed, buffed, or otherwise aided, or the whole mess will come after the main party. The feigned puller must not get up too fast, or the train will return and kill him. Occasionally the feigner must camp out to clear aggression. There will be many pulls where no picks are possible, and the whole set must be repulled. When to use: When handling multiple creatures simultaneously is certain death. Advantages: Allows any creature to be serialized. Disadvantages: Requires a feignable class. Takes lots of time. The puller dies a lot. X. Run and Pick Decription: This technique is Feign and Pick without the feign. This technique also has a puller and a picker, but requires Sow or Journeyman's boots on the puller. It is the puller's job to get a bunch of creatures to chase him. He runs the resulting train around in large circles that cross a designated spot. At that spot, the picker draws stragglers from the train with a range attack, and brings them back to the main party to be killed. The puller continues to run around until all creatures are dead or until he is dead. With single-minded creatures, the puller can be healed while running around to extend the length of the pull. This is a favorite tactic to break into the Plane of Fear, but it is useful in many other places as well. When to use: Outside, when fighting multiple creatures simultaneously is certain death. Advantages: Allows any creature to be serialized. Disadvantages: Takes a very long time. The puller dies a lot.

XI

That is the Sacrificial Lamb Pull. A good example of this is to send a willing (or maybe not so willing) soul ahead of the group to run up & touch a God. IE: Parsley in Fear =) The Sacrificial Lamb is killed & the rest of the group rushes the God & kills him. When to use: When the darn mob won't come to you & you have a lamb to offer. Advantages: If it works cool =) Disadvantages: If it doesn't work - bummer =)

Additionals:

The High Level Pull Description: A high level can single out greens fom a horde. The other creatures wil be afraid to come. Level 59s and 60s are best at this, because they can do it to creatures up to level 50. For other people, it works against any creatures that are less than 1/3 your level and that do not have 'skeleton' AI. When to use: Against multiple lower level mobs who are grouped together. Advantages: Fast. Easy. Disadvantages: You need somone to whom most creatures are green. The Charm Pull: Description: Charm is cast on creatures in a group. The surrounding creatures pulverize the charmed pet. Oddballs are pull out of the pack to be killed. With two charmers, this can be kept up for a very long time. When to use: To reduce large groups of creatures to manageable numbers, or to use up multiple harm touches. Advantages: Good for saving healing mana. Disadvantages: You need a charmer. The chance of charm being resisted makes this somewhat dangerous.

This Srategy was put together thanks to LOLclan.

Special thanks to Deadlie Thrashette and Zylnz