Monster Level
Each Monster has a level. Select the monster then look at its name, which includes its level in two locations on the screen. Generally, it's a good idea to attack monsters below or near your level. If you fight monsters that are much higher than your level, you should be sure to have a party to help you out.
If the monster's level is listed as "??" or a skull it indicates that you cannot determine the level of the monster, but it's a LOT higher in level than you. So in other words, it's not a good idea to mess with it.
Elite Monsters
Elite Monsters are MUCH more powerful versions of the regular monsters you find. They are typically either special quest monsters, or monsters that are found inside special dungeons. They can be identified by an "Elite" tag, a special dragon border around their name, or when they smash you into the ground! It's best not to fight Elite monsters unless your character has a much higher level then that of the Elite monsters. You will find this out for yourself when they attack/kill you.
Monster Aggression
There are three main types of status for monsters:
Aggressive - Red
Neutral - Yellow
Passive - Green
Red Targets - Aggressive is often referred to as "KOS" for kill-on-sight. This means that once you get near enough to the monster it will attack you. You can identify this status by the red color of the name box (target window) for the monster.
Once you become a much higher level, the monster aggro radius becomes smaller, which allows you to get much closer to them before they will attack. Aggressive monsters will always attack players that wander too near to them.
Yellow Targets - Passive monsters, such as animals like boars, will not attack you unless you first attack them. These monsters are usually liked by players because they allow for safe travel and will usually only attack when provoked. Be careful about Area of Effect Spells (AOE) such as Frost Nova, which could "wake up" one or more of these monsters.
Green Targets - You cannot attack these targets. Examples of these are party members, merchants, and most NPCs.
Patrolling vs. Stationary
Some monsters are stationary. Other monsters will patrol around. The patrolling monsters are the dangerous ones because they typically will surprise you and initiate battle when you're not expecting it. You should study the monster's patrol patterns, or keep a watch out for any nearby patrolling monsters.
Monster Aggro Radius
Each Aggressive Monster has an area around it, usually called the Aggro Radius. Entering a monster's Aggro Radius will provoke it to attack you. Imagine an invisible circle around the monster. Once you enter that circle, the monster will "wake up" and come attack you. You can test this by walking very slowly toward a stationary aggressive monster. Once you enter its field of vision, or aggro radius, the monster will attack you. This information is very important to keep in mind. A common mistake made by newbie players is to travel around a zone and walk through pockets of monsters, waking them all up. They then end up dying or leading their party to its death.
While you play, it's very important to scan around for patrolling monsters. If a monster is patrolling near you, you need to move out of its way before it spots you. Otherwise, the monster will attack you.
If a monster is coming towards you while you're fighting something else, but hasn't spotted you, you need to lead your current monster away from the former's path. Just slowly back up while you're fighting and lead the monster away from the incoming patrolling monster. If an entire party is fighting, you will need to ask them all to move back. Alert your party to the monster's presence and have everyone back up.
Solo vs. Social
Solo monsters will not help fellow monsters of the same type if they are attacked. An example would be a Boar that doesn't care if you attack another boar. That boar will just walk right by you as you attack his brother. Social monsters, on the other hand, will make "calls for help." When you attack one, it will call out for help. If any other monsters of the same allied network are around, they will assist each other when one of their friends is attacked. Examples of these types of monsters are Murlocs and Thieves.
Monster Hate List/History
Once combat has begun, monsters keep track of damage being done to them and also keep track of the spells being cast. This includes healing spells, or spells that buff other party members. If a monster sees a player doing a lot of damage to it, or casting something it doesn't like, it will then turn and attack that player. This is fine if you want the monster to attack you; however if you're a caster you generally don't want this to happen. To counter this, you must have another party member do more damage to the monster, or make it angrier so the monster will attack the other party member instead of yourself. You will also need to immediately stop doing things that will make the monster angry, such as casting more spells, or attacking the monster. Once another party member has done enough damage or made the monster angry enough to redirect its attention, you can resume your attack on that monster. You should also be wary of casting area effect spells on a group of monsters. They can, and will, gang up on the player casting that ability. You need to make sure there is someone else around you that can attract their attention and pull them off you if you decide to cast the AOE. |
