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Kiting 101

By Grimore Valentine

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class="pn-content-page-body">QUESTION

I keep hearing casters talk about "kiting." What is exactly is kiting,
and how is it done?

class="pn-content-page-body">ANSWER

What Kiting Means

Kiting is when a player uses his abilities to do damage to a mob
without taking any damage himself, normally done by utilizing
movement-impairing effects (e.g. Snare or Frostbite). Basically all
that you need to do is keep yourself and the mob separate from each
other while doing damage in whatever means possible to the mob. This
means you will need to stay mobile, which can be a trick in itself.
Fortunately, Vanguard permits casting while moving. You should
defiantly use this to your advantage as a kiter.



What You Need to Kite

Simply put, you need the ability to slow a mob's movement speed (the
longer the better) and/or a movement immobilization spell (e.g. Root or
Freeze). Other than that, you need to know what you're up against. Know
your own limits, and watch your energy. I can't stress enough how much
you should watch your energy. A caster's energy is key to anything she
does; if you have no energy to snare or root or even damage, then that
mob is going to be right on top of you style="font-style: italic;">quick. And that is
never a good thing. Also, getting a few buffs from a vendor or another
player never hurt.



Snare Kiting

Your basics here is that you need
to snare the mob and make sure it’s away from you. You have
to stay mobile and make sure the mob doesn't get too close. Keep moving
while you're doing everything. Never stop; you don't need to since
Vanguard allows you to move while casting. Also, you should take full
advantage of instant attack spells as you can, as well as damage over
time spells (DoTs) if you have them. Also, style="font-weight: bold;">keep track of your surroundings.
The worst thing you could have happen is to get an add while single-mob
kiting. Always keep a knowledge of your surroundings; you need to make
sure you know how you can get away quick (whether by using a crowd
control spell, an evacuation spell, or just flat out fleeing for your
life).



Full Speed Kiting

Full Speed Kiting (FSK) means you're just kiting the mob at its full
run speed while you're probably running, too. This can be done
effectively depending on the mob or the player's skill. If you're
completely new to kiting, I would really suggest not doing this because
even some of the veteran casters have difficulty with this at some
points. The biggest drawback of FSK is that it is too easy to run out
of real estate while moving or bump into other mobs.



You must
take full advantage of any instant cast attacks you have when FSK. You
should also take full advantage of any movement-increasing effects for
yourself (e.g. Sprint). If you can counterspell mobs, you should do it;
getting hit with anything that is going to impair your movement means
game over for you. You also definitely need to know what you're kiting.
If it is a caster, you need to make sure to not let it cast anything.
If it is a melee, you need to take even more care in making sure it
doesn't hit you because melee mobs can use effects that will snare you
(nearly every melee mob can do this). Finally, be aware of your energy
pool. Getting one last nuke in can mean the difference between living
to see the next mob and dying in a most brutal way.



Area of Effect (AoE)
Kiting

Out of all the kiting styles, this one is going to be the hardest. Most
classes don’t have the damage to even be able to do this. I
believe the most effective AoE caster is the Sorcerer. This style of
kiting requires much more skill and focus than any other kiting style.
You have to know your AoE spells, and you have to know how to
effectively use them. You need to know how to put out the most AoE
damage in the shortest amount of time possible, and you have to know
how to react to mobs that aren’t fully killed by the AoE,
ones that resist an area snare or other spell like that, and adds.



Kiting Tips

1. Jumping does not break run speed. If you need to move your
   hands off your movement keys in order to press a hotkey, jump to keep
   your forward momentum, push your hotkey, and then go back to using your
   movement keys.
2. Having your back faced towards the mob means the mob is out
   of your line of site (LoS). HOWEVER, if your side is to the mob and you
   are walking somewhat sideways the mob is still in your LoS which means
   you can continue to cast on it, while running at full forward run
   speed. Therefore you are still getting normal speed and can keep away
   from the mob with less difficulty.

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