GRINDING INFORMATION
As a group
Let the tank take the 1st swing. OK, alot of camps you must pull with aggro. Then allow the mob to chase you out, then throw a taunt. (If you taunt in close quarters you will get all mobs). If the tank gets a taunt off, and then a regular attack, it is MUCH more likely that they hold aggro with no problems.
It is sometimes necessary to ask newer players or hot-shots in the group to stay put at the camp while the tank is out chain pulling. Melees and non-pulling tanks tend to want to follow the puller toward the mobs, and makes it very inconvenient for the puller and the healer to keep track of what's going on. I'm not shy about "herding" my group back to camp if need be.
Non-tanks, if you agro a mob, please, please don't run away. It makes it very hard for melees and tanks to help you out. Hail the mob or yourself or make a hotkey to use, something to let the tank and healer know that you've taken agro and need it pulled off and could use a heal. I've seen group mates, usually casters, take off running when they get hit, then end up yelling at the healer and/or tank because they died. Maybe the tank didn't see that he had lost agro from an add (lots of stuff to taunt). Maybe the healer didn't see your health drop because they were healing the tank. But if you run away, you only die tired. (Buy a few cms, gear, etc. to raise your stamina, hp, etc. so you can take a few hits if the tank does lose agro.)
Fast XP or Big XP?
For grinding xp; Fast xp will always win out. As a casual gamer and economist, efficiency is near and dear to me.
I played the other day for almost 2 hours, which is rare on a a weekday for me, and solo'd non-stop on lb/db's.
Got about 1 yellow for that time which was still better then any of the red/deep red groups I've been in due to time it takes to defeat mobs and downtime to recover from the fight. For groups; DB - yellow all the way for xp efficiency.
However if I am just looking to hang out with my friends and not concerned about getting levels/cm's, we will fight something real deep red, chat while we recover then fight something again, which gives some xp and the thrill of fighting something tough while still allowing us to hang out.
Determination:
1: The XP / Time ratio will yield far greater xp benefits fighting db-yel mobs in the long term.
2: Deep Reds will provide more "get to know each other" time, and who you can count on when things get tough.
Think of it as training to go Raid the big named mobs.
I think to a degree the answer to this depends somewhat on your level as well. I know when im grinding up an alt I go for big XP until about level 20-25. I tend to look for camps that are low reds and yellows. Once you hit 20-25 range mobs start to crit and melee a bit harder so thats when I will usually switch to Blues and Whites. I try to find camps where the healer does not have to use there bigger heals (this cuts down on mana breaks). Using this method It takes me about 15-18 hours to grind to 20 (traditionally).
Alot also depends on your CMs and how you have built your toon. Toons with alot of CMs can handle stronger mobs (I have a 21 Ogre War with over 100CMs in one of my set-ups who can tear through yellows and low reds like a hot knife cuts butter). Grinding blues and whites in a group at level 55 with 650CMs is not going to be as efficient as grinding yellows and reds with that same group.
Something else to keep in mind is your set up. A group with a shaman as the healer is going to kill mobs faster then a group with a druid or cleric usually. But a group with a cleric is going to be able to handle stronger mobs and caster mobs better then a group with a shaman. A group with a druid who knows there stuff especially at the mid levels will out pull just about any set-up if the druid is the puller. I could go on and on but the below statement pretty much sums up what I would be saying.
In closing like so much in this game it really depends on the situation as to what will be the most efficient.
Ok it has been getting alluded too more and more and despite posting this finding at lower levels I am repeating it in hopes that people might find it useful. The best XP you can get is fighting light blues. Yes the xp difference between MoB levels isn't so great that it cant be over taken by faster light blue kills. To prove my point here is my run down.
Lvl 35 Elven guards in Teth and Kara village give me 61888 XP per kill. My pet with one cast of my plaugebearers ruin kills him with in 30 seconds (yes I actually timed it). Now I leave the tower and head to the city gate of kara. I now cast my DoT on a guard and take the crit my pet on defencive mode takes over I now cast my DoT on the other guard at the entrance. And use my siphon spells to stay alive and damage the guard on me while my pet kills off the first guard.
123576 xp---time 50 seconds
My health and mana down one bubble...my pets health down to just over half.
Now if four necs were doing this together all at level 41. You'd be looking at 494.304 XP per minute (forget that since it's only 50 seconds it's like an extra 494,304 evey 6 minutes. Over 10 minutes it's be 5,437,344. (that's 494304*11 for the 10 second difference each minute.) In an hour it'd be 34,601,280 XP (that extra 10 seconds adds up.) And this is not includeing the bonus of XP for a full group. Now 4 necs in a group 2 power and 2 blood could do this indefinately. At level 41 2 1/2 pinks from 42 I could probabaly get to 44 in a few hours of grinding this way. Show me anything at level 41 that we could get 500k xp a minute. there aren't any, infact I think that even if there was 500k from a single mob is higher than the XP cap would allow at this level.
This type of grouping can happen alot of ways. One bard and three melee's/damage dealers. Four magicians. Even if each group memeber could only solo one in a minute the xp would be about double than going after the typical safe red mob.
This could perhaps be the single most important info to know in he game. After all it destroys any misconceptions of the typical group needed. It is safer and faster to Xp this way, need to go afk...no biggie just go...need a break for 5 no biggie just go (unless your a bard in agrind group like one) -AbraCadaver
Types Of Looting
1.) NB4G (Need Before Greed)...
If you win an item in a roll and you know that you can't use this particular item, please be considerate of your group mates and think about them and their primary stats. This shows that you are not a greedy person, you are considerate of others, and that you will most likely be invited back by the same group leader because you proved yourself to be a team player.
2.) Looting...
2-a (Stacks)... It is and always has been an unspoken rule (more of a courtesy) that the tank is awarded the stackable items from xp'ing to help supplement an income for repairs. If you are looting for the tank in your group, do the right thing and give him ALL of the stax ,unless he requests otherwise.
2-b (Destroying)... When you are asked to loot for the tank and to distribute the non-stacks amongst the group, please pick up a dictionary and learn the definition of "Distribute"... This does not mean to loot until you are full and then destroy the items so that only you and the tank are the ones getting loot. It may be true that only you and the tank need repairs, however... others are doing their part in participating in your group too. The healer and/or caster may need tunar for drinks, the other DD's may need tunar for repairs of weapons, any member of your group may need tunar for new armor or spells. So show some class and respect others and don't destroy looted items.
Looting Methods
"Need Before Greed." - The idea that if a given rare is only useable by one person in your group, it goes to that person.
ABC - Alphbetical order of distribution.
All Roll - You roll for everything droped.
Ninja loot - A person just loot the rare and then runs off with it!
ML - Master Looter, one given the job of looting everything and calling out when to roll for rares!
It is best, when a rare is droped, to leave the rare on the ground, then have everyone roll for the loot, then the winner picks up the loot! -Singz