Confront vs Provoke

[KaizenSoze]

Let's discuss. Who has experience with the two? I am using provoke and to me it seems like the superior option, but who has used confront and likes it better.

 

Confront:

https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=widow_training.widow_training.confront&at=arachnos_widow

 

Provoke:

https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=pool.manipulation.provoke&at=arachnos_widow

 

Confront:

• Better range
• Faster recharge
• Debuffs range forcing the mobs to close
• Longer taunt
• Single target
• Auto hit in PvE

Provoke:

• AOE caps at 5 targets
• Can miss in PvE

[arcane]

Some would argue (including me) that Taunt powers are most important for AV’s, so I would personally give Confront the edge.

[Haijinx]

Both are pointless IMO 

[KaizenSoze]

11 minutes ago, Haijinx said:

Both are pointless IMO 

Very much wrong. My best Office Mission Simulator times are with provoke on my Night Widow.

 

Night Widows have a serious issue with runners, worse than other ATs depending on powersets, because the dots and debuff make mobs run quick.

[KaizenSoze]

42 minutes ago, arcane said:

Some would argue (including me) that Taunt powers are most important for AV’s, so I would personally give Confront the edge.

A question since, I haven't used confront. If you taunt mob in the middle of a spawn will the other mobs aggro?

[SeraphimKensai]

I typically haven't bothered with confront since maybe 2005, so my take on it is probably a little outdated. On melee toons I like the -range to help close the gap, but the fact that it's a single target doesn't really do much for me.

 

Provoke on the other hand is an AoE, it works well enough for ranged characters that can benefit from holding agro, but it doesn't have the -range component so you can also get by with corner pulling to group mobs. It's a precursor to going for Unrelenting (but who does that these days? Maybe if the duration was a minute...but this is not the place for that conversation).

 

Personally I'd probably go with Provoke between the two, especially if I had pets because it can pull more agro from my pets, but it also locks you into a pool. Confront would make more sense to me on a Soldier then a Widow but I didn't design the ATs.

[Snokle]

I know for me, I like running placate and AoE immob from the Patron pool to hold mobs tight while I take them down. With the new rebuild I have not really tested against an AV yet with the new tankiness of AVs, but if I had to choose I would go provoke, while it is ST, the -range I think would be better than AOE, as most minions and LTs will drop quickly, with immob and some PBAOE damage, also for some stragglers a couple range attacks like mental blast and poison dart helped clear them.

 

I will have to see what an AV is like without taunt and running.

[tidge]

I have used both... my old VEAT builds leverage the Presence pool, I'd go Confront, unless there was a complete shortage of power picks and you needed to take Provoke.

 

Provoke needs to be slotted, for those times you want to use it. I was typically trying to use it to help out squishy teammates... and so the ToHit requirement can hurt.

The AoE is somewhat laugahable, for those times you want to use it (again, a Squishy teammate with a whole angry spawn will not be saved)

 

My experience with using pool Provoke (on both VEATs and Scrappers) was that with some slotting I could use it and my damage to pull (single-target) aggro off of just about any other AT except for Tankers who were trying to keep aggro. I remember making changes to my Provoke slotting (and giving it up on a Scrapper) because I thought it was absurd that I'd be teaming with Brutes (for example) and have the ability to steal their aggro with a power I had taken nominally to help protect softer allies. The only times I felt good about the choice of the AoE Provoke was when I would PUG with a Tank or Brute that would "leave behind" a mostly undamaged pair of bosses for the squishies to deal with.

 

Those sorts of players inspired me to see just how much effort it took to get aggro from them when they nominally ought to have been trying to hold it. I didn't like walking the line between griefing and anti-griefing so I mostly avoided that power pick! I was letting that playstyle live in my head rent-free!