Crowd Control

Crowd Control (CC)

Crowd control is how you limit enemy actions and movement so your group can fight safely. Good CC reduces incoming damage, prevents adds from snowballing, and gives your party time to recover.

Core CC tools include:

• snare (slows movement)
• root (locks movement in place)
• mez (disables a target temporarily)
• charm (turns an enemy into a temporary ally)
• fear/flee interactions (controls or reacts to enemy repositioning)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FLEEING NPCS AND MOVEMENT BASICS

Low-health NPCs may switch into a fleeing state and try to create distance. While fleeing, their movement behavior is still affected by movement control.

In general:

• normal movement uses the NPC's regular speed profile
• fleeing uses a fear/flee movement profile
• snares reduce movement during both normal and fleeing behavior
• strong movement control can reduce a fleeing NPC to very slow movement

This means snare is useful not only for kiting, but also for keeping runners from escaping and bringing back extra mobs.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SNARE, ROOT, AND THE "<5% RULE"

Snare:

• reduces movement speed
• great for controlling runners and spacing
• does not prevent the target from attacking or casting by itself

Root:

• prevents movement
• strong for locking dangerous enemies in place
• rooted enemies can still do other actions if they are in range/able

<5% rule (fleeing context):

• at extremely low health, fleeing movement can drop to a full stop
• this is most noticeable when heavy slows/snares are also involved
• practical takeaway: strong snare plus very low enemy HP can pin runners

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MEZ (MESMERIZE)

Mez is a temporary hard disable and one of the safest ways to control adds.

Best practices:

• keep mezzed targets off the main damage target
• avoid breaking mez early with stray AE or direct hits
• communicate mez targets clearly in groups

Use mez when you need control now, especially during multi-pull situations.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHARM

Charm converts an enemy into a temporary controlled ally. It is high reward, but higher risk than mez/root/snare.

Best practices:

• choose charm targets carefully (position and nearby threats matter)
• be ready for charm breaks at all times
• keep backup control ready (mez/root/snare) for when charm ends

Charm can provide major damage and tempo when managed well, but it requires constant awareness.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PRACTICAL GROUP CC PRIORITIES

1. Stop immediate danger (mez/root the most disruptive add). 2. Control movement (snare runners and risky roamers). 3. Stabilize fight order (focus one target at a time). 4. Maintain backups (refresh CC before it becomes urgent).

Related help:

 help combat
 help spells
 help buffs
 help target