GLA <25 and keeping enmity

[Sadana]

Hi Everyone!

They said "if you need more tanks, roll one! lololol", so here I am! (Yeah, I can sense y'all cringing already. )

I've leveled GLA to 25 now and have tanked a few dungeons. The problem I'm having is that my level synced friends often pull hate from me (this happened too when I tanked as my low level MRD alt). I spam Shield Lob, Flash, Savage Blade, Provoke, Show Some Leg and one or more mobs will still go over to nom on the synced dps or healer. I do rotate my single target enmity moves between mobs. I'll have 3 'red' mobs and then suddenly one will turn 'yellow' and run off. I often lose aggro on the other 2 while trying to pull back the one escapee.

I use this to open:
(macro) Shield Lob, Mark 1, /p <Attack> <t>!
Flash x2 (run thru and position mobs if a melee is in the party)
FB, SB shared between mobs
Flash interspersed to keep hate

If you say "Oh, well you're telling them to attack before Flashing", I've already thought of that. I know how long it takes for mages to cast and the close range melee have to run to position. Mind you, I WILL be adjusting the macro to Flash earlier before shouting "Attack this thing". xD

I don't lose hate at the beginning of the fight (unless someone got excited and kept running ahead. :3 ) It's always a handful of steps into the fight that I lose hate.

This does not happen to any party member that is not synced down.

I now tell everyone to help by watching their own enmity if they are synced down. (Even as dps and healer, I was taught to do this long ago but I guess not everyone is familiar with the concept?)

TL;DR Level synced DPS/Healers pull hate from noob tank.

Is this a (generally accepted as part of life) bug? Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance! ^_^

[Tankin]

It's been awhile since I have been low level but my typical 4 man dungeon run consists of Flashing 3-4 times then just doing riot blade chain then flashing again. I cant recall the last time I lost aggro.
additionally out pacing your overzealous dps worked for me in my earlier days. When last mob at 5% and your healer is good on mana start moving to next group and pull them. You will learn to manage your MP with the riot blade strat. Also gear will help tons.

[Codek]

What iLvl is the weapon that you are using? If it's getting a bit low then that would be the first thing to improve upon.

If that's not an issue then things are going to be a bit complicated.

First, it sounds like you are using the color indicators to gauge your threat. There is actually a better tool in game within the party frames. The little bars below the player icons shows the actual threat meter for the mob you are looking at. This meter will give you much more precision in knowing the situation your in.



I'm assuming it's usually the secondary mobs that are running away. I'd say that once the first mob is half dead, to start tabbing through to the other mobs and adding your rotation abilities into them as well. This will most likely have the DPS pull the first mob off you but it should die shortly and the effects will be minimal. You can use flash more frequently as well to the same effect, just make sure you are in some way cycling mobs to get an idea on where each stands on the threat table. With a bit of practice, you will be able to quickly make adjustments on the fly to avoid ever having a mob on the lose (that you weren't at least expecting in some way).

[Sadana]

My gear is max level for my level. I'll hop in game later and provide a list since I don't remember the entire gear set from memory. It's all either HQ crafted or dungeon drops if they have better stats than my crafted stuff.

I do know about the agg numbers but they are way harder to see from across the room than the color indicators (I've enlarged the party menu to better see this but increasing it any more will cover too much of the fights.) I check to see who is 2 when I can. Wondering... is this 'averaged' enmity? Or is it just on the mob I am currently targeting?

Yes, I do swap between mobs to keep hate. Maybe not often enough? After my opening, I use FB, SB mob 1, 2, 3, Flash, back to 1, etc. Should I skip FB? (I use Riot Blade to regain mp when I'm sure of enmity).

A friend of mine said that, if a mob is near death from a dps (and they have enmity), I won't be able to pull hate back. Is this true? Like I mentioned in the original post, I don't lose hate at the beginning... it's after a while when the mobs are way down on hp.

[lxSch]

Both CNJ and THM have sleep which helps a lot (of course need to mark mobs), and scholar don't even need to heal in low level dungeons - recently i did haukke manor with sch who never left cleric stance even at the last boss. DPS can focus on one target and hold their damage, and without cycling targets you should have enough threat on one.

[Codek]

My gear is max level for my level. I'll hop in game later and provide a list since I don't remember the entire gear set from memory. It's all either HQ crafted or dungeon drops if they have better stats than my crafted stuff.

I do know about the agg numbers but they are way harder to see from across the room than the color indicators (I've enlarged the party menu to better see this but increasing it any more will cover too much of the fights.) I check to see who is 2 when I can. Wondering... is this 'averaged' enmity? Or is it just on the mob I am currently targeting?

Yes, I do swap between mobs to keep hate. Maybe not often enough?

A friend of mine said that, if a mob is near death from a dps (and they have enmity), I won't be able to pull hate back. Is this true? Like I mentioned in the original post, I don't lose hate at the beginning... it's after a while when the mobs are way down on hp.

The meter is only for the mob your currently are targeting. It's best used to get an idea of if it's OK to continue ignoring a target or not based on how far ahead you are from everyone else.

I would say that it's not impossible to get a mob back when it's near dead, but a lot of experienced DD's will decide to go full out on a mob to kill it off. Because of this, there is little hope (or reason) to even attempt it.


As long as it's not the healer that's pulling aggro, it doesn't really sound like there is much of an issue with what your experiencing. It sounds like a normal over geared and over zealous DD wanting to do as much as they can within the run.

I believe that is the region of leveling right before the RoH ability where DD's can and will pull of if they want to. Once you pick up the third rotation ability then you'll see those issues disappear.

[Zplinter]

Greetings Sadana,
Glad you are trying something new.
Hold hate/agro early on as a tank is hard, the tools at your disposal are limited. I think your stated mechanics are about as good as they can be. You are flashing and tab cycling to make sure you do your best.

If your friends are syncing down to run with you are you at the max level for the dungeon in question? They will be, so if you are not then you are fighting uphill against "higher level" party members. The good side is that they are your friend so you can expect them to focus fire for you and not face the scatter shot targeting you will see a lot in random pugs.

Best advice is continue doing what you are doing, playing, learning and asking questions.

[Sadana]

Thanks, guys!

Hm, I would say that the vast majority of the time it is a dps that pulls from me. If a mob goes to the healer... D: Provooooooke & Shield Lob spam! xDDD Hell, I've pulled a mob as a dps a few times (sorry tank! ;_; ) as it's dying. I don't make a deal of it because I know I can burn it down before it hits me.

Unless they are leveling an alt class in the dungeon like I am, my friends are level 50s with AF gear or better. Though now that I think about it, I have lost aggro to PGL/MNK, LNC/DRG, and BRD that are more than 10 levels over me.

[Cap75]

This is completely anecdotal, and I'm new to the game, but I find I have a lot easier time holding hate as a Marauder than a Gladiator. I'm working towards Warrior so at level 25 I switched from my Marauder and just brought a Gladiator up to 22 so I could get the cross class skills.

[Sadana]

First, it sounds like you are using the color indicators to gauge your threat. There is actually a better tool in game within the party frames. The little bars below the player icons shows the actual threat meter for the mob you are looking at. This meter will give you much more precision in knowing the situation your in.

*looks again*

OMG THERE'S A BAR METER!! : O
>.>
I didn't know that... I just thought everyone was pointing to the A and numbers. #^_^#
I'll see about embiggening my party menu anyways to better see this. Hopefully I'll still be able to see the fight around it...