Dungeon Anxiety

[Lilyanna]

the tank was kind of reckless

^THIS irritates me more than anything else in this game. Most people (tanks that big pull lower dungeons) do not understand how the level sync item sync works and thus, believe that they are super in i130 gear in satasha or haukke mannor normal. The sync doesn't make your gear better, infact, it makes it worse than dungeon pinks as far as I've hear, but either way, you still have to treat lower dungeons as if you were that level.

Also, just ignore people, they will complain about anything you do .... 1 person will complain your not doing dps ... then another will whine about you dpsing and want you only to heal... it is a never ending cycle, the only thing you can do is ignore them and if something goes wrong on your end, apologize and move on.

[RachaelMarie22]

I dpsed from the start so never got nervous in duty..then I levelled healer..I know exactly what you mean, trust me you will build confidence and it will pass now I've picked up tanking..thats a new kind of anxiety and for my first run of each dungeon I always ask people I know to go with me. But I'm getting less nervous about that now I am becoming more familiar with how it works. Keep going!

[PetiteMalFleur]

Op, the fact is this game is challenging. Some of those story trials are really hard. You might die. Most people will understand you are new. Don't worry about it and just keep practicing.

Please buy a cheap USB keyboard or steal the one off your pc. It helps so much. I join dungeons to have fun and meet new people and it's very frustrating to be trying to help a new player and get little to no response.

[Nyalia]

Do you guys have any advice for me to feel more confident or maybe know if there is a thread with groups of people that are skilled and take in a noob like me to help get through those dungeons? Thank you.

Oh hi, you're on my server! If I'm in game, send me a tell and I'll help you out ^_^ I love helping new people, and I'd gladly run those story fights with you. My FC is really friendly and helpful, so it wouldn't be hard to find other people to help out.

It sounds like you did fine to me! Some tanks are reckless. Some reckless tanks are reckless because they're also new to the game and don't know any better. If you say something, they might listen. If they don't, leaving is totally valid. Other tanks are reckless because they're jerks. When you say something to them, they might reply in a hostile way, or they might blame you for them dying despite it being entirely their fault. When I run into those, I usually just leave. Or, if the rest of the party is nice, vote-kick them and get a new tank.

In 4-player dungeons, healers have the most critical role in boss fights. If the tank dies, the party might wipe, but it's recoverable if they get raised fast enough. If the healer dies, unless one of the DPS happens to be an Arcanist/Summoner (who can also cast Raise), it's definitely a wipe since the healer is down for the count.

Healing might not be right for you, and that's totally okay. You might enjoy DPS more. One of the great things about FFXIV is that you can change classes at will and level all classes up as high as you want. In fact, for every class that isn't your absolute highest class, you get a permanent +50% experience bonus, so it's easier to level up new classes. DPS have less critical roles than healers or tanks, so there's less pressure on them. I'm not saying they're less complex, but they're definitely more forgiving if you mess up.


Some quick advantages/disadvantages to the different roles:

Healers (CNJ/WHM, SCH[comes from ACN, but ACNs aren't healers])
Advantages: In low level dungeons, there's not that much healing to be done outside of boss fights, so there's little pressure. Throw out heals sometimes, DPS sometimes if you want, and it'll be fine. They have short queue times for dungeon queues. They are generally the most appreciated role and tend to get most of the commendations when the party does well.

Disadvantages: If you die in a 4-player dungeon, the party will almost always wipe shortly afterward, especially during boss fights. This means there's more pressure on them not to mess up and die. Because healers need to focus on the party's healthbars, it can be hard for new healers to notice stuff they need to do, like dodge AoE attacks (this can be mitigated by focus-targeting the boss in a boss fight (Shift-F) - that lets you see what the boss is doing even if you don't have the boss targeted). Reckless tanks who are jerks often blame the healer when they pull too many enemies and die (note: it's never the healer's fault in this case, so when it happens (and it will happen), don't let it get to you. The tank is just being a jerk).


Tanks (GLD/PLD, MRD/WAR
Advantages: Shortest dungeon queue times (often instant the second you click the button). Right now, Tanks practically always get the "adventurer in need" bonuses when doing roulettes because they are the least common role and most needed role.

Disadvantages: Tanks set the pace of dungeons, but that means they get a lot of crap from other players when they go too slow and when they go too fast. If they go slower than a DPS wants to go, the DPS will often attack first making it hard for the tank to keep up, especially early in the game. Tanks are expected to keep the attention of the enemies from the very beginning, but they don't have great tools to do so until halfway through the game (level 30 for WAR, level 40 for PLD). Tanks are also expected to know everything about a dungeon (even the first time they do it) and to explain it to anyone else who is doing it for the first time. These are all reasons why tanks are the least common role and the most needed.

DPS (ACN/SMN, ARC/BRD, PUG/MNK, ROG/NIN, LNC/DRG)
Advantages: Least critical role. You could be terrible at your role and people would barely notice in early game content. You don't have to lead and you don't have to worry about what other party members are doing. You just have to follow along and attack things.

Disadvantages: Very long dungeon queue times. And I really do mean that.




EDIT: Oh, and I second the above commenter. I strongly recommend getting a USB keyboard. They're not expensive, easy to find (Best Buy, Staples, Amazon, etc), and this is a social game. Half the fun is interacting with other players.

[Garotte14]

If you got 18 dollars, transfer to either Leviathan or Cactuar, and I'll personally enroll you in FFXIV 101, and teach you anything you want/need to know. I don't mind helping ppl.

[Urthdigger]

I really wish people would stop citing DPS being non-critical as an advantage. Just because the tanks and healers CAN carry you through most content doesn't mean we like doing it. And we DO notice when folks aren't carrying their weight.

Saying "Oh, you can slack off on DPS and nobody will care lol" is why we have so many shitty DPS.

[Yumi_umi]

If u get qeued in with endgame players on ur low level dungeons they usually tend to write u off ( any low level healer ) as their own heal bot lol
If u ask what do i do guys
They usually motion just stand there and heal us.

[Seryl199]

If u get qeued in with endgame players on ur low level dungeons they usually tend to write u off ( any low level healer ) as their own heal bot lol
If u ask what do i do guys
They usually motion just stand there and heal us.

Well shame on any vet that does that. New players are a vital part of the game, and they're as much a paying player as the rest of us. I go out of my way to help the newbies and make sure they know what's going on, especially if they seem to be struggling, and if a seasoned player doesn't have the time or patience for that, they ought to stay out of low level dungeons or see themselves from the instance.

[SuggaBerry]

Thank you everyone for your advice, it definitely made me feel better.

[Espritduo]

I was in the exact same boat as you, except as a tank. Never played an MMO in my life, and knew literally nothing about how this game worked, especially in groups. I just figured the sword-wieldin dude was the most basic, easiest to pick up class so I went with it. No idea what a tank was when I picked it, but luckily I had done enough research by the time I got to my first dungeon to at least have a basic understanding what my role was supposed to be there. Still died, and sucked really bad, but we got through it. I stuck with tanking even though I hated it all the way through the main storyline and as far as Leviathan HM and Labyrinth of the Ancients. Labyrinth broke me, though, and my first run of that back when it was new content was my last run as a "main tank". Didn't run any dungeon content for a very very long time, until I picked up Monk and fell in love with it.

Going to be perfectly honest here - if you don't actually like healing, you may want to level up another class and go with that while you're still relatively low level, rather than suffer through more of the game in a class/role you didn't plan on playing. Endgame content really raises the bar on what is expected of you, and you will be absolutely miserable as a healer who only heals because it was what you picked at the start. If you've found out since starting that you do actually like healing, though...kudos on you and just have fun!