Failed at Brayflox - or Why I Suck at FFXIV

I know it's been said but you really should try and keep up with your equips, some will probably say it's not needed till endgame but if your struggling as it is then it can only help. Also, try to use equips that are for your class, STR equips are fine once you're overgeared for content but clearly you aren't.

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Originally Posted by Raldo

1) Your weapon is abysmal for your level, assuming the lodestone is correct. Fixing that alone may be enough to remedy your problems. At 39, your gear is also really bad, but since you mentioned Brayflox, it's... passable for lv32, though far from ideal. Aside from accessories, you should never have a piece of gear that's more than 10 levels below you (it's nice if accessories follow the rule as well, but they are far far less important).

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Thank you @Raldo. I am looking for better equipment, but don't exactly have 100,000s to work with ... The highest MRD arm I see is the Spiked Mythril Labrys, but it is only +6 of my current (boards are currently out of them); do you know where to find better?

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Originally Posted by Raldo

2) If your healer is complaining, maybe you need more HP. I see you're wearing a ton of STR accessories, so maybe you should switch to VIT. Same applies for your allotted points.

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The VIT augments I can buy will add ~100HP to my ~2000 ... while skill-speed ones would ad 26 (10%) to that; would 100 additional HP be worth more than 10% extra skill speed?

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Originally Posted by Raldo

3) If there's a 3+ monsters and no one in your party is adamant about sleeping things, gets the monsters all line up in your front cone and Overpower a few times. That'll get you pretty solid hate on all of 'em.

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I do try, but apparently my cone-aim needs practice. I am going to add Flash to my quick-list and see if that helps.

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Originally Posted by Raldo

4) I'll echo some of the statements above and below my post
• Get flash, and use it on groups (for brayflox, flash is very handy for the adds that pop in the first miniboss room)
• Dodge things (this is especially important in brayfox)

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I do fall down at dodging ... again, need more practice. Foolishly assumes Tank meant "don't bother dodging"... I know it sounds stupid.

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Originally Posted by ASnogarD

This role guide is a pretty good primer on the roles in a party.

http://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/1kpl3m/

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Thanks - reading now!

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Originally Posted by ASnogarD

Dont get too disheartened

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Thanks - I'll try not to be Those Tanks :-)

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Originally Posted by MirielleLavandre

Also, not that you want to be an egotistical meanie...

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Thanks - I am getting lot of good advice here, so am head-butting wondering why I didn't ask sooner. Encouragement is greatly appreciated. I will do better.

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Originally Posted by Papa_Wilkins

The VIT augments I can buy will add ~100HP to my ~2000 ... while skill-speed ones would ad 26 (10%) to that; would 100 additional HP be worth more than 10% extra skill speed?

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You are a tank man, any extra VIT will benefit especially if you are struggling to clear content.

Here's what 26 skill speed gets you, nothing.

I could be wrong as i've never looked into stacking it but from what I remember 100 Skill Speed = 0.1 increase in GCD speed.

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Originally Posted by Enfarious

Provoke followed by a Tomahawk will "usually" be enough to grab a straying mob and get it back to you too.

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I seem to be missing Provoke ...

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Originally Posted by Enfarious

Vit is your friend, Str might let you do more damage, but let's be honest here, your job isn't dealing damage, it's taking damage and vit well let you take more.

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I asked another, but after having bought a full set of Helidor stuff, it only added ~100HP, while all garnet adds 26 to skill-speed; you'd still go with the VIT adds in that case?

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Originally Posted by Enfarious

Oh and you are wearing your War soul right? In defiance?

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Yes, Warrior, with Defiance active. I may have forgotten to active it after one party-death-re-start, but generally first thing I do.

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Originally Posted by Grembo

I could be wrong as i've never looked into stacking it but from what I remember 100 Skill Speed = 0.1 increase in GCD speed.

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Got it - VIT it is!

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Originally Posted by Papa_Wilkins

Got it - VIT it is!

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Might want to reset your attributes and go VIT too, I guess you put them all into STR looking at your stats on the lodestone.

The stat boosts from gear at that level do not really matter. It is more important to have the raw damage and defense with updated gear. This is why you should ideally have lvl28 or higher weapons/armor for brayflox. The accessories do not really matter although they can help.

There are three options to gear usually: The best gear is always gear dropped from dungeons. You will want to farm the previous dungeon until you get your weapon and body piece. For you, that means Haukke Manor. You can also craft or buy gear as well, but money becomes a major issue then. The last option is to earn quest rewards. Many quests will reward you with weapons and armor of the appropriate level. This gear earned is pretty standard, but it is a cheap way to upgrade gear. Keep in mind, if there are some FC members with crafting classes that they can help you in reducing the costs.

When players tell you to stack VIT, it is usually in reference to your attribute distribution and not materia. You will notice a larger difference at higher levels, but thankfully you can reset it by using GC seals. Most tanks do not put all in to STR or VIT, but a combination of the two. Experiment and find a combination that you are comfortable with. Using materia to test out potential stat increases can be useful in this regard. Just be aware of the cap on stat boosts granted by materia to optimize your melding.

Provoke is a gladiator lv22 skill. It is absolutely mandatory for warriors at end-game, so you should get it by lvl44. If you want, you can write a macro for it.

A basic tactic for retaining group hate is to use an enormous amount of area hate in the beginning and then sparse it out throughout the fight. For warriors, it might be a tomahawk to pull the mob, followed by an overwhelm/flash once or twice, heavyswing->skullsunder combo, overwhelm/flash again. This establishes an initial buffer of hate for your healer and any dps. After that, you use flash/overwhelm after every 3 or 4 heals, depending on your mp/tp. Eventually, you can stop it (maybe 3 or 4 aoe at most) as you have just built up so much enmity the healer can't pull from you unless they are spamming medica or big heals. Even then, enough adds should be dead that it won't cause a player death.

And be aware that there are some specialized tactics used against the Brayflox bosses. For example, the adds on the first boss can be cced. If your caster can sleep them, be sure to pull the mob initially with a aoe aggro and then let your whm/blm sleep them. Slept mobs do not accumulate enmity, so they will continue attacking you after the sleep breaks. The dps can quickly take apart the adds one at a time while you single target the boss. Similarly, a bind or heavy/kite strategy works. Find one that works for your group. The second boss can be slept, which is useful when the slightly beefier add comes in and wreaks havoc with the party aggro. Sleep the boss, tank the add, and you should kill it in 30-45 seconds before turning back to the boss. The last boss actually requires careful positioning of the dps and healer, as well as your ability to pull the boss around.

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Originally Posted by Grembo

Might want to reset your attributes and go VIT too, I guess you put them all into STR looking at your stats on the lodestone.

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I've put about 2 VIT per 1 STR ... is there a way to reset them?