Question: How do you tank?

Utilize role actions. Rampart has a decent cooldown to cover practically every large pull in most dungeons.

I think every tank should learn how to MT the 24 man raids, or at least do it once.

When DRK was announced I lvled up a PLD to 50 and switched from maining SMN and never looked back.

Squadrons now is a good learning tool to use as you arent grouped with real players, but many times you are responsible for handling mechanics and tanking which is a good learning tool to use.


As far as tank swaps go though that is something I had to learn in game via instances. But most extreme trials you do it at least once or twice in the fights.

Tanking is fairly easy, and I applaud you as I am a terrible healer but I am sure like tanking it is a skill that just develops over time.

Is there anything else I should be doing when it comes to taking hits? I went into the manor (lv 28) and dropped dead from the skeletons on the stairs (too much damage after falling away from the healer), losing aggro to the black mage and bard consistently even through provoke and the aggro chain I have available to me, and then dropped dead again during the boss fight when all the adds spawned in and demolished me through thrill of battle and rampart and having all kinds of trouble getting threat under wraps while everything chased the team around (mainly the dps) after getting raised.

I know for sure that was the literal worst run of the night...though granted the others were synced to the 31 cap, but I don't think I could grovel shamelessly enough to make up for it >.>

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Originally Posted by Foxkid

I thought tank stance was reduced damage plus a threat bonus? So the jobs just eat raw hits and only use cooldowns when swarming or against tank busters?

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Paladins Shield Oath and Dark Knights Grit work what way. Reduce damage (both incoming and outgoing) while giving a boost to enmity.
Warrior works differently. They get an HP boost, a healing boost, an enmity boost, and reduced outgoing damage. But they do not get any mitigation on Defiance.

So a big hit is coming and somehow you've used up all your cooldowns. A DRK and a PLD could swap into Grit/ShOath and take less damage. A WAR cannot. If you're quick about it you can swap into defiance and hit Inner Beast, probably one of the best tank defensive cooldowns in the game. WAR has many options and it's one of the more versatile tanks.

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Originally Posted by Foxkid

As for shirk (not there yet but lv 25 now), that better held to a target macro or just targeting your mt and doing it manually?

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I have completely abandoned any and all macros. Even macros for oGCDs may fail simply due to the way macros work in this game. I can get into more depth but my word of advice is to not rely on it, and work on just clicking your target (the party list works great for that) then hitting shirk. It sounds like it could take some time but once you have the swing of it, it's less than your GCD time.

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Originally Posted by Foxkid

Is there anything else I should be doing when it comes to taking hits? I went into the manor (lv 28) and dropped dead from the skeletons on the stairs (too much damage after falling away from the healer), losing aggro to the black mage and bard consistently even through provoke and the aggro chain I have available to me, and then dropped dead again during the boss fight when all the adds spawned in and demolished me through thrill of battle and rampart and having all kinds of trouble getting threat under wraps while everything chased the team around (mainly the dps) after getting raised.

I know for sure that was the literal worst run of the night...though granted the others were synced to the 31 cap, but I don't think I could grovel shamelessly enough to make up for it >.>

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Provoke doesn't add any bulk of enmity. Do not rely on it to keep up on aggro. At your level, you're limited to a lot of Overpower spam and ....well that's it. WAR is very braindead at low levels, but gets pretty intense at higher levels.
As for dropping dead from those skeletons. Well... don't jump off without your healer lol. But that's just good experience you get from tanking. Learning those places inside and out, where's safe, where's hazardous. It's the best part about being a tank.

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Originally Posted by kupokage

I never double Flash to start a pull. More specifically I Flash as the Blind debuff from each Flash falls off. After they're immune, I'll Flash as needed.

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Double flashing on the pull does not interfere with the blind diminishing returns. I am not suggesting you don't know this, but newer players may not realize it. As long as you don't flash AFTER half of the duration is remaining, you will not waste any overlapping blind durations. IE, if a PLD uses flash when there's 5 seconds of blind remaining, the blind gets overwritten by a 6 second blind, and that previous 5 seconds of blind is wasted. Just something for people trying to maximize their debuffs. Timed properly, you can line up 21 seconds of blind which can be helpful in AOE situations.

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Originally Posted by Canadane

So a big hit is coming and somehow you've used up all your cooldowns. A DRK and a PLD could swap into Grit/ShOath and take less damage. A WAR cannot. If you're quick about it you can swap into defiance and hit Inner Beast, probably one of the best tank defensive cooldowns in the game. WAR has many options and it's one of the more versatile tanks.

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Well...I can see why he wants me to be warrior while he nestles up with his drk and paladin..

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Originally Posted by Canadane

]I have completely abandoned any and all macros. Even macros for oGCDs may fail simply due to the way macros work in this game. I can get into more depth but my word of advice is to not rely on it, and work on just clicking your target (the party list works great for that) then hitting shirk. It sounds like it could take some time but once you have the swing of it, it's less than your GCD time.

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I haven't really had a ton of trouble with macros..though they're kinda simple and more used for scripted humor (support skills), but if it seems to be easier to do it manually whenever I get there.

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Originally Posted by Canadane

]Provoke doesn't add any bulk of enmity. Do not rely on it to keep up on aggro. At your level, you're limited to a lot of Overpower spam and ....well that's it. WAR is very braindead at low levels, but gets pretty intense at higher levels.
As for dropping dead from those skeletons. Well... don't jump off without your healer lol. But that's just good experience you get from tanking. Learning those places inside and out, where's safe, where's hazardous. It's the best part about being a tank.

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So how does provoke work exactly if it barely matters to draw aggro back in then?
As for overpower spam, expect to be out of tp pretty frequently is the idea for now?

And the dropping off the stairs was a horrible horrible misstep while trying to pull the flies down the way, then drawing the remaining skeletons on the stairs...and the skeletons on the bottom floor..then dying... it was humiliating q-q;;

What's inner beast though? I recently got back from school.

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Originally Posted by Foxkid

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Provoke basically just puts you at the top of agro for the target, equaling whatever the agro amount of who is in the lead +1. If you are already in the lead for agro on the target, you are literally just adding 1 to your total agro which is basically nothing. Provoke is not to be used in agro rotations but is to be used to get back on top if someone takes agro from you, when you suddenly need to take over tanking the boss from another tank such as in tank swaps or if the main tank dies, mostly stuff like that. There is an agro building trick utilizing provoke and shirk that you can use as the off-tank to build the main tank's agro lead but that is more advanced and not something you should worry about while learning.

As for Overpower spam, well yeah that's pretty much what you will be doing at low lvl with WAR, spam it when fighting 3 or more enemies until low on TP and then switch to single target abilities. When fighting 2 or less just use your combos.

If you want to know what Inner Beast or any other ability does, just look at the description and tooltip for it in-game or you can check out the official job guide site.
https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/Warrior

Geesh, no wonder he tends to say warriors do stupid amounts of damage despite being tanks.

Can you be in defiance and deliverance at the same time? I'm assuming no considering the screenshots of the gauge, but....

And do you even really use convalescence later on or does it stop mattering a whole lot? I tended to just throw excogs and shields on the warriors and throw damage on the enemies most times since they could keep themselves in check 9/10 times so Lily (pet) was more than enough to keep them topped off through all but tank busters.

Slightly disappointed you don't seem to gain a whole lot of passives/traits as a warrior though, just health and something for infuriate sounds..lacking, could've fooled me that they didn't have more offered considering how a lot of them played.

No you can't be in both stances at the same time, it's one or the other. Offensive mode, Defensive mode. You can easily switch between them though.

Yes you use Convalescence at all levels, mainly to soak incoming damage between tank busters or if there is a prolonged period of high damage. It is usually not used by itself but is often stacked with another of the weaker defensive abilities, like Anticipation.

WAR has tons of "passive" aspects and interactions, arguably more than either of the other tanks. You just need to read into and learn the kit and the way the pieces fit together. For example, WAR is the only tank that gets a passive buff (parry/crit) based on their gauge and how full it is.

I'm actually starting to feel a little more comfortable in the role now, though granted I'm still overestimating how much I can pull at times (or additional aggro is generated from some random mob across a lake that shouldn't have even locked onto me in the first place) or feel I'm taking a stupid amount of damage through rampart or parries...

Should I consider using thrill of battle more often cause as I am now, I kinda ignore it unless I feel I need a quick self heal (even though the amount gained is really low like a potion).

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Originally Posted by Foxkid

Should I consider using thrill of battle more often cause as I am now, I kinda ignore it unless I feel I need a quick self heal (even though the amount gained is really low like a potion).

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You know what's less than the relatively small benefit using Thrill of Battle gives? Nothing, which is what you get if you don't use it. Just make sure you aren't using it when full or near full so you don't overrcap your HP with it and waste it.

You have tools in your kit for a reason and while some may seem underwhelming in comparison to other more powerful or straightforward abilities, every ability has a use and should be put to use.
A perfect example is Low Blow. I have seen many players ignore it or straight up say it is worthless but it is super useful and should be used constantly in dungeon pulls. A stunned enemy can't hit you which means you take less damage. It is also great for interrupting a mob that is about to use an AoE ability, saving you and your party from having to move.

Small effects/benefits used consistently or in tandem add up and make an overall noticeable difference.