Do you prefer to Tank or Heal?

I prefer tanking its just fun and what I enjoy, my sub job is healing and I just like doing that too no reason I guess.

I prefer to tank. I'm not much good at healing, but I'm decent as a tank. GLD/PLD was also the first class I started with. I've grown quite attached to it.

As aging Lalafell, the pure brawl with several foes at once is not my thing - I leave that to the tall folks or the young Lalafellows to rage themselves out on the battlefield. I rather watch your health, care about your wounds, cleanse nasty debuffs away with assistance of my loyal Selene . I am either your dedicated healer or as assistance and backup..

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Sincerely,
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Playing as Tank for quite a long time starting from PW in ~2008 and up to now. At first I preferred it because... it was the job with highest HP points, lol. For teenager me it was the most cool part. Then I just used to it and started to love it. Also I have kind of "knight complex", and because in many MMO Tank is a "classic" job with sword and shield - I fell in love with it. My first job in FF14 was Paladin, but later due to some... "dramatic" situation (it was like this for me at least back then) I stopped to play as Paladin even though I still love its aestethic. Currently main Gunbreaker which I waited for 5 years since saw gunblade used by Garleans.

As foe healing - I never actually played it before FF14, because I don't like support jobs. However, I play as healer here from time to time and enjoy it, though sometimes I start to fall asleep on it. XD

And if I'm extremely tired/lazy - I go as bard, but that's not the topic I suppose. XD

I prefer healing over tanking in formal content like raids or high-end dungeons. It's just so much less stressful.

But I love tanking, just not in content where the group is relying on me to set the pace or nail specific mechanics. It's not because I'm not good at them, I have excellent raid awareness actually, it's just the pressure of performing can be crippling - even if know I can do it. The stakes for a tank are so much higher than for DPS. Tanks are also default party planners, setting the pace of the run. I'm afraid I won't be going fast enough for a person who doesn't want to be there, or that I'm going to fast for someone who needs more time. Am I too squishy? Am I switching targets too much? Is the monk mad I moved out of that aoe 'cause my stun was down? Shoot, could I have skipped that pack? It's constant worry.

On paper I'd be great at and enjoy tanking, I get to do whatever I want and 3 people follow me around, but in practice I can't shelf my anxiety and stress long enough for that to be so.

I healed for like a decade in MMOs because I didn't trust other people to and those I did didn't want to heal - I'm done with that now though. I DPS.

Leveling DRK for story and doing hunts/challenges/fates/dailies every day because I can't bring myself to do roulette is the true grind...

Heal. Tanking is too anxiety inducing for me.

Historically tanking. It gives more satisfaction to play through. Tanks have agency in a run. At least a MT. Everything about the run is directed by the MT’s actions even if someone else does callouts or pulls.

OT by contrast is the leaat satisfying role in the entire game. In other MMOs there is constant tank swapping even in content you outlevel or outgear and the OT or second tank can even be more interesting than the boss tank.

But in FFXIV you only exist in case the other person DC’s or is slow to accept a rez. You might have some party utility skills but they are even less satisfying than playing a support in Everquest 1. 99% of the time your contribution is pointless. Your DPS will not even be the difference for an enrage timer unless your DPSers are not pulling their weight...

I keep hearing that somewhere there is content that has active tank swapping, but everything I see still has a MT/OT split... and I find that to be a massive design failure here. One of my few serious criticisms of FFXIV that, unlike other issues I see, notably impacts my playstyle preferences.

I hate OTing... and it’s often why I won’t tank period... the risk of being slotted to OT in FFXIV is too high...

Healing has extremely low agency. You don’t get to decide anything. People like to say you get to decide who lives or dies but you don’t really... What you’re really deciding is if you want to play your role or grief your group. That’s not agency... you’re just being led around by the leash by your group. You DPS mostly just to avoid boredom. If your DPS is high enough to matter it isn’t because you are good, but because your DPSers are slacking...

That said at times I enjoy healing. But it’s weird because the thing I enjoy is also something I dislike. You are largely to the side of or outside the fight mechanics. Your mechanic is a game of wack-a-mole with health bars. Moreso than any other job what you do remains constant across different fights... that can be relaxing. But it also leads to a sense of being un-engaged.

So basically... if we’re talking almost any other MMO I prefer being an OT. In most MMOs they will handle massive waves of adds and gimmicks - a hectic high mobility role that changes every pull, while the MT stands in one spot and... stays alive.

Or an MMO has tank swapping so both tanks hold aggro exactly the same amount of time... every fight has two MTs, so it’s really fun. Even at entry level content like WoW’s LFR there will either be a tank swap, two bosses that need to be split apart. Or waves of adds - so that there is something for both of them to do that is equally engaging.

Here... I like MTing but I will drop from a group after enough pulls to not be disrespectful... if told to OT. OTing in FFXIV is the worst experience I have seen in any MMO for any role...

Healing... I go up and down over liking or hating... it’s just too predictable of a pattern across foghts.

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Originally Posted by LaylaTsarra

I prefer to heal. I find tanking very stressful in DF although it can be lots of fun with friends.

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I am the exact opposite. I have tons of respect for healers because it stresses me out. Tanking is just funner and easier for me.

This expansion It has been all about tanking for me. GNB rotation has been absolutely awesome and fluid for me. Aesthetically and thematically the spec just seems to be my forever main. yes FFVIII was my favorite FF.

While I do need to optimize my rotation to help meet DPS checks, I feel less stressed out about them. My goal is to survive while dishing out what ever dps I am in. I already have good movement with my character I am more focused on not getting stacks of vuln than anything else.

Tanking is less stressful for me as I just have to watch the enemies. I just start with single pulls. If no one complains, I just go through the entire dungeon that way and say my thanks at the end. If someone says they'd like for bigger pulls, I'd oblige for bigger pull (though still not wall to wall). If someone pulls extra mobs, I just take aggro from them as long as they pull the mobs to me. I'm not chasing after them if they run away from me. I had a healer one time that rescued me to a second mob, I'm like, cool, I wish they could rescue me through the entire dungeon so I don't have to walk, heh.

I think the hard part about tanking for me is tank swap and (at least in previous expansion) how to maintain 2nd spot in enmity as off tank on a full party duty.

With healing, I have to watch my party members too and that's more stressful in my opinion.

Either way, I'm a DPS at heart so that's my preferred role, though I wouldn't mind tanking on the side, but definitely not healing outside of rdm/dnc healing moves.