Getting started tanking?

Currently, I'm a healer main (SCH) and I'm looking to get into tanking after encountering a very nice tank in DF who explained what the other side looked like. I understand that tanking is about both being able to survive and being able to hold hate, as well as PLD being about avoiding damage and single target tanking while WAR is more about soaking damage and AoE tanking, but I don't know much more than that.

First, are there any other major difference between PLD and WAR? Do you have any recommendations as to which one to try first?

Also, is there anything you would like to say to a new tank, about ex common mistakes, oft overlooked abilities, etc?

I'm levelling as warrior at the moment and having a blast. You feel powerful waving that big axe around. i'd much prefer to be tanking with a shield but there are some issues I have with paladin.

As one who plays both I use PLD more for primals and war for actual dungeons. PLD is much simpler to play cause it's a basic 123 it's pretty hard to mess it up as a healer you half to know the fights so you know when to buff a tank up especially on SCH so using that knowledge makes tanking simple cause you already know what to expect. you will take less damage on PLD cause you not only parry but block, war only parries. War has a great buff with inner beast and because of how wrath works now you can expend you stacks more frequently but will always be able to get back to 5 with no effort.
If your new to tanking in general I would recommend PLD it's easier to use and gives you more leeway to learn after your confident try War tho war is vastly more fun with the diff kit your given. Dunno if that helps

Just pick the tank class you'd like to play most. Both are in demand in endgame content and do well enough.

You should be able to generate a sufficient amount of threat as either class with a decent approach to aggro generation. It's a skill that comes with practice, but you shouldn't really sweat it. And if you do, then the only thing you should be worrying about is the fact that you are not doing your job and how you can do it better.

Line of Sight Pulling is a skill rarely seen used by tanks, but can be very useful when there are a cluster of mobs that deal ranged damage and will not cluster up for your group to cleave them down and may be difficult to manage aggro on while they are so spread out.

A great opportunity to demonstrate the usefulness of this technique is at the locked door at the end of Haukke Manor. There are a few Will-O The Wisps in there and if you run into the room and aggro everything then run out and sit right outside the entrance to that room, all of the enemies will come into melee range for you since they cannot attack you through a wall.

Other than that, just keep an eye out for the amount of damage you are taking. If you are noticing a consistent increase in damage you should use a reactive defensive cooldown like Convalesence or Thrill of Battle (which can also be used proactively if you can tell you are about to take a hit that is going to exceed your current amount or current amount of maximum HP). If you know you are about to take a significantly large amount of damage you should use a proactive defensive cooldown like Rampart, Vengeance, Sentinel, Foresight, Inner Beast and etc.

Hallowed Ground is good for cheesing mechanics and giving your healers breathing room. Holmgang can be used to bind some enemies in place. Primarily used as an "I'm hitting this because I know I'm about to die" button, but if you are able to stun an enemy for a full 6 seconds and then get behind them before they turn around and use Holmgang, they will not be able to turn around and hit you for it's duration.

It's mostly common sense stuff... Just figure out where to use your cooldowns where they will make the biggest difference. Like if you're being hit by a bunch of enemies at once, that's probably your best chance to get the most out of Featherfoot, Holy Shield or Awareness.

Other than that just keep your HP high, enemies attacking you, and keep your accuracy up.

After leveling up GLD, I can see why people find PLD boring, but also much more powerful. I will most likely be going WAR as my FC has 3 PLDS and 0 WARs. Thanks everyone!

it is much easier to start tanking as marauder than being a gladiator

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Originally Posted by Adler

it is much easier to start tanking as marauder than being a gladiator

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I have to agree. The GLD skill set is pretty sparse for keeping hate on more than one mob at a time.

You have... Flash. And a really crappy mana pool. >.>

With that said, I love PLD at endgame and I don't see myself changing mains anytime soon. :3

Having another class leveled up is a great help, since you will already know the dungeons, and know what mistakes the tanks you have met along the way commit. A healer sees everything and everybody's mistakes usually.

The main thing to remember is that in group play, getting and keeping enmity is your main job, not killing mobs quickly (as it might seem for the solo quests you do while leveling.) You also need to know at least a bit the place (look guides etc.) since you might find the other members expect you to. Many times other member knows the way and helps, no problem.

A healer usually is all the time looking at the party list and the HP of everybody. The tank usually is looking at the enemy list and checking all enemies are in red and have enough enmity, and quickly take measures if they start to get orange, more it they are green or yellow. Sometimes there are enemies that, even if you flashed, are not on your enemy list and may be attacking somebody, you need to keep your eyes open and be aware of everything that happens.

As a PLD I have noticed that now, when I do roulettes, I use flash much more intensely than when I was new and did the dungeons for the first times. Many tanks I meet when I do low level roulette as a WHM or BLM don't flash enough and lose hate easily. Flash is not wasted, enmity accumulates, and the tank main job is not killing the mobs. Flash a lot and you can recover mp with riot blade combo later. It is easier to grab hate from the start than having to recover lost hate.

My MRD is only level 26. I liked Overpower a lot while leveling up. But I have been doing other things and not leveled it more, I leveled the WHM and BLM to have different points of view. I suppose eventually I'll level the WAR. It takes mental flexibility to change from one job to another, and I suppose from one tank with a play style to another with a different one.

Until you obtain Rage of Halone, Flash and Savage Blade Combo are the ones to gain enmity, Riot Blade Combo to recover mp, when you already have enmity, but not to gain enmity. This is a common avoidable mistake, since it gives more damage and recovers mp, you may be tempted to use Riot Blade combo a lot. You may have enmity problems then. Only when enmity is well established, recover mp. If there are several enemies, rotate the attacks so all keep enmity towards you.

There are guides on the forum for tanks too. You learn a lot reading the forums. Having a weapon as good as you can is also very important for a tank, it affects a lot the enmity you create.

As someone who is also beginning the quest to Tank-dom, I like the input here. We have a PLD in our FC and a WAR would be nice in those heavy parties. Since the PLD has 0.0 interest in doing anything other battle/heal jobs, WAR is my path. Having been a BRD, BLM, and WHM, I guess one more won't hurt.

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Originally Posted by Adler

it is much easier to start tanking as marauder than being a gladiator

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Originally Posted by Ashkendor

I have to agree. The GLD skill set is pretty sparse for keeping hate on more than one mob at a time.

You have... Flash. And a really crappy mana pool. >.>

With that said, I love PLD at endgame and I don't see myself changing mains anytime soon. :3

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If I recall correctly, a GLA/PLD always has enough Mana to Flash about... 10 times?... or so at any given level. You shouldn't need that much Flash, ever, outside of speedruns. I like 3. 3's a good number to start a fight.

I like my PLD at endgame too. Strutting around with 7800 HP makes me feel almost invincible when I start waving cooldowns around, and I rarely have to use them all in a short enough time to feel naked and vulnerable.

I'd also like to submit one possibly good reason to do some tanking as GLA before doing so as MAR: Provoke! GLA learns this at 22, so it cannot be used in dungeons synced below that number, but MAR can cross class it to literally have it in every dungeon. Very useful on the first few, where trigger happy Archers can steal from even the most hardened tank.