New Tank Help

TL: DR Looking for advice on how to handle the first few group dungeons as a tank new to this game.

I have been tanking for years so am not new to the basic mechanics. I understand how threat works and have been through the initial tutorial dungeons (up to level 20).

So far I am running as a MRD and leveled GLD to 8 to get Flash.

I have taken my time and gotten a decent set of gear and done all my class quests.

My primary concern is the pace at which people tend to go in these lower level dungeons. I have GREAT AoE control and have been practicing positioning in the tutorial dungeons through the Duty Finder. That said how fast should I go and how much should I pull? As they are lower level and I have decent gear for my level should I pull multiple groups in the first real dungeon?

I don't want to push it and have the group wipe, but at the same time I keep hearing all these horror stories about groups kicking the tank because they only pull one group at a time.

As far as dungeons goes it's pretty simple. The party will move to your tempo for the most part. It's actually easy in the beginning it becomes challenging as the game plays on. Bosses harder to tank and you have to learn how to do the tango with certain bosses or when to pop cool downs to stay alive and support your healer in keeping you alive. Don't think to hard on it. Look up some vids if you need a for sure answer or ideas. Tanking doesn't become complicated until you start breaking in on how to stance dance and using cool downs. People have difficulties with that but it takes experience and trail and error to learn. People will talk trash and have their own words. Don't let it get too you. Do your best to complete dungeon or trail also remember it's a game not worth it if you're not enjoying yourself. Happy tanking!

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Originally Posted by Kindread

That said how fast should I go and how much should I pull? As they are lower level and I have decent gear for my level should I pull multiple groups in the first real dungeon?

I don't want to push it and have the group wipe, but at the same time I keep hearing all these horror stories about groups kicking the tank because they only pull one group at a time.

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Depends on party composition, your party's gear, and the sync level of the dungeon. If your healer's not up to par, or if you have only melee jobs, it's generally not worth it. Melee jobs generally don't get AOEs until the 30's and 40's, bards and casters get AOEs much earlier.

Low level dungeons are nothing to worry over. The Tank sets the pace (unless you have some really dick-ish Dps), and as long as you declare you are new at the start most people tend to be forgiving.

My suggestion would be to always play it safe your first time that you run a new dungeon. Having great AoE control and knowing how enmity works is great, but knowing the actual dungeon can be more important, especially at higher level content. The first time you go in a dungeon you won't know where everything is, and you won't know if there are monsters who have special attacks, AoE's, or status effects. Pulling big in Sastasha will probably be fine, but if you try the same thing in Quarn the first time you'll probably get killed by Final Sting and not know what happened. So, my general rule of thumb is to play it safe until you actually know the dungeon.

It's also a good idea to keep an eye on your healer. I almost always "examine" my healer to check out their gear, and I don't pull more than they can heal. If the "one or more party members has not completed this duty" sign comes up at the beginning, I ask who it is to check if it's the healer. I do this, because even if you know the dungeon inside and out it won't make a difference if your healer can't keep you alive.

Yeah to piggy back on pulling. Be careful like I said the dungeons train you how to tank once you survive Aurum Vale that's it. So far dungeons haven't touch the problems that one comes with as far as pulling and you deal with that at lvl 48 so you will be seasoned by then. Trials and bossing and raids. Those you have to watch videos or shadow a season tank. If all tanks are new get ready for some fun haha. You got it. Since day one I warn all those that I'm new or fairly new. It gives everyone a heads up on what to expect and they'll talk you through it. But there are a.holes out there who expect you to be perfect at all times and there may be a time where youre kicked for being undergear while trying to get gear stupid but that's how it is sometimes. Again good luck happy tanking.

Thanks so much for all the support and feedback.

How would you suggest I keep my gear up to speed as I level up? I love tanking dungeons so I will likely get some dungeon gear, but there is always a few pieces lacking .. will the quest gear be sufficient or should I seek a crafter?

It may be a moot point in the leveling dungeons, but as I am already inexperienced I would like to have a gear buffer whenever I can.

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Originally Posted by Kindread

How would you suggest I keep my gear up to speed as I level up? I love tanking dungeons so I will likely get some dungeon gear, but there is always a few pieces lacking .. will the quest gear be sufficient or should I seek a crafter?

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While you're leveling, that's an easy one: Just run more dungeons.

The highest possible dungeons for your current level cap will drop gear for that level. After that, you will want to supplement the pieces that you don't have with pieces you buy off of the Market Board. This will most likely be accessories. It is not worth crafting higher end gear, or knowing a crafter who can meld materia, or whatever, because you will outgrow the gear faster than you'll make the money it takes to buy it. So just stick with the stuff you get out of dungeons.

Also, keep in mind that you do not need to be at stat cap while leveling. Even if you are slightly under-geared for a dungeon that's fine, so long as you use your CD's and don't tank more than you are able. The only time having gear at level cap is somewhat necessary is lvl 50 and 60. So until then I wouldn't worry so much.

Get gear from the MSQ, supplement with dungeon drops that have higher STR/VIT/Defense/Magic Defense.

Don't worry about speed pulling unless you have THM/BLM until lvl40ish where multiple classes have decent AOE. Even then you don't really need to.

Keep your left side up to date, every level which is a multiple of 5 is generally when you can go visit a crafter buddy and fill in any missing pieces.

At the start of a new dungeon, i would just quickly say "hey, first time here, let me know of anything specific to watch out for", and then pull with confidence.

I wouldn't bother with big pulls, but make sure you're not standing around forever in between pulls. Even if you're not doing big pulls, people will love you for having the confidence to start moving towards the next pull immediately after the last mob dies, or even when it's at 15%.

In lower level dungeons, people tend to be friendly and willing to go at a slower pace. Most people will understand you not wanting to pull big mobs since you don't have the gear for such a thing yet. What you're talking about mainly comes in the level 50 and 60 dungeons. That's where people tend to want bigger pulls. My advice, let your group know that you're not comfortable with big pulls. If they boot you for that, well, tank ques are always great. See it as them doing you a favor in not having to run with a shitty group. Once you get better gear, THEN you should practice bigger pulls if you want to do so.