Question from returning player

So been tanking again since I came back and I've been noticing that the other tank will sit in tank stance the entire time. Why? I'm aware they take a damage penalty in the stance so why are they just sitting in the stance? Warrior I can kind of see due to their stance dance mechanic but I've been finishing up my zeta on pld for glamour so they are all downgraded to 50. I don't remember this being a thing when I played a year ago so what has changed or are they just bad players?

Stance dancing has never been a required component in 90% of the game's content. The tooltips themselves suggest that tanks should only "switch stances" when they're in the offtank position, and that's what the traditional MMO tanking paradigm has been.

So seeing someone "sit in their stance" the whole time is not a bad thing. In most cases, it has never been a bad thing.

Alexander Midas also changed things a bit to my understanding, where tanks are having to soak a good deal more damage, and to where groups are failing mechanics more than failing DPS checks, so staying in Tank stance is beneficial when learning a fight, and when learning when to expect spikes of damage. Doesn't make them bad.

You misunderstand what I'm saying. I'm saying me as the MT is noticing that the OT is sitting in their tank stance during all phases of a fight and in fights where there is only one boss. I don't remember this being a thing yet I come back and it is. Why?

They do less damage due to tank stance damage penalty and I have to constantly monitor aggro table and worry a coupe of nice crits will tip the scales, boss will turn and cleave party.

I can't answer why it's a thing, but having run most of the trials at lvl 50 (Can't speak for the lvl 60 dungeons) one or two months ago I can answer why a tank might do this. I remember in The Chrysalis there is a point where the OT can grab threat to help mitigate damage to the MT, and I don't know how high your health is but our MT died from the three shot thunder attack (or whatever it is) that the boss used.

I know that as a WAR I ran around only using Defiance until I got Fell Cleave because Deliverance was useless to me beyond a slight bonus damage that Maim could just as easily offer.

In the case of running with my PLD, I usually ran in Shield Oath because I didn't know what was going to happen. Some tanks are great at what they do others could screw up and if I'm in Sword Oath I might not be able to take the hit resulting in a wipe.

These are just my thoughts as one who only knew the fights through what I saw on videos. Maybe they can offer some insight.

No its not a thing, these tanks were bad. If you see the other tank staying in his tank stance just let him be MT and switch stance yourself.

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Originally Posted by Zaresin

You misunderstand what I'm saying. I'm saying me as the MT is noticing that the OT is sitting in their tank stance during all phases of a fight and in fights where there is only one boss. I don't remember this being a thing yet I come back and it is. Why?

They do less damage due to tank stance damage penalty and I have to constantly monitor aggro table and worry a coupe of nice crits will tip the scales, boss will turn and cleave party.

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If the OT stays in his tankstance there are 4 options that explain it:

1) The tank is just bad.
2) The tank didn't notice that he is still in tankstance.
3) The are new and don't have a clue.
4) They are trolling.

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Originally Posted by Zaresin

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Tanks should be in DPS stance to help DPS there's still tank swapping and a lot of it in Midas normal and savage as well as the EX trials Seph ex, Nidhogg EX. Tank and healer DPS still matter so a healer just standing there doing nothing, and a tank in tank stance doing their threat combo is as less as effective as a DPS and tank doing their DPS rotations with cool downs it requires less healing and faster clears, so the tanks that sit in tank stance are a hindrance.

Imo staying in tank stance as OT comes with 2 main disavantages:
- OT pulling hate from you could harm the party with cleave attacks (Tex)
- The obvious dps loss that mess with dps check phases.
But being fair, also has advantages:
- Tank swapping becomes easier.
- Increases survivabilty of the off tank.

Looking the picture as a whole, its not convenient, OT staying on tank stance is a mistake and must be avoided.

5) They are thinking they are the MT due whatever mindset and are equally cursing why you don't swap out, as you should in their viewpoint.

Its usually because they either don't have a clue or just don't notice, had a Warrior who thought that being in tank stance was better than having no stance in level 50 content, even as OT.

There are few benefits other than it being easier to tank swap when things go tits up.