Newbie tank

Hey guys! I know this is going to sound weird but I pretty much suck at tanking- mostly because the enemies IGNORE me and run after my teammates. My character knows taunt, provoke, shield lob, and the other standard abilities. But I noticed that when I'm tanking sometimes the other enemies will rush us (mobs I think they're called) and go after everyone else while I'm dealing with 3-4 enemies already!

Also since I became a Paladin recently, I took on Conjurer abilities like healing/ raise etc. I noticed that during dungeons I actually had to heal myself rather that HOPE someone would heal me :'(

I think targeting the enemies and distracting as many as possible is my goal. Also I think I may be misusing provoke; when I attempted to use it for the first time during the 'In her Closet' or whatever main quest. The enemy completely ignored me!

Can you guys give me some tips?

My tips maybe there a other members of this community have better tips.

Tip 1. Attack first you get that argo right away by using Shield Lob or Provoke If that enemy has Party system with them they all will be pull to you. You can tell when enemy as a party system going on you will see a yellow line going to some other mobs.
Tip 2. When the enemies are being pull to you since you use Shield lob or attack first use flash
(This usual works for me) Tip 3. Use Fast Blade, Savage Blade, Flash (Keep the argo on more then one enemy) Rage of Hanoe -If level 50- Spirit Within, and then Circle of Scorn.
Tip 4. If you running low MP Fast Blade, Riot Blade to restore MP then flash to keep Argo more then one enemy.

This how i play it works out for me so far Maybe someone had something better and easyer.

I can't advise you on how to be a tank specifically because I only play dps/mage. I can say that it helps to mark your targets with the in game marking system like 1, 2 3 so people know which order you are attacking. Also partying takes cooperation, you need everyone to know their roles and it is ok to take the time to explain it or say that you need help learning yours. Whether or not you are a good tank, if some one attacks out of order or over heals you or links extra mobs, it will bring trouble to everyone so it helps to coordinate proper roles for everyone.

I am new to partying myself but as far as I know, your objective, once the others understand not to attack until your hate is established, is to establish hate and keep it so that the mobs are more pissed off at you than the other players. Mages piss of mobs when they heal you and so they may steal hate by making the mob angrier at them [emnity] than you. The tank has various tools that I cannot name lol to maintain hate/emnity and so be patient, also post in the newbie forum here and helpful experienced tanks will chip in advice. :D I wish you luck though, just hang in there and be open about your inexperience, when you party. We all gotta start someplace.

Also: there are the current in game ui tools that display how much emnity you and the others have established, this is useful for you to measure which actions do what to gain emnity.

If mages are not healing you, ask them to in chat before the attack starts and whenever they are not and you need it. Use the ingame sound system to alert if you need heals and are not getting them.

Have you gone under settings -> configuration -> threat management then click turn the suck down to around 3 or 4 :)

Yeah those are good tips guys.

And I didn't know they had settings for sucking less? How did you stumble on that setting? lol jk I'll totally try that out too ;)

I've done only the main mission req'd dungeons up to this point so I guess I'll keep practicing :)

I am just messing with you lol, the guys above have some solid advise.

Well, as for Provoke, you're using it wrong (you're not the only one who has made this mistake so don't worry!) - it's not like FFXI's version where it just generates a ton of hate. In ARR, Provoke selects the person with the highest hate level, switches it with your own hate, and then adds a single extra point of hate to it. Hence, it's only useful for when you lose hate and have to get it back onto you fast (it's most effective if you then quickly use another hate generating ability after it, like Savage Blade or Flash).

You can tell when this has happened by quickly checking the hate gauges of your party - as the tank you should have the letter 'A' beside your hate gauge under your name, with the rest of the party with numbers, if the letter A switches to someone else, this is when you use Provoke!

Flash is your main hate generating ability (it's effectively a spell version of FFXI's Provoke, only AoE), and thus should be used often (as it's a spell though you'll quickly run out of mp if you spam it over and over, which is why you have the Fast Blade-Riot Blade weaponskill combo for, as KristianFortNox mentioned.). Also because Flash is AoE, there are times where it might be wise to pull whatever enemy you're fighting back a little so as to not get adds which might make you lose control of the battle (and then wipe).

Man forgot about marking i am sorry :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Enkidoh

Well, as for Provoke, you're using it wrong (you're not the only one who has made this mistake so don't worry!) - it's not like FFXI's version where it just generates a ton of hate. In ARR, Provoke selects the person with the highest hate level, switches it with your own hate, and then adds a single extra point of hate to it. Hence, it's only useful for when you lose hate and have to get it back onto you fast (it's most effective if you then quickly use another hate generating ability after it, like Savage Blade or Flash).

You can tell when this has happened by quickly checking the hate gauges of your party - as the tank you should have the letter 'A' beside your hate gauge under your name, with the rest of the party with numbers, if the letter A switches to someone else, this is when you use Provoke!

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This, only time i use provoke to pull is the Succubus in Amdapor Keep but you're miles away from there. Shield lob into flash as you get to the mobs followed by Fast Blade, Savage Strike and Rage of Halon maybe a flash in between Savage and Rage will get you enough aggro on the mob to switch to the others to check if you need to give em a whack for aggro. One tip i always give new tanks as well is don't be afraid to dictate the pace of the run if you're new to the dungeon and unsure just take it easy don't feel you have to rush through just to please the people in your group.

Oh one more thing, Guild hests are step by step training instances/quests in Duty Finder. They teach party mechanics and give completion instructions during and before the instance. They are fun, timed and pay good gil plus exp. They go from the entry to DF level and up to level 50. You do them one at a time, advancing up as you complete each one. No matter your level, you need to unlock them in order and I believe it level syncs you if you are past the level, restricting your unlocking next level until completion of the previous. I really enjoyed them.

Just been thinking you will at some point want to level a Marauder up to level eight for Blood Bath (% of damage done heals you) and Foresight (another defensive cool down) Tanks also have to keep their gear close to the best they can get for their level. For example keeping your weapon near your level makes the aggro/enmity generation on flash and your attack skills more potent.

What I find really helpful regarding provoke is macroing it. I use this:

/macroicon "Provoke"
/ac "Provoke" <t>
/ac "Rage of Halone" <t>
/ac "Shield Lob" <t>

Rage of Halone is our highest enmity generating move, even better when it's at the end of the combo. This macro will first provoke then try and rage and halone (if the guy pulled off you was a melee for example), if not in range, then shield lob. As a PLD you also don't have the snap aggro Warriors have when it comes to AoE, so get used to cycling through the mobs individually to maintain threat. Sometimes, simply flashing won't be enough. GL! :)