Need help learning how to maintain argo

I survived up till now, but with the current dungeons it seems that their is more of an emphasis on roles. So i am struggling right now as a tank, i managed to get pass Haukke Manor but i believe that i was carried by my group for the most part.

So my question is how to i maintain argo? Do i need a good weapon and if so where can i find one when the market board doesn't have a lot of green or purple(pink maybe?) items?

I have looked at several youtube videos and for the most part they are good, but a lot of them is how to tank at level 50 or with most of the abilities. Their was one that was posted for example that tells me to use circle of scorn. At level 32 i do not have that ability. So really i want to learn what the spell rotation at this level is and how to maintain argo? Any other tutorial videos would be good too

At your level, just grab the best sword that you can afford either from the market board or dungeon drop.

Basically, it's a just rotation of Shield Lob (pull) > Flash > [Combo] > [Combo] > Flash > [Combo], etc.

If you have multiple mobs, you may want to mark the mobs with numbers to remind DPS to focus on each specific mob in order.
Otherwise, you will need more flash and switch mob to mob to keep hate generation.

When I was at your level, I would say, pull 3 mobs.

1. Mark Them 1, 2, 3, with a simple macro < > Or Shield Lob the first one, then mark.
2. Use Flash > Combo on Mob #1
3. If needed, switch to Mob #2 and [Combo] as needed.
4. Repeat for #3 and so on.
5. Use Flash to support your group hate as needed; just keep an eye on your MP.

If DPS is spread out among two mobs, it will take you more effort to maintain hate.

Prepare yourself mentally and gear wise for Brayflox's Longstop ~level 32. That is by far one of the most challenging dungeons for a new tank. :) You'll at least have Sword Oath at level 30.

Edit:
[Combo] = Fast Blade > Savage Blade

At level 26 and after:
[Combo] = Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Rage of Halone

Edit #2:
Others mentioned this below and I forgot to mention it: I've got a pull Macro set up to automatically fire off Fight or Flight follow-up by a Shield Lob which is just to enure that I've fired off Fight of Flight at the start. Regarding flash, usually pop 2 flashes at the start once I know I've got the basic attention of the mobs. Then, move into to the hate building rotation I mentioned above. You will have cases of a well-geared player (DPS) who can pull hate pretty easily; just watch your aggro bars in the party list. Throw in an extra Rage of Halone on the problem mob or Flash where appropriate to help get some hate back. Lastly, you can use you saved Provoke for those urgent cases to pull hate back. ... I die a little inside everytime I see a tank try to pull with Provoke, this isn't FF11. :(

Kaitlen gave good advice, so I won't repeat what she said (too much).

That being said, make sure to read the tool tip on your abilities as you get them. Also, don't be afraid to use your cool downs effectively. They help you keep hate and take less damage. Not that you don't- just I've met tanks who literally didn't read any of their abilities and were suffering for it.


One thing I do differently than Kaitlen is I always number the mobs before I pull (when I mark). I have markers for 1-3 on my hotbar since rarely you pull groups that have more than x4 mobs.

Kaitlen touched upon it briefly, but don't be afraid to cycle through mobs to maintain hate on everything. You may find yourself doing this if you have a lot of AOE damage in the group.


Lastly, always look to having the best gear for your level. For a tank this is especially true. It can be a bit tough if you're buying off of the MB so I would look to maybe leveling a craft or hiring a crafter (if you can get the mats).

Ultimately, your group has to work with you- you could do everything right but if the group is working against you then there isn't much you can do about it. Do your best to work past those situations.
I've found that most of the misunderstandings in DF can be avoided if people just took the time to type a few lines before the run begins.
Let people know you're new or if you're after a particular sort of a run- full clear for max exp or loot for example.
Also, don't let yourself be pressured into running a dungeon in a way that you are uncomfortable with.
Just keep doing your best and you'll do fine. You may run into a few bad apples but by and large most of the players in FFXIV are good people. ^^

Fight or Flight will get you more aggro since it'll increase the damage you make, so if it's available, use it.

Bloodbath (marauder cross class skill) will also give you a tiny extra bit of aggro with every hit since you are healing yourself.

Other than that, the above posts already explain a lot.

Green or purple weapons/gears are NOT necessarily better than HQ stuff you can buy from the market board.
For some levels, the crafted hq gear is better than the dungeon drops.

At lv26 you get rage of halone which does huge enmity, and at lv40 you get shield oath which is a persistent thing you just turn on and helps enmity generation and damage reduction. Mostly it's just game experience, you learn the dungeons and the enemies, it helps you do the right things at the right time, you fall into routine. Gotta make mistakes before you learn.

+1 to everything what Anapingofness said.

I was debating on how much detail to add about gear and some other points. So, thank you Anapingofness. /bow <3

For myself and the gear used, I was very lucky to have the crafting resources of a large FC. You'll want to upgrade your gear and accessories every few levels, try to avoid more than a 4 or 5 level spread between your gear and job level.

(btw; I'm leveling WAR now, which is around level 35ish... I'm reliving the new tank experience except I know all of the dungeons this time, haha)

You don't necessarily need to market board your gear. That said, keep up with your weapon by ensuring you're doing your class quests, and post 30 if you haven't gotten a dungeon drop or quest drop you'll want to track down a nearby NPC. Your weapon controls your aggro generation. For most classes I'd say gear shouldn't be more than 10 levels below yourself; for a tank, I'd put that closer to 5 (accessories an exception because they're harder to get your hands on).

At the end of the day, there's going to be the occasional DPS that makes maintaining perfect aggro throughout an entire dungeon a pain (Especially when you first hit level 50 and people have literally twice your gear level). The black mage who starts off an encounter with a raging strikes'd Flare is going to have to just deal with the fact that you can't be expected to hold aggro through that though. Do the best you can for the rest of them.

Always keep your weapon (and shield when able) within 5 levels of your actual level. Gear within that is important, but the weapon is the main thing.

After marking a target, if the DPS isn't focusing that target, tell them to follow marks. ie 2 dies before 1. If they complain about it, tell them if they pull it off you they can tank it til 1 is down. My fiancee used that on one horrid group, after the first time they tanked it; they started being better at following marks.
Also, synced players even though synced, have higher stats then those naturally that level; this causes them to hit harder (depending on what their syncing from). While they won't like being asked to back off the dps a bit, MOST will.

My gear is pretty much the gear that i have earned in dungeons and quest up to now. I am a blacksmith though, so i plan to level that up for awhile. Not really sure how to mark a target,

i usually do this for a rotation

Fight or flight
Shield lob
Flash (when mobs are close0
Fast blade
Riot blade
Flash
Fast Blade
Riot blade

I also have sword oath from the paladin job class on

that doesn't really work well. Should i instead be building up a combo? And also at times flash will not argo mobs, they will instead continue attack the other party members or go pass me even though i was in the AOE range. It becomes difficult especially when other members are not attacking who i am attacking.

You'll find holding agro easier once you get Shield Oath. In the mean time, marking a target and using your single target combo on that will hopefully help a lot. There are several ways to mark targets such as macros and such but you can just look under Character>Actions&Traits>Main Commands>Signs. Drag the button to a hot bar and it will pop up a window when you click on it with all the marks on it.

Note, that if your dps are focusing on your mark the main risk to your threat should be the healer. You will need to throw out occasional flashes, particularly if your taking a lot of damage to keep your targets from heading off after your healer. Note however that flash will not break your combo.

Also provoke can be used to help regain threat on a lost target but only if followed up with a high enmity attack. At range, Shield lob has worked well for me for this.

Finally, gear helps a lot. For a tank, Blacksmith, Armourer and Goldsmith have helped me gearing the most. The more damage you cause, the more enmity you generate. The less damage you take the less your healer has to heal you and the less enmity they generate.

As I said at the top though, Shield Oath will make your life a lot easier.

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Originally Posted by PogueX

that doesn't really work well. Should i instead be building up a combo? And also at times flash will not argo mobs, they will instead continue attack the other party members or go pass me even though i was in the AOE range. It becomes difficult especially when other members are not attacking who i am attacking.

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You absolutely should. To quote a friend of mine: Riot Blade should only be used in very specific cases when you know you need the MP recharge (eg "there's going to be more adds coming and oh shit I'm out of MP"). Your combo should absolutely be Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Rage of Halone

Flash generates decent enough aggro to mostly handle casual aggro, but it's not going to stand up against a good DPS' aggro generation by itself. With Shield Oath up your Rage of Halone will generate something like 8-9x the amount of aggro Riot Blade does, if I'm remembering the aggro multipliers right. Even without it it's still about 6x as effective.

I personally pop Flash twice at the start, then go straight into spamming my 1-2-3. Rotate targets occasionally (especially if DPS have decided to divide up their targets) and throw an extra flash if more mobs join the fight or it's starting to go on, but mostly rely on Flash for initial aggro and then your 1-2-3 to maintain it.

Level 30-something tank here, still learning the ropes too, but I read class guides extensively and my FFXIV-partner-in-crime has pally to 36 and warrior to 50.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PogueX

i usually do this for a rotation...

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Your rotation is Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Rage of Halone - you only use Riot Blade when you need MP.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PogueX

My gear is pretty much the gear that i have earned in dungeons and quest up to now. I am a blacksmith though, so i plan to level that up for awhile. Not really sure how to mark a target,

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Make sure to check HQ items stats against your current gear's after 3-5 levels - pink and green gear is only good for a few levels. You should be gearing up again before heading into the next dungeons. And this hopefully goes without saying, but never use Disciple of War gear in a dungeon (I healed a Haukke with a tank that wasn't in tank gear, but wearing Disciple of War gear...it sucked. A lot.) or your healer will hate you or, in higher level dungeons, be unable to keep you alive.

For marking targets, there's a little menu in your Main Commands (found in your skills window - it's named "Signs") that brings up the marks. You can drag the 1, 2, 3, and if you want the "do not attack" marks onto your hotbar so that you can use them. Then, you just select the mob, hit the mark or the mark's key, and it will mark the mob with that mark.

I have my hotbars set up like this so that I can quickly click or hit Alt-1, Alt-2, etc. The top bar is mouse buttons:

http://i.imgur.com/ZcEbrQp.png?1

Personally, I mark (long range mobs are ALWAYS first, take Sastasha for example - you want to mark the archer trash as 1 and get aggro on it first because the melee mobs will run up to you but he won't, so you have to go to him), shield lob 1, flash flash when I get in close, then I do the combo (Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Rage of Halone) on the first mob. When 1 is nearly dead, I'll switch to 2 so I can get a headstart on aggro on it.

By the way, I don't know if it's been mentioned, but there are aggro meters in the party list. They're underneath each party member's class/job icon, but they only show when you have an in-combat enemy selected. It shows their aggro in relation to the highest aggro party member (not players outside the group). Tab/whatever-the-PS-equivalent-is through your enemies to make sure the others aren't about to pull aggro while your global cooldown is going. If the first mob takes awhile to die, your healer WILL build up aggro on the others. Watch this, tab through and check occasionally, react accordingly (a flash or 2nd part of combo halves healer aggro on mobs that haven't been attacked yet), and you should be good to go.

Mark with macro mouse over, in that way your team can put the rest into sleep.
Mark with number 1, 2, 3. If it hard just use "X" on the mob that you are currently attack.

If you're a PLD and want to stay as one, I would honestly advise you to master switching targets.

Flash will only work if you have a headstart. If your BLM gets the agro, then flash would only get the agro for half second before the BLM gets it back with a Fire.

Therefore, the only way is to combo Rage of Halone on that enemy then flash again. Would fix it but the BLM will probably get agro again if you don't Rage of Halone on it again.

Switch targets. If your dps is killing another mob than you then he's bound to get agro if the fight's long enough. Switch target to it, Rage of Halone combo, then switch back again.

As was mentioned, you should not be using Riot Blade combos as they do not have the significant enmity boost from combo'ing with Savage Blade. You will typically not need to use Riot Blade at all depending on how well the DPS can take down groups of enemies, but if you do want to use it to recover MP i'd advise to save it for when the group of enemies is almost dead.

I heard that low level Gladiator/pally tanking is like trying to hold a hot potato. :x Good luck

It shows you are on jenova, I have my alt there. My main is pld, and my alt has a lv 46 (?) Pld and can show and run some stuff with you later when I'm on, if you would like. While advice and tips are always great, it's always good to see it in action.

Oh one thing I wanted to make sure was doubly clear, especially because I didn't know myself until fairly recently.

Provoke is not in and of itself an enmity generating move, rather it sets your enmity on the mob to just above whoever has hate on it. So it's useful if you need to regain hate after being raised, situations where you are tank swapping a boss, and emergency hate regain

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Originally Posted by Shadotterdan

Oh one thing I wanted to make sure was doubly clear, especially because I didn't know myself until fairly recently.

Provoke is not in and of itself an enmity generating move, rather it sets your enmity on the mob to just above whoever has hate on it. So it's useful if you need to regain hate after being raised, situations where you are tank swapping a boss, and emergency hate regain

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Correct.
Provoke only gives you +1 to the person with the highest enmity. In short, it will put you on top of the hate list for that mob. This is why you must always follow up a Provoke with a Shield Lob/Tomahawk/Overpower/Flash/Etc - or a combo that generates enmity.
For that reason it is great for tank swapping situations or getting hate back really quickly. However, keep in mind that Provoke has a 40s cooldown and plan accordingly. ^^

Lastly, keep in mind that Flash is centered around you. So if you have mobs that are coming at you and you flash before they're in your little bubble, flash will go off but it will not hit the mobs around you.

p.s. <3 Kaitlen! Happy to be of help! ^^

hello everyone, good news. I have passed Brayflox's Longstop tanking. We only wiped once cause no one in our group knew about kiting alatar from the green pools. But after that we respawn and beat him and then went on to fight Titan. So now i am pretty good at tanking, using rage of halone works very well in maintaining argo. Thanks for all the advice, it did help. The FF community is very friendly and helpful compared with the WOW or other mmo communities

The only question. Does anyone have an easier way to switch in between targets using the PS4 controller or would it help to also use the keyboard?

If you use the Hold gamepad style you can use L1 and R1 while holding L2 or R2 to cycle between targets. I prefer to just use the left and right D-pad since it puts a temporary target and you can tag other enemies with one hit of your combo and return to your main target after, or you can hit X to make that target your new main target. It takes some practice but I think it offers the most versatility.

In the options menu there are also targeting filters that you can set. You will be able to swap around with L1 + a button and customize each filter so you could have one that targets only enemies, only allies, etc. If you do this you may want to turn off the auto-filter that changes as you draw and sheathe your weapon.

Op, I believe you can now equip sphene jewelry. VIT is your main stat and you should look for accessories that contain vitality. That hp cushion will help a lot with survivability.

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Originally Posted by PogueX

The only question. Does anyone have an easier way to switch in between targets using the PS4 controller or would it help to also use the keyboard?

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There were a couple targetting related controls. I think aside from what's been mentioned, there was also an L1 + Up/Down you could do (It's been a while since I've played on PS3). And that combo swaps according to the aggro list, not according to left/right positioning.

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Originally Posted by Garlyle

There were a couple targetting related controls. I think aside from what's been mentioned, there was also an L1 + Up/Down you could do (It's been a while since I've played on PS3). And that combo swaps according to the aggro list, not according to left/right positioning.

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Forgot about this but it is probably the best way of swapping to a specific target as a tank since you can directly move to whatever enemy doesn't have a red square or whatever specific enemy you need to pick out of a large group.