Tanking Troubles - HELP!

Hi everyone!

I've had FFXIV for a little over a month and it's my very first MMO. I got some great advice because I was a little confused about my gladiator class and moved up to Paladin because I was told it would help me with my tanking.

Now, I seem to be having trouble during dungeons. Apparently I'm unable to keep the aggro on me and even though I've read a lot about tanking and keep doing what I've read or been told to do, I still can't seem to tank right. :confused: I'm on a PS4 so typing to my party members during battle is super hard but I get chastised and all of the members talk a bunch of sh*t.

Can someone help?!

Search the forums for "visual tanking guide" it is a great place to start. FFXIV was my first MMO as well, I picked a tank class (WAR). Was a steep learning curve as when you are tank, you are the somewhat leader of the party. Worth watching a video prior to runs, and do a google search for 'tanking guide', some really good ones out there.

I have a macro set that I use at the start of dungeons I am not very familiar with, but have run once or twice. <new adventurer><please assist>. Generally people will give you a bit of space if they know you are new. If you have a lot of trouble, use party finder to get a group together and ask for tips/feedback in the description. There are some really experienced players that have completed most of the content and levelled all of the classes that will do a run with you and give you class specific tips on what you are doing wrong.

Good luck, and most of all have fun!

You can search ff14 arr enimity on google, and you will get bunch of information about how much enmity each of your skill generate. But if dps has a lot better gear than you like 10 ilv, you can't do anything about it unless you notice them you are new please be careful with enmity (most players don't play tank, they do not understand enmity multiplier either), you can make a macro on these information, and just click the button on your controller. After you get used to know your best skill rotations, and enmity knowledge, there wouldn't be any problem for you to hold enmity even when there's some ilv difference. And experienced players prefer to give advice if you ask for it. They don't anymore because a lot people see advice as harass, they normally reply you as "Don't tell me how to play my job."

Thank you! I really appreciate it. I love the game and have become somewhat addicted to it, but it gets incredibly frustrating when dungeons are such a nightmare. I have one that I still need to do but just haven't been comfortable enough to give it a shot.

Level 41 Gladiator as of typing this post...
Shield Oath is your best friend. Wear it with pride.
Don't be afraid to spend Fight or Flight before any pull. It's practically required to keep up with endgame DPS, so if you have it to apply before a big bad baddie, go for it.
If you're not swinging, Flash. It's zero loss on you to drop it while positioning or dodging AoE's.
As well as broadcasting your lack of experience with where you're headed into, don't be afraid to take a second to mark a kill order. Markings' usefulness drops hard at level 50, but before that, most players will respect it and let you 1-2-3 combo your target to keep enmity. Still, don't forget to Flash a bit just to make sure AoE's, DoT's, and heals don't build too much enmity from under your feet. Recovering from Strident Screams in Stone Vigil is a big example of when this is necessary.
While Provoke is nice for putting yourself back on top of the enmity list if you lose a mob, remember to follow it up with Shield Lob (or a combo'd Rage of Halone / Savage Blade, if either is ready at the time and the monster is in range).
Your weapon's damage is INCREDIBLY important. Just looked up your lodestone; see if a crafter friend in your Company (or a friend of a friend) can make you a quick High Quality Vintage Viking Sword. The weapon damage increase will be huge, and helpful.
EDIT: Oh, and you have a casting circlet on. It and your Fidelity ring could use upgrading. :p

Well if you just hit 40 you should have Shield Oath now, which will help massively. The number 1 mistake I see lowbie paladins making is not flashing enough. Before you get ShO it really doesn't do much at all, you need to spam the crap out of it, but I constantly see tanks facepulling mobs, flashing once, and they just single-targetting one of them. Healer peels mobs off, over-eager DPS start AOEing and peeling everything except the tank's main target, everything goes downhill.

At your level, against 3+ mobs you should be spamming the crap out of Flash. Even on pulls with just two mobs, flashing three or four times at the start of a pull will generate enough holding aggro to keep aggro on both mobs while you focus on one. Later on when your gear is better, you can get away with flashing less and just manually cycling through enemies using your single-target rotation, but at least until 50 Flash is your only tool for generating threat on multiple targets at once, and you should be using it almost constantly.

Mark the enemies, #1 #2. I usually just use #1 myself and switch the marker to another enemy when the one being killed is around ~10%hp. That should give enough time to the dps to prepare switching to the next one and not shoot blindly.
Even though you are supposed to be using your enmity combo on every mob and flash regularly, marking mobs is - IMO - very important at first. Both for you and the others. It will make the kills faster and will be less hard on everyone. This way, even if you forget to combo one enemy, it will be less punishing if the players are hitting the same enemy all at once.
If by mistake, one of the enemy gets away from your flashing, it will be easier to get it back, as players won't have stacked a big enmity if they have been focusing on the marked one before.

If you can, connect a keyboard to your ps4. It will make it possible for you to type to your party members, and set keybinds to cooldowns and abilities that otherwise will not fit in your main crossbar. As far as actual tanking, all of the above tips are solid, and I will add the importance of having the highest dmg sword you can - that will also help your enmity tremendously. Good luck, and enjoy the game!

Tell us what you're doing currently and we can tell you what you need to adjust, rather than just giving general advice.

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Originally Posted by gingerSMASH

Thank you! I really appreciate it. I love the game and have become somewhat addicted to it, but it gets incredibly frustrating when dungeons are such a nightmare. I have one that I still need to do but just haven't been comfortable enough to give it a shot.

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Dungeon anxiety :-) I feel your pain. In higher levels you will spend hours researching a dungeon! Best way is to dive in. Generally your first run will be seat of the pants. The second will be a little better. The 3rd you start to think "I can do this!" and by the 5th you are hauling bosses around to the best position and interrupting attacks with stun. Just dive in and know that after 3 runs the world will be good again.

When I was starting I used party finder a lot to get my groups, rather than use duty finder. It was easier to explain I was new and wanted a chilled run. I generally just jump in DF now, but that may help you move forward.

Hi, I hope I can help you out. I looked over your loadstone and all your accessories are for melee dps. At your level you should have the heliodor jewelry. This has vitality and will help with survivability. While normal quality gear is decent, high quality gear is optimal and if you can find a crafter they may be willing to make a set for very cheap. The easier you are to heal the less aggro your healer will generate trying to keep you alive.

When entering a dungeon check to make sure you have your oath up. Use shield oath for dungeons over level 40. Every pull needs to start with shield lob.

Simply running in and flashing is usually not enough. Always use fight or Flight for pulls if it is up. You can also use it mid fight for am emnity buff or extra damage. It really helps.

For pulling packs of trash use Shield Lob to pull then Flash 2-3 times then start rotating your combo on each mob. Keep in mind only Savage Blade and Rage of Halone actually generate threat so keep track to make sure you are using those on mobs you are losing to dps. You may need to adjust to reach party and if you are still losing mobs increase the number of flashes you use or weave in a flash every rotation then Fast Blade > Riot Blade to recover mana before your next pull.

For single target pulls, such as bosses, use Fight or Flight > Shield Lob then immediately start your combo rotation.

If you happen to lose hate on something shield lob is not enough to get it back. If your party is good they will know to bring the mob into range for you to flash it off whoever has it. If they run away prioritize keeping threat on the other mobs. It is much better to let a dps or healer tank a single mob than for you to lose threat on the remaining 2-3 while you chase them around the room. You can try to Provoke > Shield Lob it back but if you lose it again before you can flash there isn't much you can do.

Provoke does not immediately establish threat. It places you +1 above the highest person on the aggro table. It must be followed up with something to gain you a solid lead.

Always try to position mobs in front of you. You take more damage when getting hit from behind.

Read the tooltips carefully for all your skills.

Good luck and I hope this helps.