Darn New "Kid" on the Block...

Hi all! I'm new to the game (well MMOs as a whole) but after playing through the free trial, liked it enough to download the full version. Anyhow, I chose Gladiator as my starting class and hope it wasn't a foolish pick for a newcomer. I think I have some of the basic concepts figured out as to what's expected of me in a group dynamic, but would be interested in getting into a group or even a company who would be tolerant of a very green tank and his rookie missteps. If it helps, I play via PS4, am a casual gamer (43 years old with FT job, kids and my fair share of real world responsibilities), I'm up to lv 21 as. Gladiator, 15 for Conjurer, and 10 for both Marauder and Pugilist. I mentioned being a casual gamer, but when I get to play, I do wish to take the time to properly learn my role as a tank and would be open to any help I could get to avoid being "that" guy in the dungeon royally screwing up their one job. Thanks for reading! Take care.

There's plenty of places to get knowledge on how to improve and you can always switch your class in this game if you feel that you don't really like being the tank. I'll link some resources since I'm not sure if they make themselves apparent in-game:

• Gladiator Early dungeon Guide
• Hall of the Novice location
• Tanking Video Guide

Thank you. I have gone on one duty and must not have performed too poorly... I got one commendation. ;)
I was able to keep most of the baddies focused on me at all times while luring them turn their backs to my other team members. It was an entry level duty, but it was nice to not get anyone on our team good and dead on my watch. Haha! Thanks again.

Welcome to the game! Don't worry about playing casually, the vast majority of game content will still be available to you. I'd offer to help you run through stuff but sadly we are on different servers.

Don't be afraid to ask questions and look into the Novice Network, you have to be invited to it (maybe you have been already) but it's a chat channel for new players to ask questions and you may be able to find a Free Company through that. Aside from that, if you team up with anyone on your server that you have a good time with it's not a bad idea to ask to join their Free Company.

I haven't yet, been invited to the Novice Network, but that does sound like a good resource. I look forward to it. Thank you!

While I'd be apprehensive at someone picking up a tanking class for their first one, It sounds like you did well! One resource I'd recommend looking for would be a Free Company. They're basically guilds and usually you'll be able to find some pretty good ones that will be able to help you out on your way through the game. Good luck!

One word of advice? If you plan on taking Gladiator to the top, make sure to get Conjurer to 15 as well before you hit 30 so you can continue onwards and upgrade to Paladin.

The early level dungeons are designed for new players to both FFXIV and MMOs. They don't really throw heavy mechanics or damage at you early on. Whenever you enter an instance for the first time, it is announced to the other players of the group prior to the duty commencing, and in those dungeons in particular (Sastasha, Tam-Tara Deepcroft, Copperbell mines), veteran players are going to be much more patient, especially with a new tank. It is still a good idea to mention it yourself that you are new.

You may also want to look into Guildheists. These are like mini dungeons, and designed to teach you the common mechanics you will encounter during party play, and how to deal with them. There is also Hall of Novice which is a five course tutorial on what your role (tank, healer, DPS) is all about. The final phase is actually VERY fun and has you grouped with NPC's (non-player characters) assuming the other two roles. Very little to worry about here if you screw up since you're flying solo.

All in all, I would try not to worry too much, which is crazy coming from me because I still worry every time I group with others lol. But know that the majority of the pressure you feel comes from within. Yes, as a tank you have a great amount of responsibility, but if you are always striving to improve your game and care about others (which I know you do if you've chosen tank), you'll easily be a mob crowded tank that everyone appreciates.

Best of luck on all your Eorzean travels!

Your flash skill is your best friend! Most common error of new tanks is under using their enmity increasing skills, of which flash is the best. 3-4 times every pull and holding your enemies shouldn't be an issues unless you've got synced DPS who turret enemies, in which case, unless you have provoke up, you'd be best off worrying about holding the rest rather than trying to get hate back from that one.

@Gemina, thanks, I'll be sure to run those early dungeons several times to get more comfortable with my role. The Hall of Novice was helpful (albeit fairly abbreviated) but I was a bit confused in that final mission when the healer wouldn't offer the archer any assistance, so that made it a little trickier to negotiate the adds (which are admittedly a weakness of mine). Thanks again!

@Drkdays, thanks for your reply and advice. I hope most of my glaring mistakes have been due to synced DPS since a common (if the DPS are patient enough to wait for me to lead-in) approach would be something like a Shield Lob on whomever I think it would be best for them to key on, followed by a Flash (or 2) as I run through the middle of the mob. Then if I have their attention, I position myself opposite my team (or at least the healer) try to pick a bruiser to drub up on with 1-2 combos before using another Flash. Usually this basic idea works as I've had very attentive healers thus far. Even with Flash when the aggro icon is blinking between red and yellow, I find I'm losing some stragglers more often than I'd like. My one run through Copper Mines I did find picking up adds to be a weakness I need to remedy as well.

If you're talking about the adds in Copperbell Mine's final boss, I'm pretty sure if the rocks on either side of the arena are still intact they will focus on those and are impossible to pull off until the rocks are gone. Also, if your party ignores them like most do nowadays, your healer is just going to build up hate from healing so there's really nothing you can do about it in that case.

If you're only really losing hate as an enemy is near death, you aren't doing too badly. Your shield lob + a flash or two is pretty standard. Once you get the third hit of your combo, the final hit is a gigantic hate boost and if you rotate that around as many enemies as possible you should have less problems and reduce incoming damage quite a bit since it lowers enemies' strength. It will get a lot easier as your gear improves and you get better abilities that will close the gap between you and anyone that is level synced.

Oh thanks! (I just had a huge "duh" moment) I guess I never thought to simply scroll through the baddies and combo each individually... rookies. ;) I imagine that would be much more effective than Flash in some situations. Thanks.

Another thing you can try to practice is hitting different enemies with different steps of your combo. For example, hit one enemy with the first hit, target another and hit them with the second, and then target a different one and hit them with the third step. The combo will still continue on different targets, and an extra bonus for tank combos is that they will both build hate and continue the combo even on enemies that are in an invulnerable state. It's usually best to complete a combo on your initial target before doing that first, though (usually the one you shield lob is going to be the one most dps will attack).

You are right that it is eventually stronger than Flash, but Flash is still useful for the initial hate spike on a group so your healer can do their job immediately without interference. The first step of your combo has no hate bonus attached to it and those few seconds can be all that is needed for an enemy to start running amok.