nervous tanker

Ok I am normally a healer, and the times I have tanked, I tend to feel overwhelmed. I been trying to level up the various tanking jobs, but I still get that overwhelmed feeling.
So I was hoping that I can get some advice.
Here is the hud I use.

https://gyazo.com/ddb8136409db4631cab36463cd8d0c6a
The 2nd bar is a shift pus 1 2 3 4 5 and then Ctrl plus 1 2 3 4


Here is my mouse

https://secure.logitech.com/assets/4...use-images.png

and my keyboard

http://media.bestofmicro.com/T/Y/736...al/05image.jpg

I am left handed, if that means anything

I've tanked for as long as I've played MMOs, and generally I will say that you are better off focusing on keeping aggro than optimizing your damage. Put up grit (or whatever tank stance), do your standard combos, spam your AoE threat ability, just keep threat and get used to the tanking mindset before you attempt "teh elitists" way.

Ignore people who call you out. I swear, I can't keep count on how many times people have told me I'm the best tank they have ever met and then the next dungeon people say I'm the worst...it doesn't make sense.

Stay open to criticism, don't get frustrated if someone tries to give you advices. Go at your pace and stay calm.

I do agree with you a lot.
when I am a healer I focus on healing, a saying I either heard or made it is "A healers job is healing why am I doing this DPS stuff?"
So when I look at tanking I see that same thing in my head.

What I am looking for is how to be a better tank, and perhaps an easy tank class to get into to get a feel for it. I do not really want to deal with a lot of buttons unless I can get them them fast. hence why I posted my hud in hopes to get some better means on using keybinds to streamline my job.

The real detriment to your control scheme is that potion bar. If you got rid of it, you could put almost your entire panoply on 1-6, sh1-sh6, ctrl1-ctrl6, shctrl1-shctrl6, with a little bit of right hand buttoning on 0-=

Example:
http://i.imgur.com/swzMTSq.png


If you play with mouse in hand, you could also set the 0-= bar slots to MiddleClick, Back, Forward; this could make mouseover targetting on Provoke or Salted Earth feel more natural.

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Originally Posted by ghostkatt

I do agree with you a lot.
when I am a healer I focus on healing, a saying I either heard or made it is "A healers job is healing why am I doing this DPS stuff?"
So when I look at tanking I see that same thing in my head.

What I am looking for is how to be a better tank, and perhaps an easy tank class to get into to get a feel for it. I do not really want to deal with a lot of buttons unless I can get them them fast. hence why I posted my hud in hopes to get some better means on using keybinds to streamline my job.

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Dps optimization on healers and tanks is something you learn after you're good/familiar/geared enough for the contents you're doing. Your main priority as a tank is to manage aggro and control incoming damage. Once you're comfortable with that, dps optimization comes in, and this is where you can see the difference between decent players and good players. Obviously optimizing dps while having aggro/mitigation problems doesn't make you a good tank. Same thing with healers, you need to make sure everyone is/will be alive before you focus on your dps.

At lower level marauder/warrior would probably be the easiest to play. Personally I think dark knight is harder than warrior at low level since you need to be concerned with your MP usage/recovery (syphon strike, blood price) and skills that can't go together (grit and blood weapon). Gladiator/paladin is simpler than the previous two, but this job gets their tank stance (shield oath) at lv 40, so before lv 40 it'll be harder to maintain aggro, so you need to be more careful and pay more attention to keeping your gear up to date (especially weapon).

At high level paladin is definitely the easiest and simplest tank job to play. Based on the number of skills/buffs cast per minute, dark knight is the most complex, warrior is behind it, and paladin comes in last. Dark knight needs to manage MP to use certain skills (including buffing certain moves by consuming extra MP, using certain skills to recover MP), warrior needs to manage "stacks" granted by certain skills, which allow you to use other powerful skills, and sometimes need to think about the tradeoff of using defensive cds for offensive purposes (thus risking not having them up for incoming big damage). Those all are extra, on top of the "basic" duties every tank has: maintaining aggro, mitigating damage, positioning mobs/bosses.

Additionally dark knight is quite similar to paladin excluding their MP usage/recovery toolkits. I'd suggest trying all of them at low level, and pick the one which interests you the most and level it to 60. After that you can level the other two. I'm honestly quite lucky, I started as gladiator, switched to marauder early on and stuck with warrior for over a year before I even considered levelling the other two tank jobs.

I was thinking of Paladin tanking, my GLD is not up to get the paladin job, but I might work on that.
potd might be a good means of leveling that class.
I'll give it a go.

Usually when the rare times I do tank I sort of get overwhelmed and my eyes glaze over which I am running around trying to aggro every thing.
Personally I would LOVE an aggro meter that shows how much aggro I have on the enemies on my mob list instead of the single symbol that changes color when its already to late.

One word of advice/warning, if you want to tank I'd suggest (at least occasionally) doing dungeons. Tanking in potd is vastly different from tanking in dungeons, since potd is meant to be clearable by a party with no tank. In fact if you level a tank via potd it's better to actually not tank anything, just focus on dpsing the mobs down and just keep aggro on the bosses. That'll let you clear the floors faster (thus more exp), but again, won't teach you how to actually tank. I have met some players who levelled their tanks in potd and when they do roulettes at lv 60 they have little to no idea how to hold aggro, manage mitigation, position mobs/bosses to make it easier for the melee dps, and other basic stuffs you learn from dungeons.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ghostkatt

Personally I would LOVE an aggro meter that shows how much aggro I have on the enemies on my mob list instead of the single symbol that changes color when its already to late.

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You can also see the aggro of individual mobs (as long as you're targeting them) on your party list.

http://i.imgur.com/UnEmMnU.png

While I've got nothing against gla/pld as a class, in many ways I found it harder to tank low levels with gla than I did with mar; mostly because of the aoe aggro. All a low level gla has is flash, which can feel a bit limited but war can cross class flash and has overpower; both gave it much more control over aggro in my opinion. Drk you don't really level up from low levels so I don't think its a good comparison.

there's also this thread
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...p-with-tanking

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alien_Gamer

While I've got nothing against gla/pld as a class, in many ways I found it harder to tank low levels with gla than I did with mar; mostly because of the aoe aggro. All a low level gla has is flash, which can feel a bit limited but war can cross class flash and has overpower; both gave it much more control over aggro in my opinion. Drk you don't really level up from low levels so I don't think its a good comparison.

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You still get synced below 30 from time to time if you do daily levelling roulette. It's true that most people will agree gladiator/paladin is the hardest tank to play in low level dungeons though (especially at 30-40).

left handed doesn't mean anything assuming you use that right handed mouse with your right hand. if you're going to use your setup, you should have your modifier keys on your mouse thumb buttons. so you can press ctrl and shift with the thumb of your right hand and use your actionbars with your left.

get the best gear you can. check the marketboard. arr dungeons are much harder to tank than heavensward. watch out for pats. don't freak out about losing aggro before you have your tank stance (shield oath) because before that, you're pretty much another dps. and in fact, the other dps can tank a mob just fine (they don't hit that hard). if you have your tank stance, and you're doing your enmity combo, flash, overpower whatever, and *still* losing mobs to the dps, get a better weapon!

arr dungeons are much harder to tank than heavensward. keep an eye out for pats. watch a dungeon guide on youtube. you're going through old content that people expect you to know inside and out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ghostkatt

What I am looking for is how to be a better tank, and perhaps an easy tank class to get into to get a feel for it. I do not really want to deal with a lot of buttons unless I can get them them fast. hence why I posted my hud in hopes to get some better means on using keybinds to streamline my job.

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Here's your best advice:

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Originally Posted by aleph_null

One word of advice/warning, if you want to tank I'd suggest (at least occasionally) doing dungeons.

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Only thing about that advice I would change is the "at least occasionally" thing.

If you want to tank, DF dungeons and trials should be what you do MOST OF THE TIME. This is where people will expect you to know what you are doing. Now, to make that easier on you, here are two things that have me get over that exact same fear of tanking with random groups:

1) Watch the video. Every dungeon and trial in the game has at least one video (probably Mizzteq on the wiki), and you should watch them. I like to watch a new dungeon at least twice all the way through, and then on confusing or mechanic heavy fights (Boogeyman in AK hard, Midgardsormir in KotL, Titan H/E, etc) I watch that specific section a few times. It helps.

2) Make these two macros:

• 1st Time - "/p this is my first time tanking this, sorry in advance for any mistakes"
• Learning - "/p only tanked this a few times, sorry in advance for any mistakes."

I always tell people when it is my first time, and until I am comfortable with a dungeon, I use the "Learning" one ever time after the initial try. Letting people know right off the bat that their tank is new to and/or still learning that encounter almost always results in the party being more patient and forgiving. You get friendlier advice and nowhere near as much "go go go" stuff. It's a great way to tone down toxicity, and doing it in a pleasant way.

Once you have that worked out, practice, practice, practice. Start back at Sastasha and run it 5-10x if needs be, and just work your way up. Your queues will be less than a minute almost always, and you can pick what content you want specifically. But as aleph_null said, regular dungeons are where proper tanking happens, so stick to that content as much as possible.

IMHO, YMMV.

The best way to get comfortable at tanking is to do it. Like Venjenz said up there, doing dungeons will help you to understand your toolkit better. My one warning I have is to expect a little bit of anxiety when you first start. You need thick skin to tank because some people are assholes when you mess up. If you have an FC I'd recommend getting a group together to help you learn in a comfortable environment. I know that I had issues when I first started tanking and it caused me not to play the role for a long time. But when I finally picked it back up as dark Knight, I realized that I understood the class and my toolkit, which went a long way in building my confidence at it. Learn your skills, learn to keep an eye on the aggro meter and the enemy list on screen. Those are a tanks best friend. Also, use your cooldowns lol your healers will thank you for it. And most importantly, don't give up. You will mess up eventually because we all do. Learn from your mistakes and don't get discouraged. You can do it, my friend. I have faith in you.

I really enjoy tanking in this game when I do, but I spent so much time as a DPS that I'm used to following. It's hard to switch to the designated leader and know exactly what to do when you've played the dungeon probably one time. Other than that, I love it.