New Tank facing many challenges... need advice.

Heyo,

I want to seek advice for my current situation as a new Paladin tank.

Until lvl ~50 I was doing ok for someone who goes blind into everything.
In a recent farm run several people argued about my HP. It was lower than some of the DPS ones. One claimed while he understood I had lvl 50 Gear, my HP was still to low and something else is wrong with my tank. He was sure his tank had more HP in worse gear.

As far as I’m aware HP is gearbound and unless I took a leap of faith into that 8 man magitek trial, I couldn’t afford myself a lvl 120 sword and board. One argued that he was glad this wasn’t his first trial when he started to learn tanking but at this point I wasn’t sure who tried to be nice and who was just honest.

YouTube (MTQ!) has been very helpful. Whenever I can I purchase the highest level gear from the marketplace but that drains my Gil so fast, it’s not even funny.
I also want to finally play a Dark Knight (meta is a question of time not class ;) ) soon.

Lower HP than DPS is definitely an indicator that something is up. Is your right side equipped with even close to at-level gear? If all of your other gear (head, chest, arms, etc) is at level 50 then I'd bet money you have an accessory issue (necklace, rings, bracelet, etc.). Do you have tomestones of poetics? If so, you can go to Mor Dhona and get the stuff you need for your right side.

Level 50 is kind of a mess if you are new to things. Gear that was fine at level 49 will be absolutely garbage at 50. Item level jumps from 50 to 130 in that one level. I'm pretty sure the game gives you gear that is Ilvl 90 for doing quests (I don't remember if it gives accessories, though.) but even that is paltry in comparison to the best potential gear for that level.

If you have poetics certainly try to get the Ironworks gear from Mor Dhona, it will stay relevant til about 55. Otherwise you might see if you can get the relatively easy to craft ilvl 115 gear from the Market Board.

Been awhile, but MSQ gives HQ gear rewards right?

For levelling past 50, yes. MSQ at 50 gives old tomestone gear that isn't Ironworks.

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Originally Posted by Anienai

Been awhile, but MSQ gives HQ gear rewards right?

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Now it does, with the new update to brand new characters and stormblood expansion updates. But I believe it only gives you gear up to.... Hellfire gear at 60. Since Shire is the current till the new SB stuff later on post 62.

Gear plays as much a role at 50 as it does at 70, as we all know, but for new players, it can be flexed between current gear and level sync too.

If you're using 120 gear from Moar Donuts, Taker34, as long as it's between the 115 gear (purchase-able HQ) or 130 gear upgraded from 120 in Mor Dhona/North Shroud, your HP should be fine.

ALSO! Gear breaks over time! If you are seeing red and it's below 50% on any gear in the window, you will want to get that repaired right away! As damage can cause that drop in VIT and stats too. :)

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Originally Posted by Taker34

As far as I’m aware HP is gearbound and unless I took a leap of faith into that 8 man magitek trial, I couldn’t afford myself a lvl 120 sword and board. One argued that he was glad this wasn’t his first trial when he started to learn tanking but at this point I wasn’t sure who tried to be nice and who was just honest.

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They were being honest, not (just) nice.

Tanks face a unique situation in this game. You're actually not fighting other monsters as much as you think, but other players instead -- fighting them for enmity. Which means you can end up in situations like i90 you vs i135-sync them.

While they may have more hp than you (that's how ilvls work), you should still have plenty to clear the content. Keeping hate may be a bigger problem. Well. I don't really know what to say, though, other than gear up as fast as you can, and it's a rocky road. But stick with it and you'll enjoy always being in demand, and being showered with bonus rewards like materia.

Good luck.

As you go from 50-70 - you will find yourself replace your gear frequently.

Be prepared to spend gill at NPC shops or poetics at the various city stores where they are at (Mor Dhona,Idyleshire,Reach)

When running low on funds - back it down to a dungeon you can farm for better gear. You'll hit that threshold and find yourself doing better sooner than you think.

Hi there friend,
My main class is tank (PLD). My advise to you right now that you are at level 50, is to do all the Job Quests for the class & win the artefact armour, it's free and you don't need to use your Gil in MarketBoard&NPC's. You should also do Daily Duties and Dungeons to farm poetics. For example, using the artefact armour, the first poetics that you gain you use to buy in Mor Dhona lvl120 accessories, than when you got all the acessories, you use them to buy lvl120 armour. That gear and accessories can be upgraded to lvl130 armour using Carbontwine and Carboncoat. Don't worry using poetics, you has a new player, will receive bonus tomes when entering a new trial/dungeon/raid etc.
The new Dungeons will also give armour/acessories/weapons. Has a tank is important that we have the best gear possible, because you need HP&Agroo.
Cheers my friend.

You should never have to buy anyrhing from the MB until you are max level. Dont you have a crap ton of poetic?

Otherwise you could get to 51 and ask a friend to buy you all the vendor stuff from HW

The moment you hit 50, get access to Foundation through msq. That’s the main city in Heavensward where you’d unlock DRK. First, buy all the 120 ironworks gear you can in Mor Dhona using poetics. Then go to Jeweled Crozier in Foundation and use gil to buy the rest of your gear at 115.

The only way your gear should ever be below healers and dps is if it’s broken, then you need to repair.

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Originally Posted by cheolsu

The moment you hit 50, get access to Foundation through msq.

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Haha. There's at least dozens of hours of questing between hitting 50 and getting to Ishgard. That's not a 'the moment you hit 50' thing. A week if he plays at least a few hours a day.

All I remember doing is getting the ironworks stuff and then collecting better items through doing the dungeons from 50-60. Seemed to work :)

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Originally Posted by Taker34

Heyo,
YouTube (MTQ!) has been very helpful. Whenever I can I purchase the highest level gear from the marketplace but that drains my Gil so fast, it’s not even funny.
I also want to finally play a Dark Knight (meta is a question of time not class ;) ) soon.

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If you're determined to level as a Paladin, (or any tank really,) then for best results you're going to have to spam run dungeons until you have a good set of green equipment. There's a main story dungeon you're rapidly heading towards called The Vault, and it's pretty much the definitive ball buster as far as regular dungeons go. You're gonna get rocked hard if you're not at least 136 by then. Honestly, if you want to have a good time, then what you're going to want to do is spam level by running dungeons all the way to 60, then use your poetic tomes to get a nice set of shire armor. Then go finish the (HW) MSQ in style without worrying about being unable to clear anything. It's what I'd do. Tanking sucks in this game if your gear is crap, and if you upgrade your shire gear to 270 it'll last you all the way to level 76.

for those suggesting he buy NQ vendor armor from HW NPC's, something to keep in mind:

The ilvl of those pieces is a lie.

NQ pieces state they're 115 ilvl, but compare the actual stats. It's below 100 gear.

Example:

https://i.imgur.com/LQbbBLV.png

https://i.imgur.com/bt5To9U.png


That being said, vendor armor is adequate for at least getting through a dungeon and getting your hands on some appropriate gear. The alternative is to grind out poetics tomes on ARR dungeons (because the HW grind wasn't long enough as is, right?), do some side quests for the HQ version of HW vendor armor, or to empty your pockets for HQ versions off the market board. Wouldn't suggest buying them, since they'll be quickly replaced by dungeon gear or the next progression of armor in 2-3 levels.

You may struggle with DPS that have maxed tomestone/coil gear @ 50, but that's to be expected. It gets easier.

Push the main story quest line. You get boatloads of free gear from just doing the story quests. Make sure you are choosing the fending accessories (the vit ones). If you do that you will have all the HP you need.

Use tomes to supliment your lowest ilvl pieces.

After ALL that gear if you are somehow still behind then you buy gear. But you really shouldn't need to. Just do more main story quest and get your free chests of higher level gear.

Poetics, poetics, poetics. Grind poetics (beast tribe quests and daily roulette are great ways to do it) and use it to buy Ironworks gears. Ironworks gears are a godsend for fresh level 50 players.

I remember when I was a fresh 50 PLD back before Ironworks was a thing, doing Wanderer's Palace. The BRD in my party has more HP than me, and he ended up leading the way without saying a single word. Such is the way of Asian servers, where people never say anything unless you make a noticeable mistake.

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Originally Posted by Aeonk

for those suggesting he buy NQ vendor armor from HW NPC's, something to keep in mind:

The ilvl of those pieces is a lie.

NQ pieces state they're 115 ilvl, but compare the actual stats. It's below 100 gear.

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It isn’t below. The 115 gear has more str and vit.

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Originally Posted by cheolsu

It isn’t below. The 115 gear has more str and vit.

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In fact, the only stat the weathered Burtang has in advantage is 1 extra point in auto attack damage.

Aeonk is not entirely wrong, iLvl 115 NQ gear is actually 'weaker' than unique (blue) iLvl 100 gear!

Take a look at the head gear:
Weathered Noct Circlet
Mythrite Sallet of Fending

Now you might say, 'The Mythrite Sallet has a few more strength and vitality points', and yes, that is true...

BUT! take a look at those defense values. The Mythrite Sallet has almost 10% less defense than the Weathered Noct Circlet.
And that's where incoming damage starts to hurt.

From the healer's site, I would prefer healing a tank with higher defense values than one with a higher HP pool.

Additionally, afaik before you reach Ishgard for the first time (50+ after MSQ which takes years), you can't buy iLvl 115 gear from vendor (I might be wrong tho).

@OP: You might or might not be able to get your whole ironworks gear ready before Ishgard, depending on how many dailies and dungeon side quests you complete.

Always do your job quest as soon as possible. Your reward is an additional skill/trait/ability and at 50, 60, and 70 new gear. This gear itself is good enough for most dungeons and trials, even through it may put a greater burden on your healer - better let another tank be MT (switch to Sword Oath; use Shirk on MT if you get close to aggro) - as long as it's not a newcomer, too.

Only crucial point is accessories, which you will get by MSQ and poetics only. They give a good bunch of HP or Str, depending on what you can effort to use. But they don't increase your defense, so they aren't your priority.

he isn't. i just object to how it was setup with blue gear vs grey to come to the conclusion that item level is a lie. as a matter of fact, 270 poetic gear will last a person to something like level 67 before the dungeon gear starts being better. still, if you've spent all your poetics, i recommend picking up that 115 gear to fill the rest of the slots

The problem is the way the dungeons and trials sync the gear.There are major differences in ilvl that players will get synced to.For example at lvl 50 content it will be synced to the maximum illv at lvl 50 for a lot of the content.If you are a new or returning player this can be a big problem especially as tank.What this basically means that their gear could be synced to atleast 30 ilvls or more higher than yours depending on what you came back to game with or what you got as a new player.
I came back recently msyelf and noticed the difference with fist of the son alex.Where when i played before tanking in ilvl 220-230 was perfectly fine and good gear at the time to run it.Since then there were many ilvl increases at lvl 60.So end result is i had to tank against lvl 70 dps who got ilvl synced to around ilvl 270 which is an enormous difference in stats.
Like people have said the best you can do is buy higher level gear or aquire it through tomes.