Bad idea having first character as a tank?

So I am playing a tank and currently loving it, but sadly my team mates doesnt always like it.

Why? Because I am a beginner. Of course, theres nothing wrong with that since I know my role (having enmity at all times and know my rotation), but after reaching higher level the enemies has more difficult tactics and arent just tank and spank.

I was in The Sunken Temple of Qarn today, and I know its a low level dungeon, but there it really started to get difficult for me. Each boss has complex tactics (when you havent been there before and dont know anything about it).

Should I go there as a DPS first, or read up and down about every boss fight before entering a new dungeon? Will it only get more complexed from now on?

no good idea you can find duty fast
it's you play dps make you wait duty bored
all class the same thing,all need to learn how to play
just google your class want play and learning you will be fine

Go with what you like first and learn on your way you will have 2 relearn many fights for each role its slightly different ... so ya

I started as a Gladiator/PLD. This was also my first MMO so I had a lot of learning to do. There is also tanking can teach you that you don't get as a DPS, watching enmity levels in the party list, quickly selecting a specific enemy if you loose hate, watching enemy target lines to know where adds will run, etc. I wouldn't say it's necessary to read up on every dungeons bosses before you do them, just say "hey I'm New, is there anything I should know for this boss? " people are usually pretty nice, but if they aren't don't take offense to it personally. If they don't want to share information that will keep you and the party alive they shouldn't be upset if you wipe. Tanking is fun, you should play what you enjoy. I get nervous tanking be content sometimes too, but with experience we learn to adapt on the fly and develope an intuition for what needs to be done without being familiar with the instance. That's what makes tanking so fun.

It depends on how you feel about things and the effect you have on others.

Personally, I started this game as a Warrior and up until relatively recently I didn't put much playtime into other roles at all outside a bit of leveling here and there and some grinding easy content.

As far as doing dungeons go, it's easier if you've done them as another role, so you know roughly what to expect (Though, it's not always relevant to what the Tank has to do, to say nothing of how you wouldn't know what to do as that other role anyway) so reading up about the fights and mechanics can be useful too.

Alternatively, you can just try and pick up the tactics as you go, asking others if there's anything you need to do specifically for the fights if you're unsure.

Everyone was new at one point and had to figure out the dungeons. So long as you make a reasonable effort to try and get through mechanics, you should be fine.

Most dungeons tend to be straight forward anyway, there are only a few oddball ones that have some strange mechanics that you can't pick up particularly quickly (Qarn is one of them, unfortunately) the rest of the strange mechanics tend to come from Trials (But they can for the most part be solo tanked, so you can let the other Tank in the party do the work while you DPS and learn the mechanics).

Outside of Hard mode dungeons (Which I would suggest reading up on the mechanics for, irregardless of role) the only ones that come to mind as notable in terms of mechanics for Tanks are:

Sunken Temple of Qarn
Dzemael Darkhold (First boss only)
The Aurum Vale (Second boss only)
Amdapor Keep (Second boss only. Though, it's rather easy just remember to not stand near the sides when he casts Repel :rolleyes:)
The Lost City of Amdapor - This one has tactics that everyone needs to know, not just Tanks.
Snowcloak
Bardam's Mettle

Mostly level 50 and below dungeons to be honest...

Outside of that they're mostly just "Don't stand in the AoE circles" with maybe a "Some adds spawn" thrown in to the mix.

Don't let others discourage you from something you're enjoying. As you level up, the dungeons become far more challenging -- especially on the tank. I would recommend, if you're not too invested in the story itself, to watch guides on the dungeons before you queue for them. This definitely helps. No one should expect perfect play from a sprout, regardless of role. Keep it up! Tanking is super fun.

Just tell your teammates at the beginning, that its your first time in a dungeon. Then they know that explanations are probably needed.
For normal dungeons thats enough.

If you get lvl 50 and want to do some extreme primals or raids, pls watch a video first and do it with partyfinder, not dutyfinder or with friends/fc mates that can explain on the run.

Tanking is great way to go! However it's nice to have an alternative for the times when you don't want to/too hard/don't get it yet moments.

No matter when you decide to start tanking, there is going to be a learning curve. It's an entirely different role with different mechanics, and different mechanics targeted towards it. IOW, I don't really think progressing with a non-tank job first is going to alleviate any of the pressure and anxiety from tanking a duty your first time.

You can always look at a dungeon guide if you want a break down of boss mechanics if you are new, but definitely let your party now if it is your first time in a duty, or your first time tanking it if you've already completed it. This really goes a long way with keeping expectations at a reasonable level most of the time.

Qarn is the first dungeon with a high threat level (one shot mechanics), so try not to feel too bad. Not every dungeon after has this same threat level going forward, but yes, you are going to have to get used to dealing with multiple things at once. Final sting from bees requires them to prioritized, and the first boss has unavoidable doom PLUS bees xD. All players repeating Qarn should know to focus bees down so you don't get hit with final sting, but I would not rely on this. Place a [1] marker on bees, and try not pull more than one.

The first boss of Qarn will inflict everyone with doom when you see the room briefly turn orange/red. If you are dealing with this and bees at the same time, be sure to cleanse your doom first, and then focus down the bees. These bees have a much smaller HP pool than the trash bees and go down quickly. So long as they are not hanging around too long you should be ok. I know you might be concerned with moving the boss around too much, but being a tank does not mean you are nailed to the ground. Absolutely move if you have to and then reposition the boss as soon as you can. This boss does not have a frontal cleave so your party members should be safe so long as you have aggro on him.

The last boss is literally a tank and spank for you. The only thing you have to do is make sure he stays faced away from the rest of the party because he does have a hard hitting frontal cleave. Everything else is all on the DPS and healer, especially the adds. But they can only handle them correctly so long as you do not attack them.

Tanking, like anything else takes practice. The more you do it, the better you get at it. So if you want to be a tank main then switching to a DPS or healer is not going to give you the rounds you need to become a good one, and you should always play what you enjoy the most. Learning is part of the fun and I would enjoy this process even if you get discouraged from time to time.

Keep at it, and when in doubt, just ask. You'll get some jerks, but most people are happy to make the fights as smooth as possible. I very often see "First time tanking, anything I need to know?", and if there is someone either says something, or the bad ones just leave (jokes on them, it's easy to get a heal/dps replace, tank..not so much, and they get penalty, so you can have a chuckle at them).

You'll be getting commendations all the time (that's the point of playing isn't it?....right?)

i started as a paladin and i have felt that groups have been ok with me being a bit noobish. of course i always watch a video of an upcoming new dungeon before i enter it ... so that i know the basic strats of the bosses.

I dunno, dps first can be good, since most of your first job leveling is done via MSQ anyhow, so there's not really much need for the instant tank queues.

I started FFXIV by levelling Gla/Pal -- aside from the slower-paced combat (ie. hitting like a wet noodle with 3-button rotation back when enemies took about 5minutes to actually attack you with cone-animations and/or before classes were streamlined), this led to me getting a bit bored. Like every role, it all blossoms at 50 when classes expand and the dungeons start throwing you into bullet hell for fun, but by then you should have the fundamentals of your class-choice already sorted out. You'll have absolutely no concerns while solo and won't really feel any kind of dungeon-sting until much later, so just take the levelling process as a means to explore your class and learn the basics. When you reach the 40-50 range and really enjoy your choice, would be wise to do a little research before the pace increases and the class starts opening up.

TLDR: Only you can determine whether levelling X before Y is a bad idea as it will mostly be relative to yourself and how you view the class/role you're playing, eg. "Not fast enough" or "Too many concerns", everyone thinks differently.

Tanks:
Shortest queues, variable responsibility (low-level dungeons don't really need a tank so you'll often get people just bullrushing without a care), slightly less rotational concerns compared to actual melee DPS. Survivable - usually one of the easiest for solo'ing content. It takes a special someone to be a bad tank - would require being completely oblivious to the enmity mechanic and/or no awareness and/or no class knowledge and/or no content knowledge. This loosely translates into tanking not being overly difficult in and of itself provided you're making any kind of effort, so don't be one of those people who 'fear responsibility' and avoid it thinking it's going to be a nightmare.

Healers:
Short queues, relatively high responsibility (you don't need to heal that much in the grand scheme of things, but some just aren't prepared for above-mentioned bull-rush), little-to-no rotations at all. Survivable - easiest to solo content with for obvious reasons, being semi-DPS who actually heal. Healing is my preferred role as I love flitting between life-saving and getting things dead. It is (slightly) more stressful than tanking but that isn't saying much given how telegraphed the game is and how no role is truly difficult unless you're looking for absolute peak-performance whilst inside the utmost difficult content available.

DPS:
Longest queues, low-to-no responsibility outside of their own optimization (give or take helping with raises or various other utility buttons), much more rotational to compensate. Typically less survivable in terms of solo'ing, but also the quickest at killing (which go hand in hand). Should have no issue with solo-content except for some exceptions. DPS is the type of role where you can be largely left to your own devices up to and including a lot of the group content, so there's next to no fear of 'screwing up' as the only way in which DPS can typically do so is by eating every mechanic under the sun and/or being extremely poor with rotations or class knowledge to the point of barely hitting harder than their own tank/healer (or worse).

The reality is that there is no real easiest to choose from as a lot of the factors will boil down to personal preference/perception. I have no fear of tanking or healing and absolutely love when brand new content hits and I have to keep people alive without myself even knowing what to expect. DPS have the freedom of not having to worry about such things, yet also (usually) have to spend more time worrying about themselves and their own performance. Tanks (assuming they aren't a yo-yo-healthbar who can't hold enmity) simply have to ensure that enemies are hitting them as much as possible (and not the rest of the team). Once comfortable doing that, all three eventually just boil down to DPS with different functionality.

From the sounds of things, you'd probably be better off as a DPS. I went through the entire game as a DPS and never bothered researching anything until the final battle in the MSQ for Stormblood. Having said this though, I do think tanking is a great way to learnt the game but requires slightly more effort and patience. I recently started tanking and going back over older dungeons and taking the time to learn the boss mechanics properly and there was so so so much I never even knew. It's been satisfying and has made me a far better player for it too however it does require taking the time and looking up guides and such. Just know that really almost all of the level 50 content is relatively easy and after that things ramp up in difficulty where most bosses have mechanics that can wipe parties if they don't know what they are doing. As a DPS, you can get by without knowing any of this stuff, most experienced players and a healer worth their salt can compensate making it a smoother ride for you. If however you enjoy tanking and stick it out, FF14 is one of the best games for this, most players are friendly and patient with newer players, I've made tons of mistakes tanking still yet nobody has called me out on it or complained.

IMHO, Tanking is the hardest spot to learn any group content from, Healer is the easiest. Simply based on view of the area and amount of focus required elsewhere. It is possible I'm a bit skewed since I've been a healer main since about 2003... But Healer generally has the most available "downtime" to see whats going on everywhere, I tend to most learn all 4 roles at the same time when I go as a healer, where as with the others I can really only learn bits and pieces of the ones im not learning as.

Healer > Ranged DPS > Melee DPS > Tank.

Boss fights are generally pretty easy to get the basics worked out, but you idea of what's actually going on in the arena is usually pretty bad, gets worse as the sheer size of the boss just blocks your view.

Tanking requires the tightest timing on encounter mechanics out of the 3, but generally has the least amount of mechanics they actually deal with, given that most AoEs ignore the tank.

If you're enjoying it, continue, like others have said make sure to mention you're new. Personally i think watching an instance before doing it is killing the enjoyment of learning it. Sometimes I deliberately just want to learn it as it happens, trial and error = fun. As long as you keep at it and master the basics, most things the game throws at you will be relatively familiar. After 2 or 3 complete rounds of a fight you should most likely have a good enough idea of everything going on to at least only get hit by AoEs because you messed up, not because you didn't realize what was going on.

It's a great idea even if you choose to main a dps so you can understand how many things a tank has to deal with.

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Originally Posted by Phurox

So I am playing a tank and currently loving it, but sadly my team mates doesnt always like it.

Why? Because I am a beginner. Of course, theres nothing wrong with that since I know my role (having enmity at all times and know my rotation), but after reaching higher level the enemies has more difficult tactics and arent just tank and spank.

I was in The Sunken Temple of Qarn today, and I know its a low level dungeon, but there it really started to get difficult for me. Each boss has complex tactics (when you havent been there before and dont know anything about it).

Should I go there as a DPS first, or read up and down about every boss fight before entering a new dungeon? Will it only get more complexed from now on?

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reading? who wants to actually be informed on what they're doing? nah bro, you just do you and who cares what happens :)

I started off with a tank as well and am still learning, I say if you love it stick with it in my experience that alone will motivate you to get better and learn it rather than switching to another role you don't really want to play and be meh. I research dungeons as I go and watch the Videos of each dungeon on Youtube so I am not going in blind.

That's what im doing, looked up all the classes and thought warrior was the coolest so I've been playing as that. Ive usually been a tanks in other mmo's so that may help me with the basics. All content has been pretty simple so far (im only at heavensward so im sure it will get harder in the future). So far ive been winging it in dungeons and for raids ive watched a quick youtube video before hand. Have had 0 problems yet and if i do make a mistake, no ones ever been toxic or mad in the parties yet (which is crazy since im coming from tanking in wow). So i say its fine starting as a tank

If you plan on playing tank, there's no time to learn like the present.

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Originally Posted by evanlima95

That's what im doing, looked up all the classes and thought warrior was the coolest so I've been playing as that. Ive usually been a tanks in other mmo's so that may help me with the basics. All content has been pretty simple so far (im only at heavensward so im sure it will get harder in the future). So far ive been winging it in dungeons and for raids ive watched a quick youtube video before hand. Have had 0 problems yet and if i do make a mistake, no ones ever been toxic or mad in the parties yet (which is crazy since im coming from tanking in wow). So i say its fine starting as a tank

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Yeah god forbid you make one mistake in wow tanking before you get bombarded with DIE in a fire and so on lol

Not knowing the mechanics of the dungeon has nothing to do with your ability as a tank. So don't worry about it.

Best thing you can do with every new boss is to ask your group if there is anything special about the boss you have to watch out for.

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Originally Posted by Phurox

So I am playing a tank and currently loving it, but sadly my team mates doesnt always like it.

Why? Because I am a beginner. Of course, theres nothing wrong with that since I know my role (having enmity at all times and know my rotation), but after reaching higher level the enemies has more difficult tactics and arent just tank and spank.

I was in The Sunken Temple of Qarn today, and I know its a low level dungeon, but there it really started to get difficult for me. Each boss has complex tactics (when you havent been there before and dont know anything about it).

Should I go there as a DPS first, or read up and down about every boss fight before entering a new dungeon? Will it only get more complexed from now on?

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You shouldn't if you ask me; I always main a tank in every game i make 'cause:

1) I like the job/role more than i like DPS and I dont like to heal at all so
2) Elitist ppl WILL complain everytime (even when they are not elite), just state out when it's your first time so that other can help you out with tips on specific bosses/ take it easier
3) You are going to learn MUCH faster the specific mechs required in each boss.
4) Mechanichs are not a "tank" thing; you can piss ppl off even as a DD/Healer if you ignore them/do them wrong; in that dungeon (sunken temple) I usually see a lot of ppl ignoring the glowing floor tiles in second boss: that means they'll die (possibly complaining you bacause, since they got hit, must be 'cause you lost aggro while even the first bosses have "aggro ignore" or party-wide skills).

The only person you could really piss off is another tank (in an 8-man content) if you mess up while aggroing-swapping but even there a normal person wouldn't piss u off too much (unless you keep on doing that after he explains).

Last week I had to tell a tank wich skills to use for swapping in Binding Coil 2 (synced) (there are not many tankswaps until laaaaaater in game); he was not using Provoke but his aggro combo instead (even if I shirked when I realized it he took 20 secs or so to get the lead). We wiped with 8 "vulnerability up" on me :D

Told him to use voke followed by aggro combo did the trick on 2nd attempt, no need to get pissed, he didn't knew, now he does and he did learn it fast too. I firmly believe that's how ppl should behave if you are "doing wrong".


The same happened to me many times (in trials always state if it's your first run so if necessary other tank will tell you when/how to swap).

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Healer is the easiest. Simply based on view of the area and amount of focus required elsewhere. It is possible I'm a bit skewed since I've been a healer main since about 2003.

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None are much harder or easier than the other, yet the most common issue people have with playing Tanks & Healers is that feeling of responsibility. Joe Soap might find Monk hard to play in the context of positional vs rotations and all the rest, but the damage-dealing process in and of itself is the most simplistic and easiest to play and comes with the least responsibility. It counters this by being the role with the more complex machinations to achieve that role (rotations, positioning, lack of sustain in a lot of cases), whereas the rest have other issues to worry about hence do not share the same concerns (ie. keeping the trinity alive).

If you main X, of course you would typically find X easier than the rest because that is what you're focusing on, so yes, you're being a bit skewed by saying it as a blanket statement, even though none of them are essentially 'difficult'. The reality is that we cannot account for how the person next to you feels about it. I know more people anxious or worried about Healing/Tanking than I care to admit, and no amount of me telling (or showing) how easy *I* find it will make them believe differently.

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Originally Posted by Laphael

Just tell your teammates at the beginning, that its your first time in a dungeon. Then they know that explanations are probably needed.
For normal dungeons thats enough.

If you get lvl 50 and want to do some extreme primals or raids, pls watch a video first and do it with partyfinder, not dutyfinder or with friends/fc mates that can explain on the run.

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I disagree. I got through all the ARR Extremes without a guide and synced. Those, like literally any piece of content, can be done when people talk to each other in an MMO.

play what you want
you be you

Stay like a tank. Dps queuing will bore you. You can just state that it's your first time there and ppl will give you tips. None wants the tank to fail mechanics and as a result lead to wipes. But be ready if you mess up some uncivilized creatures will start bashing you. Just don't pay attention to them.

There's a lot to be said about improving your tank play by having first played the jobs a bad tank can badly inconvenience, but if you're aware, it shouldn't matter too much. Ideally, though, I'd still look up the abilities of all healers and see if you can learn to track the shorter cooldowns in your head (and to rely on them somewhat so that you can actually get a certain interval of use out of them that you can get a feel for), and make sure you're not giving false signals to DPS. The last thing you want is to pause briefly to pad some AoE enmity and have it mistaken for the final gather such that the BLM pops their Ley Lines and the other dps starts going ham when you still have another group to pull, etc.

I started with PLD and actually didn't play anything else until I had hit lv70. You should stick with it and take it slow if you're not sure about the trash mechanics. You can set the pace, don't let them rush you.

I generally do something along the lines of shield lob > circle of scorn > flash > flash > emnity rotation on enemy 1 > emnity rotation on the enemy 2 > emnity rotation on enemy 3 > circle of scorn > repeat

If you don't have circle, you can just replace it with flash.

This video is a bit older, but it's what I used to learn how to play the game back in the day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qd9...yCI-pv&index=2

Tanking is gravy really just don't get sloppy so dps can do their rotations instead of having to adjust to a wussy tank that want's to constantly move the mobs around. Some tanks just run ahead and gather a whole "quadrant" of mobs and expect a new healer to keep up which is a no-no. With raids and being "new" to it don't try to tank the bosses and then complain about how you want to be MT if you don't know which attack if any is a tank buster. Watch for any A B Cs in a raid and look at which alliance your in so that you will know which letter to go to. I laugh a lot when I see tanks drop because they think tanking in dps stance is fine. YOUR JOB IS TO TANK NOT TO DPS!!! Personally I think if tanks go into a instance or raid tanking in dps stance they should automatically be hit with a K.O. Being new to a raid just tell your party you are new but stay at the top of the party threat list. If you see other players moving away do the same thing. Its not hard to dodge void zones etc. When a new instance is released I always go slow at first until I get a handle of what is up ahead and what dps I get. Some dps do great and some don't. Use your low blow skill and shield bash to stun attacks. Playing dps I low blow as often as I can because I get tired of the tanks not doing it. Same with silences. Not enough tanks silence casters. Shield swipe works on most mobs and some bosses but some are immune even though it sticks.

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Originally Posted by Niurok

YOUR JOB IS TO TANK NOT TO DPS!!!

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Like it or not, your job is to do both. Both Savage and EX are designed around tanks being in dps stance the majority of the fight. You literally can never hit the required tank dps in tank stance.

That said, Savage and EX are the only places tank dps is required. Normal content has no enrage timers, or extremely lenient ones. So I agree a tank has no business being out of tank stance if it causes any negative benefit to the party (such as dying, requiring excessive healing or emnity loss). This is a common mistake made by new tanks who crack open a tanking guide aimed towards high-end optimization, see "tank stance is for nubs" and assume they have to tank without it. It is perfectly acceptable to tank stance everything up to EX (except off-tanking) until you are 100% confident in your class.

I agree it can be confusing at times. There are dungeons where I don't know to pull big or pull small. I have always played a healer and DPS, now I am playing as tank. It's been years since tanked in an MMO....never had a good experience tanking playing WOW in the early 2000's , that player base is more toxic and I was fearful to go back to tanking for a long time

The way I approach tanking though is I spend most of the first few seconds of a fight just trying to get aggro up....flash plus agro combo. I never worry about switching to DPS stance unless it's a DPS check

1) Play what you want. It's your journey.
2) They start throwing harder mechanics in the mid 30's, qarn is co sidered the first "hard dungeon"
3) You can usually ask you party members for any tips. We were all new once.

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Originally Posted by Phurox

So I am playing a tank and currently loving it, but sadly my team mates doesnt always like it.

Why? Because I am a beginner. Of course, theres nothing wrong with that since I know my role (having enmity at all times and know my rotation), but after reaching higher level the enemies has more difficult tactics and arent just tank and spank.

I was in The Sunken Temple of Qarn today, and I know its a low level dungeon, but there it really started to get difficult for me. Each boss has complex tactics (when you havent been there before and dont know anything about it).

Should I go there as a DPS first, or read up and down about every boss fight before entering a new dungeon? Will it only get more complexed from now on?

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Nah just stick with tanking everything's hard when you're new to something the first time but stick with it and you'll start to enjoy the challenge. I promise you that.