Question for healers about GNB

Hello Everyone, I am starting to get more into tanking and really enjoying the GNB. While looking around for tips and advice I've noticed several threads where healers state that they do not like healing GNB. I imagine that this is because of superbolide or new players but I wanted to make sure so that I don't end up making your jobs miserable.

Apart from the obvious things like managing cooldowns and such is there any advice you would give to an aspiring meat shield to help make your lives easier?

Do not pop Bolide after you've received critical damage, but damage you have survived. The only thing it is going to do there is eat healer cooldowns. Use it as a preventative tool only, not a reactive one.

Aside from that, the only other advice I could offer applies to all tanks. Know the limits of your gear, maybe pull smaller while your CDs are CDing, etc.

Best thing you can do is ask your healer(s) when they want you to Superbolide. Some healers don't want it ever. Some will want it for specific mechanics. Make a macro that asks in party chat and press it when you first enter an instance. If you hear nothing back assume that they don't want you using it.

Apart from that just keep trying to use CDs effectively and maximize your offensive performance.

GNB is about just as easy to heal as the others; main combo offers the same survivability as WAR and DRK, and defensive CDs across all tanks are more or less the same.

Just don't use Superbolide as a panic button, because it's easy to make your healers waste precious CDs. If you want to use it, make sure your healer(s) is/are aware so nobody wastes their CDs.

As long as you don't panic superbolide, you can tank as GNB without worries c:

Regarding Superbolide: I had a GNB in an expert who had a macro which said "Superbolide coming up soon!" in party chat which was my cue to stop healing him as I knew he would use it when he reached critically low HP so I was able to wait that out and heal him back up afterwards.
Nothing worse than a GNB using Superbolide as a panic button the millisecond after my Bene hit ... so don't play the "let's see who panics first" game, give your healer a heads up when it's your next course of action and you're good.

Otherwise just the usual cd using. I honestly didn't notice GNB being harder to heal than the others. I found them to be quite pleasent to heal. My only gripe was when they decided to use Superbolide randomly but those were few.

Make sure you add arms length to your cooldown rotation and pop heart of stone as often as it allows.

Arms length adds a slow debuff to mobs that hit you and this can help a weaker buff like camouflage.

Healing GNB isn't so bad. If they do their Camo,Rampart,Nebula/Heart of Stone combo is easier to manage for a healer. HoS pretty much somewhat busted utility for 7secs every 25sec on CD. Aurora is weird, but it's ok for a regen. Arm's Length is really good for big pulls for the 20sec slow, it'll save you as a tank for a while. Superbolide though, unless you let your healer know you going to pop it helps. Somewhat noticed when GNBs pull adds and not stun or interrupt one of the mobs that does a dmg buff on themselves. Having 2 mobs that does it via the twinning, you asking for it. I doubt the healer can save you at that point with a big pull of adds still on you.

People claim to not like healing GNB because of Superbolide and they pretend that every GNB spams it as soon as it's available. Just like how they insist that every PLD uses Clemency as much as physically possible in order to waste their heals.

Maybe healers shouldn't let their tanks be at 10% while they're still DPSing, and maybe they wouldn't use Superbolide so much. Also: in like 90% of content, who cares if they waste an oGCD because the tank used Superbolide right after. Server ticks and ping are a thing, and as every Good Player has ever said to me, "No one died, so who cares."

If you're physically unable to heal a tank without Benediction/Lustrate/etc., git gud.

I assume you are talking about dungeon run because healing GNB is a breeze in boss fight. I love GNB and got a lvl 80 one myself.

The biggest thing I have to tell new GNB is to please use Rampart on your very first big pull, please. With 20% mitigation, I can actually heal you and dps.
Please prioritize Rampart over Camouflage. Camouflage's 10% mitigation really is weak and that parry is still quite useless if you are not the guy that carries a shield <_<

Use Heart of Stone whenever possible. This is one of the best tank defensive cool down.

Don't forget Nebula. When everything is on cd, anything helps.

Superbolide should be no problem for any healer to deal with, really. It is 8s complete invuln, no damage taken and you don't die. Miles ahead of holmgang and 1000% better than living dead. I guess some healers hated it because you either use it on >10-20% hp or they don't know when you use it, so make a macro to announce it when you use could really help. Use it when you think you might die, and you might just lived.

I guess Superbolide is about the only thing I imagine, GNB is a good tank so nothing else stands out as anything for healers to have a problem with that your don't get with other tanks.

Generally I'd say use Superbolide for mechanics that need invincibility or if you must, should your healer be clearly struggling, taking big hits or being low on health doesn't mean that the healer is, so that one can be a tougher call. Maybe if they have already let you die once or twice, then it's a little more reasonable you pop it when your health is low.

However, I think a good courtesy is to have a macro to announce that you've just popped it, then the healer knows they don't have to waste a CD. And they don't have to buy a new pair of underwear.

Also I am guilty of misfiring Superbolide 3 or 4 tines by accident, and I have since moved it somewhere else on my crossbar, so I'm sorry to all those healers. :P

If I want to use Superbolide tactically for a big pull, I announce it to the healer beforehand so they know what is coming. Otherwise I just pop it if I ever should fall below 10%, because at this point it is a safty net and the healer has to heal me up anyway.

But most times I simply don't need it.

You should pair up cds with same cooldowns on big pulls. Rampart and Camouflage both are 90s. Nebula and Arm's Length are both 2mins. Throw in Aurora and Heart of Stone whenever.

Don't wait til critical hp to pop Superbolide if it comes to that. The longer you wait, the higher chance you have of getting a benediction and wasting it

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Originally Posted by Doozer

If you're physically unable to heal a tank without Benediction/Lustrate/etc., git gud.

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its called being efficient with our kit. Using ogcd heals and using gcds for damage IS "gittin gud"

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Originally Posted by Tlachtga

You should pair up cds with same cooldowns on big pulls. Rampart and Camouflage both are 90s.

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You really shouldn't. If you use them at the same time you run out of CDs very quickly. Also you don't need to. You can use Rampart and Nebula alone just fine. HoS with the short cooldown is usually a good CD to throw in between the bigger ones. Aurora should be on CD anyway when you are standing in the huddle and taking constant dmg. Usually I start with Nebula on a big pull, when Nebula runs out I pop arm's length and heart of stone together until HoS runs out. Afterwards I pop Rampart, then Camouflage. If I still need more because DPS is really low or something like that, HoS is ready again.

If you have a WHM with holy-spam you can even start with HoS while the mobs are on stun anyway, then Nebula (10s) followed by Rampart (20s) and a second HoS [now ready again] for more CD-efficiency. Throw in arm's length when the holy-stuns wears off.

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Don't wait til critical hp to pop Superbolide if it comes to that. The longer you wait, the higher chance you have of getting a benediction and wasting it

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And if you use it to early you waste a lot of HP and safty-time. It depends. Usually I don't plan to use it anyway, because most of the time you don't need it [you may use it tactically, but in this case you can announce it before the pull] so it's more or less a safety-tool if my hp hits critical amount. And then it's better to risk wasting a benediction than to die to a PUG healer dreaming or netflixing or whatever.

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Originally Posted by Doozer

People claim to not like healing GNB because of Superbolide and they pretend that every GNB spams it as soon as it's available. Just like how they insist that every PLD uses Clemency as much as physically possible in order to waste their heals.

Maybe healers shouldn't let their tanks be at 10% while they're still DPSing, and maybe they wouldn't use Superbolide so much. Also: in like 90% of content, who cares if they waste an oGCD because the tank used Superbolide right after. Server ticks and ping are a thing, and as every Good Player has ever said to me, "No one died, so who cares."

If you're physically unable to heal a tank without Benediction/Lustrate/etc., git gud.

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Someone is asking for advice to play more efficiently and even wants to hear other role's point of view and you just say "who cares?". What's with that attitude? You're just coming across as salty here.

If a GNB uses Superbolide when at 10% or lower while I'm still dpsing, I'd call it efficiency. Same as timing Bene that it hits at really low HP. Or utilizing Bene/ Lustrate/ ED in general. Caring about your own efficiency is "gitting gud". ;) So let him and everyone else who asks for advice, different point of views and is open for criticism/ improvement "git gud", alright?

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Originally Posted by Pepsi_Plunge

You really shouldn't. If you use them at the same time you run out of CDs very quickly.

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Running out of cds isn't an issue unless its still the first pull (in which case you should adjust because your group isn't great)

Most dungeons have at best two mass pulls before each boss. The ones that don't will have small pulls instead, with which your fluff cds will suffice.

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Also you don't need to.

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You technically don't need to pop any cds, but we're trying to help out the healers as much as possible here.

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You can use Rampart and Nebula alone just fine.

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That's going to be heavily dependant on how good your group is, because Rampart alone in a mass pull is nowhere near enough, unless you're being babysitted.

You can make a case for the 30% alone, if the group dps is good. I'd still rather just throw up Arm's Length anyway.

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And if you use it to early you waste a lot of HP and safty-time.

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You get the 8s of invuln regardless. I'd rather burn 30k hp and have the pull succeed than min-max my Superbolide usage (which it shouldn't really come down to in the first place anyway)

Don't forget to use Heart of Light too, not just for party damage, it is yet another self CD.

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Originally Posted by Tlachtga

Running out of cds isn't an issue unless its still the first pull (in which case you should adjust because your group isn't great)

Most dungeons have at best two mass pulls before each boss. The ones that don't will have small pulls instead, with which your fluff cds will suffice.

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It depends on the dungeon and the group. Sure, when you go in an older Dungeon with overgeared people you can burn your CDs all you like (but you don't need to anyway). But with undergeared people or in Expert where most ppl are still near minimum item levels, you will need your CDs as DPS won't burn the mobs down that fast. Especially in that first big pull on Akadaemia.

Now, getting a bad or undergeared Healer is an whole other thing. But then you would probably stop doing big pulls anyway.

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You technically don't need to pop any cds, but we're trying to help out the healers as much as possible here.

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Yes. And helping your healer is best by reducing the incoming dmg constantly over the whole pull then beeing nearly invincible at the beginning and running out of CDs. Of course, if you know you don't need your CDs later or if you need to cover some time (for example the healer just died and is getting resurrected by the SMN) you can pop them indeed together, but I wouldn't give that advice as a general rule. Adjusting to the circumstances is one thing, but wasting CDs is another.

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That's going to be heavily dependant on how good your group is, because Rampart alone in a mass pull is nowhere near enough, unless you're being babysitted.

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That's why I start with Nebula. Until I reach Rampart there is also arm's length and the first mobs should be dead at this point so DMG will be lower. Always start with your strongest CD.

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You get the 8s of invuln regardless. I'd rather burn 30k hp and have the pull succeed than min-max my Superbolide usage (which it shouldn't really come down to in the first place anyway)

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It's simple math as the time it takes to actually burn my hp down by the mobs counts too. If I just pop my Superbolide we will get 8 seconds. If I wait 4 seconds longer before I pop it the party actually gain 12 seconds. The longer I wait, the longer I survive, more mobs may die as the healer can longer DPS and if the healing cast is coming in this 4 seconds, I may not even need SB at all.

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Originally Posted by KanameYuuki

Don't forget to use Heart of Light too, not just for party damage, it is yet another self CD.

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Well, HoL only reduces magic damage so unless the mobs are attacking you with magic spells it doesn't do anything for you in big pulls. It's better to use this [and Reprisal] for the bosses.

Usually GNB gives me a jump scare with their invulnerability, specially when I see them dropping from 60% to 1... But it's nothing more than that...

The optimal use for this move is when you're about to die, but it's kinda unpredictable, so we understand...

As someone who plays SCH with Sheilds, and have a compulsory healing disorder that makes me heal before the tank hits half HP, it is pretty annoying when they pop Superbolide when they are at full HP, and have a crit shield on them

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Originally Posted by NessaWyvern

As someone who plays SCH with Sheilds, and have a compulsory healing disorder that makes me heal before the tank hits half HP, it is pretty annoying when they pop Superbolide when they are at full HP, and have a crit shield on them

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I assume that is after excog has gone off? Otherwise it can be a wasted excog if you have that on the tank. I've had a few clemency happy paladins waste my excog's as is. I also watch for it if my co-healer is a sch to see if it is on the main tank.

For gun breakers, worst is them using their superbolide right after I've given them a benediction. 3 minutes before another one available. Using it with excog on the tank isn't nearly as scary with its auto trigger at 50% HP.

Pop Superbolide after all the healer's instant heals and ogcd heals are used. I had GNB in Bardam's Mettle last night who used it after I gave her Essential Dignity + Noct Aspected Benefic. I was like... WHY!? lol

Also, use your Aurora and Arm's Length as defensive cooldowns, just like everyone has said, Arm's Length gives 20% Slow debuff to attacking enemies so it helps reduce damage taken a bit.

Don't forget Heart of Stone, and Heart of Light when facing a boss with unavoidable raid damage.

Oh also, when you're tanking 2 or 3 packs, stun the mob who you think gives the most damage, it helps a LOT. Interrupt their AoE if you can.

My first experience healing GNB was not so... good. It might be because he pop Superbolide suddenly because he was undergeared and his hp drops like fly and he doesn't know how to use any cooldown. Needless to say, it was a nightmare try to heal him - and that gave an impression that GNB was a pain in the ass.

My run last night at expert with GNB was so smooth I hardly recognize it as the same job.

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Originally Posted by ksuyen

My first experience healing GNB was not so... good. It might be because he pop Superbolide suddenly because he was undergeared and his hp drops like fly and he doesn't know how to use any cooldown. Needless to say, it was a nightmare try to heal him - and that gave an impression that GNB was a pain in the ass.

My run last night at expert with GNB was so smooth I hardly recognize it as the same job.

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I think GNB suffers from the same problem DRK did on release, a lot of new and inexperienced tanks or people who normally DPS but not tank trying out the new cool looking job and maybe being ill prepared for it. I remember healing DRK's in the day who were super squishy and DRK having bad rep.

I am levelling GNB at the moment and I've found it adequate with other tanks, having played all tanks before. I don't find it squishy playing.

Superbolide is a terrible ability but it is not your fault :)
I understand wanting to use immunity during a massive pull but seeing HP go to 1 is always a shock...
better paired with a WHM

Use Heart of Stone on cooldown (every 25 sec, that's amazing) and Aurora (once per minute) as they come pretty often

I've no issues with healing GNB. I find them very sturdy. I've also been guilty of accidentally pressing Superbolide a few times. A macro would be nice, but I generally reserve a cooldown in case Superbolide pops without warning because I've been on both sides. It's nothing to panic over; I just deal and move on.

The only Tank button I'm not too pleased with is Living Dead, especially when a DRK uses it at 25% HP or so. I'm like "why?" Now I have to burn all my resources to get you to not be dead in 10 secs. But those instances are few and far between.

I reserve superbolide for boss tank busters that cannot be survived otherwise.
- either my OT is doing something that caused me to be unable to take the hit, like not sharong fae light, or I goofed earlier and got a debuff on me or used too many cooldowns and this is what I have left...

On big trash pulls I cycle between my AoE and single target rotations because of the self heal and shield in step 2 of the single target. It’s also a good way to speed down one target in a stack which will also relieve healer pressure.
- don’t over or under use your mitigation skills. The single target rotation and your short cooldown is good enough for most “white damage” allowing you to always have bigger mitigation on hand for tank busters. Pop your tank buster as close to the end of a tank buster cast as possible so it doesn’t wear off until some tome after - smoothing out the process of healers getting you back up.

Don’t outrun your healer on chain pulling trash. I always zoom back a bit and make sure I can still see the healer behind me and know I haven’t blocked them off with a corner or a ramp/ledge.

You’ll notice my 80s include a tank, a healer, and 2 DPS. One of the best things you can do for your healers is to have a healer at a level of gear to where it can run most of the same content as your tank... which is also true in reverse...

Is GNB an issue? (i havn't seen the threads forgive me) If anything I think they try harder because they are newest to tanking that job. Actually I like that they (in my experience) pull a little less and focus on their training and ask healers if they can pull more or are attentative to the party makeup. Other tanks.... >_>>>>

A good GNB will use their CD's properly and that will make them easy to heal from my experience. Not WAR/DRK easy, but easy enough. If I am being honest though, about 50% of my rough runs through expert have been with GNB tanks. I can't place why, as I do not play the class but during these runs they seem to take astronomical amounts of damage in comparison to the other 3 tanks. Then I'll find another GNB and it will be just fine.

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Originally Posted by RegularJoe

I've no issues with healing GNB. I find them very sturdy. I've also been guilty of accidentally pressing Superbolide a few times. A macro would be nice, but I generally reserve a cooldown in case Superbolide pops without warning because I've been on both sides. It's nothing to panic over; I just deal and move on.

The only Tank button I'm not too pleased with is Living Dead, especially when a DRK uses it at 25% HP or so. I'm like "why?" Now I have to burn all my resources to get you to not be dead in 10 secs. But those instances are few and far between.

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If you don't let the DRK hit 0 HP, then they won't enter Walking Dead and won't die if you don't heal them to full.
If they do hit 0 HP... then Living Dead was necessary, and at the very least gave them an additional 10s.

I'm more hesitant to Use Superbolide than Living Dead now.
I was aware of the issue where you're reduced to 1 HP BEFORE you become invulnerable, but it actually happened to me 2 days ago.
At about 10% HP, I hit Superbolide, I see my HP equal 1 for a fraction of a second, and then I died instantly.
It's basically russian roulette to me now, will I become invulnerable or self destruct?

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Originally Posted by Doozer

People claim to not like healing GNB because of Superbolide and they pretend that every GNB spams it as soon as it's available.

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I literally just came out of a Prae run where the tank would do just this, probably to make the fights any more challenging lol

That said, sometimes it's on the tank, like those who like sprinting and pulling half the dungeon. If they die doing that, it's 100% on them.

I'd recommend announcing your superbol before you use it, where possible.

For example, even though I'm a healer main, I often end up tanking my experts as GNB, and because I like to pull large, that requires CD management. I'll typically plan on opening certain pulls with bol, and I'll tell my healers before I even sprint that I"m going to do that...because in their shoes, I'd love to get the same treatment.

...I've also had nothing but praise for doing so.

By the time you've 'announced' that you're going to use Superbolide... you're dead.
Likewise, if you're going to use sprint, then you're not likely to stop and type out 'I'm gonna sprint'.

What you can do is announce you’re going to use superbolide before the pull.

“So on the Fae light after the tether exchange, that’s 3 tank busters in a row. Best handled by splitting the damage between both tanks. That said about 60% of the time I come here the OT dies during the terhers for one reason or another. If that happens the OT will have weakness going into Fae Light and will likely die again...
- so if the OT goes down during tethers, I am going to hit superbolide after the first hit of Fae Light and will expect the OT to stay clear of sharing tankbusters until after weakness falls off or unless I announce that I ran out if cooldowns... (which only happens when I am being under healed during small Puck - so healers, please top me off after a tankbuster that has another tankbuster within a few seconds...)”

- what I hope is obvious in that example is this is all a coordinated dance between tanks and healers. The higher up you get in content the more healers and tanks meed to intuitively time their abilities together.
Or rather, the tank needs to time around the boss, and not over or under mitigate. And the healer needs to coordinate around the tank which actually means coordinating around the boss on a slight delay.
- either of them can screw it up... and as my “if the OT dies” note points out, other people can mess up the harmony and force tanks and healers to swing into improvisational overdrive. Half the OTs I see die there do so from not hitting their mitigation. The other half die when the next person on the tether list fails to get in place or when a healer fails to heal the OT between tether hits...
-though often it’s all of these combined...

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Originally Posted by Makeda

What you can do is announce you’re going to use superbolide before the pull.

“So on the Fae light after the tether exchange, that’s 3 tank busters in a row. Best handled by splitting the damage between both tanks. That said about 60% of the time I come here the OT dies during the terhers for one reason or another. If that happens the OT will have weakness going into Fae Light and will likely die again...
- so if the OT goes down during tethers, I am going to hit superbolide after the first hit of Fae Light and will expect the OT to stay clear of sharing tankbusters until after weakness falls off or unless I announce that I ran out if cooldowns... (which only happens when I am being under healed during small Puck - so healers, please top me off after a tankbuster that has another tankbuster within a few seconds...)”

- what I hope is obvious in that example is this is all a coordinated dance between tanks and healers. The higher up you get in content the more healers and tanks meed to intuitively time their abilities together.
Or rather, the tank needs to time around the boss, and not over or under mitigate. And the healer needs to coordinate around the tank which actually means coordinating around the boss on a slight delay.
- either of them can screw it up... and as my “if the OT dies” note points out, other people can mess up the harmony and force tanks and healers to swing into improvisational overdrive. Half the OTs I see die there do so from not hitting their mitigation. The other half die when the next person on the tether list fails to get in place or when a healer fails to heal the OT between tether hits...
-though often it’s all of these combined...

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I believe they were referring to a dungeon pull, not a coordinated EX trial.

Like everyone has said, Superbolide is the only thing that can make healing a GNB any more annoying than another tank. Just make sure you're not negating any healer CDs before you pop it and you'll be fine (use it before the healer bene/excog/whatevers you, not after.)

I like when a GNB warns me that they are going bolide on the next big pull so I save benediction for that