Tanking - Needing advice (GLD)

[Ariyn]

I know that with PS3 having some targetting issues vs PC it is harder to tank on PS3. With that said switching targets almost constantly with multiple mob pulls is a must as either tank. It is the only way to hold hate well. Macro's will also be your friend!

/ac "Shield Lob"
/mk <attack1>

^ will shield lob and mark a 1 on the target. You will still need hotkeys for quick marks though. I keep 1-3 on hotkeys so I can direct my dps effectively.

Rotation on single target is pretty basic so I'll only go over multi mob pulls.

1. Open with the shield lob macro almost always. This nets you enough initial threat to hold until combos start rolling and marks the target for your dps.
2. Flash soon as all mobs are to you (You can start your Combo and Fast Blade first if the other mobs are farther away and will take time to get to you). Normal rotation on mob 1. Fast Blade - Savage Blade - Rage of Halone
3. Flash again. Tab over to mob 2 and Fast Blade - Savage Blade then tab to mob 3 and Rage of Halone.
4. At this point, you should have solid hate on the adds so go back to mob 1 and ensure you keep enough threat for it to die off. Rinse and Repeat for all mobs. The key is knowing your big threat moves and using them wisely. Keep an eye on emnity bars every time you target swap and they will show you where to focus your attention.

Emnity builders

Savage Blade (x3)
Shield Lob (x3)
Rage of Halone (x5)

Flash provides more emnity then normal attacks but it does not equal either of these 3. All other abilities (that I can think of atm) mostly give emnity based on damage done. Pre level 26 threat can be difficult but once you get Rage of Halone it gets to be pretty easy to keep threat over everyone

[Xvi]

What Ariyn posted is similar to what I do. The one thing to remember about Flash, besides it's emnity boost, is that it also blinds the enemies lowering their accuracy. Because blind reduces your incoming melee damage, you should try your best to keep that debuff up as often as possible. There are diminishing returns of 50% per use, so it is not something you want to spam quickly but at the right time to ensure that debuff is up as much as possible.

First use - Blind lasts 12 seconds
second use - blind lasts 6 seconds
third use - blind lasts 3 seconds.

I haven't tested how long it takes before the DR is "up" and you can get the full 12s duration again. Haven't been paying close enough attention to test that just yet.

[Saccharin]

It's all nice saying that damage should wait etc. but the simple fact is that they wont. The duty finder puts random people in the group, I started off numbering enemies and people just ignored it.

Gladiator threat (at low levels) is frankly pathetic. Our only AoE threat opener sucks up mana too much and when you stop you loose threat on some mobs.

It's not a learn to play issue it's a number issue, gladiators either do to too little threat or damage either do too much damage. It's not fun struggling for threat when you attack and then the damage use ONE spell and you loose threat while waiting for the absurd 2.5 second global to finish. I used taunt and guess what, as soon as it was over the mob went back to the damage dealer. I've hit level 23 and have done all instances and I dread when a new one pops up because it's just not fun loosing threat when you do all you can with the limited toolkit but the numbers are just against you.

[Raze]

snip~

Don't say it's broken just because you can't do it properly yet. The way you describe your battles implies you need more practice. I suggest you follow something like what Ariyn does and quit dreading instances and take them as a chance to gain experience in a group setting.

[Karti]

Thank goodness for this thread!

I recently played a dungeon where this one person kept spamming for me to use Flash constantly. Now, I don't usually like to get into heated discussions with someone (as I'm speaking with a ps3 controller), but this person was getting on my nerves a bit. I wasn't all that knowledgeable about stats and everything, but I did know that enmity plays a major role in who the enemies choose to engage. There was this CNJ we had who would excessively use Medica, an ability I was told in Beta 3 which draws attention. I tried to explain that if not even my Provoke is drawing the enemies off of them for more than half a second, then there isn't a whole lot I can do until they ease down. Buut...the original complainer and the CNJ just rage quit. Honestly, some people!

Anyways, it was great to further understand the GLD with this thread! I should be able to explain better in the future and hopefully avoid more issues like this.

[Kazer]

I always play the tank role in MMO, and honestly I did feel something was lacking at first as a gladiator. I had to work harder than usual to hold threat. It was challenging the first few dungeons, but not impossible which I was okay with.

However! Once I learned Rage of Halone everything changed. With proper rotations when tanking against either single targets or groups, I have no problems at all holding threat. I highly recommend what Ariyn posted above, it is very similar to what I am doing now as well.

TL/DR: Once you learn Rage of Halone, Gladiator has 0 problems holding threat.

[Kenji1134]

GLA threat may not be "broken" per-se, but it does need some help, namely Flash.
At 29, using a 16 damage weapon and 120 str / attack power, at times my Flash isnt enough to keep adds off the healer...
I understand that once we get Shield Oath, that aoe aggro becomes less irritating, but that is at level 40. Until then we need to make due with Flash, which we cant spam, due to mp costs and diminishing returns. In short, Flash needs some kind of buff. Right now it is just not strong enough to reliably hold aggro on sleeping mobs, much less against someone aoeing even a little.
Maybe have Flash scale better with attack power and weapon damage, or make the lvl 20 trait add the blind and a significant hate increase on Flash, so hold us till we get to 40 for Shield Oath.

[Leyan]

I actually use Riot blade a lot, paired with a lot of flash due to the MP it gives(also damage). With shield lob on the pull and targets far away + having provoke should one get away.
I also mark all targets before the pull and often ask the party to CC the one with the highest number. Been all success so far.
Savage Blade occasionally sees use if I feel I need more enmity on the target.

With this tactic I've not had a single party member die, with the exception of Ifrit where the DPS on the needle was slow a couple of tries.
I am though only level 25 so I'll see if I need to use more savage strike and other abilities later on. This has been working great until now!

[Dcyn]

While I'm glad this thread has expanded to full enmity discussions, don't forget the OP is talking about lower level dungeons and being sync'd to where you lose a lot of our strong enmity skills. So let's try to offer small tidbits for pre-RoH quality of life.

@Saccharin
-Yes, random groups can suck and at lower levels I don't bother marking targets. Upon loading just explain to the party the basics. "1. Please watch your enmity bars and adjust accordingly unless you want to tank. 2. If you pull threat, come to me so I can pick it up. Running does nothing for anyone but aid in your death. 3. Please focus fire, it is easier for me to tank and we'll clear the dungeon faster."

Provoke(Taunt) also works by putting you above the member who had hate by 1 enmity point. Just 1. So yes, they can pull it back again if you don't do anything right away but it spikes you back up to, if not at, the top.

[Dcyn]

@Ariyn
-I don't have mark on my SLob. I end up targeting fresh spawn adds or suddenly lost mobs that go after others so that I can use SLob to snag threat back. With your macro, that '1' would be jumping around a lot and confusing my party lol - but it is not a bad idea for others

If you keep an eye on the enmity bars you can modify rotations if you are far ahead on the main. At times I'll FB the main, and tab to the next, notice healer or DPS has some threat and use the combo'd Savage to secure threat. Rotate back to main, FB and check enmity, move on to the next add or sustain lead on main. This way I rarely have any mob from the group leave 'the party'

-This is pre-RoH in regards to OP.

@Xuyi
-If you've done proper FB > SB rotations, throwing in a FB > RB will add threat still from dmg while replenishing your MP. Especially good on groups where you flash spam to keep them all and can FB one to RB another for MP to sustain it. It all comes down to being aware of your enmity on your targets. Managing it properly can easily afford you time for MP replenishment.

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As for stats, if you feel that threat is causing you issues, pumping all the point into STR while leveling can help you with that. The increased dmg is also multiplied by the enmity modifiers. It also increases the amount of dmg blocked from the shield, so it helps your effective HP a bit. If threat isn't an issue then pump out VIT for higher health pool to stress healers less XD - Again, these are my thoughts for leveling, no clue on endgame but you can respec for 10k seals from your GC later on so you are not permanently allotting those points.

Also I didn't notice anyone mention it but our buffs also apply small amounts of enmity and don't affect the GCD when triggered. Example: hit FoF and FB instantly for the start of an enmity spike even before modifiers from the SB and RoH follow ups.

Posted in another thread but Enmity Tables: http://valk.dancing-mad.com/?page_id=231