? for experienced tankers....

[FrozenEsper]

BLM is always hungry too.

[SomeFatGalka]

On packs of 3 + Here's what I do. And i rarely lose hate


I rarely mark - And i very much dislike sleep so I normally ask for it not to be used.


[Shield Lob] My intended 1st target to pull the pack. Until the pack clumps up I do nothing and wait.

As soon as they are in range, I [Flash] and throw 1 full cycle of [Fast Blade] [ Savage Blade ] and [Rage of Halone] On the monster I originally [Shield Lobbed]

After that cycle is complete, I never touch monster [A] again, It should be killed fairly quick.

If a DPS switches targets, the DPS may take aggro from an enemy that the GLD is not focusing on. That's difficult for the GLD. GLD keep medium aggro on a group of enemies (enough to keep things off the healer and to handle an occasional DPS AoE) and high aggro on one target. If there is high aggro on multiple targets, the GLD may completely lose control of the situation.

This is why I do this

I [Flash] Again, and I switch between targets for every move. [Fast Blade] Monster B, [Savage Blade] Monster C, [Rage of Halone] back to Monster B. And the opposite on the way back.


If you lose threat, A quick [Provoke] followed by an extra flash locks the aggro. I don't really spam it too often. Twice per pull at best


This is all for trash mobs, anything that poses significant danger, Bee's in The Sunken Temple, I never split DPS. I focus them down.

Playing this style allows my FC's THMS to aoe non stop all out every run

[primal]

tanked the first 3 dungeons today didn't have that much trouble keeping the mobs on me, except in the last dungeon where the lancer kept going for the mob that wasn't my main target and unleashing everything on it. but even then switching targets and doing a shield lob and going back to the main target solved that problem.

[IndigoHawk]

Bouncing to different targets makes things harder for a GLD tank. Stay on the GLD's target. A GLD shouldn't lose single target aggro, but it's better to lose a single enemy than the entire group. If you're a DPS and you take aggro and start taking too much damage, stop attacking. Let the GLD regain control. (If the GLD keeps losing single target aggro, they may need to check that their rotation is focused on high single target threat with flash thrown in to maintain group aggro.)

If a DPS switches targets, the DPS may take aggro from an enemy that the GLD is not focusing on. That's difficult for the GLD. GLD keep medium aggro on a group of enemies (enough to keep things off the healer and to handle an occasional DPS AoE) and high aggro on one target. If there is high aggro on multiple targets, the GLD may completely lose control of the situation.

(I guess since we have daily posting limits we just edit our posts ...)

SomeFatGalka describes a good rotation that solves GLD group aggro starting at level 26 with Rage of Halone. That rotation lets the GLD apply single target threat on 2 out of 3 hits. Note he doesn't apply the rotation to the same enemy. Distributing the rotation across enemies lets the GLD keep up group aggro without spamming Flash.

So, if you're leveling with a GLD friend, you may eventually be able to use more AoEs and not be as careful targeting the GLD's target. Starting out, though, keep it simple. Go easy on the AoEs, attack the GLD's main target (which they usually indicate with their opening shield lob), ease off if you're taking aggro, and follow their lead defeating enemies from weakest to strongest.

[Bezz]

DD that don't attack my first selected target from the mob I pulled or a healer healing me at full hp has been my issue. Did my first run of Copperbell Mines and was perfect imo. DD on my selected target and healer not spamming made it the easiest dungeon I have tanked so far. But as a Glad so far when DDs are on different targets its rough. I hate I need to hit shield lob 2-3 times to pull one add while keeping up Flash on the other 2. But other than that like a few have said, just let the group know if they don't. There are a few mindless DDs in the world lol.

Honestly I wish Flash's pull was a lil type more stronger, but tanking is pretty fun and I'm needed so re-running a few dungeons has helped me gather better rotations which most have posted here already.

[EmptyFibers]

So much good information! Thanks, helps a newbie to MMO's out greatly! Loving FF14, gonna be around for many years in Eorzea!

[Kenka]

SomeFatGalka describes a good rotation that solves GLD group aggro starting at level 26 with Rage of Halone. That rotation lets the GLD apply single target threat on 2 out of 3 hits. Note he doesn't apply the rotation to the same enemy. Distributing the rotation across enemies lets the GLD keep up group aggro without spamming Flash.

I'm wondering.. Is there a problem with using Flash too often? As far as I know mobs do not build resistance to it. I'm curious because you made it sound (to me) like overusing Flash is a really bad thing. How often should one use it?

Nice post (and thread) by the way

[Mang]

I'm wondering.. Is there a problem with using Flash too often? As far as I know mobs do not build resistance to it. I'm curious because you made it sound (to me) like overusing Flash is a really bad thing. How often should one use it?

Nice post (and thread) by the way

I think the emphasis was that the aggro was good enough that you didn't have to rely on flash spam as much, rather than implying that spamming flash was bad. You probably still want to spam flash.

[Ariyn]

I think the emphasis was that the aggro was good enough that you didn't have to rely on flash spam as much, rather than implying that spamming flash was bad. You probably still want to spam flash.

No spamming Flash can be a bad thing. Drains your mp quick so when you actually need it you won't have it. And yes we have Riot Blade but using it causes you to lose even more emnity since you aren't using savage blade and rage of halone. Get used to target switching because the higher you go the less and less Flash is even worth using outside of the initial pull.

With all the SMNs coming up Flash is even more useless since it won't hold threat over their dots either. That includes SCH that dot up every mob as well. Did Cutter's Cry last night with a SMN and SCH, awesome dps in that group but by the time the first mob was dead the other 2 were at half health from the dots. If I had tried to hold that using only Flash there would be no way I could have

[RhazeCain]

Give a fish vs. teach to fish... Let's see if I can go the 2nd route (plenty of other good replies for the 1st)

I've played tank in a lot of MMOs and Warrior so far to 39 here in FF14. It all seems to follow the same general mechanic:

Each enemy has a list of "agro" a.k.a. "enmity" scores. Highest score has that enemies attention, and they change rapidly. For example:
Tank: 10000
DPS1: 5500
DPS2: 7500
Healer: 8000

You can see this in the agro bars in the UI easily, they just convert it to a % where 100% is the highest enmity score at the time. So in the above example: Tank=100%, DPS1=55%, DPS2=75%, Healer=80% is what everyone sees on their screen.

These numbers come from the enemy observing you doing something. For example, and the numbers here are totally not real:
"Tank hit me for 100 dmg, so +100 to Tank's score."
"DPS1 hit me for 150 dmg, so +150 to DPS1's score."
"Tank hit me with additional enmity ability for 100 dmg, so +200 to Tank's score." (x2 modifier)
"Healer healed my enemy for 200 health, so +150 to Healer's score." (x0.75 modifier)
"Tank hit my friend, so +1 to Tank's score." (in a pack of trash mobs, add comes running too but any hit from someone else takes agro)

So if you think about who is doing what to which NPC, you can guesstimate and understand why nearly every agro read is the way it is.

Also - and I haven't seen it in FF14 yet, but in other games - I've seen enemies coded to do stuff to 2nd person on the agro list, last person on list, etc. If you see stuff happening to certain people, this might help to understand why - and thus use it to your advantage.