New to MMO's any general advice would be appreciated!

[Estellios]

What you can do is make a Macro that lets you target what your tank is targeting.

Go into your System menu (where the config options are) and select "User Macros". Pick a spot and in the input box type /target <tt>

After you've input that select the macro you just made then hit Square and you can put it on your crossbar. With this macro all you have to do is hit up or down to cycle through your party and select the tank, then just hit the Macro you just made and you will automatically switch targets to whatever they are targeting.

Sometimes your tank will swap between multiple targets to build hate, but generally this macro should serve you well.

My biggest tip: Keeping your weapon up-to-date is the absolute highest priority for all jobs. Yes, this also includes healers and tanks. So much of both Damage and Healing is governed by your weapon strength, and Tanks will not get much hate since their enmity skills are stronger if they do more damage. Luckily you will get a new weapon every 5 levels with your class quests until level 30, but after that make sure to try and update your weapon every 5 levels.

Edit: Also, to go with the above, if you play a tank you must prioritize defense when selecting armor. You might pick up gear that looks enticing because it has one more VIT or one more STR, but if said piece of gear has half the defense of what you are currently wearing you will be taking much more damage than you should be, your healer will have to heal more, and you will have a harder time keeping enmity.

[Makior72]

As far as filters on ps3 if you go to system, character settings, then to targetting. Go to the portion where it says 'with weapon drawn' and unchecked everything but enemies and agroed enemies. This will make it far easier to target things in the chaos of battle. Also, on the left of your screen you will see an Afro meter for any monster your party is fighting. If you have no Afro you will see a green icon, then a yellow triangle, then an orange triangle, then red square. (Red means you are being attacked) if you are approaching red status, lay off the damage a little and let the tank get it back before you lay into the mob again.

[juniglee]

Um, just some general Lancer advice...

Lancer skills are all about combo rotations and positioning. For example, the skill Heavy Thrust grants you a buff that increases your damage output by 10% for 12 seconds if you use this skill to strike an enemy from the side. From there, you can use the True Thrust -> Vorpal Thrust combo. Just read the skill tooltips for an idea on how they work, and which skills combo with one another. In a dungeon, it's easy if your tank remains stationary, just walk up to the monster's side and use Heavy Thrust. But if you're solo-ing, you can either wait for the mob to use an AoE skill (there's usually a cast time for this - enough to just walk to their side and use Heavy Thrust), or you can stun them with Leg Sweep and use the stun time to walk to the side.

It would be great if you could make some friends (preferably one who plays tank or healer, or 2 guys who both play one respective role), so that you can have an easier time getting into dungeons. Once you are able to go to Sastasha (Level 16 or so), try running it a few times to get some Pink/Green gear. This way, you can get Allagan pieces from quest rewards instead of the armor pieces (unless they are a clear upgrade from what you have), and get some additional gil. You should never need to buy gear. Otherwise, as a DPS class, you might find it hard to get a party via duty finder - I've had waiting times of upwards of 1 hour waiting for a group to run Brayflox Longstop for example.

Dungeon tips already explained by the rest, but it's the same thing I'll give as well: focus on the targets that your tank has marked, stay behind the tank, don't pull monsters unnecessarily. Key part of dungeons is communicating: make sure everyone knows what they need to do.

[GurneyHalleck]

The first thing DPS wants to do is damage spam, especially early on. Take your time. Only attack the things your tank is attacking (the first mob to go full red or as someone else suggested /target <tt>).

Manage your enmity. You can see the bar and what you have threat on, if you are getting too much threat, lay off the damage a bit so your tank can regain the threat. Threat management is EVERYONES RESPONSIBILITY, not just the tanks.

Also get out of the way of AOE attacks. If you can get out of the red mark on the ground before it disappears, you will take less damage.

If your tank isn't marking the targets with "Signs", then kindly ask them to, in order make it easier for everyone. If they don't know how, tell them to check out the Signs option on the main menu. It will be a learning experience for all. it makes clearing dungeons way easier, everyone knows what to attack, and the tank's job is way easier.

[Jonathan12uiz]

I made a few video tutorials to help new players get use to a console setup... they have been helpful to a lot of people, so I'm told... better than reading posts and still not getting exactly what it meant...

targeting and crossbars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lof8nKmlTH4
UI setup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHhaJt4jIhk
Maps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS618S5aFw4

we are also working on dungeon guides... class and job guides... and much more... hope that helps.

[trevorface]

Woke up this morning to this influx of responses. Thanks so much to everyone for the pointers.

As of right now I've reached lvl 18 Lancer, Ive unlocked the airship and have delivered notes to both Limsa Lominsa and Ul'Dah. Im finishing up the 2nd rank in my lancer hunting log, and am about to open up my second class for marauder. Any pointers on where to direct myself after this?

Ya'll kick ass!

[mythicrose]

Woke up this morning to this influx of responses. Thanks so much to everyone for the pointers.

As of right now I've reached lvl 18 Lancer, Ive unlocked the airship and have delivered notes to both Limsa Lominsa and Ul'Dah. Im finishing up the 2nd rank in my lancer hunting log, and am about to open up my second class for marauder. Any pointers on where to direct myself after this?

Ya'll kick ass!

Assuming you are wanting the dragoon job. Stick around Limsa Lominsa to get your marauder to at least 15. It'll happen pretty quick. I'd also recommend leveling pugilist in Uld'ah to about the same level. Your lancer will benefit from a few of it's skills as you are out soloing. The dragoon job can also use some of the marauder and pugilist abilities.

Last piece of advice. Have thick skin. There's a lot of dickwads out there that only have fun by attempting to give other people misery.

[Anders]

If you have a Crowd Control (CC) ability, then make it known to the party when you first reach the dungeon. Sometimes a Tank will need somebody to SLEEP a bad guy to help with the mayhem. Let the Tank select which baddie needs to be temporarily disabled.

Since we can become all of the Classes in this game you can't assume that a Damage Dealer (aka DPS) character can't heal. Or that a Healer can't Crowd Control.

Therefore, it behooves you to learn a number of other Classes so that you can to take advantage of the cross-class slots that become available as you level-up. This is a really cool feature.

[trevorface]

this is great. now what methods do you all use to actually coax enemies away from the mob? ive located the agro meter, but im still not sure how to exactly fish enemies out of the mess to take on. i find that im just cycling through targets and taking them out.

[rabbitzero]

In early instances marking is probably not worth it, the pulls are generally too many and go down fast enough no matter who's hitting which so I guess it's likely the leader/tank isn't bothered..

I will say thought that it's good practice to get used to it. Some say to target what the tank targets, but they are often switching between mobs, or should be, and for dps to get used to the method.