New Comer needs help in Tanking, and setup.

[Arriverderci]

Is WAR gimped?
I wanna try WAR but now I'm seeing some BS things about it.

[mythicrose]

snip

I also tank as marauder/warrior that's gone through everything up to Sunken Temple. Marking targets for dps order can help. If anyone has a sleep spell, I tell them to sleep targets 2 and 3 so there's less strain on the healer. Generally I start most pulls with tomahock throw and use a flash spell when the mobs converge on me. Then I do a heavy swing, sunder, block combo on the main target. Depending on my current emnity to the next person's, I may repeat that three move combo or subsitute in a flash or heavy swing + maim before going in to the main threat combo.

If there's no one in the party that can sleep, I usually subsitute in overpower after every main threat combo as well as cycle through the enemies if I have a good lead on emnity from my primary target. Also, don't forget to activate Defiance.

If you're not able to use certain moves, you may have missed one of the moves required in a combo (example is butcher's block won't do much of anything for you if you didn't land heavy swing and sunder first). Alternatively, if you do lower level dungeons and are synced, you "unlearn" some moves. As DuhblinnZA stated, communicate with your party as well. Many groups look to the tank to be the defacto leader.

Is WAR gimped?
I wanna try WAR but now I'm seeing some BS things about it.

Looking at the threads in the tank discussion forum, it appears paladins are preferred for the end game content. They apparently have the smoother mitigation and defensive cooldowns for that content. While marauders should be capable of the same content, the general consensus on those forums is that marauder tanks make healers sweat buckets. I can't claim how valid or invalid those opinions are, though.

[jdkfrisco]

Thanks Everyone!! Keep the information coming and glad to know there are GOOD People willing to give advice!! Read posts where people are complaining about people leaving Dungeons and Gildhests. I know I am one who has left to be honest, because I can't stand people belittling and telling me that I suck and offer no advice. I get stress at work and don't need it in a game that is suppose to be a break from reality. LOL

[Mezolitik]

Riot Blade restores MP, not TP. And since it costs 80 TP vs. the 60 TP for either Fast Blade or Rage of Halone, it will drain you faster than the enmity combo.

Both tanks gradually run out of TP over the course of a fight. There isn't much you can do about it. By the time you're running low, you should have enough of a threat lead that slowing down isn't really a problem, though. In a fight where I know adds are coming, and I'm getting low on TP, I'll slow down on the TP moves to make sure I can grab them when they pop. In a fight where it's just the boss, I just go all-out until I can't anymore, and then deal with the pace the TP starvation enforces. Anytime you have to run out of AOE (or out of melee range for any other reason), resist the temptation to Shield Lob unless you absolutely need the extra enmity.

Ah, thanks for clearing that up!

[v_jones]

If you're new to tanking, or MMOs in general, then it will take a lot of practice to perform the role well. The best thing you can do is go to Aleport, find two DPS and one healer who are new to the game, and start running a static from Sastasha onward. Practice different strategies and have your team test you by attacking mobs as you pull, or attacking the wrong target, or AoEing. These are the kinds of things that happen from time to time, and being able to experience it in a controlled environment helps a lot.

Couple rules of thumb (though I'm sure you'll be able to discover more in time):

1) If there are more than 3 mobs, spam Flash.
2) You should already be fighting the next pull before your group has finished killing the last mob in the previous pull (unless the healer has low mp or someone is dead of course).
3) Fast -> Savage -> Halone is the highest threat per second you can generate. But it takes 7.5 seconds with no lag. Spamming Halone is the second best threat per second you can generate. So, if you don't have the luxury of the full combo and holding on to everything, spam Halone. When you pull, it also helps to Flash, then cycle Halone on every mob before focusing on the primary.
4) Use Fight or Flight often, especially at the beginning of bosses.
5) When you pull, keep yourself between the mobs and the healer. This way, if they get aggro from a Regen or late heal, the mobs will still be running toward you, and a Flash should keep them on you.

[Maero]

Well Tam Tara at the end i was told Tank you should find another role
Thing is it went bad (died multiple times) but when i join members of the Free Company i am in i have no issues at all.
I say skip the whole random players and join a group. This is my first MMO and first time tanking but my last dungeon the group said i did well
Early on i start with Flash> Fast> Savage
repeat and then cast Flash again. Of course i do switch to different enemies as well. Later on you can use Provoke and Halone
which btw am liking it. Fast Blade>Savage Blade and Halone work well
I also have cross classes of a lancer and mage like Protect, Cure and that lancer move that causes slow (forget the name)
Also i always keep an eye on the health bar of my allies if there health is very low you no you are doing something wrong.
I just also think players are perhaps picky who they group with?
Yesterday i got to Ifrit in the story mode and there was Archers, Lancers and Mages all waiting at the camp. I registered and none of them did.
Waited well over 10 minutes until i left
Like are people discriminatory against Gladiators?
I may also switch to lancer/dragoon class but after i get a chocobo

[Maelwys]

I'm intending to take both MDR/WAR and GLD/PLD to 50, but so far I've only first-hand experience of group tanking at early and midgame.

For GLD/PLD Flash is a fine enmity generator at lower levels. However I'm hearing that for hate generation at endgame it's not really worth it unless you're fighting a LOT of mobs, because the enmity you generate from it doesn't keep up with the hate the Damage Dealers can output over the time it takes for Flash to animate (plus the Global Cooldown). On the plus side, there's a trait to make it inflict +blind; which increases your mitigation slightly... so it's never totally useless. MDR/WAR can use it as a cross-class skill but lack the Blind effect or a means to regenerate MP mid-fight.

Swapping the 'Rage of Halone' Combo around appears to be where it's at for GLD/PLD tanking on more than one target (This is a 3 part combo with [extra enmity generated] after parts 2 and 3; meaning that you can use it to hit one mob twice for +enmity on it, then swap target to another mob for the third hit to get +enmity on a second target... then repeat). It's a fairly straightforward setup since this weaponskill combo is also your most damaging (though you should also be cycling several abilities plus any attacks which are not on the Global Cooldown)

For MDR/WAR enmity generation is a little more complicated. If TP isn't an issue then they perform brilliantly at holding AoE threat by just spamming Overpower... but their weaponskill combo choices aren't as straightforward as for GLD/PLD - at higher levels they'll have to choose between using a combo to inflict more +enmity, or using a combo to do more damage. Balancing the +damage and +enmity whilst recovering their own HP via very-carefully-timed use of HP-restoring abilities makes WAR a much more active tank than PLD (and potentially a much more fragile one if abilities are mistimed!) even if their damage levels and survivability levels are roughly on par with each other. At least until raiding at far-endgame (Coil)...

[Krsnik]

snip

I have a detailed version of my tanking methods, you can find them on my blog on lodestone HERE

Some key things before I share how I tank:

1) Always mark your targets, hotbar them if you need to. (I place my signs on a dedicated hot bar, and keybind them to my NUMPAD.) Make sure your party is taking the mob out in the order you specify (I tell them to work their way up, 1-5)

2) Always make sure your party is ready before every boss fight and at the beginning of a dungeon. I've had tanks (when I'm not playing PLD) who recklessly charged into boss fights without making sure the party is ready, and almost 100% of the time, either buffs haven't been put up yet, or someone gets locked out.

3) You are always the puller, unless otherwise noted. Very rare are the situations where someone else should pull.

4) Shield Bash is your friend, but don't overdo it. Every time you use Shield Bash the enemy gains resistance. At 50, the timer is 6 seconds of stun, 3 seconds, then 1, then enemy becomes fully resistant for a certain amount of time. Save Shield Bash either for stunning devastating enemy abilities/AoEs, and/or for using them as a back-up plan if you lose aggro and your Provoke ability is not up (Those 3-6 seconds while a mob is stunned can be vital for taking the time to regain aggro or preventing a death.

5) Study mobs pulls carefully. If you hover your mouse/cursor over mobs, there will be a yellow line that indicates which mobs will link if you pull. If there's no yellow line connecting to another mob that means no mobs will link when you pull. However, there are exceptions. (I.E.: The Succubi in AK: If you pull the succubi within a group, you will just pull her, but if you pull any other mob with a succubi grouped in it, you will pull the whole group + the succubi)

6) If you have a THM/BLM (Level 15+/Sastasha and up) or a CNJ/WHM (Level 26/Toto-Rak and up) and you feel you're taking too much damage, or healing can't keep up, ask them to cast Sleep (THM/BLM) or Repose (CNJ/WHM) the other mobs. Make sure you mark your targets so they know which to sleep (I usually ask them to sleep mobs #2 and up). Just make sure no one is hitting those mobs while they are asleep. DOTs WON'T wake them up IF they are casted on the mobs before they put to sleep. However, if you cast them while they are asleep, it will wake them up. Like Point #4, mobs gain resistance to Sleep effect (30s, 15s, 6s, then fully resist)

Here's how I tackle tanking in standard 4-man dungeons:

Lv 15 and up:

Mark targets > Shield Lob (Pull) > Gather mobs > Flash > Fast Blade > Savage Blade >

W/BLM (Sleep): Repeat from Flash > Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Repeat until target is dead
W/O BLM: Flash > Switch targets (TAB)* > Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Switch Target (TAB)* > Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Repeat from Flash

For Buffs (Rampart/Fight or Flight/Convalescence/etc): I usually use Damage Reduction/Increase Damage at the Beginning to middle, but NEVER the end. It's simple common sense.

*I usually do a switch target to check the threat meter. If your party is following orders properly, the person who has highest emnity (besides you) should be your healer. If the meter is only 1/4 filled, I sometimes don't bother, and do another combo pass (FB > SB) on the original target or move onto 3 (Chances are if target #2's threat meter is low on your other party members chances are target #3 is the same, you can do a quick tab through to check). If the next person on the threat meter is 1/2, I throw in an FB > SB > Flash > Switch.

Level 26 and up:

Mark targets > Shield Lob (Pull) > Gather mobs > Flash > Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Rage of Halone

W/BLM or WHM(Sleep/Repose): Repeat from Flash > Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Repeat until target is dead
W/O BLM/WHM: Flash > Switch targets (TAB) > Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Switch Target (TAB) > Rage of Halone** > Repeat from Flash

**Use on Target #3 if Threat Meter on Target #2 is low among other party members.

At Level 50:

Shield Oath (Only need to turn on at beginning of dungeon if not on already) > Mark targets > Shield Lob (Pull) > Gather mobs > Circle of Scion*** > Flash > Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Rage of Halone

W/BLM or WHM(Sleep/Repose): Repeat from Flash > Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Repeat until target is dead
W/O BLM/WHM: Flash > Switch targets (TAB) > Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Switch Target (TAB) > Rage of Halone > Repeat from Flash

***Make sure to use it before mages cast sleep

Some key abilities I use from other jobs:

Foresight (MRD)
Bloodbath (MRD)
Fracture (MRD)
Cure (CNJ) (You'd be surprised how many times this saved my party from a wipe)
Raise (CNJ) (Just nice to have)

Hope this helps some.