[TIP] If you're going to be an Archer

[Illya]

Firing a Recurve bows while moving is easy. While running is rough but doable. What really makes them demi-gods is there ability to fire in the opposite direction, open up a worm hole that leads to the mob so the arrow can hit. THAT is what makes them demi-gods. ^^

This is especially amusing with Quick Nock, which always animates in the direction you are facing even if the mobs you are shooting are actually behind you.

[Spritdegel]

Amazing thread, lol
Im with the op, as a tank, i pray god that anyone kills the xxxx archer to reach the mob with my sword... so healers... NEVER heal a jumping Jack archer.

that also remember me.... Tanks, never get agroo from a healer who gets agroo from healing a jumping archer... maybe we'll die, but not jumping lika mads ;P

[Riichi]

Not necessarily true. If you run in a smaller circle than the kiter and mob then you can keep up and continue to DPS. For a tank it shouldn't matter, Provoke + Tomahawk or Shield Lob and get back to what you were doing.

Don't get me wrong, my first move upon getting hate is usually to move to the tank. But if the tank isn't going to do their job, I'm going to do what I have to do to survive.

You haven't played a melee class, have you? Also, no, a tomahawk/shield lob after a provoke still isn't enough.

[Hansha]

Provoke does not work in FATEs but it isn't needed. There are only three situations in which you can't maintain enmity as a tank in a fate.
1) Being severely undergeared. Tanks are expected to have good gear for anything, including FATEs. If the Bards have amazing gear, then you aren't going to be tanking anything and are pretty useless in damage contribution as well.
2) Getting to the Fate late. This is probably the only excusable thing because its not possible to be first at each one in a large place. People keep running towards the FATE areas ahead of time.
3) You died because there aren't Healers.

In situation 1, players are not going to hold back their dps for easy things like FATEs, and you shouldn't think people are going to stoop down to your level of damage when they aren't even part of the same party.
In situation 3, why would a Bard stand there if there are no healers? No one wants to die, its every man/party for himself. Kiting is easy and MOST mobs can't even touch you, including some bosses. They don't know everyone's enmity in comparison with their own except if the players are in the same party. If there are healers, then you can't trust them if they let the tank die.

If its a dungeon, HOW DO YOU LOSE HATE???? It's ridiculously easy to keep aggro on mobs, especially when you have Flash/Rage of Halone/Overpower/Provoke. You almost always have hate at all times if you are a good tank, and its still possible even when undergeared and players are dpsing hard. The fact that you are losing hate in the first place is your fault unless the most dire of situations happens. The Healer isn't healing you/died.

Fun tip, Bards can solo mobs through kiting. If a healer dies, they make things easier for a tank. If a tank dies, they make things easier for the healer to rez. If both die, they can potentially kill the mobs through kiting alone. If party is dead at chimera, they can kill it solo. Its a winning situation all around. Even the job quests pretty much encourage kiting and watching your surroundings so you don't attract more mobs will doing it.

[Nysneirdre]

I see a lot of conjecture and hyperbole from angry people in this thread. In dungeons I can understand when the set routine isn't followed but it's down right silly to expect bards to stand still and meat tank boss fates. No let me correct that, it's down right asinine to expect them to stand still and eat the death so you can go on your marry way happy as a clam. I have seen groups of players leave the poor guys dead on the ground much less try to heal them if ungrouped players happen to gain threat from a boss fate. So please continue coming to the forums to make rage threads about other classes when they don't play to your standards.

On a side note, I will try and work with a tank so he can gain threat on a fate but if he is late in the arriving or dead in the fighting, I'm going to be doing the kiting. Because I'm not taking a dirt nap for you.

[Viridiana]

If its a dungeon, HOW DO YOU LOSE HATE???? It's ridiculously easy to keep aggro on mobs, especially when you have Flash/Rage of Halone/Overpower/Provoke. You almost always have hate at all times if you are a good tank, and its still possible even when undergeared and players are dpsing hard. The fact that you are losing hate in the first place is your fault unless the most dire of situations happens. The Healer isn't healing you/died.

How is it the tank's fault if I pop every buff on my bar but Quelling? Especially if I outgear him a bit?

[starcow]

It would also help if people would watch the hate bar in the group window. Sadly i see a lot of DPS just go in and take the mob off the tank. If you cant play as a group the right way then please do not que.

[magicninja999]

For the love of God, stop running around like you're a chicken with it's head cut off and tank the bloody mob!

I swear, you are making matters worse by running around trying to kite the stupid thing instead of standing there and letting people wail on it! Hell, I guarantee that it'll be a hell lot easier for a tank to take hate off of you!

Why make life more difficult if you continue being stupid? I watched an Archer run around, kiting the Cancer FATE and refusing to pull the bloody thing away from the mob respawns. In the process, he killed eight people due to pops/aggro.

Oh, that reminds me.

If you're a healer and you see an Archer kiting a mob like an idiot, let them die so someone with an ounce of common sense can tank it!

Thank you.

QQ? if the tank knew how to tank, I wouldn't pull threat and HAVE TO KITE THE STUPID THING AROUND! kma sir!

[Id_Slayer]

As an archer, if i initiate the fight I will run in circles until there is a dedicated healer putting the heals on. If I can't survive the damage and it comes faster than what the mage can cure for, then I'm running. If there's a tank, I won't pull hate off of it. If I do, I'll stop shooting and hold still for about 10 seconds. By then I'm either dead or the tank has hate back. Unfortunately, most of the bards that need to hear this are the type that also do not visit the forums, and/or do not care to make themselves better players by reading up on the various knowledge and discussions online here.

[Araye]

I play an archer in my down time. It's fun!

I also see a lot of archers soloing and I love to sit and laugh at them. "Why do they run around like that?" I think to myself.

I don't see the need to run around. Maybe it's because I learned to tank first and it's my instinct to stand there and take it. But as archer, I have cure, I use it. Couple arrows, cast a cure, couple more, dodge the AoE... repeat.

I was WHM in a FATE yesterday, something about "eyes" in Dragonhead area. Idiot archer took aggro and proceeded to dance. Maybe this is why archer leads to bard, they need a little music to go with the dancing?

Masha