Why mark targets?

[YuiSasaki]

Not every class excels at AE-damage (e.g. MNK).

Want a shorter version?

Just mark!...


Edit: Of course it's better to apply dots, yet people tend to be lazy and sometimes it's just wasted (e.g. mobs with very little HP).

[Viridiana]

Not every class excels at AE-damage (e.g. MNK).

Want a shorter version?

Just mark!...


Edit: Of course it's better to apply dots, yet people tend to be lazy and sometimes it's just wasted (e.g. mobs with very little HP).

Even MNK can easily spread Demolish. And most mobs that have such little hp that they'll die before 6-9 seconds (time it takes for Demolish to surpass Snap Punch) come in groups large enough that you AOE them down, anyway.

[SummonerSenah]

I actually really dislike macros like this. All it takes is to accidentally double-tap and it's gone, or if you lose aggro and provoke+shield lob a secondary target, suddenly that one's #1, etc.

I had this issue when I ran a dungeon as a tank for the first time. I solved it by keeping two versions of Tomahawk/Shield Lob on my hot bar. One version is the regular one that's not attached to a macro, and one is the one attached to the macro. So when I'm numbering I toss out the one attached to the macro. If I have to grab aggro again I just toss out the regular Tomahawk/Shield Lob and the mobs stay numbered how I had them set up originally.

Macroing mark with tomahawk/shield lob is a bad idea. Say you want to mark something else mid fight, you may have just wasted 120 tp. Might need that tp in long fights or to start the next set of adds quicker.

Typically you only use the macro with mark 1. If you're fighting something and you decide to mark something else, you're probably not going to use mark 1, so you just assign it a different number and therefore aren't using Shield Lob/Tomahawk anyway. If you want to change that target to mark 1, you still don't have to use your marking macro; you just manually assign it to one. On PC you can right click on enemies to mark, so it's not as time consuming as everyone makes it out to be.

[BazFamrit]

snip.

I play on ps3 and hot bar space costs a lot. I have a 2 hot bar setup right now with everything setup ergonomically to increase my reaction time and limit errors. Adding in even a single mark macro to it would throw off the whole thing. My tomahawk is macrod with provoke. I spam buttons to compensate for latency and missed commands. Marks would be flashing on and off constantly and i would most likely fire off voke or tomahawk when i dont want to. Every button has a purpose for me and I need maximum utility out of every single slot. Marking is just not that big of a priority to merit a spot.

Marking is a band aid for poor hate control or poor target choices by DPS. Since I rarely have trouble keeping hate I usually only mark for bad DPS or I explain to them target priorities if I see them making mistakes. My point is that marking isn't quite as useful as everyone here is stating. Its good to know in the event you need it but most of the time not necessary.

[MPNZ]

Um, you usually mark enemies to kill them in that order (1,2,3...), to keep everyone's focus on a single target primarily, and to prevent chaos by not pulling from the tnk. It really helps to make the whole experience to be less messy. To mark is to place priority.

[Vanwa]

As a low lvl tank, marking is working out me.

I\\\\'ll still mark though, it\\\\'s almost 90pct for the bard/blm though. Those are the only 2 I really give a rip about knowing what they are attacking. Once a mob leaves the pile, it makes things more difficult for me.

Fortunately, I\\\\'ve had pretty good success with people following the marks.

I understand the low lvl perspective isn\\\\'t valued, but all the same, I see value in marking, and will continue to do it as long as I have room for the buttons to do so.

I\\\\'ve been following this post and going back and forth on the subject. This is the 1st MMO I\\\\'ve ever heard of having to mark targets so I\\\\'ve been trying to figure out what the big deal is. To me, it seems like if you know how to play your class, you shouldn\\\\'t need someone to tell you who to go after and in what order. I have to say though, this seems to me to be the best reason.

Just my 2 cents.

[juniglee]

Why? Why not?

It's a job that takes 3 seconds, and (assuming the DPS aren't derps, which I've never seen) reduces the chance of messy fights by like, 99.9%.

Don't assume everyone to be "good" especially in DF, use whatever means you have to reduce the failure rates. Same reason why people look for a 100% HQ rotation for crafting. Same reason why Careful Synthesis is better than Basic Synthesis. Same reason why people prefer to run anything with FC/LS/well known friends.

As stated in an above post, it's also not sustainable for melee DPS to drop DoTs and spam AoEs. AoE's are good only when there are above a certain number of mobs (above 3 I'd say), for all other cases, single target is faster, and the mobs don't die fast enough to let the duration of the entire debuff go on.

[warren-ragnarok]

Because those aren't readable without manually clicking off to every target, which interferes with the ability to deliver skills on GCD to your primary target.

Also, your second graphic is actually showing the health bars of the enemies remaining on the field - not the threat. In the pic

Those little markers to the LEFT of their HP is the enmity markers,

Oh and the reason for marking isnt just for enmity control, although thats usually the one thrown around most frequent, in cases of groups of 3-4 mobs (assuming tank isnt super geared) it tells the dps which to focus down, and by order of logic, mob dies, tank takes less damage, healer spams less, healer gets less enmity....and if the healer is poorly geared, healer wont oom as easily......
yes dots are effective, and may take down targets faster, but not all classes have easy to get to dots, and may have more soon with the same issue
green means little to no threat
yellow means medium
orange-red means alot of threat, danger of taking
flashing red means you got the HIGHEST threat

The more you know

[Penguinmayhem]

Personally, I'd rather have targets marked as often as possible. In all my experience, Bane generates insane amounts of enmity throughout an entire group, and if I have no idea which target the tank is focusing on, I run the risk of getting their attention and dragging stuff away from the tank.

If you need a healer to explain to you why it's really super bad for you to lose aggro on something mid-fight, I'd assume you have bigger problems than not being able to make your party play the numbers game. Furthermore, the tank losing aggro is even worse for me because now I have to juggle healing multiple people, or even avoid incoming enemies that I have no really effective immediate counter to at all.

[AlrikRouge]

snip

To add to this, I mark more often then not when there are distance magic using mobs, or close magic using mobs when Ive gotten the pack of mobs together.

Why? Because more often then not, be it melee or distance, DPS usually chose to attack the melee mobs first. While this makes sense for the last pull of WP (TBs, so you can open the door), otherwise it doesnt. Why take out the mobs with attacks your tank cant dodge or block last? Or who have frontal cone AoE prior to circle AoE (again example is in WP)? That also happens.

Ive played with highly experienced and end-game players who had never even considered magic mobs as priority unless they are very hard hitting (like in PS).

Almost a moot point when you have a party of i80+ AoE attacking beasts. But also a point of, "Oh. Never thought of that."

Food for thought.