Tanking advice as a Marauder/Warrior

[Lolifell]

Hello. I'm new to tanking on FFXIV, so correct me if I say something wrong, please.
I've just reached level 32 on my Marauder, and I'm about to do the quest that will give me the job. I've been playing other classes, but then decided to switch over a tank role. I love the Marauder and its skills, and so far I've been doing ok. Here's the problem, though.
More often than not - especially during boss fights with adds - I find myself lacking the necessary TP to use another Overpower or Tomahawk, and grab everyone's attention on me. It's frustrating. I don't usually lose aggro, but sometimes I do against trash groups if I'm not spamming Overpower or use it sometimes along the rotation.

[Lolifell]

I definitely still need to learn how to correctly rotate my skills. Right now I pull with a Tomahawk, stand still and let the monsters come at me, Overpower them twice and then stay on the marked target and use Heavy Swing>Skull Sunder>Butcher's Block>Heavy Swing>Maim>Overpower and so on. My main target never loses aggro. Sometimes I lose one of the other targets, but with a Tomahawk and Overpower they are back on me.

I keep my equipment up to date with the content I'm doing. The main issue is, again, that during boss fights I tend to use Overpower too much and end with little to no TP. I have Invigorate but I prefer not to use it because I'll lose it as a Warrior, and I don't want to rely on it too much. I know the issue is with the Overpower spam when adds come, but how can I get them and let them stay on me without using it? Especially during fights that spawn a lot of adds. And can I get some overall tips to be a better tank, and on how to effectively use my buffs?

[Lolifell]

I use Foresight when I am pacified after Berserk or when I think I'll be taking a lot of damage from huge spawns, but maybe I could do better. Same for Bloodbath, but in that case I use it when my healer has some difficulty and then go on with the Butcher's Block combo to maximize its effect. Berserk is another tricky one: I use it at the beginning of every hard trash fight, or boss battle.

I want to thank all the healers I've played with anyway. Your job really is difficult. I can't get angry to anyone regardless, but I especially can't with you guys, since it must be so hard to heal me/us tanks when the fight gets nasty. I play mostly with a group of friends, and the two people who play a healer alternatively are really, really great. All my thanks to them and to whoever heals me.

And thanks in advance for the help.

[Aloreal]

I have the same exact problem with the over consumption of TP even in the lower level I am. overpower is such a TP hog that i have limited it to 1 use and 1 if needed (eg adds come in)

I make use of a flash or two if i need to grab an add. since it uses mp it gives me some time of leverage.

also try not to attack as soon as possible. after a combo count 1-2 seconds before continuing.

Those are what i do. if any more experienced warriors would like to add their views please do

[Naryoril]

Right now I pull with a Tomahawk, stand still and let the monsters come at me, Overpower them twice

I can't talk about Marauder, but as a Paladin i don't do this. Usually i run right into the Mobs and on my way i throw a Shield Lob at my main target and then i Flash 2 or 3 times and use Circle of Scorn (AoE Damage and DoT which is not on global cooldown) if possible. The problem is that your group often won't give you the time to pull the enemies to you. Of course, there are fights where this is necessary because of adds or other circumstances, but if it isn't, i just run into the group to get aggro faster.

This method has the disadvantage that the mobs will usually be all around you for a moment, which isn't a problem for flash, but it is for overpower. As a Warrior i'd probably do it like this:
Tomahawk and run into the mobs, Flash, and during the next global cooldown get them/yourself into a position where you can use overpower and do it 1 or 2 times. But i can't talk from experience here.

[Deifact]

I'm about the same level warrior and have same TP issues. I just let my tp regent up a bit if it's low by auto attacking.
A method I've found works is tomahawk the main target while running into the group then run slightly past them, they'll gather behind you allowing you to use an overpower.

Tomahawk is a tp hog I don't know how effective it is just not using it and getting initial aggro by just running into the group.

[Nabian]

TP issues will always be a problem at lower levels. Once you get higher level and access to more skills you will have less TP issues (but not much).

As for your rotation it depends largely on the mobs you are facing. If there are less than 3 mobs I typically won't even use Overpower. Overpower is our AoE threat move. Typically unless the DPS are going AoE crazy. Two Overpowers is more than enough to hold hate for the rest of the fight. Just make sure you are cycling your targets and hitting each of them periodically so the healer doesn't rip them off you. Marking the targets may help alot with keeping aggro but the dps won't always follow your markings so just be ready. As for pacification, you can make a macro that tells your healer when to esuna/leech it off (but they never do). Pacification just makes it so you can't attack it doesn't lower your defenses afaik. Save your cooldowns for when you know the big hits are coming and don't blow them all at once.

Hope this helped

P.S. you can bypass the 1000char limit by editing your own post.

[Aloreal]

-snip-
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Tomahawk needs to be used once if you want to gather all up nice and tidy im afraid. usually when its just 'view' aggro any attack will brake it, so its counter productive to leave it to the mob to come to you and then a dps just happens to attack whatever.

In the least someone will take note of who you tomahawked and act accordingly.
so we are left with tom then overpower or even flash. flash is weaker than overpower but it costs mp so it can help some, especially if you already have aggro i find it easier to flash than to rotate between targets like the paladin.

[Nabian]

In the least someone will take note of who you tomahawked and act accordingly.
so we are left with tom then overpower or even flash. flash is weaker than overpower but it costs mp so it can help some, especially if you already have aggro i find it easier to flash than to rotate between targets like the paladin.

I wouldn't even recommend having flash on your toolbar as a warrior. It's "ok" in rare situations but it is weaker than Overpower and even when your at full MP you can only use it 3-4 times max. Not really worth it. There are much better alternatives like..."Convalescence", "Internal Release", "Mantra", "Awareness", "Provoke"

[EricCartmenez]

Did you start your GLA yet? You can grab flash from there. You can also get provoke. Flash eats MP, which you don't have a lot of, so be conservative. Provoke uses neither TP nor MP, so it's nice to use in a situation like that, and then it's on cool down (CD) for 40 sec's. I've found that as a low level tank, you can use everything in the book, but if someone with item level 100 and an atma weapon is banging away, you're going to lose enmity (aggro). You can also get Savage Blade from your GLA class, and that has an enmity boost associated as well. As for your own strikes that maintain enmity, use Heavy Swing followed by Skull Sunder in a combo. I typically use a macro that sends a Tomahawk at the target I want as 1. I then run into the middle and flash, get to an edge and Overpower (maybe 2x's) and then start beating with heavy swing, skull sunder, and savage blade (in that order). If I lose aggro, I might try to pull it back, but not at the expense of kiting a mob around the room. If a DPS is running around like his hair is on fire, you might be fighting a losing battle trying to get where you can grab aggro while literally running in a circle. If the healer is smart and has aggro, they will bring the mob to you so you can overpower and flash. They can do this by running or using fluid aura to push them your way. Sometimes, it's a losing battle. You get EoS or Silene from a high level SCH, and you may as well just concentrate on beating that mob down when you've cleared everything else.

Things that are out of your control can be the level of the other folks, DPS who run ahead and try to tank for you, DPS who attack wrong targets and kite them around, and adds that pop up while you're trying to keep the giant monster in one place. I've only been tanking a little while, so I can only share what's worked and advice others have given me that's been tried and true.

And to agree with Nabian, flash is often overused but at lower levels, any little bit can help. I forgot to mention Internal Release and Convalescence. I haven't got Awareness or Mantra yet, I'm not leveled that far in the GLA or PUG yet. As soon as I have those, I will have a cool down macro for them as well.