Why is tanking so rough for new players?

[Kyros]

At OP, Tanking has already been eased up enough. Instead of demanding making it more braindead, look around at how to effectively tank and learn how to do it.

If you still don't get it, do this:

- Open pull either by running or throwing a tomahawk on the first target.
- Run trough the mobs, making sure they make a neat cone in front of you.
- Overpower (If they in cone) or flash (If around you still),
- By now you should have all the mobs in front of you. Overpower again.
- If you have a BLM, SMN, or a good SCH, Overpower/Flash a third time for good measure.
- Start your combo, you can safely start with Maim at this point, and then just use Skull Sunder combo until Maim runs out.
- As the final mob dies, make sure your final Combo is Maim. This way you should still have some seconds of Maim left by the time you start the next pull (For even more hate).

Here's my thoughts. Low level Marauder tanking is HORRIBLE etc

Quite the contrary, Marauder is the best at tanking low levels. You have 2 very useful abilities for AoE hate: Flash and Overpower. You don't need Maim to build hate, Skull Sunder is the same as Savage Blade, Maim is there as an option. Used properly, not only will you generate more hate, but you will also speed up the run.

You should never have to wait for TP as a MRD when using Flash properly. It's nearly impossible to run out of both resources and be losing hate unless you are absolutely terrible.

[Noxifer]

I'll readily admit to being an overpower-abuser, at least on groups of more than two or three enemies. Despite it eating my TP to the point where i'll have to wait half a tick between each combo attack near the end of the fight, it does the job of maintaining aggro. Then again, I'm used to running with at least one AoE-loving black mage :3
Flash? I can throw in three flashes, then I'm out of MP for a good while. (When levelsynched, I'm down to two flashes, then I need to wait for between three and six GCDs before I can throw in another flash.) Not quite as useful as some make it appear to be; even if it's the only thing I use my MP for, I tend to save it until I run out of TP :3 Maybe it'll be a bit different now that they've increased the enmity generation on it, though. I haven't really had time to compare yet.

As a Warrior, I have no problem maintaining aggro, even on speedrun-sized pulls. As a Paladin, however, I dread pulling more than three or four enemies at once, because I know I have a lot more problem holding them XD But that's not because of a Paladin's skills being worse, it's just because I'm not as good at playing Paladin. I'm used to my Warrior, and it's the one I find more fun to play.

However, I do have one opinion regarding which tank is "best" -- up until level 26, they're pretty equal in my eyes. Between 26 and 30, Gladiator wins, due to getting its combo finisher at 26. Between 30 and 40, however, Warrior wins, because they get Defiance, which ups enmity generation. Then at 40, when Paladins get Shield Oath, they more or less level out and it's more a question of which job the player is more comfortable with.

But for new players, it can be tricky, especially if you're used to games where threat holding isn't an issue at all. Unfortunately, it's just a matter of learning which skills boost enmity and using them as much as possible.
(Though sometimes it seems people don't even need to do that -- I cringe whenever I see a level 50 tank pulling an enemy with Provoke instead of Shield Lob/Tomahawk.)

[Ultimatecalibur]

It's not the provoke's enmity to rely on. It's the savage blade combo finisher to rely on. Which is significantly harder to peel off once more than a single shield lob is. If a tank shield lobs something away, it's very easy for a DPS' next move to simply peel it back off.

Unless a DpS or Healer has somehow managed to change the target's enmity marker to Green or Yellow, the enmity buffer a Shield Lob/Tomahawk hit gives should give you more time to lock the target down with a Butcher's Block/Rage of Halone Combo without the target getting repeeled by the DpS/Healer who did it the first time. I never meant to imply that you shouldn't follow it up with a RoH/BB combo once you have reacquired the targets attention.

And the latter is indeed what may often happen. It's a shame that the game itself doesn't have a decent way of naturally teaching tanking throughout the job quest line.

The Guildhests are supposed to teach some of that, but it is so easy to burn through them with dps now that Tanks tend to learn little when doing them.

[Destinova]

Mark targets if the dd attacks other than the priority then it is their fault.

[myahele]

New tanks (and players in general) don't have the best gears at 1st. They don't have enough gil to be fully geared at their levels + dungeon loot is pure range.

[Alukah]

I'd like to remind everyone that this topic is about new tanks, not i110 tanks that know all the ins and outs of both tanks.

If you're saying that a low level tank, not using the best gear available at his level needs no effort to keep hate off a synced dps you're lying and you should feel bad, either that or you clearly haven't done a low level dungeon as a tank recently, and should feel equally bad for adding nothing to this thread.

In low level dungeons tanks and synced DPS will always have issues, in high level dungeons a tank with the min ilvl to enter will always have issues against a i110 dps (specially if blm) and no, quelling isn't available 24/7.

Tanks have never been properly balanced in this game. I feel like tank added enmity should be dependent on the highest ilvl in the party, to make sure it's not an absolute hell, but not easy enough to let them gear up a bit.

[Kyros]

If you're saying that a low level tank, not using the best gear available at his level needs no effort to keep hate off a synced dps you're lying and you should feel bad, either that or you clearly haven't done a low level dungeon as a tank recently, and should feel equally bad for adding nothing to this thread.

You do realize Synced players are placed at level-appropiate NQ white gear right? Any player going in with Pinks, greens or HQ crafted stuff is going to be much stronger than synced people.

Also, of course a tank not wearing Level-appropriate gear is going to have trouble keeping hate of players, synced or not. Do you honestly expect otherwise?

[Ultimatecalibur]

If you're saying that a low level tank, not using the best gear available at his level needs no effort to keep hate off a synced dps you're lying and you should feel bad, either that or you clearly haven't done a low level dungeon as a tank recently, and should feel equally bad for adding nothing to this thread.

Because of how levelsyncing works, a tank in up to date NQ gear should be able to do it with the techniques we are talking about. It will be tougher than if the tank was in level approprate HQ, Aetherial or Green gear.

In levelsync gear drops down to the equivalent of NQ of the synced level. In Hakku Manor, all of an i110 DpS' gear ends up with the stats of NQ i31 gear.

In low level dungeons tanks and synced DPS will always have issues, in high level dungeons a tank with the min ilvl to enter will always have issues against a i110 dps (specially if blm) and no, quelling isn't available 24/7.

The level 50 stuff is on the DpS not the Tanks. It is why the first and second bosses Pharos Sirus were so hard. DpS do not know how to throttle there dps and just go all out without thinking.

Tanks have never been properly balanced in this game. I feel like tank added enmity should be dependent on the highest ilvl in the party, to make sure it's not an absolute hell, but not easy enough to let them gear up a bit.

Then you'd just have tanks running dungeons in crafting/gathering gear.

[Sapphic]

If you're saying that a low level tank, not using the best gear available at his level needs no effort to keep hate off a synced dps you're lying and you should feel bad, either that or you clearly haven't done a low level dungeon as a tank recently, and should feel equally bad for adding nothing to this thread.

When I was levelling my alt as tank (still only 32 as decided to level up SCH instead) running low level dungeons with fully synced geared 50 players and still had no issue with holding hate at all due to their gear level syncing to lower than HQ or colored items at the level. And this was pre-2.4. It was a simple matter of spam flash and riot blade combo, and you held any number of mobs.

If tanks @ low level flash/overpower once, then tunnel vision one mob, of course they will have peelers. That is what many of them do. After I tell them to be more liberal with flash/overpower they do improve (of course the ones that actually take advice, not the onse which stonewall any friendly tips given).

Not to mention enmity is not 100% on the tank. If needed the DPS need to start noticing the enmity meter and adjust accordingly if/when needed.

[Kewitt]

Never have issue pulling and keeping hate. But I also as a Warrior almost never have TP and As a PLD am running out of MP.

I may loss hate on 1 maybe 2 pulls a dungeon, but that's because I ran out of TP or MP.
Sadly this just comes with playing the job more.
Vs
under geared PLD or WAR + over geared DPS


Ya I could manage them a little better by why when I rarely have issues.