Why is tanking so rough for new players?

[Ellatrix]

They're no different than the guys that pop all cooldowns just as the tank uses Shield Lob/Tomahawk to start the pull.

Using cooldowns at start is standard operating procedure for all good dps. I have no issue holding threat, and they won't pull off me. Spike aggro is something you need to learn then if you're having an issue with this.

[Duelle]

Using cooldowns at start is standard operating procedure for all good dps.

That's standard for bad DPS. Anyone that's played these games knows the tank has to get ahold of aggro before you can start popping cooldowns. Was true in FFXI, was very true in WoW and continues to be true here.

[Sylve]

If DPS has to hold back, tank is bad.

GLD/PLD is significantly inferior to MRD/WAR for 4man dungeons. If you're just starting, do main story on PLD then go back and level WAR through dungeons.

As a NIN, i was consistently pulling hate from even Allagan geared tanks while i was leveling up (LL DR) and ended up giving alkl tanks a 5 second headstart before beginning my rotation. Before NIN, i crossedin Fracture and used that along Mutilate as an opener to give the tank even more time get to get a lead before i began my big hits.
If your DPS is pulling hate constantly, Your DPS is just tunneling and not paying any attention to that Enmity bar. Good DDs know how and when to hold back, and when to go balls to the wall.
A hallmark of a bad DD is one who pops cooldowns at the very instant a trash pack is pulled and go balls out before the tank even has a chance to get a 123 combo going, let alone the time to Flash once or twice so as to keep the hate off the healer.

[Ellatrix]

That's standard for bad DPS. Anyone that's played these games knows the tank has to get ahold of aggro before you can start popping cooldowns. Was true in FFXI, was very true in WoW and continues to be true here.

Thanks for confirming you don't know how to tank if you're unable to hold threat off dps burst at the start. Again, the enmity modifiers on skills are ridiculous, and in 2.4 they felt the need to buff flash/scorn.

A hallmark of a bad DD is one who pops cooldowns at the very instant a trash pack is pulled and go balls out before the tank even has a chance to get a 123 combo going, let alone the time to Flash once or twice so as to keep the hate off the healer.

If you're trying to 123 on a trash pack at the start, you're doing it wrong. As I keep saying, if played correctly, under no circumstance will a dps pull off a tank.

[Laerune]

I leveled both tank classes in 2.3 and personaly, I think what makes tanking so rough for the new players is not the content itself, but the players who do not follow the tank and go their own way. I think almost every tank has atleast (this is all from the point of view of the tank, tanks are not saints) witnessed the following:

- DPS and Healer want to rush the dungeon, so they keep pulling the mobs.
- They dont follow the marking, which makes keeping agro at low level alot harder.
- When things go wrong, the blame falls on you.

Those 3 are the major things that I had to deal with as a tank and I reckon if players avoided: pulling mobs, attacked the right marked mobs and stopped playing the blame games, we might see more tanks in this game.

[seida]

- DPS and Healer want to rush the dungeon, so they keep pulling the mobs.
- They dont follow the marking, which makes keeping agro at low level alot harder.

Very much this. It's all very well saying, "the tank is too slow!", "dps shouldn't have to hold back!", but we are talking about NEW PLAYERS here.

The biggest issue is usually the other party members. They get impatient and rush ahead. They know at low levels it doesn't even matter if they pull hate.

Sure tanking at any level is easy if, like me, you levelled other classes first. I already knew the dungeons like the back of my hand, and had a lot of experience watching both good and bad tanks.

But new player tanking as their first class? Totally different. I agree, the tanking skills the game gives you are more than adequate.

It's being dumped in an unfamiliar dungeon with impatient and unforgiving party members that makes it hard to be a good new tank.

[Alukah]

Using cooldowns at start is standard operating procedure for all good dps. I have no issue holding threat, and they won't pull off me. Spike aggro is something you need to learn then if you're having an issue with this.

You are a terrible DPS.

If you're trying to 123 on a trash pack at the start, you're doing it wrong. As I keep saying, if played correctly, under no circumstance will a dps pull off a tank.

And you don't understand that there's a massive stat disparity between a fresh 50 with the minimum gear and a geared player with the best gear.

[RyujinUzikin]

My criteria to know if a tank is good is when we start the instance, he runs in after buffs and pulls lots of enemies without losing any aggro.

Though it's rare to see that, most tanks play it safe.

[Sapphic]

Thanks for confirming you don't know how to tank if you're unable to hold threat off dps burst at the start. Again, the enmity modifiers on skills are ridiculous, and in 2.4 they felt the need to buff flash/scorn.

Try doing that with ilvl 55 weap with a 110 BLM popping raging strikes and triple flaring just as you pull. Then tell me thats not a bad BLM...

Also the post is about new players. So take that down to lower level dungs. A learning tank having DPS go full throttle from the firt pull make it harder for them until they learn. Then, instead of giving advice if they know, the DPS go all nerdy and verbually blitz the tank. Albeit, there are too many that totally ignore any tips and just continue failing their way through. But thats a different story XD

But, for me, the harder something is to learn, the more rewarding it is when it all comes together.

[AlexionSkylark]

Yesterday I tanked Tam-Tara reg, being the first time I ever tanked shit in my life ever since I tried to once in WoW like 5 years ago. I warned I was a noob tank and went on running the dungeon.At the end, People even said "hey, gj on mantaining hate".

What I did? simple... I did the thing I like the most when tanks did, even in other games, but most of them are just too lazy to bother doing: I MARKED MOBS. Every. Single. Pull.
You cannot BELIEVE how much love you're gonna get if you do it. Not only that, but you'll also be able to keep hate cuz that rule ensures people will be attacking the same mob as YOU are. My GLD is lvl 18 now, meaning I don't even HAVE provoke.

So, my tip? stop being lazy and mark mobs. Tanking will become really easier