What makes a great tank?

[Ignnis]

Just a list of thing I think might help to make a tank better but Im going to start with one word "Communication".

-If you want to do a speed run ask the healer if thats cool, the healer will probably be experienced with this but sometimes they're not or they might not be geared well to handle large pulls.
-Know your limitations, don't pull giant masses of groups then promptly die because your gear just isn't up to scratch.
-Use CDs when appropriate.
-Overestimate the amount of times you need to use flash, better safe than sorry.
-Keep constant tabs on enemies agro bars especially if dps and healers are aoeing.
-If you want to ignore a mechanic in a boss fight and just burn the boss ask the group if thats ok, kind of relates to the speed running thing.
-Let healer regain mp BEFORE you pull bosses.
-Keep an eye on the mini map and chat to make sure people haven't suddenly gone afk or are lagging behind.

Now I don't main tank but this is just from my experience levelling PLD so my tips might not be totally useful but figured id chip in.

[Cold_Raven]

What makes a great tank?

Slime hats. Definitely slime hats.

[ZodiacSoldier]

Third time, last night, it was a disaster! It was not the tank first time to do it, but we wiped once on the first boss, twice on the wall and we ran out of time on the last boss... over 5 wipes. Nobody seemed to know what to do with the adds or the aoe.

It was frustrating, and after 4 wipes the tank started to call me name for not keeping up.

Hmm sounds like you are blaming the tanks for everything that goes wrong, this is the main reason people dont like playing tanks, cause they get blamed for everything. What exactly cause your party to wipe? It sounds to me like the first two groups you got were overgeared for the content and the last group you got had equal gear to the content.

First Boss - Squid guy and rock adds - For this fight the boss is suppose to be just position the main boss, the DPS is suppose to pick up adds and kill it ASAP. Some tanks will pick up the add to while the DPS kills it, but honestly the DPS should kill the adds pretty quick that no tanking is needed.

Second Boss - The Wall - This is a complete DPS / Healer fight, the fact that you wiped twice has nothing to do with the tank The tank does nothing in this fight but DPS. If your group wipe it is either your fault for not healing though the AOE (boss dont really do much damage though and fairy should be enough to keep them heal) or the DPS's fault for not doing enough DPS. Healer's are also suppose to be in cleric stance to help DPS since you will be just standing there, doing nothing for 95% of the fight.

Third Boss - This will depend on what you wipe from, the tank is suppose to position the boss so that the group wont get hit by the AOE attack. The DPS are suppose to pick up the adds and kill them since they die in like 2 or 3 hits, tank dont have to pick it up. If your group is not hiding from the bosses AOE attack, then tank can't do anything about it except tell you guys to hide. The boss also target either the Healer or one of the DPS with an orb DPS near the end of the fight. If your guys drop the orb on top of the boss, its not the tanks fault.

[Mishini_Dracoto]

Hmm sounds like you are blaming the tanks for everything that goes wrong, this is the main reason people dont like playing tanks, cause they get blamed for everything.

So, while he didn't answer your question directly, Zodiac Soldier has the best post hands down.

You have a lot of great tips in here as far as tanking goes. But to be a good tank, you need to really understand what Zoiac is saying to you as a non-tank. You need to embrace that, or you will most likely not enjoy tanking.

In DF's, I lead almost every party. I do almost all of the tips found in this whole thread. There are plenty of threads that say entering a DF, checking everybodiues gear, and pacing the party/judgeing them based on their threads is silly or dumb. Lots of threads telling you it's not about gear.

But I get blamed for everything when we lose. Sometimes I get commendations when we clear dungeons without incident.

If people have low HP (You will learn what to eyeball after running enough Healers should be 4K+ melee 5.5K+ atm) their gear is low. Their damage ceiling is lower. pull less. If they rock out with their sock out, start pulling more.

When I'm not in DF, I usually take a backseat role. I am busy tanking, keeping my threat above incredibly awesome SMN's with insanely high DPS. Between keeping my threat up and mitigating damage, I'm incredibly focused. It typically ends up being a healer or bard whose calling stuff out for me on Voice chat to remind me where we are in the fight so I can prepare. They love it when I tank for them, I love the teamwork. We clear stuff, iz gut.

Side note : When I'm on PC, I will type stuff out and say Hi. When I'm on PS3 or PS4, I typically don't. Why? The soft keyboard F'ing sucks to type on. It might be a social game, but in the DF, you will liekly never see these people again. So no, I don't care what religion you are or what your dad is doing in the kitchen. I'm also i110+, so I cank. If people aren't following, I slow down, and hope they catch up before I wipe. If they never continue, I vote kick them. If they follow, and really suck, I will even use the soft keyboard to discuss the problems.

[Urtear]

what makes a great tank imo, is asking your healer in advance if they can handle big pulls. Most will say yes, but have that courtesy. And even then, know when big is big enough. When you're below half health, don't keep pulling.

[Mishini_Dracoto]

what makes a great tank imo, is asking your healer in advance if they can handle big pulls..

It's not about the healer, it's about the whole party. The healer has to be able to heal, the DPS need to be able to DPS. The tank needs to hold threat, and mitigate as much Damage as possible, and stay alive long enough for the mobs to start dying. As soon as mobs start dying, i gets much easier to keep the tank up. That's a Speed Run pull in a nutshell.

IMO, if you have the right classes, and good enough gear, people should almost be forced into Speed Runs lol. it really makes you step your game up. IMO, it's more fun, but I like a challenge. If you are geared well enough, and have 2 BLM's who want to triple flare, but the healer is being lazy and wants to take it slow, he's going o rin it for everybody. IDK. I tr to judge what they are capable of and just go from there.

[thereddee]

Hmm sounds like you are blaming the tanks for everything that goes wrong, this is the main reason people dont like playing tanks, cause they get blamed for everything. What exactly cause your party to wipe? It sounds to me like the first two groups you got were overgeared for the content and the last group you got had equal gear to the content.

Maybe my post did not came up right. I did not mean to put the blame on the tank, if anything most of the time I put the blame on myself. It was the best example where a same run went differently in DF. You are right about the 3 boss.

I get that tanks always get the blame, that's why I'm hesitating doing my first dungeon.

That's the reason why I try to read up what to do and not do because I feel it's the job that require the most knowledge of the game...

[ZodiacSoldier]

That's the reason why I try to read up what to do and not do because I feel it's the job that require the most knowledge of the game...

I agree tanking requires the most knowledge cause 90% of the time we have to lead and explain fights, but once you know the fights they are pretty easy to play. When I was first leveling, my main was a tank so I had instant queue, but before every dungeon I always read up on all the fights before I actually do them, so I can explain fights to others (this was back when ARR first came out so everything was pretty new to everyone). People always expect the tank to explain fights for some reason, so that's what I ended up doing alot of the time. Since you already have SCH leveled, it will be alot easier for you since you will know all the fights and will have the XP bonus.


One of the most important thing for Tanks is gear. If anyone tells you gear don't matter, its all skills, yada yada, they probably never tanked before. Your gear has to be up to date or you won't be able to hold Enmity on good DPS no matter how good you are. I will suggest you to get at least get around an ilevel of 100 (110 is best) before you start doing Expert roulette, or people will rage.

When you pull always try to stack the mobs together for the DPS so they can AOE easier. Try to limit movement except for when you have to dodge, this is more important if you have Melee DPS in your group, you don't want to turn mobs too much or it will mess up their rotation. If you group is all ranged, move as much as you want, just try to keep mobs in the AOEs.

For healers just keep an eye on their MP, for normal 4 man dungeons, you will generally not worry too much unless your group is undergeared or if the Healer is DPSing alot, which happens often in geared groups.

Otherwise just remember to use your CD's when you need them. Be nice and courteous, but this applies to everyone. Honestly its not too bad, you just have to practice it and it will come pretty naturally.

[Anienai]

Female Roegadyn!

[Syhrwyb]

Female Roegadyn!

I like and agree with this post.