PSA: For all newbie Tanks:

[Woggers]

Everyone knows that fracture spam is the best skill for tank and aggro and everything.


(Sorry, I can't just take seriously posts that are not posted in the correct forum section such as TANK ROLES or NEW PLAYER HELP.)

Wait....WAT?!?!? There's other places to post other than General Discussion in these forums?!?! Lies....

[Bixby]

Honestly, if it means even one less dungeon where I'm pulling hate on mobs 2 through X just keeping the tank above 50%, you could post "Flash/overpower moar" on a lawnmower maintenance forum, and I'd be all right with that.

[Kerwin]

When I am pacified from Berserk, a flash or two keeps decent aggro on me until I recover from the debuff. That's about the only time I use Flash unless I'm out of TP.

[Amused]

The most important thing is that you cycle through your targets to maintain enmity. What abilities to use and how often to use them is entirely situational. The most important part is maintaining control over the group you're currently fighting.

[RhazeCain]

For the Warrior out there:

When engaging multiple enemies (3+ usually), typical sequence
1) Tomahawk, optional
2) Overpower, considering direction so that you actually hit everything .. or Flash
3) Overpower
4) Choice of whatever you like: Maim, Butcher Block combo, more Overpower, etc.

Comments:
Tomahawk is great when you're starting out, but I find a lot of times I like to just run in and body pull without Tomahawk first. This is because what you DO NOT want is to Tomahawk while moving forward, healer heals you, and all but 1 mobs run toward healer -- all before your cooldown is ready to Overpower/Flash. What I like to do sometimes is to just run in and Flash in middle of the group -- assuming all are fairly close together before you engage. If they're spread out, or you want to pull them toward you, then Tomahawk first.

Flash is awesome, even for a warrior who has Overpower. In the initial engage it allows you to not care about targeting and direction of the cone shape for Overpower. If you run out of TP, Flash. If you're under Pacification after Berserk, Flash. If need agro on something both ahead and behind you, Flash. If you're picking up an add just as it spawns, maybe Flash (that's a whole other topic.. Flash is OK, but there may be better options).

One Flash or Overpower at the start is NOT enough. If you just do 1 and start single target attacks, then secondary enemies will soon go for the healer. Think of it as a "score" on each target individually: each Overpower or Flash cumulatively adds to the score on every enemy it hits.

Overpower is frickin' awesome. If I can find 3+ enemies (more the better), I'll do that and chain Overpower until out of TP (Maim optional) -- instead of Butcher's Block combo. As long as your gear is approximately equal to the DPS in your group, you won't lose agro on the primary target. If your gear is lower, then you may have to switch to Butcher's Block combo after 2x Overpower/Flash. This may be true for Paladins too, since Flash is less agro than Overpower.

Finally, Steel Cyclone is a good ability. It has the same size and shape (circle) as Flash, but does more damage and agro than either Overpower or Flash.

[Noshpan]

Something that I'd like to add: Don't be afraid to ask your damage dealers (and to an extent, your healers) to wait a few seconds before unloading their mad deeps.

Also: don't be afraid to mark targets. Us damage dealers are not mind-readers.

[saber_alter]

something else to add as well:

Provoke is your friend, but she needs encouragement to be effective (maybe some roses). always follow up a provoke with a tomahawk/shield lob, or a combo'd enmity building skill, like savage blade or butcher's block.

[Eye_Gore]

Don't forget the now buffed Circle of Scorn, generates enmity (since patch) and is off GCD. Ooooh pretty! :P

Thats a level 50 action, doubt many new tanks would be using it, also most low level dungeons you can't use it anyways.

[Fahzewn]

I'm not a career tank by any means but I would like to add this. Please don't burn all your abilities (Rampart and the like) in one shot. Spread them out because 15-30 seconds of "god mode" (it really isn't btw) means nothing when they are all down during a crucial high damage move or you need to put out extra damage to regain/hold hate during DPS burns.

[Teslo]

Something that I'd like to add: Don't be afraid to ask your damage dealers (and to an extent, your healers) to wait a few seconds before unloading their mad deeps.

Also: don't be afraid to mark targets. Us damage dealers are not mind-readers.

A good rule of thumb: DPS the target that the tank use Tomahawk/Shield lob on. Once that's dead, move to the mob with the next fewest hitpoints. I say this as both a BLM and an occasional PLD.