Make a man out of me(overcoming my fear of tanking)...

[BobbinT]

Coming from a BLM main myself, I can assure you that tanking wasn't as hard as you think. Lately I've even been doing alot of speed running dungeons with little trouble. I have even experience tanking primal exes and they weren't as hard as I thought it was before, just need to watch the debuff status on other tank, and get ready to switch tanking in-between.

atm, I just had my Excalibur yesterday, though the reason I'm working this is to facilitate myself for dungeon farm most of times since tank queue are definitely faster than dps. lol

I'm even afraid of forgetting my old main jobs since I've been doing this quite alot lately too. lol

Anyways, like what previous post says, doing low level dungeons definitely the best way for you to familiarize basic tanking. Once you have access to Shield Oath for PLD or Defiance for WAR, then you can start learn to tank group of mobs seriously, and later on, large group of mob for speed running purposes.

Both PLD & WAR have their own strength and weaknesses, and I suggest you try both. WAR/MRD are IMO best way to experience basic tanking since it's aggro management are much easier to handle, with the downside of that job having top receive bigger damage from mobs, which is why this job having the biggest HP pool.

PLD/GLA on the other hand, are slightly more suited for solo mob tanking, like bosses. This job does need few extra effort for doing group tanking, but not as weak as WAR does, since I've been doing this job more than WAR actually. And PLD has lower HP pool than WAR, but have the greatest defense stat.

And so, again I suggest OP to try both jobs, and see if tanking felt more enjoyable. Good luck and have fun! ^^

[Nerael]

Just to chime in with my 2 cents.

I was like you at start. Slightly scared to tank heavier content. Thing is you just need to overcome it and take the plunge. It might go smooth, it might go bad, most importantly just do your best and have fun.

All it takes is some practice. At a certain point you are not afraid of tanking anything anymore. Just rotate your Defensive Cooldowns, pop an extra one when taking much damage (Healers will love you for this one), dodge AOE and get the bosses and adds in correct positions (Facing away from group etc.).

Also in regards to the Extreme modes: Do them! They are mainly about knowing the mechanics and you'll have to practice them multiple times to get it right (Do it with your FC so people don't freak out when something doesn't go according to plan). Some Extreme modes are ridiculously easy. Others are hell on earth. It's fun trying to overcome the challenges together

Take a few FC members with you on runs that you trust. When tanking in the beginning I always ran with a Healer friend of mine from the FC. I trusted him to keep me up, he trusted me to keep him safe. If you fail? Have a laugh about it and try again! If you do not try you will not succeed

[raela]

I leveled a paladin just so I could have a DoW to wear some gear/free up armory chest space (mained scholar.. I'm weird). I was pretty nervous at first, but pretty much all the parties I got in low roulette were newcomers that didn't mind taking it slow/feeling things out. Once I got to 50, I stopped tanking but geared it up with sold (had to spend it on something!).. until I got to the zodiac relic stage and healer queues sucked. I just let everyone know I was new to tanking so would be taking it easy and started slow. All you can do is have patience for yourself and try to have fun! I haven't had anyone get abusive over wipes yet (even one wipe, everyone blamed themselves.. funny run), and though there have been a few silent quits, I still kept with it.Good luck!

[JimboTCB]

I've been levelling gladiator myself recently, never really tanked in MMOs before and it's pretty intimidating initially, but a lot of it is down to getting over the initial fear and just doing it. For the most part people are fairly relaxed - DPS are just happy to get in after queuing for half an hour, and healers have a fairly easy ride in low-level dungeons as long as the tank isn't woefully undergeared.

I've also only levelled to 50 as melee DPS, so for me a lot of it is basically the same only standing on the opposite side of the mobs. Being worried about not sucking is good because it means you actually care about your performance, but the flipside of it is that you have to be slightly indifferent about people giving you a hard time - ultimately, as the tank you're the one who controls the pace of the run, and if DPS are giving you crap for pulling too slowly, they can just go to hell and have fun queueing another half an hour for a replacement.

[Snakevudo]

If I did tank, I wouldn't plan on doing any of the more intense content, but still, being in charge, setting the pace of the party, and seeing each encounter and dungeon with new eyes that require a more intimate knowledge of mechanics, it's daunting to me. So my question to you good people is:

Always do what you are afraid to do.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

[graudon]

To do list:

1.Get mar/War as job
2.Spam overpower
3.Face the girls away from party so they wont see whats coming
4.GG #REKT

OH OH i almost forget and shout + write YOLOOO before u engage.
Welcome to the Tank Caravan my friend

[zatoseyes]

In my experience the most frustrating part of tanking is people. If you're anxious about tanking, it's probably based on a fear of someone on your party calling you out when you make a mistake. Some players are like that, and those players will not hesitate to let you know you suck. (It's happened to me.)

Try to take advice as it's given and ignore the people who are just anonymous duty finder jerks. Remember that most DPS had to wait on you, so if a group is giving you a hard time because you're not speed running the dungeon, bail and queue again when you're able. There's no reason not to punish people for being rude, especially when they're picking on you because you're inexperienced. Your best bet of avoiding this until you build up your confidence is to get with some friends in your FC or whatever, rather than deal with random folks with no patience.

Also you may want to do Gladiator first. Flash, Convalescence and most importantly, Provoke make tanking a breeze.

[Austthenoob]

Really love the positivity and the support in this thread. I can't add too much that hasn't already been said. Just take your time and learn a style that fits you best. Be the tank you want to be, not what others expect you to be. Wish you the best of luck, and listen to these folks. Most of them know their stuff!

[MythToken]

Remember this, as the tank you are always right. You dictate the fight.

The healer's job is to keep you alive, obviously pull within his ability.
The dps's job is to kill stuff in the right order.

Your job is to be the man.

[Zentsa]

In my experience the most frustrating part of tanking is people. If you're anxious about tanking, it's probably based on a fear of someone on your party calling you out when you make a mistake. Some players are like that, and those players will not hesitate to let you know you suck. (It's happened to me.)

This is why i have fear to tank.
You dont fight versus mobs you fight versus your group.
But i tried all classes now and in order of fun for me its tank>dps>heal.
I like the feeling to control the enemies and to handle the hate over the dps.
But every time i queue for a dungeon my fear is to much ._.