Why most people dont like to tank?

[Seku]

Stuff.

Don't know how you feel that tanks have more responsibilities than the DPS, as in just about every raid DPS deal with the same mechanics as the tanks do and sometimes more. Unless the only thing you've ever done is dungeons, levi or shiva.

Steep learning curve...wut?

All jobs have a learning curve and I'd say that DPS and healer's are steeper.

The only tank problem at low level is Gladiator due to it being hard to hold hate, unless you've gone out the way to gain raging strike and internal release to increase DPS to better hold hate, but it's not so bad at the start because tanks are not needed and really are just a 3rd DPS in most situations. The only time it's different is if they know they allow for the group to mass pull. Most however do not.

DPS on the other hand have to consistently change their rotations as they level up and when you get to level 50 and beyond, they are the target of most mechanics and have to deal with them, not the tanks. In dungeons they can slide by assuming that no one is watching them and don't say anything.

Healers have a lot more to learn than tanks do and have to actually learn to time their abilities in order to get the most out of the job. You can tell the difference between a great healer and a crappy one. A great one will make the run go a lot faster due to added DPS. Healers also have to deal with healing and are yet again targets of mechanics in content beyond dungeons.

Yet again the reason people don't want to tank is due to the illusion of added responsibility when really you just run in front of the group. Position things and dodge big yellow hit boxes. OR are watching netflix

[Skvimpan]

I will come off as an elitist now and maybe i am one.. but the reason i don't enjoy tanking has nothing to do with anxiety etc.

So im leveling warrior right now, currently at 56. got blm and smn/sch on 60.
Almost every time i soloqueue in DF i end up with the following:
Healer doing 0 dps, the rare case where a healer has cleric stance on its normally by mistake and he will keep healing with it until told to disable it.
2x DPS that is often at around 200 dps on aoe pulls in 50-60 dungeons, how this is even possible i can't grasp.
In the end this boils down to frustration, being tank and still do 40 - 50% of the groups total DPS while also have to lead/deal with everything is fkin annoying and ends up feeling like a big carry.
With these groups i much rather be an dps since while i might do a majority of the groups DPS i dont have to deal with pulling/positionings etc also, or an healer for highest total group dps.

Tanking in premade groups is fun, but i would never main a tank since i know i'll have to do solo queues often for tomes and what not.

[Hanmerreborn]

I tank because if you want something done right you do it yourself.

Any mechanic that relies on more than two functional brain cells I make sure I am in control of, because trusting dps to do anything correctly in DF is setting yourself up for failure.

Like the ishgard dragon gate fight. 4 wipes because apparently people can't fire cannons. One shot it with me and the healer doing it instead.

[rawker]

Because tanks, like healers, need to be always alert... Though not as much as a healer with lazy dps eating damage left and right.

[Temjiu]

What actually amazes me are the amount of people in this thread that say that tanking is easier then DPS. I'm sure if you had been tanking for a long time, this would be the case. I think that it is evidence of the many skilled tanks in this game that we have people who see the DPS job as more difficult. however, I highly doubt that people who are new or fresh to tanking would say the same.

As a matter of fact, i believe that the queues for DF also speak against this idea. if queue times are any indication of difficulty of role, then tanking takes the cake by a long shot (the current time is the exception: the glutton of new tanks to the role + the higher level of experienced tanks rolling low level roulettes to ease the leveling process makes current queue pop fast for even DPS).


On the flip side, I do like how FFXIV actually does make the DPS and healer roles challenging. It's honestly the first mmo (out of many) I've played that actually did that well. So this game is closer then many to achieving that goal of balance.

But I still believe that the tank is by far the most challenging, not necessarily just from a mechanics PoV, but also from the view of spatial awareness, leadership, and consequences. a tank dying is much worse for the group then a DPS dying. the exception would probably be high end material where there are two tanks, and threat swapping isn't necessary, and there are DPS checks.

But in most general gameplay, you can tell right away that the group is hit harder when the tank sucks vs. when just a DPS sucks.

[Seku]

But I still believe that the tank is by far the most challenging,because they have to pay attention in normal dungeons while DPS can watch netflix.

FTFY, but really. There is no challenge in going into a dungeon, spamming your aoe hate move 4-5 time for each trash pack, with your tank stance up. Find the one mob (normally out of 3-4) that a DPS is jabbing away at to ignore your mark targets, or if you're actually good you won't have marked targets (unless a particular mob is annoying and you want to burn it down) and single targeting that one first before rotating your combos through each mob.

2nd, the game eases you into tanking. It's highly forgiving at low levels and they have literately placed all the pressure upon the healer. As for the first...32 levels? If the tank dies and you're not in a mass pull, the healer can save the group in almost any situation(or at least I can), bosses included.

DPS have a steeper learning curve because the moment you step into your first raid, you go from having 0 responsibility other than watching netflix, to "omfg everything is targeting me and I have to deal with mechanics. Wadda I do!? Omg" While tanks have dealt with minor mechanics through out their leveling experience in a very forgiving atmosphere. On top of this, if a normal DPS steps out of their comfort zone and into a raid group that progresses with new raid content before obtaining the dungeon spam gear, not only do they have to learn how to deal with said mechanics, they have to do it while optimizing their DPS. 1 wrong move and they or their raid is dead. Most groups have parsers up, so they know if you're sucking. Guess who is getting kicked out and probably easily replaced?

If you're however only referring to the dungeon aspect, then yeah. Tanks are the most "challenging" to learn, but it's not even that hard to figure out.

[EA9Sol]

The reason I have not stepped into a dungeon as one of my tanks is: (1. I do not have the confidence to do so. I'm not sure of my ration and other that other stuff that comes with tanking. Even though I may be better than I give myself credit I have not tried to find out. (2. I do find it a bit boring then my dds classes. Hells, when I'm on one of my healing classes I find it boring too.

That is about it. Other then that I want to learn how to tank and do it properly. Not half arsed "I'm only doing this for faster q time, lulz!" But that will take some time. :3

[elemental10]

All jobs have a learning curve and I'd say that DPS and healer's are steeper.

Nay, I meant the 'experience' of tanking is a curve, not the rotation and whatnot. Your comparison with the DPS rotation isn't what I meant but its exactly how you've described as a healer learning to precisely time their spells.

Those healers have to run a lot of things to get better and better with the timing and what to cast. The same experience is needed to tank where you need to run things over and over to know how to position yourself, how to pull, etc. Some people when they see a tank position a boss towards a wall, they take it for granted but a lot of people actually had to learn about that in the first runs, therefore the steep learning curve.

All of this factors in that it is a brand new tank with 0 tanking ability. I've handled more than my fair share in Sastasha, even Haukke. They have to learn this, learn that and it adds up to that first real experience push before you've settled down and can say, "I am a good tank."

[Cooperal]

Like with a very vast majority of holy-trinity-focused MMOs, the combat itself does not demand a whole lot of initiative to be successful. A lot of players prefer to learn how best to prioritise their ability list and little more. Tanks are the ones who are usually left to undertake what little organic factors remain. They generally need to be more wary of aspects that are not taught by the game itself, but rather require the player think a bit more laterally to reap the best benefits.
Your job relies far more heavily on the specifics of your movement and how your actions relate to your team. Meanwhile, with the exception of some gimmicky AoE spams at a bosses HP threshold, the other jobs can act as one rigid component of a machine, barely having to give thought to the fact that they're playing alongside other humans, even if part of their job involves targeting or positioning in response to said humans.

I may sound negative, and I do love the game for its FF charm, but you have to admit, most of what we do in this game is instructed indirectly or not, which collapses the skill-ceiling. A very artificial form of teamwork where people are easy to replace. Tanks just have that bit more wiggle room and decision-making to enjoy.

[Galgarion]

I did an Arum Vale today, to get my promotion for Storm. AV as we all know, sucks eggs and takes a little patience to do safely. On our way to the last boss, the Monk runs past me, pulls a bunch of trash and wipes the group, then accuses me of being too slow by way of apology. I dropped that group and immediately felt better.

People really need to get over treating tanks like waiters. I pay my $14.95 a month the same as everyone else, I'm not under some special obligation to be the punching bag for some antisocial twerp on a power trip.