Worried About Endgame Tanking

[Derio]

You should have given them a warning. Always tell your party members what you are about to do whether its skipping adds or doing a larger pull than normal.

[ViolaKruger]

Hello Derio!

I shall from now on. When leveling my first class, I did tend to communicate more. However, more often then not, I was met with complete silence, disregard to chat, or very rarely a "Just shut up and tank." I came to the understanding that other than the hello and thank you for group most people prefer not to communicate when using the DF.

However, if this is something that is much more preferred at end game, it will be something to strive for.

Thanks again, and have a wonderful day!

[Lan_Mantear]

"Just shut up and tank."

lol, I don't think I've ever gotten that response before. I honestly don't know how I'd react to that. It does feel like a lot of people in DF are anti-social. Probably has something to do with the knowledge that they probably won't party with the same people again. Kinda sad.

[sackm]

the dragons shouldnt be taking any longer than 30s to kill...sounds like bad dps

[IndigoHawk]

Don't let this experience get you down! Use a better approach next time to protect your tanking morale.

First, never argue with people in Duty Finder. No one wins.
Next, think about your goal. Do you want to finish? If so, don't argue. Maybe apologize. Sometimes I tank player aggro by pretending stuff is my fault. Then push on. You'll complete the dungeon, and they'll get over it. If they don't, kick them.
If you reach your limit of strangers yelling at you, then kick or leave. You'll feel good about standing up for yourself.

In the case of sleeping dragons, if you wipe because someone pulls one, kill the rest.
Or ask about the dragons to avoid the problem.

Also remember that wiping with strangers is no big deal. You have no idea what everyone expects. Don't feel bad if you wipe, and definitely don't listen to strangers who think you should feel bad about playing a game. They could tank next time if they're so great.

[ViolaKruger]

Thank you for all the responses! :-) I try not to take anything personally in df because I am generally new to most things and perhaps the individual is having a bad day.

I won't let it stop me from tanking, but I am a bit less worried about end game.

Thanks again all and have a lovely evening!

[Jpec07]

Hi Viola!

First, I'm sorry that happened. A little bit of communication can go a long way, but it's also very easy to forego that in favor of just pulling the next mob (especially with how many buttons we have to push, it can be hard to type at the same time). I will agree about skipping the mobs - let sleeping dragons lie, because the experience gain from killing them is a pittance compared to the EXP bonus from finishing the dungeon run. There's only three of them, so they don't really offer that much EXP. Still, if you're pulling small, they don't take all that much more effort to kill. So if a DPS or healer asks, I'll pull them and dance around their AoE.

Regarding pacing, please take your own pace! If you're anxious about it, let your group know that you're still gearing, and are trying to make sure you can tank at a rate that makes you comfortable. People who do big pulls should only be doing so if they are appropriately geared even though a lot of tanks seem to forget how much Vit and Parry matter on big trash pulls. Otherwise, pull what you know you can hold, and what you know you can survive (the two biggest, most important parts of tanking).

There is a tanking "meta" in the endgame that emphasizes tanking DPS over survivability, but unless you're going to do Savage raiding, you don't (really) need to worry about your damage output too much (so long as you can hold threat). People will say that killing enemies faster helps you take less damage, and they're right, but if you can survive and hold threat, you're doing it right.

Above all is the importance of communication. People are generally a lot friendlier in FFXIV than a lot of games I've played. There are three things that should be clarified: whether or not it's a full clear, whether or not you want to do certain/all mechanics, and whether or not you'll be doing big pulls. Take a minute or two at the beginning of the run to talk and say "I prefer to skip mobs when possible, do the mechanics, and pull smaller than most - does this work with everyone?" It'll start healthier discussion about it well in advance, and that way people will know what to expect when they get there.

Happy tanking!

[Cheraa]

Regarding pacing, please take your own pace! If you're anxious about it, let your group know that you're still gearing, and are trying to make sure you can tank at a rate that makes you comfortable. People who do big pulls should only be doing so if they are appropriately geared even though a lot of tanks seem to forget how much Vit and Parry matter on big trash pulls. Otherwise, pull what you know you can hold, and what you know you can survive (the two biggest, most important parts of tanking).

If you can actually work with your CDs, you can do Big Pulls in expert Roulette without any problems. I did this with ilvl 145 and can do it currently with ilvl 163 more easy. Only problem with ilvl 145 was enmity but not survival.

[Dererk]

Sounds more like the healer was dpsing more than healing so healer error.

[Jpec07]

If you can actually work with your CDs, you can do Big Pulls in expert Roulette without any problems. I did this with ilvl 145 and can do it currently with ilvl 163 more easy. Only problem with ilvl 145 was enmity but not survival.

I have my healer sitting next to me most of the time. Last time I did that at low iLvl (pulled big while cycling my cooldowns), she cursed my very existence. And she easily agreed that Parry and Vit made big pulls a LOT easier to handle (though I think a bigger part of that is also the Def and M.Def found on my upgraded left side).

Point being, though, you need to feel it out, and see what your healers are comfortable healing you through, and what you're able to keep enmity on (196 PLD and even following all the guides I STILL have trouble holding some pulls against BLM or SMN). Bigger pulls require more work from you and your healer - and generally, I'll only do them if I have someone in the group who can put out good AoE DPS (two monks? Small pulls. BLM-SMN? I'm pulling everything).