Tank dps harrasment

[MoroMurasaki]

When I'm with PUG healers, I'm very cautious. That being said, I just came out of an Expert roulette as PLD with a WHM healer friend. in Ala Mhigo. Even managed to pull off the penta-pull (butt clenching moments aplenty, with a DRG/MCH DPS, might not have been the best idea but whatever), and I spent more time in Sword Oath than Shield Oath in bosses. I did 1 or 2 enmity combos, then Sword Oath and pushing out DPS. That's how I am, I'm cautious around people I haven't built that trust with, but once the trust is there, I'm going to go balls against the wall. So what would your tips be for overcoming the cautiousness around PUG healers (and their wildly varying skill levels)?

I would say first off you're a PLD - you've got the best mitigation tool in the game in Hallowed. Know that you have that there as your "oh sh!t" button when you need it.


Xerek has already said communication and I think that's probably the best answer. In an ideal world every healer knows their limits and how to convey them. Sadly in the world of DF I feel there are a lot of players who just will not communicate whether that stems from being console players without keyboards or something else entirely.

If you ask a healer how they feel about a large pull and they say anything other than "please no" I say go for it. I've now pugged the Ala Mhigo megapull with each tank several times as it is becoming more common in DF and I can say it's certainly possible. I do think for something like that you should spend more time in tank stance, that way if it goes well enough your healer can AoE a bit which is difinitively stronger than CoS pretty much across the board.

I also endorse Xerek's ideas on wiping - there really isn't much of a penalty for it, plus you've learned a bit if it happens.

I don't mean to presume anything about your current skill level but as most of my post focused on stance dancing I'll reiterate that even in preformed parties I only have one tank friend that consistantly does those gigantic pulls primarily in DPS stance and he is both very geared and very skilled, not to mention usually backed by wonderful DPS players.

I think tank DPS shines in single-target situations, if you're going to begin DPS stance I would say do it on bosses. Ala Mhigo is an amazing example of bosses that require almost zero tank stance outside of gaining some threat. Zenos has that cleave tankbuster move but even that isn't coming close to oneshotting most tanks, heck I've survived it on WHM.

I don't think you're ever going to feel as comfortable stance dancing with a pug healer as you would with a friend, if I had advice for that I would give it but I don't think it exists. I do think that the more you get " in the groove" of stance dancing (just like healers did before SB) the more comfortable you'll become with it in general (again like pre-SB healers) and whether that practice comes from pugs or premades doesn't matter as much as having the experience.

It's not that i dont agree with you, i would die from boredom without dps'ing as an healer, and the ABC Rule should be followed if possible but :

Just to make one thing clear. Thats just not true. Content IS designed without Healer DPS in mind.




Want a source?

This quote is two and a half years old though. He's also said personal and FC housing would be separate, housing reclamation would never be a thing, enacted "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" with parsers... Not everything Yoshi says stays law forever.

I would be startled if Ultimate had no healer DPS factored into its timing. I know it's an extreme example but it's no less valid.

[millktea]

"shield oath? you're a paladin. you do no damage"

"you died because no defiance. your cds do nothing, you get 20% mitigation"

"we have a warrior that does bad damage" (based on an overhealing white mage that doesn't know how to lucid properly)

as a tank, you're always going to be wrong.