Stepping into raid Tanking

[NozDeathlos]

I don't know if this is the right thread for it but i have particular question about tanking in raids and ex as I am new to the game. Particularly about dps stances. I tried MT O2 normal as DRK and turned grit off as soon as I did 1 enmity combo (Dark Arts + power slash). Soon enough i lost aggro. I tried it in Exdeath savage and his autoattack hits me hard so I turned it back immediately (panic mode) and stayed in grit while im MT.

I tried WAR and it seems a lot easier to maintain aggro and a lot easier to switch to tank stance when emergency happens. i feel more confident tanking in dps stance as war than as dark. A shame because I main DRK.

so the question will be: how do you measure you have gained enough enmity so that you can safely switch to dps stance without losing aggro?
related question: i saw in some threads on the internet that WAR doesnt need enmity combo to hold enmity. Is there an explanation on it?

apologies if this is not related to the topic

[whiskeybravo]

Aggro needs to be monitored throughout the fight when in dps stance, there really isn't a measure for how much is enough, as once you switch stances your natural enmity generation will decrease while healer and everyone else keeps going up. So it's best to just keep an eye on and add enmity combos if it starts getting to close. And make sure the tanks are shirking when appropriate, healer and dps using threat drops, etc.

I don't have any experience raiding on drk, but can tell you mostly without a doubt it will be easier on war simply because they have more CDs to rotate.

As for war not needing an enmity combo. You really need a ninja to help pull that off. I could probably go without butchers but I do it in my opener anyways because IMO I'm going to have to do one or a few sooner or later, so I just do one in the opener and more if I need to later on (tho I sometimes do more than I should, mostly due to my controller setup)

[cheolsu]

just in case you haven't seen it, there's these little white bars on the party list showing just how much enmity you have compared to everyone else

https://img2.finalfantasyxiv.com/acc...0e9efaad1d.jpg

[Ekimmak]

How easily you can handle aggro while in DPS stance depends on your co-tank and your DPS.

Some DPS consider Diversion to be an unnecessary skill because of Shirk, and some tanks believe Shirk to be unnecessary because DPS should be using Diversion.

[NozDeathlos]

just in case you haven't seen it, there's these little white bars on the party list showing just how much enmity you have compared to everyone else

https://img2.finalfantasyxiv.com/acc...0e9efaad1d.jpg

Hi, yes i usually goes to dps stance when im already an A on the list, but after a while i can lose aggro. So i am wondering if theres a safer cue for me to drop tank stance

[NozDeathlos]

How easily you can handle aggro while in DPS stance depends on your co-tank and your DPS.

Some DPS consider Diversion to be an unnecessary skill because of Shirk, and some tanks believe Shirk to be unnecessary because DPS should be using Diversion.

Oh so enmity is more like a team efforts rather than individual in raid? So it is normal then to switch to dps stance after initial pull?

[whiskeybravo]

Oh so enmity is more like a team efforts rather than individual in raid?

100% team effort

Well.. At least like 90% lol. There are certain situations where you just need to lay it down and it's all on you. (example that comes to mind is adds in v3s, if I didn't prep my butcher's properly our dps would rip off everytime)

So it is normal then to switch to dps stance after initial pull?

Yes but when you switch exactly depends on your group and to a certain extent the actual encounter. If you have a NIN they you can technically switch after tomahawk+Equilibrium pull. For the most part I swap stances after Eye combo but on Neo I complete butcher's and wait until the first aero 3 before swapping. This is just my own habit due to having a lot of whm aggro probs earlier on.

[NozDeathlos]

@whiskeybravo i didnt see your previous reply^^ i guess i just need to practice more in stance swapping then. My tanking hour is still not enough! I actually didnt know that ninja helps in enmity generation. And i surely didnt know that equilibrium gains enmity. Lots to learn in this game^^ thanks for all the insights!

[whiskeybravo]

@whiskeybravo i didnt see your previous reply^^ i guess i just need to practice more in stance swapping then. My tanking hour is still not enough! I actually didnt know that ninja helps in enmity generation. And i surely didnt know that equilibrium gains enmity. Lots to learn in this game^^ thanks for all the insights!

I mean, unless stuff starts hitting the fan you generally won't need to switch back. If all goes smooth you pull, swap, and stay dps stance the entire encounter. But it's just all about what your comfortable with. I still spend a decent amount of time in Defiance on Neo for easier aggro snaps but we are still working to clear. Better safe then sorry approach xD

And just to clarify, Ninja has a few nice utilities to help manage aggro. They can temporarily give their own enmity to the tanks as a boost and also reduce aggro generation of a party member. A combination that helps a lot!