Can a tank main get through SB without actually tanking a duty for live players?

[Shurrikhan]

There is no expansion you can get through in this MMO without interacting with other players.

If you progress through the MSQ as a tank, you will tank for live players at least three times even in the most isolated expansion.

[Omedon]

You could easily level a dps and a tank through msq and side quests in SHB, I leveled Dancer, Bard and RDM that way. Trusts are perfect for practicing tanking and healing as well. Perhaps doing trusts as a tank will give you the confidence to run with other players eventually. I do understand your reluctance, I have always been DPS because I don't feel I react fast enough to tank or heal. If you level a dps and a tank, you can do the dungeons with trusts as a tank, then do the trials as dps.

This is actually a variation of what I was already considering: Play tank for 99% of the game starting with Shadowbringers, learn the dungeons with the trusts, and keep my RDM halfass up to date with the off-quest rewards and the odd roulette or deep dungeons, purely and completely for the mandatory trials and almost nothing else.

There is no expansion you can get through in this MMO without interacting with other players.

I don't ask to be a hermit, I just don't want to tank for other people. My enjoyment of the tank classes are in solo pursuits or role-agnostic content.

[Tlamila]

I would not burden them with my newness as a tank because "don't be new" is the first unwritten rule of MMO tanking.

I wonder why you think that. One can be new and tank at the same time, and learn as they go.
Of course it's better if you start taking from the start instead of starting the last 10 levels, and if you're worried about people you can do that with squadron all the way to 60. And I also wonder why you want to start tanking directly in ShB?

[Ceridwenae]

For Shadowbringers: do trusts for dungeons, Pixie tribe dailies (maybe Stormblood kojin & ananta if you like), bounty hunts weekly/daily including the ones from Stormblood if you like, plus do FATES as you come across them because every little counts. A mish mash of this is how I levelled WHM, and did not once interact with other players in duties (though I should say I did the MSQ on bard first).

[Elladie]

I wouldn't listen to people who tell you to learn to tank as you go. in my experience, if you're not running fast enough/in the way they want you to, the rest of your party will either run ahead and pull stuff 'for you' or complain and insult you. I enjoy the tank jobs, but I have levelled my DRK to 80 almost entirely on solo content to avoid exactly this. The only times I've run dungeons with players is if I've done a roulette with friends. 60 to 70 is hard work but I just spammed the top level squadron dungeons and Stormblood beast tribes and FATEs. 70 to 80 was actually fun running with the Trusts, I infinitely prefer them to most of the players I encounter. And this isn't me being a misanthrope, in my personal experience people are either rude or nasty or bad or a combination of the three. Sometimes I can face this as a healer or DPS, but as an inexperienced tank, it is very stressful and unpleasant.

I have been playing MMOs for nearly 20 years. I met some of my closest friends this way. But sadly the environment has changed very much for the worse in recent times and, as a consequence, I prefer to avoid other players as much as possible. Tools like the Duty Finder and content like instanced dungeons have - in my personal opinion - destroyed any need for players to avoid being toxic and/or know even basics about their job or role. But again, this is my opinion, and I very much enjoy playing this game with my friend group or solo. I am well aware most folks love the DF and I'm in no way asking for its removal

[TheMightyMollusk]

In Shadowbringers, only the first trial actually requires two tanks for a mechanic (specifically, the add phase). For the others, just say you're a first-timer and ask the other tank if they can take it. Most people will understand. So you can get through most of it without actually having to tank for live people, unless of course the other tank is also new (or just refusing to do it, but I've rarely seen that).

[linay]

Short answer: Yes, as long as you switch to TRUST for dungeons and switch to DPS/Healer for trials.

Side note: That would be inefficient, I think, if you're going through the MSQ for the first time and having to level at least two jobs (one being a Tank) at the same time. And at that point, are you really a Tank main any more? You might as well switch to being a Melee DPS main.

[Rasikko]

FFXIV has been, in my experience, incredible about being "a single player game that touches the community every now and then" when played purely for the story, and that community knows the dungeons and I do not. I would not burden them with my newness as a tank because "don't be new" is the first unwritten rule of MMO tanking.

I *love* tank classes for open world content. Tanks own the open world. That's why I retired from dungeon tanking, because I don't need to tank dungeons to be a tank in the games I play. Nothing about tanking for live players is calling me or conflicting me, I will not do it in FFXIV. I won't be around enough to learn it.

I stopped tanking because it got boring. I've had it all happen to me to: Healers pulling more, DPS pulling more, etc. I just figure, it must be the an accepted thing to just pull wall to wall even if you have no CDs available - it was my style that pull size is governed by my available CDs. Nope. Some people weren't having that. "Bruh I dun care if you got 0 CDs, pull 15 mobs, let's gogogogo". If healers love stressing themselves out, well it's their rodeo. Also by calling you, I meant the role, not necessarily tanking for others. Dancer yells at me whenever I'm on any other job.

So that said, no one is gonna force you(and I have been forced to tank as well, which then made me very picky on who I get acquainted with now), and tanking with trusts is very doable. Tanking with squadrons is a pain but doable. There is something for everyone in this game. For DPS, the queues can be harsh but for the most part the other 3 you don't have to really worry about. Take care of yourself, do you part and everything will be alright.

[Bright-Flower]

You can do trusts for msq dungeons, but not for on msq dungeons (to be fair, only two of these in SHB at level 80) and the three trials you'll have to do.

You can 'probably' get by saying you're new and having the other tank do the tanking in these. I don't recall them really 'requiring' two tanks. But I don't recommend this. There's always the chance the other tank will ALSO be new and not want to actually tank for live players. Or that the other tank could die and you have to pick up the boss to keep it from going after the party.

IMO, if you don't want to tank for players, just level a dps through the msq and then level a tank later through trust dungeons etc. Even if it's a trial/raid/alliance raid where there are other tanks, you should not queue in as a tank if you're not prepared to actually tank it. Because as I said above, there's always a chance the OTHER tank will ALSO be new or that the other tank will die or dc or something. Don't be one of those pseudo tanks in DF that queues in as a tank but doesn't actually want to tank.

[Derio]

You can actually do it provided you level up a dps at the same time. I am a tank main so I dont have this problem. But the xp you get from the leveling dungeons and MSQ along with side quests are enough to level 2 jobs from 70 to 80.

In your case you can do tank for the overworld stuff and you can do leveling roulette on dps to help counter any shortage of xp. Then you can use the dps for trials until you are comfortable with the mechanics.

However if I were you I would just dive in to trials as a tank and just let them know you are new. All of the leveling trials in SHB are 2 tanks with no tank swaps so you can technically just play OT and dps the entire time while looking at what the MT is doing so you can learn for next time.