I'm gonna say something unpopular: I don't like to rush.

[tdb]

I have a question to tanks that say they can't do more than one pack. How do you know you can't handle more than one pack?

This doesn't really answer your question of "how do you know", but perhaps I can offer some insight to why some tanks don't like to do big pulls. It may be due to input overload and the resulting discomfort. I rarely have this in FFXIV but I'll use two other games as an example.

Path of Exile is an ARPG where the endgame consists of "maps" - items which open up a playfield with specific parameters when used. Close to the max level EXP gains become very slow, and the general consensus (at least when I last played) is that the best way to get EXP is to do repeated runs of particular types of maps very fast. I tried that once, and while I survived the attempt, I constantly felt like I was not in control of the situation, that at any moment a surprise monster pack could get me killed. So I opted to just spend 7-10 minutes to complete each map in a way that lets me consider each situation and make me feel safe, instead of the 3-4 minute runs that some players do.

Deep Rock Galactic is an FPS where you mine minerals and fight monsters. On higher difficulty levels more enemies appear and they hit harder. If there's enemies on several sides, or I'm in a too tight space, I can no longer process all of the information I'm given to find a safe escape route. Sometimes it's hard to find even a single flying enemy which keeps shooting me. If the difficulty is high enough that usually results in enough damage to kill me. Fortunately the difficulty level is selectable so I can pick one I'm comfortable with.

In FFXIV this sensory overload problem is less severe because all the information about the fight is in front of me and enemies mostly don't appear out of nowhere. Having a lot of enemies using AoE on me can still degrade my performance. My focus shifts to avoiding the AoEs and attacking goes on autopilot. That means I'll mostly use the two basic AoE attacks and forget more fancy attacks with cooldowns. I'm pretty good at avoiding the AoEs though, so as long as the healer and dps are up to the task of keeping me alive and eliminating the enemies it's fine.

[Veis_Alveare]

Having a lot of enemies using AoE on me can still degrade my performance. My focus shifts to avoiding the AoEs and attacking goes on autopilot. That means I'll mostly use the two basic AoE attacks and forget more fancy attacks with cooldowns. I'm pretty good at avoiding the AoEs though, so as long as the healer and dps are up to the task of keeping me alive and eliminating the enemies it's fine.

I get what you're saying here but that's kind of a moot point in XIV as a tank - as long as you get off an AoE combo or two (even if there are gaps between your GCDs) and start with a CD you'll be totally fine. You don't really need 100% uptime on a trash pack for things to be going well since there are three other people there who aren't being targeted by so many AoE who will kill the stuff for you.

The enmity changes in ShB have made tanking so easy you actually can just focus on your AoE dodging a lot and you're still doing just fine. And it's still better than doing single pulls since the dps loss of a tank not keeping perfect uptime is a lot less than what you lose from single pulling.

You'll only get comfy with that dodging by doing it for a while too. Holminster still makes me cringe with the AoE on the ground in the pulls between the first and second bosses because they blend in so well. Everyone is just out there trying to do their best (or they should be at least >_>) so try to stay relaxed and know that the majority of parties isn't gonna freak over you getting clipped by an AoE or even a total wipe.

Better to try and fail than to never try at all!

[Nestama]

This I can get behind, though I'm still not fond of the idea of being like "hey tank here's some extra stuff for you to do and you better do it or you're bad!". It really isn't that hard to ASK someone to do something before you just force them to do it. Party chat exists for a reason. Why not use it?

I think one reason why people don't ask is because they're unsure how someone will act. Asking if a tank could pull more kinda falls in line with asking DPS to AoE, or a Healer to DPS. Sometimes you'll get lucky and either get a "sure thing!" or no response at all, but a clear indication that they're willing to do what you asked... but then there's the chance you'll get the high and mighty privileged "don't tell me what to do!" people and some of us have seen this enough times that it feels like it's better to just throw the person into the deep end of the pool first and then see whether they were okay with it, or they'd prefer it if people didn't do that.

[tdb]

I get what you're saying here but that's kind of a moot point in XIV as a tank - as long as you get off an AoE combo or two (even if there are gaps between your GCDs) and start with a CD you'll be totally fine. You don't really need 100% uptime on a trash pack for things to be going well since there are three other people there who aren't being targeted by so many AoE who will kill the stuff for you.

Yeah, I can hold aggro no problem. And I haven't had anyone complain about my tanking so far. I've even received all three comms several times. But I know there's elitists out there who think everyone not performing in the top 10% dps is wasting their time. I mean, back in Stormblood some tanks ran dungeons in dps stance and with dps materia because it let them do more damage. A few were even able to pull it off and still hold aggro. That's moot now of course since tank stance has no downsides, but I hope I never have to meet someone who demands me to use their personal meta of the week. And this implies that the suggested strategy is not or only marginally beneficial. I'm happy enough to incorporate advice into my playstyle but if someone wants me to eat AoEs and vuln stacks so they can get a better dps parse, yeah no. And I guess this has gone off on a tangent so I'll stop ranting now.

[linayar]

Choosing not to tank extra mobs pulled by the DPS or Healer can/will cause a wipe (since the DPS and/or Healer are most likely AoEing the first pack, which means they're now on the extra mobs aggro table).

And that is why it's very rude thing to do to pull more mobs because one player is creating and forcing the situation on the whole party.

[Alleluia]

I think one reason why people don't ask is because they're unsure how someone will act. Asking if a tank could pull more kinda falls in line with asking DPS to AoE, or a Healer to DPS. Sometimes you'll get lucky and either get a "sure thing!" or no response at all, but a clear indication that they're willing to do what you asked... but then there's the chance you'll get the high and mighty privileged "don't tell me what to do!" people and some of us have seen this enough times that it feels like it's better to just throw the person into the deep end of the pool first and then see whether they were okay with it, or they'd prefer it if people didn't do that.

You could also just get a calm. "No." and have to accept it.

[HeulGDarian]

There is actually a perfect boss that i completely hate that test if you can do or not a big pull. The second boss of amaurot. Idk about you but if you can survive the 15 adds it throws at you then its pretty silly to go back to pulling 1. I will also say that the thing that dictates how fast a dungeon will go is not how much you pull but how good your dps is, even on big pulls if youre a good dps then you can help a tank or a heal who is undergeared by the virtue of they cant kill you if they are dead. That beeing said id prefer if people didnt do small pulls because it literally neuters my contribution as a dps , since my job at single pulls can be done by a trust.

Not only that it cant be stated enough but it is not a playstyle ,because:
1) youre not playing differently
2) you slow down the pace for the rest of the players as well
Unless the reason is being im new or i dont have gear , it doesnt do you any favors , at some point you will meet people who want to go faster , or adds that hit harder, you will have to hit those extra buttons. The thing that worries me the most though is that , this comment wont change your minds and the game will continue to either stay stale on difficulty or worse it will get even easier. Accessibility has not been implemented well this expansion , accessibility shouldnt be make all jobs easier it should be teach the players better.


It all doesnt matter though , when 2 players are talking, how to get a guy who simply pulled more adds , banned and the reaction it gets is meh lets continue our talk instead of reporting for wanting to abuse the report system , then you get a pretty good picture about the mentality of this forum. it isnt about how to improve relationships between the 2 groups so that they can both be satisfied, its about your own egos. Thankfully inside the game people are more patient and understanding , and they just leave if they dont like it.

[linayar]

Idk about you but if you can survive the 15 adds it throws at you then its pretty silly to go back to pulling 1.

This game is filled with silliness. That's not a bad thing.

Not only that it cant be stated enough but it is not a playstyle ,because:
1) youre not playing differently

Not really. There is a chance to single target if the pack is small enough.

2) you slow down the pace...

And a different pacing is also a different playstyle.

It's why some people can't get used to FFXIV's longer GCD compared to some other games that also have a GCD. GCD is GCD, but having it be longer is enough of a playstyle difference for some people.

[phantomr23]

And that is why it's very rude thing to do to pull more mobs because one player is creating and forcing the situation on the whole party.

Can't say this logic holds out when that could be applied to everything the tank does. Is single pulling not "creating and forcing a situation on the whole party"? Like, I get it, it is rude to try and force things without talking about it but anything the tank does can be construed as forcing a situation - they're the leader.

[linayar]

Can't say this logic holds out when that could be applied to everything the tank does. Is single pulling not "creating and forcing a situation on the whole party"? Like, I get it, it is rude to try and force things without talking about it but anything the tank does can be construed as forcing a situation - they're the leader.

Nope, because you have to single pull to start with anyway, unless you just want to stand at the beginning of the dungeon and never pull.