Tanking 101

[dspguy]

Back when 2.0 came out, some ARR dungeons were very difficult to pull wall-to-wall. SE's has mostly addressed that in future expansion dungeons as well as going back and reworking ARR dungeons. For the most part, the party's toolset is designed for these pulls. Between the tank's mitigation, healer's kit and DPS's AOE burst damage, it is expected to wall-to-wall pull. And frankly, if you die... then you die. The time lost in that ONE dungeon might be small, but the more skilled players the server has, the faster everything is completed as players learn.

[Sqwall]

Back when 2.0 came out, some ARR dungeons were very difficult to pull wall-to-wall. SE's has mostly addressed that in future expansion dungeons as well as going back and reworking ARR dungeons. For the most part, the party's toolset is designed for these pulls. Between the tank's mitigation, healer's kit and DPS's AOE burst damage, it is expected to wall-to-wall pull. And frankly, if you die... then you die. The time lost in that ONE dungeon might be small, but the more skilled players the server has, the faster everything is completed as players learn.

Also the complete lack of AOE Combos for WAR and PLD in 2.0. Hell PLD only had Flash...which did zero damage. Scorn was trash as it only used ASAP to generate agro, but it wasn't enough if you had a BLM that would unload ASAP or a DRG dropping bombs.

2.0 was just another animal for tanking all together...and was more akin to WoW vanilla. Tab targeting to next mob to maximize agro (change mob for Rage of Halone combo)...WAR was just as bad as Overpower would WRECK your TP...then you would be standing there with no resources to DPS...to keep gaining agro. 2 over power MAX...then tab target between GCD's and bring Overpower in every so often.

2.0 tanking was....pretty rough tbh....Agro was based off of Tank Damage vs. stance on or off what we have now. I would build agro with shield oath...then change to sword oath after I felt comfortable with agro...but I took 20% more damage while in sword oath...so you had to be careful not to kill your self or OOM your healer.

[Sqwall]

I would also add:

-8 man tanking vs. 4 Man tanking and knowing when you are the OT or MT. Typically the norm is who turns stance on first or has the highest HP. Unless a tank says otherwise i.e. "Can I MT?"

-Know what each tank buster does...

• Invlun timings
• Cone/Cleave (and how large)
• Line Tank Buster
• Shared
• Swap
• Double Swap
• Either/or (random buster on each tank flare or point blank and vice versa)
• Stack
• added DOT/Bleed
• Debuff with phsyical damage increased
• Debuff with elemental damage increased
• Debuff with Magic damage increased

-Getting used to tank positioning for DPS players, and moving a boss for positioning with max melee in mind. Moving a boss while DPSing or stutter stepping. (this takes a long time to master since each savage boss is different)

-Knowing when a Boss will go mid or teleport. This helps with always being max melee or using your ranged attack when you can't reach the boss. Remember ABC. (Always be casting)

- Reprisal and Party Utility mitigations/heals. USE USE USE these as sometimes it can mean a clear or 2-3 deaths because sometimes those savage raid wides can just wipe out squishy targets without that added mitigation.

-Communicate with your MT/OT and work with them. The tanks are kind of on a small team...and sometimes called Tank-Bromance. Those tank busters hurt...and tanks need to be in sync so as not to kill each other or other raid members...So take the time to hash out party utility mitigations and reprisal rotation.

-Watch the agro bars....I have seen times when a DPS is in second and that tells me the OT doesn't have their stance on. Or maybe they turned their stance off on purpose for a reason...always be aware of what your OT is doing so you can stay in sync...and keep each other in check. Remember your a small team.