A Healer Talks About Tanks

[JeniLinsky]

So I'm primarily a healer. A White Mage, to be exact, currently at level 33. I'm spending some time taking a break from leveling up my job while I run the three storyline dungeons collecting Alcolyte gear for when the vanity system finally shows up. I've run an average of two of those dungeons per day, every day, for a couple of weeks now... say, over thirty low-level dungeons. Maybe as many as fifty.

I'm also a regular reader of the forum here. And I've seen a culture developing of blaming tanks. There have been entire threads in the forum about how bad tanks in general are. And I have to say: poppycock.

Every one of the dungeons I've run have been pick-up groups through the duty finder. I don't mind using the duty finder, because I'm a princess... I mean, a healer. I put my duty finder request in, and within a minute or two, tops, I'm in a group. In the 30-50 dungeons I've run, I've encountered exactly one bad tank... the one who abandoned our group moments after the damage dealer characters admitted that it was their first run through that particular dungeon.

But you know what I've seen that's worse than bad tanks? People making tanks feel bad. I've seen good tanks apologizing because a mob shifted its attention for a few moments from the tank to a Thaumaturge or Arcanist. I've seen tanks bending over backward to hold agro, and saying they felt like they weren't doing a good job.

What that says to me is that people aren't just giving tanks a hard time in the fora, they're taking that attitude into the game, and giving tanks grief. And I'd like it to stop. Because this is a game, which we're playing for fun. And no one likes feeling like a failure; no one likes being yelled at when they're doing their best. Give tanks grief, and they'll stop tanking.

And I like being a princess too much to give up my short duty finder queue times.

Instead, I'd invite everyone to think about what they, personally, can do to help the tank hold agro. Healers, don't spam your highest agro-generating heal, Medicae, if only the tank is taking damage. Think about how much damage the tank is taking, and how fast, and don't over-heal. Keep her on her feet, but she doesn't have to have a full bar at all times.

Damage dealers, stay on the tank's target unless there's a good, strategy-related reason not to. (EDIT: I'm told this is a poor example. I'm a healer, not a DD, so what do I know about how Damage Dealers do thier jobs? My point is simply that there are things everyone can do to keep the agro down).

And everyone... communicate more! Tell each other what would be helpful to having a good run. The best, most rewarding dungeons I've been in were those where everyone participated in talking about how to beat the dungeon. Maybe they weren't the fastest speedruns, but they were the dungeons when I had the best time... and I've made friends out of those runs.

TL;DR: When you point at the tank, there are three fingers pointing back at you.

[Synnshayd]

Simple solution. Someone wants to be a critic, I feint a pull, let them tank, and drop group. I'd rather wait 15 minutes and enjoy my insta-queue with decent people who can accept that they themselves messed up, resulting in the problem.

[AriaHawksong]

As a tank, I feel that this is nice to see. Fortunately I haven't encountered the dilemmas these days that alot of tanks who use the Duty Finder encounter, but that is probably because to avoid the matter entirely, I just tank for friends, people who appreciate me, and in turn I defend them. If people were less toxic, I am certain that more tanks would use the duty finder.

I will admit there is a specific dungeon (from experiences thus far) that I dread bringing DDs that are new to the dungeon through, and primarily, that's DDs that can't grasp the concept of Temple of Qarn's first boss mechanic that to remove doom, you need to stand on the lit panel, and to kill the adds, lest you want your tank to die. xD; I would never leave over it, but you can guarantee I will go into excruciatingly painful detail of "what you need to do, and you better do it" if they keep dying to doom, or I to Final Sting. XD;

But yes, treat your tanks nice, and they'll treat you kindly in return.

[Pixiestyx]

Ummm you can't stay on tanks target as a dps as they are constantly changing in order to keep hate.
But I never ever say anything bad towards tanks unless they deserve it 100%. If they aren't doing their job and then start screaming at members for no reason yeah I might say something.
2 war tanks ifrit hm one was supposed to tank while other stunned an aoe. Well the tank that was decided tank was fine the one who was supposed to stun wasn't. In end we died several times as we kept asking who's stunning? After the several deaths he got mad as did another person in party. He blamed other tank then told the person he had words with that she shouldn't be playing because gamers aren't females. And she should along with me be in the kitchen where we belong. But hey he was the off tank he didn't do his job. So does he deserve respect?

[AriaHawksong]

Ummm you can't stay on tanks target as a dps as they are constantly changing in order to keep hate.
But I never ever say anything bad towards tanks unless they deserve it 100%. If they aren't doing their job and then start screaming at members for no reason yeah I might say something.
2 war tanks ifrit hm one was supposed to tank while other stunned an aoe. Well the tank that was decided tank was fine the one who was supposed to stun wasn't. In end we died several times as we kept asking who's stunning? After the several deaths he got mad as did another person in party. He blamed other tank then told the person he had words with that she shouldn't be playing because gamers aren't females. And she should along with me be in the kitchen where we belong. But hey he was the off tank he didn't do his job. So does he deserve respect?

One's sex/gender should never be brought up in regards to competency in gaming. I know plenty of people who can play at a very competent level (myself included) that are female. It's an old myth that is as good as a dead horse, so stop beating it. *laughs* if a Tank isn't doing their role, then it might be nicer to talk to them privately to ensure they understand what they need to do. If they still retaliate, or are in denial, well there is only so much you can do... no one likes being put on the spot, but they may respond better to private communication/constructive criticism, and so on.

[JeniLinsky]

So does he deserve respect?

I'm not saying that people who wear their hats on their butts should be respected for their misplaced heads. I'm saying that, when the tank is doing her best, respect her, and for the twelve's sake, help her out! It's a group effort!

[NoctisCaelus]

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...-Current-Tanks.

I felt the same way so I made this in hopes more people would understand the role and how difficult it can be sometimes.

Edit:

Btw, I appreciate this thread. It's refreshing especially since I can relate. :3

[Pixiestyx]

Sadly you can't send tell while in a duty and it was a tank found through duty finder.

I was actually staying out of it till he brought up the female gamer stuff. I know a lot of females who game along with myself. And I agree gender should not have been brought up. It made him look like a jerk and he was reported for things he said by another person. Only other time I was upset with tank was during a Vale run when he got pissed off at other DPS who accidently pulled mobs at very beginning. We lived but tank still screamed they both threw as I like to call it temper tantrums where tank said fine I'm going afk then stood by exit till DPS threw his temper tantrum and left. Then tank started screaming at me to reopen dungeon which it was. He asked me to give him lead which it wasn't letting me then got huffy and left.
So not all tanks deserve a pat on the back. Most but not all.


Oh some of my best friends and my husband play tanks. So I do agree they can be disrespected just as healers can and even some DPS. I will always say it happens don't worry if tank loses arggo because it does. If it didn't we would become bored lol

[AriaHawksong]

haha I completely forgot you can't send tells while in duty *laughs* Well yeah that can get problematic. Trust me, I wish I had the patience of a saint, so I can understand that repeated wiping can stress some people out. Problem is people have grown too used to complaining rather than doing something to fix the problem, that convincing the playerbase as a whole (there are so many that don't even read forums at all), will prove difficult. I would like to see more people put forth effort as a whole to contribute what you can to your temporary group. You're more than likely with them for roughly an hour, might as well make the most of it. I fin that explaining things before boss fights, or troublesome pulls tends to alleviate most problems. Labeling targets also seems to help alot too in getting everyone on one target.

And yeah, anyone who brings gender into a conversation talking about skill, I immediately think of them as nothing more than a troll. >.> No one honestly feels that females are lesser in skill, and those that do are either trolls, for very ignorant.

[kimoi]

I think the people who blame tanks the most are ones who've never been one. Maybe they don't know exactly what goes into it.


I did Cape Westwind yesterday, and it took a while to find a competent party through Duty Finder. Usually someone would quit in frustration leaving the rest of us out of luck and needing to requeue. On my third party, we almost beat it on the first try, and were probably within one hit of winning before the final member wiped. I thought that was a good sign since we had gotten so far. The next try started bad, however, one of those bad starts where I guess a mage got too excited and took aggro before the main tank had hold of the boss. So the boss is ping-ponging around ridiculously. As subtank, I try to at least get it to calm down by sending a Provoke/Tomahawk at it. It started to come to me, but immediately got angry at someone else.

It's not easy to hold aggro on a enemy bouncing around the arena. But this one DPS didn't seem to understand that. I guess she was dead because after the wipe, I see her parting words.

OMG what are the tanks doing
Use taunt
You guys are really awful

She self-righteously left before anyone could tell her how misinformed she was. She left us all to linger in a non-full party, a group that had been so close to finishing.

1. What's "Taunt"?
2. Provoke is 40secs cooldown. I don't know about the paladin, but, um, yes I used it.
3. It's not a magic button, it still can fail if others are still generating enmity quickly.

Her complaints seem to point to that she didn't know any of that. The point of all this, is:

Don't get angry at tanks if you don't know how they work.

Luckily my next party beat it easily on our first try. I hope she's still stuck on that battle.