So you want to be a tank?

[nasomi]

I was 50mrd in 1.0 and rerolled for 2.0. I'm glad I did, because it's a very different game, and I'd like to learn how to tank 2.0 as I level up, rather than jump into level 50 stuff and be completely lost.

[MithrasInvictus]

That was thoroughly entertaining, and a good read. I'm going to forward this to some friends who just started, and rolled tanks. ^^

[Natine]

This is a pretty solid explanation of the basics of tanking. Once you get these steps down all the other stuff just falls into place. Good job OP on this nice little instruction manual, hopefully it helps some new tank out there.

[nekochen]

Titan is the reason why we have very low amount of tanks. Titan needs to be removed from the game.

What...? No.

YES! and replace it with Pony that shoots rainbow instead of landslide. Replace Tumult with bursts of heart and love, instead of damaging you for 1,300 each stomp, it heals you for 5,000 HP.

[Nonlinear314]

Tanking tips:


Don't underestimate slow, especially on big slow monsters. 20% slower attack speed means 20% less damage from them. You can apply it yourself as a WAR by taking PUG's Haymaker (which I recommend for all WAR tanks, see next point).

You can use Flash between 1-2-3 combos and both tanks have a 40 tp move that is activated when they are being punched in the face and they can use between 1-2-3 emnity combo that won't break the combo. Shield Swipe for PLD (activates on block) and Haymaker for WAR (activates on dodge), use them when you are TP starved. If the mob has a TP move or w/e it will tend to use it after pacification from Shield Swipe wears off, use this to get ready.

Apply Fracture once your threat is solid, in packs of 2+ I usually apply fracture to all mobs once the first is dead. You won't keep up if you try to apply it before your emnity combo.

Use your interrupts/stuns to stop stuff from casting.

Be expected to mark stuff, get good at doing it quickly. You can usually mark the next pack while the last monster is being killed (assuming they are within LOS). If it is has big teeth or claws (i.e. hits hard) and/or low armor or has or a nasty TP and/or low hp I target them first. If it is big and slow and hits slow or is weak I save those for last.

Blow your CDs on trash, they are only 1.5 to 2 minute CDs and save your CDs for phase transitions, adds, etc. on bosses when healer has to move around (you get healed less, e.g. Rampart/Awareness/Foresight, etc.) or you are taking a lot of damage (you need healed more, e.g. Convalescence, e.g. Bloodbath, Inner Beast, etc.).

Save your provoke for oh sh*t button. How provoke works: it takes whoever is highest on the threat list (not including yourself) and puts you at +1, so if you have a 10% threat buffer compared to the next highest and you use Provoke it will actually lower your threat on that monster to < 1% buffer (i.e. next highest +1). You also need to follow up provoke with something to gain threat or else it will just turn around and go back to killing (assuming the attacked target doesn't stop)

Make provoke macro (PLD version):

/macroicon "Provoke"
/ac "Provoke" <t>
/ac "Shield Lob" <t>
/ac "Cover" <tt>

targeting wandering baddy and spamming macro will cast provoke then throw your shield for threat then cast cover on the monster's target.

[Cherry_Moon]

It's never too late to learn how to tank, or become a tank, etc. It's funny, in a new game at launch, everyone is a newbie tank because no one has end game gear and in most new games, no one knows the dungeon strategies.
As months and years pass, new tanks are always coming along, and they will be newbies too. We were all there at one point.

Threads like this support new tanks coming in so they can avoid the mistakes that others have made and learn how to fill the tank role effectively and development good habits, techniques and skills from the very start, or at least early in the game.

DPS, Utility and Healer roles need threads like this too!

I support the spirit of this thread.

[Dyrstahl]

Something not mentioned in this thread that really cannot be stressed enough is the enmity bars. These are THE ultimate tool for both DPS, Healer and Tanks. They're located left to the health bars of the party members. When the bar is full there's also an 'A' next to it, it means that player is being targeted by the monster you are currently targeting. Naturally, the higher the rest of the bars, the higher they are to stealing enmity. So if the tank is currently being attacked and a lancer has half his bar full, you know that he has 50% enmity of the tank. With this, it's very easy to know which monsters to concentrate on as a tank.

[Nonlinear314]

another tip I read for later dungeons (haven't had to use it yet).

Make call macro to alert group of bad stuff,

/p <se.#> will ding a sound effect to the party, where # is 1-15, e.g. <se.1>, <se.2>, ....<se.15>

[nasomi]

I'm going to write a conjuror one this weekend. in xi i was 75nin, 75pld, and 75whm, 1.0 i was 50war and 50whm, now i'm 25cnj and 24mrd and 24gld. Tank and healer is what I enjoy the most.

DPS varries to much from job to job, and I don't know it as well, so I can't really help out there.

Again, this is aimed at helping you find your footing in hte first couple dungeons, it's not an end game guide. How to get and keep hate. Once you ahve it down you can throw in other stuff like fracture and maim and bloodbath and shield bash. They're important, but until you can do this stuff, they really don't matter.

And I want cover. Out of sheer habit if something does peal off and hit a mage, I jump between them. I know it doesn't do anything, but it makes me feel better. It actually is probably worse because if they decide to cone attack, we both get hit instead of one or the other.

For conjuror,
/party [Gather together.] [Protect] > 3...2...1... <se.8>
/wait 3
/ac "Protect" <me>

That way people that are running off have a chance to come back.

[Altheras]

This is a good guide. I've been considering starting to tank a bit here. I have tanked in a few other MMOs in the past. This will help me to better understand how tanking works specific to this game. Thanks for the post OP.