Shortage of Tank .......

[juniglee]

snip

So...in other words, you are saying that people should play a tank just to fill that void in the party requirements, they are otherwise unnecessary, and you could just run with 3 dps and 1 healer instead. Did I get that right?

It's no wonder nobody wants to play tank. DPS gets satisfaction from seeing big numbers. Healers get satisfaction from making clutch saves. What sort of satisfaction do you think a tank would get? If there's no satisfaction, why bother playing that class at all?

Saying a tank's ability has little to do with the success of a dungeon run is a very dumb statement. Everyone needs to pull their weight regardless of their role.

For your WP boss problem, telling him to gather the adds, instead of having the healer run in to aggro and Holy them, was a much better option. At least you are teaching the guy how to tank that boss for his subsequent dungeon runs. Having the healer do his job for him teaches him nothing.

Continue making statements like these, and people will be even less inclined to play a tank.

[Sephirah]

Rants of a madman

I think it's funny how quickly people lose sight of the impact gear has on content. Past level 50, your progression is solely based on your gear, but this is not unlike gaining levels.

Saying 3 DPS and a healer with relics and darklight don't need a tank to progress through the entry level 50 dungeons, is like saying a lvl 30 doesn't need a tank to kill something level 10.

All that means is you had a combination of being able to take the hits and a healer capable enough to keep you from dying despite your tanks inability to hold aggro. But let's see that happen with a group of people barely at the minimum gear requirements, it won't.

[Ri_ri]

The tank, in terms of dungeons, plays a marginalized role that has very little bearing to the group's success. As long as the tank isn't outright terrible his impact to winning or losing is minimal.

You're one of those people that does WP and AK with level 70/90 armor, aren't you?
Try doing the Aurum Vale without a tank... and tell me how easy it is.

[Darksword]

After getting some DL pieces for my SMN and SCH I was in the mood to try something of the smashy-stabby variety. I had a SAM/RNG as my alt job back in XI and the melee bug was biting.

In the end I decided to do my part to help the tank shortage and made a MRD, now WAR.

Rather than buying HQ stuff off the AH all the time, I decided to both level and gear via the dungeons as much as possible just for a change of pace. It worked out very well. I ran Sastasha runs until I had a Plundered Curaiss and Celata before moving on. Ran Halatali until I got a Doctores Bill, Coif, and Chainmail. Gaining a few levels each time. I'm currently decked out in GC gear and doing Brayflox runs for more armor in between FATE pops in Costa. It was cheap levelling, it was fun, and I got to work out my heretofore non-existent tanking skills and help newbies through the starter dungeons at the same time.

As someone who's spent the better part of a decade playing Healer/Off Healer (SMN, RDM, SMN/SCH) tanking was easy and fluid. You're used to hate control so you know exactly where the line is. You just make yourself push as far over it as you possibly can and be the tank you always wished for as a healer.

Tanking as a WAR has not been difficult thusfar. [Overpower > Overpower > Flash] on the pull, and then run your Heavy Swing > Skull Sunder combo twice on the main target. Then hit the main with Heavy Swing to activate the combo proc, tab targets to the next one and hit them with the Skull Sunder. Do it again for the other mobs. Then switch to Heavy Swing > Maim to finish off the current one. If you're getting beat down you pop Convalescense, Foresight, Blood Bath, Berserk, and spam Overpower on the pack to drain back HP and keep hate off the healer. That last one is also a neat trick for FATEs. The big Ququirn mob that comes all bunched up with the boss FATE at Highbridge usually goes down to my axe alone. I got like 17k EXP off it because I regularly killed EVERY enemy except the boss that way.

Our LS PLD is getting bored tanking tome runs every night, so they're all looking forward to me hitting cap. Should be an interesting ride.

I don't like the fact that parties in this game revolve around the tank, and I refuse to let it affect the runs. I don't care how badly you suck, I'll do my best to cover you and I'll be your buddy about it too. Almost had a Haukke run fall apart last night when the CNJ aggroed a Maiden in the middle of a three mob pull and we wiped. One of the DDs started complaining at the CNJ "healer aggroed it". They started arguing and I cut it off with "Healer aggro is the tank's fault. It's my job to get control of it and I wasn't fast enough. Sorry about that." Everyone chilled out and we went on to ace the run.

[mythicrose]

I leveled up my marauder through the duty finder. Most the time, people didn't even so much as say "hi" at the start of a run. About the only complaints I got was being "too slow" in the low dungeons because I wanted mobs slept (typically from the dps that couldn't so much as follow kill order sequence). From my perspective, I wanted to put as little stress on the healer to ensure I'd live.

Hell, I get more abuse with the level 50 dungeons than I did in the leveling dungeons. Typically I still run the DF just because I enjoy meeting people. But anymore, people try to make every WP/AK a "speed run" within the DF group. Dps want to AoE everthing (healers too), pull multiple groups, no longer give a flying fuck about their emnity, no regard as to my own TP/Mana status for overpowers/flashes. And of course, starved for TP while they continue to pull stuff and AoE it down...it's my fault when they inevitabley die.