Cover?

[Bones3160]

Can anyone give an example of when/how they use cover. I been working on my paladin for my fc, and I think I'm pretty good with it but I'm having trouble weaving this skill in during combat. Seems like it has too many limitations; person has to be in range, do they have hate, if so then I wasn't doing my job to begin with. If they don't have hate, am I just covering them from aoe damage? Why can't they just dodge? Although everyone gets caught in an aoe once in awhile, to be able to time that right with cover seems like it could be difficult?

[Bones3160]

Is it possible to put it in a macro, like:
/ac Cover <tt>

Does that work? Just a one hit button in case you lose hate and the party member is nearby? I'm just not sure.

[Lemon8or]

You should use it when you know someone is not gonna live through a certain unavoidable aoe like hellfire/aerial blast/tumult/earthen fury. I was in a pug for garuda NM yesterday as a SCH and a BLM died twice not having enough HP for aerial blast so I told the PLD to use it and he's like I never use it. What? It's there for you to use it. Play smart.
The macro works but it'd have to be /ac "Cover" <tt> though if you lose aggro, it's already your fault, kinda. Just target the party member with aggro and use the normal Cover. The mouse-over would work better if you're on PC. If you're using controller, use up and down on D-pad to get to the party member.

[Zoomie]

You should use it when you know someone is not gonna live through a certain unavoidable aoe like hellfire/aerial blast/tumult/earthen fury. I was in a pug for garuda NM yesterday as a SCH and a BLM died twice not having enough HP for aerial blast so I told the PLD to use it and he's like I never use it. What? It's there for you to use it. Play smart.

Cover is for physical damage only. I'm 99% sure it won't work on aerial blast.

The only times I've used it are for an added layer or protection while a melee is Limit breaking or for fun. I tend to tank Hydra A LOT (5 times yesterday) because people have issues with it or just need it for their relic. I enjoy using cover on the other tank and poping hallowed to eat a few triumverates. Imho it needs to have a longer range and absorb both phys and magic damage. It would become much more useful.

[Hahahahahahaha]

The most useful I've found cover is for when I'm running WP with my very geared BLM FC mate. He'll pop a double flare with raging strikes up and without quelling strikes, and it's more or less a sure thing that he'll get aggro on one or two things. He just knows I'll react quickly and cover him while I get the threat back. Additionally, it can be used in certain situations where you are off-tanking to pop a CD and cover the main tank when he/she is out of cooldowns or saving them for a more important moment, but it's very rare that you can get away with that because of cleave mechanics / other things you should be doing in the fight.

[PArcher]

I run with a PAL who like Cover (almost never see it in PUGs and DF though, even when it could be used). For the most part, it isn't needed, but when is its a lifesaver.

WP runs are where I see it most, especially when pulling 3+ groups at once. PAL pulls everything, Covers WHM, WHM spams Cure II. Other times if the WHM doesn't need Cover, it goes to the BLM or BRD (whoever pulls more aggro at the time). He also likes to use it during the Pudding boss, but honestly, I don't think it actually works on the AoE...

Outside of WP...its really just whenever someone needs it; caster or heal pulls too much aggro, gets Covered, fight goes on.

I've also heard its VERY effective on Titan HM. MT a WAR (or a PAL, really doesn't matter), OT a PAL, use Cover for a Table Flip if the MT isn't topped off.

[Gardes]

I use it on my provoke macro. Something like

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

Basically I'll target the loose monster and mash this macro for a bit if I see it suddenly gun for someone else for whatever reason. By mashing the macro, I would first provoke and then use lob/tomahawk as soon as my gcd is available. I use lob/hawk because when I lose threat on this mob, it is unlikely that I am currently targeting it, plus, I found that the enemy enmity list (the colored symbols) to be slower on the uptake than the actual enmity bars on the party list, so it is also likely that the monster has moved out of my standing position. Lobbing my shield at this point will likely break my combo but it hasn't screwed me over so far.

Anyway, at this point, if provoke and lob combo have not brought back the monster to me, the monster will still be targeting someone else (like healer still adamant on overhealing, for example), at which point the macro mash will make cover <tt> kick in. When I see that cover icon come up, that's signal for me to move over personally and wrestle it off the party member. If mashing this macro over one gcd does not make cover pop up on my scrolling combat text, that means I have regained aggro smoothly and the monster is targeting me (cover wont kick in since <tt> will be directed at me, can't really cover myself huh) so I'll let it come back over and pile a little bit more enmity on it before proceeding normally.

[Ferth]

I use it on my provoke macro. Something like

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

Warriors don't get access to cover.

Or does the command '/ac "Shield Lob/Tomahawk" <t>' actually differentiate what job you are on and use the corresponding ability?

P.S. Provided what ever you are fighting is dealing physical damage popping cover on the maintank while using defensive cooldowns has been used as an effective strategy in certain situations.

[Bones3160]

Thanks, I'm seeing some uses when I lose aggro in a mob situation but I'm still struggling a bit on bosses like hm primals. If I pop it to cover for mt, w/o shield oath, I might be a goner. Also, if I'm that close where I pop it for mt am I already in the line of fire? I get how it could help a weaker, defense wise, party member on an aoe from a hm primal, if it can be used in that scenario, but if not it just seems like its uses are very limited in very select situations. Too bad, it seemed to have potential except for the #1 rule in mmo's "don't stand next to the tank." I do like the wp black mage example to burn thru adds quicker, have to coordinate with bm first tho, prob not for a df group.

[Gardes]

Oh sorry, I completely forgot. I pretty much used one macro and since I havent browsed my own macro in a while...

/micon "Provoke"
/ac "Provoke" <t>
/ac "Shield Lob" <t>
/ac "Tomahawk" <t>
/ac "Cover" <tt>

This is my exact macro. Micon on provoke since the timer is more important than the gcd timer. On pld, the tomahawk will be ignored (producing the error notification on the upper area of the screen). On war, the shield lob (and cover) will produce the error notification but yeah. Error blinking is par for the course for macros anyway. Saves slot, still works.