Tank-specific tips for Extreme Primals

[PetiteMalFleur]

For Garuda the ROH animation is too long so my tank buddies suggest only building up to savage blade to grab their sister. MT (PLD) can Stoneskin self before WW. Both Garuda and the sisters will glow with a red aura as they cast slipstream. They also postrate and flex their wings. If the tank can recognize this animation it can help them avoid slipstream.

[Ehayte]

For Garuda the ROH animation is too long....

It doesn't matter, as long as you are in-range to start the skill you can go where ever you would like and it will still apply the damage, debuff, and enmity.

[Alkimi]

Not always the 2nd most hate. It actually randomly chooses someone between the 1st or 2nd on Garuda's hate list.

I usually OT this fight, and I'm rarely #2 on enmity. As a Warrior, I don't even use Defiance at all in this fight, and I generally use the Storm's Eye and Storm's Path combos more than the Butcher's Block combo when hitting Garuda. My enmity is actually pretty low. In any case, I always Provoke the Spiny Plume to start every phase. A DPS or Healer getting Spiny off the bat isn't the worst thing either. In many ways, it actually works out better.

A healer getting the spiny plume can be problematic but it rarely happens if the WHM uses Shroud whenever it's up (SCH will most probably never get it). As OT you should still make a conscious effort to be at least ahead of the healers on Garuda's hate list to make the fight smoother.

[Bigby]

I have off-tanked this fight many many times and I never provoke first, maybe our strategy is weird but it hasn't failed us yet. Since it never goes to the off tank I let it stay on whoever it attaches to (or mt can provoke if you want). Once it reaches 2 stacks I provoke it and throw a tomahawk or two at it, then I just proceed to heavy swing until it is at 1/3 health. Even healers can't take it from me. The only danger is if someone accidently attacks the spiny before I provoke as it makes it harder to get enmity.

Another tip: If your dps does not kill suprana before they jump, you can tank limitbreak with 1 bar to save your party. Use the LB just after they jump and only use the LB if your ranged can't kill it in the few seconds you have when they appears in the middle of the map.

[bokchoykn]

There are many ways to deal with the Spiny Plume. As long as nobody takes 3 stacks from it, that's all that really matters.

As OT, there are two reasons I start every phase by Provoking the Spiny Plume:

1. During the pocket phase, having the Spiny Plume on me allows me to pull it to the side, away from the group and away from Garuda. Everyone else stacks on top of Garuda, causing the Razor Plumes to also stack on top of Garuda. This way, when we AoE the Razor Plumes, the AoE hits Garuda as well. More damage on Garuda is always a good thing. Occasionally, some Razor Plumes attach to me, but these ones are ignored since I can survive them exploding on top of me.
   
   
2. During the sisters phase, Provoking the Spiny Plume off the bat allows for me to Provoke Suparna away from the MT once it cools down. The MT Provokes the Spiny Plume off of me while I Provoke Suparna off the MT. Tis makes it safer for melee to hit Suparna and eliminates the risk of the MT getting double Wicked Wheeled for a second time that phase.

[ispano]

This would certainly work well as a countermeasure for tanks who aren't familiar with when the Incinerates occur. One issue I see with this method is during Nails when the tank needs to face Ifrit in a specific direction so that it doesn't hit the melee DPS as they're killing the nails that are really close to Ifrit.

Generally, the way we've been doing it was to tank swap during periods where there won't be an Incinerate for several seconds, so that there is no risk of both tanks taking the same Incinerate.

The general idea is to have the tanks themselves and ranged kill those nails. In the unlikely event you have NO ranged though...

[Ragma]

Been trying my hand at making some tank perspective videos. Made a Garuda extreme guide. Maybe some of you can find it helpful or and provide any other tips, and worse case you can make fun of my bad tanking. If it helps at all let me know and ill gladly work on other primals and fight videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1RxqZHM1Sc

[bokchoykn]

This is our tanking sequence vs Ifrit on the final nails phase:

• Warrior provokes after the first Incinerate after he spawns nails.
  
• Paladin provokes after the Warrior takes three Incinerates (mitigated with Vengeance).
  
• Ifrit will now cast Infernal Howl on a healer, and then turn back around and do three Incinerates to the Paladin (mitigated with Sentinel)
  
• Ifrit will then cast: Eruption, then Infernal Howl on a healer, and then turn back around to do three more Incinerates. Paladin uses Hallowed Ground to negate all three.
  
• By the time Ifrit casts Incinerate again, the stacks on the Paladin have expired. Warrior provokes after 3 from here.

Using this technique, the Paladin keeps Ifrit for the 3/4 of the final phase, taking 9 Incinerates in a row but never going above three stacks. It gives the Warrior complete freedom to drop Defiance and help kill nails. It gives Healers a lot of breathing room to keep the DPS topped up. The Infernal Fetters are pretty much a non-factor since you're taking out two tank swaps from the entire phase. It makes everything super easy.

[Gamemako]

Been trying my hand at making some tank perspective videos. Made a Garuda extreme guide. Maybe some of you can find it helpful or and provide any other tips, and worse case you can make fun of my bad tanking. If it helps at all let me know and ill gladly work on other primals and fight videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1RxqZHM1Sc

Some feedback:



(1) Since you are taking little damage prior to first sister phase, you don't need to prep RoH for Suparna -- just use Fight or Flight and lob while healer doesn't panic or some silliness. Keeps everybody safe. Note that Suparna always spawns on the west side of Garuda.

(2) You really should focus target on Garuda so you can see the cast without guessing by animation. Additionally, if you didn't spend the time running around to get off the RoH, you'll be able to turn Garuda to the left and Suparna to the right to avoid hitting the pillar with Slipstream. Not a huge deal, but it helps.

(3) Garuda uses Friction on someone else. The one that may go after you is cast by Chirada. It doesn't necessarily appear at all if Chirada targets someone else.

(4) Should mention what cooldowns you're using. For PLD, use either Sentinel or both Foresight and Rampart for each double WW (you can't have Sentinel due to CD time) -- go head and use Sentinel for the first. You only have one double WW, so Sentinel alone is enough.

(5) Garuda's second WW in the first sister phase is after second Slipstream -> Downburst. Prepare to use cooldowns when she uses Slipstream.

(6) There is no double WW after Chirada is dead. Suparna can only cast WW while Chirada is alive. Garuda can only cast WW while Suparna is alive. Garuda is also invulnerable while Suparna is alive, and both sisters gain a damage resistance buff depending on the distance between the two (minimum 1 stack).

(7) The entire point of the double WW method is that you can have melee classes. If you have all ranged, the OT takes Suparna and the DPS kill it first. In that method, you can either chew up Chirada second or totally ignore Chirada and just hammer Garuda, using tank LB to survive nuke every sister phase.

(8) OT should not be deliberately damaging the spiny in any phase. That is unnecessary risk. The MT isn't going to lose Garuda, so once you provoke at two stacks, you have the perfect amount of time to reduce the spiny's HP without risking accidentally frying it and causing a wipe. Having the OT hit it is especially risky if you're holding Garuda near the middle, where it's really easy for a stray Holy to splat the weakened Spiny.

(9) The eye phase cue for provoking spiny is Garuda's second Slipstream. Avoid it and take the spiny at that time.

(10) Generally inadvisable to use LB on Chirada. In case of screwup, you will need tank LB to survive after jump.

Since you're doing split method, PLD MT is fine, but most groups will opt for double WW method because it's easier for one person to get everything right than for 6 people to get everything right.

[Serneum]

My reply is majorly late, but for those still struggling:

Garuda
To quickly and safely pick up your assigned sister, build up your combo with the first two hits (Fast Blade>Savage Blade or Heavy Swing>Skull Sunder) on Garuda. Then, hit a Rage of Halone or Butcher's Block on your assigned sister as soon as they spawn. Pre-emptively using an offensive cooldown helps with snap aggro too. Provoke is unnecessary here and should not be used in this situation. This is a basic and essential tanking technique and you should probably be already familiar with it.

A simple Shield Lob tends to snag me Suparna relatively easily. Then I Circle of Scorn, Flash, and Spirits Within as well.

During each sisters phase, predict the incoming burst damage (Wicked Wheel/Downburst) and pre-emptively pop a defensive cooldown to mitigate it. If you're tanking Garuda + Suparna, the burst occurs after they teleport and very shortly after Suparna casts Friction. It also helps to apply Rage of Halone / Storm's Path on one or both targets beforehand. If you're tanking Chirada, you'll get a red targeting symbol on your character a couple of seconds before it happens.

First phase, it's always after Friction from Suparna. Suparna/Garuda jump after Chirada takes a certain amount of damage, so the fewer people on Chirada the less likely they are to jump before the Friction and Wicked Wheel. We run a lot of ranged and burst Suparna down first. With one melee on Chirada, Suparna dies before they jump 90% of the time.

Second sisters phase, double Wicked Wheel will always come after Suparna casts her Slipstream.

Some feedback:
(4) Should mention what cooldowns you're using. For PLD, use either Sentinel or both Foresight and Rampart for each double WW (you can't have Sentinel due to CD time) -- go head and use Sentinel for the first. You only have one double WW, so Sentinel alone is enough.

Not entirely true. I can usually have my Sentinel up a few seconds before the next double Wicked Wheel. It's not a guarantee, but it is possible to do, even with really high DPS.