Tanking problems

[Drhankeey]

Thanks guys, I was halfway to checking out other classes but I still like gladiator's alot .. so I think I'll just continue on. I'm kinda new at tanking to begin with so it's not too easy, but it goes fine if people stay back and let me attack.

I do all my quests, in fact I put priority to main and class quests to get them on par for my level before doing other quests. I must say I do sometimes forget my "shield throw" ability so I should use that more often. All in all I guess I should just keep on trying as tank.

Btw, on lv.30 I should get the Paladin job right? So it's smart to get a Conjurer to lv.15 already?

[Lelouchi]

hulk smash!!!!

[Mykll]

Yes you will want to get PLD at 30. Or very soon after. You can still tank as GLD in your 30s mostly fine, but hitting the 40+ content, while the rest of your party is bringing their upgraded Jobs, will be hard to tank. So at some point, yep, get that CNJ going.

If you are out and about doing quests in the world, or hunting log, or whatever, you can always practice tanking on those mobs. Practice that Shield Lob. Shield Bash. Flash. Doing a full rotation. Flashing in the middle of rotation. Flash will not break your combo chain. Especially mobs that do some sort of line, aoe, or cone attack. Try to time your shield bash, or ways of avoiding that cone aoe easier (which is tanking as CLOSE to the mob as possible, so that you are at the very tip of the cone, and won't have to move as far to get out of it). So you can maybe get a lot more comfortable with your "tanking" abilities without actually being in a group.

[Maelwys]

Btw, on lv.30 I should get the Paladin job right? So it's smart to get a Conjurer to lv.15 already?

Yep.

Ideally you'll eventually want to take CNJ to level 34 so that your Paladin can cross-class Stoneskin (and Marauder to 26 for 'Foresight', 'Bloodbath' and 'Mercy Stroke') but wait until your Tank is higher than that.
(Whenever you level up a new class, you get a major exp boost if you already have another class that's higher level...)

Paladin works quite well without cross classing any abilities at all, Stoneskin is just a very very good "Nice to have"- especially once you hit 50 and start running harder dungeons.

[Niwashi]

DPS and healers shouldn't be running ahead of the tank (though on low-level content they can sometimes get away with playing badly). If people are running ahead of you, there's two basic possibilities:

1) They're new too, and don't know what they're doing.
2) They know they should let you lead, but they don't care.

Try starting out the dungeon by saying something along the lines of: "Hi everyone. I'm new at tanking, so bear with me and give me a moment to mark the mobs and get a blow or two in before you join the fighting. I need to learn how to do this."

The people in group (1) have been given some useful advice about how they should be playing their roles, and they've been given that advice in a context that won't offend their ego. (A lot of people get offended at well-meant advice if they think it sounds like criticism, but by pointing out that this advice comes from the fact that you're new rather than that they are, they're less likely to feel offended at the advice and therefore may have a better chance of following it.) The result could be that you get a better run, and they (as well as you) get better at their classes. win-win

The people in group (2) are likely running ahead because they see this as just another run through simple content, and they may not realize there's anyone in the group who wants more from it than they do (which is just a quick completion reward). They're running ahead because they know the content is simple enough (at least at their level and experience) that they can get away with taking aggro which the tank should properly have. The considerate players amongst this group would likely be willing to slow down to your level if they realize you need them to. They may even have some useful suggestions to make your job easier.

Of course, then there are the players who are simply jerks and are going to get mad at you for being new. These players can fall into either of the 2 groups I mentioned above, but won't take your advice either way. Some will just ignore you and run ahead anyway, while others will berate you for being bad at the game (despite the fact that running ahead of the tank shows them to be the ones who are playing badly). If they actually start harassing you, then you can report them for it, but otherwise there's not much you can do about being stuck with jerks in a random group.

Luckily, despite a few bad apples, the vast majority of players are nice and considerate. Once you get through several runs with considerate fellow players, you'll get enough practice at tanking properly that you'll get both better and quicker at it. As you get more skilled yourself, other players will be less tempted to run ahead of you.