Pros and cons of Turn 5 Solo Tanking

[Kimura410]

Our group is thinking about going this route. I am the offtank T1-4, but have a i80 blm, so we are toying with the idea of solo tanking T5. Is there any reason not to solo tank it? I realize that this will create more risk for the tank, in that he will be taking more damage due to tanking adds and Twin, as well as all of the snakes. But the phases will be shorter with more dps. The only disadvantage I can see is more risk of tank wiping, and if he wipes we are kinda screwed bc there is no backup tank to pick anything up. Thoughts?

[NightReach]

4 stacked MT is prone to random death, you have to turn Twin when u stun a DK which can be bad when she plummets on top of your melee DPS, and you dont have easy hatch (though its still easy). And yes random 7.5k DS will be a wipe... prob. You can try if you can have T5 on farm with standard group, otherwise I dont think its a good idea.

[Setis_Dagre]

We just switched to single-tank T5 this week (with me as the tank) and it honestly didn't turn out as bad as I expected. After about 90 minutes working things out, we zoned out, got repaired, zoned back in and one-shot it. Some thoughts about it:

Trying to tank all 4 mobs at the start seems to be suicide. We did it with me tanking Twin + an add, the melee (DRG + MNK) tanking an add, and the 2 BLM we had ping-ponging an add with manawall. Death Sentence + 3 other mobs hitting you is just too much, unless you want to cycle through ALL your cooldowns.

You want to time things so you can generally step into conflag for Death Sentences. If the timing gets off though don't sweat it as long as your healers are on the ball.

Snakes can be a bit hairy, this is another part where you'll likely have to blow some cooldowns. We did all 4 at once, though I've heard other solo tank group will stagger killing the snakes to make it more managable. Just watch the debuff timer.

For dreadknights, they're not that bad, you just can't move Twin far from the first 2 neurolinks. You want to move her just far enough so that the dreadknight spawn point is basically right in front of/next to you, so that when they spawn you can just tab to it and start stunning. Enmity should be a non-issue at this point, so all you need to be aware of is DS/Twister. If the dreadknight gets away from you due to having to dodge Twister, let it go and let the dps worry about stunning/slowing it, you don't want to move Twin.

Finally, for liquid hells you should easily be able to have a MNK sit in the neurolink with Fists of Earth if necessary.

As far as actual Pros/Cons I'd say:

Pros: Faster kill, less time in each phase (so less stress from certain mechanics), no competition for tank loot ¬_¬
Cons: Tank death means wipe, there is no chance at recovery.

[Alwryn]

Pro: You get all the tank gear for yourself!

I refuse to make a constructive comment.

p.s. I personally prefer single tanking. It lessens the risk of the majority of the mechanics (knights, twisters, fight duration, etc) while only slightly increasing the tank DS+auto death risk. DS+auto is perfectly manageable with proper communication with healers about cooldowns, shields, and stoneskins.

[bokchoykn]

p.s. I personally prefer single tanking. It lessens the risk of the majority of the mechanics (knights, twisters, fight duration, etc) while only slightly increasing the tank DS+auto death risk.

While this is true, it also increases risk during the snake phase, which in my opinion, is the most difficult phase in the fight.

[The_Badger]

Trying to tank all 4 mobs at the start seems to be suicide. Death Sentence + 3 other mobs hitting you is just too much...

Snakes can be a bit hairy, this is another part where you'll likely have to blow some cooldowns.

The opening phase can be the most dangerous, but easily done with proper CD usage, great DPS, and excellent healing. Only 3 CDs need to be used, Rampart, Sentinel & Convelesence.

For the snake phase, it's not as dangerous as the opening phase, as you should be staggering the kills and avoiding the final two stacks to not take excessive damage. However it can still be done with four stacks on the tank, just requires healers to spam as you can spike hard.

Below is a link to our group doing the single tank method. which we feel is superior. There are two videos, both from the PLD perspective, however I've also done it on WAR post 2.1 and it's just as capable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8F58AGt5LQ

[Kimura410]

Cool Ill check out the vid. Thanks for all the input good points were made. We are trying t5 again tomorrow I believe, but I decided to go WAR with full str and striking gear to give us that extra dps while still having a backup tank available. When we are more comfortable with the fight I am sure we will move to 5 dps. Ill let ya now how it goes

[Setis_Dagre]

Pro: You get all the tank gear for yourself!

This was an incredibly good pro for me this week when the Allagan Blade dropped and I need rolled 1 for it ><

[SpookyGhost]

This was an incredibly good pro for me this week when the Allagan Blade dropped and I need rolled 1 for it ><

On the other hand, if you're a PLD, you should probably be bringing a WAR as your off tank for SP/SE debuff and no class stacking. Also means he won't be able to roll Need on your blade. :P

[Instrumentality]

Pros: Feel like a baller.

Cons: May in fact be ballin' outta control.