My three stages to Paladin tanking

[Revya]

Edited: Added some rotations and gear up progression in dungeons.

As I've been leveling my own Gladiator/Paladin and watching other people tank different content I've seen much good and bad ways to tackle problems. So i thought it would be a good idea to put all my strategies around general play as well as Tanking specific.

For those that are unfamiliar with Paladin skill set check the link here:
http://xivdb.com/?search/!filters/Il...9BT0FERVNDOiI=


As for my own knowledge in regards to the tanking job. I've been playing tank classes for most of my MMO experience ranging from all the way back to Ragnarok Online, wow and more.. don't remember them all as its a long list.

The first thing you SHOULD admit when playing any role is when your new and never been in a place before. I know many other say you should never say this or they will "instant rage and kick you" to this date that have never happen to me. I make it a regular thing to say when im new to stuff. I also ask if there is something unique with the place not found any other place.

What i find annoying however is new people not telling the party that their are new to the place and then continues to wipe the whole party because they didn't know that would happen. This will lead the whole party to turn against you. Its better to admit that your are new then to wipe everyone because you didn't let them know before hand as they will tell you roughly what to expect.

While leveling i used Dungeon almost exclusively for leveling my Gladiator and in the processes was able to test many ways of tanking and in the end found my way of using the Gladiator class to the fullest.

So as the Title says: My three stages to Paladin tanking is centered around the way you are level synced to different content.

Stage one is Pre-Rage of Halone or lvl 26
Stage two is Pre lvl 50
Stage three is at lvl 50

The reason i put them in this stage is the skills available to you. As a Paladin almost all of you skills are Utility based and in turn make you a Utility tank and most of them aren't available until later levels.
You have little damage, next to no aoe, low HP pool (compared to Warrior),one attack combo, many Defense skills and some reaction skills.

Check the link above for skills. I'l be going in-dept with them later.

Before jumping into the different stages here are some cross class skill that I consider to be useful.
Marauder: Foresight,
Conjurer: Stoneskin, Raise

In order you equip. Foresight, Stoneskin, Raise
Me personally don't use any other skill as i can't consider consider them even usefull for my paladin tanking and there is actually no room or need for anything else.

Foresight: increase Defense with 20% 120sec CD
Stoneskin: makes a barrier with 10% of targets max HP
Raise: resurrect...

Foresight: Your basic defense buff. used when under more fire then usual or after a crit.
Stoneskin: This is more for the 4-man dungeons if you don't have a conjurer or the conjurer is lvl synced below lvl 34. Which is more often then you would think if you run daily dungeon roulette.
Raise It's really not needed either but can be useful or just to help the random player outside if they got killed.

Aoe Damage: If you can avoid it avoid it!
Almost every mob in the game have some sort of aoe skill. some do damage some give a debuff or dot (Damage Over Time) effect. You should learn what each enemy type have as aoe. Most enemies share a type of aoe skill an example of this would be the alligator thing in Sunken temple (don't remember his name) this type have a Frontal aoe and a back aoe. This means that you should never point his back to you party member.
The last boss in Amdapor keep is also the same type as he use the same kind of aoe skills but with some extra. The gargoyle in the same place is similar to every small floating enemies with a circle aoe around him.

So simply put learn the enemy type by fighting them and learn their aoe patters as they are used over in similar enemies later and most important of all.. learn to avoid them!

The reason is that your putting unnecessary pressure on the healer. This is ever more true for the Damage classes but you also.


Now for the first stage: Pre-Rage of Halone or lvl 26

The active and passive skills be different according to your sync level but here is a small list of the few you will be using.

Fast blade: Potency 150
Rampart: Defense 20% (passive increase from 10% to 20% lvl 14.. always have it for dungeons)
Savage blade: Potency 100, Enmity, Combo fast blade: Potency 200
Fight or Flight: Increase damage 30%
Flash: Enmity aoe (small enmity gain)
Convalescence: Increase healing received by 20%, 120 sec CD
Riot Blade: Potency 100, Combo Fast Blade: Potency 230, Bonus: Restore small amount of MP (usually 2 riot combos equals 1 flash)
Shield lob: Potency 120, ranged, Enmity gain (low)
Shield Bash: Potency 110, stun 3 sec
Enchanted Flash: gives Flash Blind effect 12 sec, Targets grow immune
Provoke: Single target, increase your Enmity to the highest member and adds 1. (eks. DD have 100 enmity points you gain 101 points.)

These are the skill you have available pre-Rage of Halone
I've seen many other guide revolve around a certain order for everything.. now im not a fan of this at all... i prefer to use them as they are needed. Which i think everyone should do but this require you to know what each skill actual does..
But that said you have to start somehow... so this is my usual start.

To start you should always mark each target with a number. This can seem useless to many but they are there for a reason.

Say there is 1 ranged and 2 melee mobs.. the melee will be easy to tank but you cant reach the ranged one and it will switch to the healer after 1 heal.
What you do is mark ranged with 1 and the melee 2 and 3. This will in effect make it 10 times easier because everyone (should) know which order you want to take then in. But most important is that you can tank every mob in melee range off you.

For multiple mobs:
Start by marking the enemies. I prefer ranged first as my reason above.
Shield Lob - Flash - Savage blade - Fast Blade - Savage Blade second target - Fast blade first target - Savage blade third target - Fast blade second - Savage blade first target - Fast blade first target - Savage blade First target (or second if he is close to dead)

The reason why you switch like this is to check the Enmity meter on each of the enemies. as you need to have hit them once for it to start counting properly.

Now many might wonder and argue why i use only savage blade and not the full combo on the first target...
First its a slow process to use the whole combo.
Second its does NOT give more enmity. The additional effect is only 200 potency from 100. Now you do get more enmity with more damage. But as you use fast blade first its slower then just using Savage Blade alone. As your job is NOT to do the most damage but hold every mob with Enmity and not let them loose on your healers as they keep you alive.

As for Flash. It have such a low enmity mark compared with Savage Blade that is not that great to use multiple times IF you have the time to use Savage Blade on every mob is a similar fashion as i mentioned above.

For the times when you are unable to do so with a surprise pull or a intense Damage Dealer using only aoe skills... (this isn't wow guys, stop spamming aoe skills it wont go any faster.) You only need to use Flash 1 more time with the combo above and your all set. If they however continue to use only aoe skills use flash as often as you feel you need to. And maybe let them know your having trouble holding aggro on everyone.

NB! Special Note.
As many have and will be doing the so called "speed run" for tome farming. This way require a more unique way of tanking then normal as you pull huge groups at a time and have little time to use the rotations as i recommend. What you want to do here is to use Shield Lob and Savage Blade while you gather the groups while running. When you have gathered enough that you don't die and healers can heal it you can start spamming the Flash and Circle of Scorn while using the Riot Blade Combo to regain MP to use flash more. You will want to use on or two of your Defense CD if you pull to many mobs or the healers cant keep up with the damage.

I like to start out with Sentinel then use the Circle of Scorn and Flash Spam to get aggro, when Sentinel finished i use Bulwark with Convalescence to keep the damage at bay and finish with a Rampart if needed.

This combo can also he used for new tanks on normal pulls from lvl 15-50 if they wish. Its not as effective as others but does get the job done if your having trouble holding everything until you get used to it.

For single Targets (usually a Boss)
1: Shield Lob - Savage blade - Fast blade - Savage blade and continue the fast blade combo
2: Shield Lob - Flash - Savage blade - Fast blade - Savage blade and continue the fast blade combo

The two above combos are both effective but i would recommend the one without flash at this level. Because you gain more Enmity from Savage Blade as that also takes into consideration your weapon damage and damage from ability.
There is though nothing wrong with using flash either but i would recommend at this level to not use on single targets like bosses.

As for all your Defense skill.. I have seen many and read many that recommend useing them before you even start the fight... i find this one of the many wrong things you can do as a tank.
They are there to give your healer time to heal you. If you start with them and after the effect is gone you take a huge hit while the party also does. The healer will chose you over the Damage Dealers most of the time but they are also human and panic.
If you saved the Foresight and Convalescence for this moment the healer can heal you faster and you take less damage for the next 20 sec. This in turn will also give your healer time to heal the rest of the party.

But you still have Rampart free so you can use this the next time and just rotate your Defense skills when you need them the most.

As for Fight or Flight. I have also seen more then enough use this at the start of the fight to gain a little more damage and enmity before the burst. But i find it wasteful to use it here. What you should to is to save it until after the first few hits then use as often as it come off CD with the fast blade combo and you can have the full effect of your most damaging skills and not have it wasted on a single shield lob and 3x flash i see many use.

Fast Blade - Fight or Flight - Savage Blade - Rage of Halone. I find this the most optimal way of using it. even before you get RoH. Its increases the damage you deal and return you gain more enmity.


Now for the Second stage: Pre lvl 50 26-49

Though it is a large jump in levels your will use the same tanking order all the way.
As you gain Rage of Halone your most used skill the rest is actual just more passive and a few active skills.

Rage of Halone: Potency 100, Enmity, Savage blade Combo: Potency 260, reduces target's strength by 10% last 20 sec.
Enchant Fight or Flight: Extends to 30 sec
Sword Oath: Increase Auto attack potency with 50
Shield Swipe: Usable only after a Block, Potency 210
Enhanced Convalesence: increase the effect to 30%
Awareness: Immune to Critical hits.
Cover: Take all Physical damage intended to another target. 10 yalms
Enhanced Shield Bash: Increase stun to 6 Sec
Sentinel: Reduce damage taken by 30%
Enhanced Rage of Halone: Increase Strength reduction to 10%
Shield Oath: Reduce damage dealt and received by 20%, Increase Enmity
Tempered Will: Cure Blind and Heavy while makes you immune to Knock back and Draw in effect.
Enhanced Awareness: Increase duration to 25sec
Spirit Within: Potency 300, 1 sec Silence
Bulwark: Increase Block rate by 60%, 15sec duration, 180sec CD
Enhanced Sentinel: Increase reduction to 40%

As you can see most of the skill are Enhanced passive and a few new actives. Most are defense skill. I mentioned earlier that Gladiator/Paladin is a low damaging Utility tank and you should seen why now. Most of his skill are there to reduce damage taken and not deal damage. And if it does deal damage as Rage Of Halone does it have a passive effect also.

As for the Skill order that i prefer to use for multiple mobs is this:

Shield Lob - Flash - Savage Blade - Fast blade - Savage blade - Rage of Halone Second target - Fast blade First target - Savage blade Third - Rage of Halone First - Fast blade Third - Savage Blade First - Rage Of Halone Third

This is the basic idea. As both Savage blade and Rage Of Halone is your main source of Enmity you rotate the targets your hit with it as this makes it easier to hold them all safely. If your lvl is just right for the dungeon and another dps with higher lvl with max stats on level synced he will be able to draw aggro with just aoe if he spams it all the time. Be sure you are extra vigilant and respond to each mob as there enmity meter increases. You can also throw in a few Flashes if needed but usually they don't make it that far before the die.

For Single Target (the boss)
The combo is almost the same and it goes like this.

Shield Lob - Savage blade - Fast blade - Savage Blade - Rage Of Halone and repeat Fast blade combo

What you need to look out for around this lvl is the mobs that usually spawn with the boss and during the fight. Its often more then enough to flash them twice and let the Damage Dealers take care of them. If that is not the case join in with Rotating the Fast blade combo on the adds as you would with the multiple mob scenario.

You also have access to a larger pool of Defense CD then earlier. As you progress make use of them when you need the extra defense.

As for some of the new once. il put a small section here for them

Shield Swipe: After your initial start is it in between any and all Fast blade combos you can. This skill will not interrupt the combo and gives your more damage on targets.

Shield Oath and Sword Oath: Use sword when your soloing or doing the off tank part. If you need to tank something switch to the Shield Oath before they spawn and tank like normal. Either switch back or stay depending on if there will be more spawn. The main tank wont lose Enmity after you have been gone for the little while with the adds. (additional mobs). If your Main tank just use Shield Oath.

Awareness: As there isn't much that you can do to predict critical attacks its not as useful as the others. But its is worth noting that every mob or boss can critical hit. Use it with Bulwark and Convalesence to gain a surprisingly good combination.

Cover: This skill is little used by the main tank as he is already taking more then enough damage, but as the Off tank you can use it on the Main tank to take all the damage after a huge hit so that the healers can heal him back up. If you use Convalesence also its easier for the healer to keep up with the sudden damage shift.

Sentinel: This skill is one of your most precious abilities. As this reduces the damage taken regardless of the amount. Use it when you need it the most. Or to give the healer a breather.

Tempered Will: Honestly have not used this spell yet.. not sure if it have any uses yet. Might be in the next fight with Leviathan as it makes you immune to pushback and pull in skill. seems he does those have skills like it during the presentation in the live letter.

Spirit within: This one have the highest potency of all your skills and can crit for some nice numbers. It also have a silence but most important is that its of the global cooldown table which put it in the same boat as Shield Swipe. Use it in between fast blade combo for max efficiency.

Bulwark: Last but not least, this skill have more use then you would think. BUT there us a huge but with this skill. As it depends on your block rate of your shield if its low it might not even be worth mentioning at all.. Relic Shield have 181 block rate for reference there is some with more and more with less.

Block rate: Think it would be good time as any to put this here. the block rate is important for a Gladiator/ Paladin as its one of the only stats we have unique to us as a tank. Warriors don't have block only parry.

What affects the block rate?
Strength increases the block strength as in how much your block each time.
Dexterity increases the block rate, your chances of actually blocking a attack
Your shield have all different stats in these two. Some favor block strength and some favor block rate.

I favor block rate. Using Scorpion shield with a 200 Block rate 36 block strength. This give me to much block that i cant use all the shield swipes... and give me a 20-30% damage reduction on each hit.

Adding Bulwark and you get a nice boost defensively.

Note: Of course later when you get your Relic Shield or another as their is many that are much better then this one. I did however use it until i got my Relic myself. The damage you block is smaller but you block every 2-3 attacks so it makes up for it.


For the last stage at lvl 50

There isn't as much change from the other stages. Really but some nonetheless
You gain your two last skills:

Hallowed Ground: Makes you impervious to most damage for 10 sec
Circle of Scorn: Aoe Potencty 100, 30 potency dot 15sec

Hallowed Ground: is often referred to your oh shit button by many people. But.... it have a 1 sec activation time.. not that helpful. This might change this in the future however. If you use all of your other defense skill properly you wont need this one.

Circle of Scorn: Is your first and last aoe skill (for now at least) It deals okay aoe with a small dot attached. Its enough for some extra damage and to easier hold the enmity when used with Shield Oath.

there are some changes in the skill order but not much.

For Multiple mobs:
Shield Lob - Circle of Scorn - Flash - Fast blade - Savage blade - Second target Rage of Halone - Fast Blade Third - Savage blade First - Rage of Halone First - and continue the rotation

Put new Circle of storm each time its up again buy now you should have a feel for how much you need to rotate so go at it freely.

For single target (the boss)
1.Shield Lob - Circle of scorn - Flash - Fast blade - savage blade - Rage of halone - and continue the fast blade combo
2.Shield Lob - Circle of scorn - Flash - Fast blade - Fight or Flight - Savage blade - Rage of halone - Spirit Within - and continue the fast blade combo

As before reapply the Circle of Scorn ability, use shield swipe when its ready, use Spirit within and defense CD when needed.

As i mentioned earlier having a knowledge of skill by the type before have helps, avoiding aoe and talking with your alliance and party for the best experience.

Gear Progression and stats

As for best in slot gear and the likes i can't really tell because its up each and everyone to decide that. Item Level means much yes but individual skill and knowledge is not summed up in that so be sure not to judge to quickly.

I myself prefer to work around the Accuracy and Parry stat. Hitting the required 520~ Acc for Turn 9 and getting Parry as much as i can with Determination as my third Stat.

For those just hitting lvl 50 the dungeons you want to do is run "The Aurum Vale" and "Dzemael DarkHold" to get your average gear lvl up. Accessories are just as important as actual armor. These bosses and mobs also have some unique abilities that you will see again with later dungeons.
After those you want to run "The wanderer's Palace", "Amdapor Keep" and "Pharos Sirius" these share the drop pool and drop better gear. You don't need to get every item but 2-3 items should help for the next places.

Next up is "Copperbell mines" Hard mode and "Haukke Manor" Hard mode. These also share the drop pool with better gear.
The last places is "The lost city of Amdapor", "Brayflox's Longstop" Hard mode and "Halatali" Hard mode. These also share the drop pool and drop the DarkLight set with the new "2.2 patch" items. They also drop much crafting materials if you want to get a crafter to make you better gear.
"Labyrinth Of The Ancients" often called Crystal tower or CT for short gives the next set of items for every class. (its a huge crystal tower from the outside, hence the naming.
Next is Myth and Solidarity tomes for gear. you get tomes from the dungeons and daily roulette. Lvl 50 dungeons give more tomes but does drop form some 40-50 places.

If anything is unclear i can elaborate more if needed.
My lodestone if you are wondering about my character and classes: http://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodest...acter/2834289/