Holding Aggro - Need Assistance

[Cold_Raven]

Did my first dungeons last night, and I sucked the first time out.

Ha! Me too. I was too nervous. Don't worry, that goes away with some practice to get comfortable.

I have Flash, though my MP keeps me down to using it only a couple of times, and that's if I don't Stoneskin.

I've never used either as Warrior (just getting to level 50 now...). Overpower is better than cross-classed flash. I'm sure stoneskin can help, but healers can take care of this side of things themselves. Sometimes they can also get a bit miffed when someone uses one of "their" protective spells And a healer's stoneskin will actually be better than your cross-classed stoneskin too... they get some traits to buff it a bit.

I flashed, I threw Tomahawk, I used Skull Sunder, and Overpower, but I had a heck of a time getting the aggro off the MNK, BRD and SCH. What can I do better or am I fighting the simple math that they are higher level and more equipped than myself?

Try this in low-level dungeons:

1. Tomahawk into the mob group
2. Run through all the mobs to get to the other side of them.
3. Use overpower (this will automatically turn you to face the mobs).
-If you're worried about losing hate, use overpower multiple times at this stage (2 bad guys = 2 overpowers, 3 bad guys = 3 overpowers...). You can even throw in an extra one if you'd like. Once you get used to things, you'll find you can usually get away with 2 mobs = 1 overpower and 3 mobs = 2 overpowers.
4. Then start your Heavy Swing - Skull Sunder - Butcher's Block (if available) combo back on the first mob.
5. Continue to use your Heavy Swing - Skull Sunder - Butcher's Block (if available) combo rotating through the rest of the mobs.
6. At this point... you should be worry-free. Feel free to do whatever you'd like. You can begin monitoring the enmity levels on the different mobs and just hitting whoever you think you should.

Also, after you get comfortable, try throwing in some cooldowns (Foresight, Bloodbath..) in-between moves. As a warrior, you'll need to get used to this for higher level fights.

If you're interested in some more reading-up... check out some of these posts:

This thread by Paikis is a good starter, and what I read up on when I started out:
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...arrior-Tanking

Here's a post by Kitru (post #28) that talks about the different possible Warrior combos and what they can be used for:
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...=1#post1857709

Here's another post by Kitru (post #38) on maximizing Warrior DPS (once you understand how to control enmity):
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...=1#post1860098

Also, does anyone have a good macro for marking? I use a PS4, and I might be better off just making a macro that says mark this target as next number.

I am on PS4 as well. I don't use any macros, though. I find them to be clunky... but others swear by them, so do what works for you.

Sometimes a macro won't "run properly" and can just mess up.
But always... a macro cannot be "pre-entered" into the system. That is, let's say you're doing your Heavy Swing - Skull Sunder - Butcher's Block combo. After you hit Heavy Swing, the Global Cool Down swirls around all your abilities and you can't use another one until that has completed. BUT... if you don't use a macro, you can "pre-enter" your Skull Sunder by hitting that button before the GCD has completed (during about the last 1/4 of it's clock-wise sweep). If you do it right, Skull Sunder will start up as fast as possible without you having to mash the button. This "pre-entering" helpfulness doesn't work if you convert skills to macros.

That's why I don't like macros, I like the control of using things on-demand and taking advantage of the pre-entering functionality. But find you're own niche.

I did find marking to be difficult for a while, but you get used to it. Helps a lot if you put them on a cross-bar somewhere.

How do you have your Cross-bars set up? I have 3 sets that I rotate through.

Set 1: L2 side contains all my "powerup" abilities (berserk, unchained, wrath-spending skills...)
Set 1: R2 side contains all my combo abilities (everything used a lot normally).

Set 2: L2 side contains all my "cooldown" abilities (foresight, bloodbath...)
Set 2: R2 side contains all my combo abilities (yes, again, exactly as setup on Set 1).

....Having my R2 side the exact same on Set 1 and Set 2 allows me to switch over to my cooldowns and use them while still running through my normal combos. This way I always have my normal combos available, and always on the same buttons, regardless of whether I'm trying to use my cooldowns or my power-ups.

Set 3: Just used for all the other stuff (running, warping, calling Chocobo...) I also have my numbering on Set 3. I'll mark stuff, then switch back to Set 1 as I run in and attack.
(My set 3 is actually set #8... shared between all my characters. Set 1 and 2 are character specific... it's amongst the millions of settings).

Any tips would help.

It's a big game with lots of information to get lost in. Try to remember to have fun! If you're not having fun... you're doing it wrong

[EricCartmenez]

Yeah, the L2/R2 thing is great, but if you were on R2 and meant to get the L2 bar, and you're running from muscle memory for speed, you can definitely zig when you should have zagged. Also, I have different classes, so my BRD needs things different from my WHM, etc. Yes, I know I can drag things in and out too, and I've got to the point that I set up bars depending on the task. Wish that hot bar switched when you change classes like bars 1-4. Be that as it may, thanks for the info. I found that it worked best if I ran into the faces of a mob and hit flash then immediately tomahawk and mark the first target(s). Cont'd next post due to characters.

[EricCartmenez]

...The problem is when the mob appears from nowhere and I'm fighting the boss, such as the end boss in Tam Tara. So I don't want to get the boss near the healer, but I don't want to run around grabbing aggro all over the room. As a WHM or DPS, I will run toward the tank, kiting the bad guys behind me in hopes that he or she notices and grabs them. In the case of Tam Tara and situations such as this, what's the best solution? Do I throw a T-hawk at them? Run in front of them and bring them back? Expect the DPS to take them? Whoever thought tanking was easy is an idiot! (points at self)

[LalaRu]

Usually when dps get aggro he needs run to you to take mob to you for grabbing. Tank cannot run all the room to take a mob because face the boss out the party is a priority in most cases. And make the boss roaming the room is bad thing too, unless needed by some boss mechanics.

Edit: there are also some adds that die so fast that is not even worth the try to tank them. Dps just have to kill them and maybe eat one or two hits.

[Cold_Raven]

So I don't want to get the boss near the healer, but I don't want to run around grabbing aggro all over the room. As a WHM or DPS, I will run toward the tank, kiting the bad guys behind me in hopes that he or she notices and grabs them. In the case of Tam Tara and situations such as this, what's the best solution?

Yes, best case solution would be if you don't have to move at all and can T-hawk each guy and bring them to you. But you don't always get a nice line-of-sight to see where they all are for this... and sometimes they're out of range of T-hawk anyway so you still have to move.

When I do this, I just run around the room and pick them up as quickly as possible. 2 skeletons... try 1 overpower to pick them both up. Single spider-guy... T-hawk if you can. I tend to ignore the imps... DPS usually take those down on their own as they don't have a lot of health or do too much damage (thanks good DPS guys!). You might have to do something about the imps if DPS are new to the dungeon themselves and everyone else is ignoring them.

But, yeah... don't worry too much about running around the room, just try to do it quickly and settle down again. It's not ideal, but it has to be done... so just do it as fast as possible.
Once you have them all grouped, one more overpower may or may not be necessary... then you can kill them yourself (they don't have much health either) or the DPS will take care of them too.

Cont'd next post due to characters.

You can edit a post after to get around the limit...

[EricCartmenez]

Cold_Raven, that's a lot of great info!

[EricCartmenez]

You can edit a post after to get around the limit...

I wondered how y'all were getting a thousand words and I was limited to thousand characters. LOL.

[Delorean]

Always start a pull with Shield Lob. Always. If you do, the DPS are likely to follow your lead and begin attacking the target that was hit with Shield Lob first so that you don't have to waste time guessing which target they will hit first.

After that, use flash 2 or 3 times (only do 2 if you feel an urgent need to get threat on a target right away with a threat combo) and then do threat combo on the current target. When you feel that your lead in threat on that enemy is sufficient (as in, you have enough of a lead on a target that you can tell that it will die before it switches it's focus to a party member), switch to another enemy and do your threat combo on it. Try and throw in some flashes every now and then for those stragglers you haven't been able to hit with a threat combo yet.

And at that point all that's left to it is maintaining your lead.

[Nabian]

-> place mobs so they are not around you (you don't parry in your back if i am correct), and to ease melee dps, you flash/overpower while doing so

Pretty sure this is incorrect but not 100% positive. I tank all the time and pretty sure I still parry with my back turned.

[Dinivas]

...The problem is when the mob appears from nowhere and I'm fighting the boss, such as the end boss in Tam Tara. So I don't want to get the boss near the healer, but I don't want to run around grabbing aggro all over the room. As a WHM or DPS, I will run toward the tank, kiting the bad guys behind me in hopes that he or she notices and grabs them. In the case of Tam Tara and situations such as this, what's the best solution? Do I throw a T-hawk at them? Run in front of them and bring them back? Expect the DPS to take them? Whoever thought tanking was easy is an idiot! (points at self)

Running the boss around the room in Tam-Tara as a tank isn't bad, I do it myself all the time because at that level DPS don't necessarily know that they need to take mobs to the tank if they get aggro. If the boss has a frontal cleave or other AoE attack, that's when you have to worry about keeping its face away from the group. A quick Tomahawk/Shield Lob and running over to group everything up for an Overpower/Flash to keep everything on you works just fine since the adds will be burned down quickly.

Pretty sure this is incorrect but not 100% positive. I tank all the time and pretty sure I still parry with my back turned.

You don't parry from the back or side.