What makes a great tank?

[thereddee]

I did Amdapor Keep 3 time with different Tanks and I had very different experiences all 3 times.

First time the tank was great, he made sure I was ready when he pulled 2 rooms. He took the time to explain all the boss and he was always positioning them perfectly. On the last boss he even put a marker on the floor for us to stand there and told us to move to the entrance if we got targeted and asked the bard to take care of the add. It went very fast!

Second time, I got in PuG that speed through AK. If went well, I think the tank was on the ilevel cap, but it was silent. I had to rez a few persons on the last boss but it was OK.

Third time, last night, it was a disaster! It was not the tank first time to do it, but we wiped once on the first boss, twice on the wall and we ran out of time on the last boss... over 5 wipes. Nobody seemed to know what to do with the adds or the aoe.

It was frustrating, and after 4 wipes the tank started to call me name for not keeping up.

[thereddee]

I'm a new level 50 SCH and I enjoy healing quite a bit (I really did not expect to enjoy it) and I like to think I'm decent...

Since I saw that first tank, I've been considering leveling a PLD but I am wondering what really make a good tank.

- Is it memorisation of all the dungeons and boss? (do they keep notes/cheat sheets of all the boss?)
- Is it taking the time to talk and show leadership?
- Is it purely skills and stats?

I'm not sure I can find a static with my schedule for now, so I am playing a lot on DF...

Any advice?

[Rbstr]

I think, with AK, a lot of people are used to being able to just roll over it at this point. It's on the new(ish) players to say something about not knowing what to do IMO. For all a tank knows is that you're a secondary class or something, unless you get the bonus soldiery message.
The early level 50 dungeons can be horrible for new tanks since they can often be trying to keep hate from people with twice their ilevel.

For a dungeon run a tank needs:
To judge balance of (AOE) dps to what the Healer can handle to judge how big of a pull will work. Gear really comes into play here.
Where to position bosses and probably be on top of required stuns since you can't count on dps to even have stuns.
Gear that meets the ilevel reqs. Especially the weapon. If there's one thing you keep up on it's the weapon.

It really isn't their job to be the leader of the run, exactly. They just sort of end up with it by default. They might be new or whatever and not know what's going on. But they should be aware of their own limits.
I certainly don't keep cheat sheets on bosses or whatever but when you're leveling and doing roulette you do most things often enough to have the basics memorized.

[AniCelestine]

I would say the biggest factors that most people use to define a great tank is:

1. Ability to keep aggro. No loose enemies here and there.

2. Ability to rotate tanking cooldowns, when neccessary. (mainly noticed by healers, especially if the tank is not over gearing content and/or is doing huge pulls)

3. Understanding what makes it easier for certain dps roles to do their job, i.e not rotating enemies when you have monks/dragoons with you to make it easier for them to hit the positional requirements on certain skills.

4. Understanding and remembering boss mechanics.

If you meet all of those "requirements" you're mostlikely going to be "a great tank" in Duty Finder partymember's eyes.

These are based on personal experience as tank and healer and dps from countless DF parties.

Note: I might have not remembered something which is really essential and comes as a automated action of which I don't have to think about it to do it.

[Alurwen]

I main as pld and sch and generally do DF as paladin with my whm boyfriend. Here are a few things, not in any particular order. If you are going to only try to maintain threat on one mob, mark them so that the DPS know not to go all out with area damage. That is the number one cause of "bad tanks" - when there is a pack of mobs running all over the place because of not enough area enmity generation. If there are 3 mobs and you've not flashed at least 2 or 3 times before the healer tosses out a few cures, some mob is now munching on her face. I've seen tanks loose mobs after ONE regen. No excuse for that.

I don't mark mobs for kill order, I can keep threat on everything doesn't matter who's doing what...flares, holy, single target DPS, it doesn't matter...so I know it's not that difficult. SE has buffed Flash with the last patch, it's veeeerrrrryyyyy much more effective now in early content. Tanks are for holding mobs, don't concern yourself with doing extra DPS.

[Alurwen]

OK so I can't edit posts on mobile app WTF!

If you have to decide on a threat ability or damage ability go with threat always...unless you're way out in front on the threat meter and even then only warriors can effectively do any amount of damage.

Tanks set the pace of the dungeon run, if you're tentative on pulls or "too slow" the party picks up on it like a pack of rabid dogs and might start in with the bad tank talk. It helps if you already know the content from another job. Like in AK where you had so many deaths at the last boss, he probably didn't know where to tank the dragon, there is one spot you can stand and not take damage from the imminent catastrophe and he probably wasn't in it lol

Some groups like a vocal leader tank and others don't care either way, I just feel out the group after a couple pulls. If someone is confused or just generally derping around it's ok to say something or offer help, never be rude or nasty though :3

[BonzaiFerroni]

It is worth mentioning that you can't please everyone as the tank. I can be waiting for another person to catch up before pulling mobs and have someone else tell me to "gogogo." Either way, someone gets annoyed.

Sometimes people want you to do a full dungeon run, and sometimes they want you to skip the extras. Sometimes players will get annoyed at you for explaining things to other party members who ask rather than just jumping in.

Most of the time, everybody seems to enjoy themselves and it goes smoothly. But tanking means that you will find yourself in positions where you are the bad guy, at least to somebody.

[Alurwen]

Ah yes, can't please everyone! When situations like that come up, I remind everyone that we're using the duty finder and it's a mixed bag, please be patient and it will be over soon!

[Cspr_Answrth]

I main a 110 BRD, but secondary a 110 PLD (WAR is also 110, but I'm not as fond of WAR as I am PLD).
Having done BRD for much of the game, I have insight on pulling aggro from other tanks, as well as losing aggro on PLD to people who can't wait for hate.

A good tank will know how to hold aggro on all enemies, and if there is a struggle somewhere, a good tank will know to mark priorities for people to follow. At that point, it is up to the rest of the people to follow said marks. This may occur because a tank is lower geared than the rest of the people, or the other people are pulling hate first.

Also, a good tank will cycle cool downs when necessary. If a healer needs a break to save someone else, a clutch hallowed ground isn't a bad idea. In raids, I'll pop this if two people are down, that way the two healers can get them up without having to focus on me for a few seconds.

Knowing what your healers are capable of will help determine your capabilities as a tank as well. For example, if I have a healer from my raid group who is 110 BiS WHM, I'm inclinded to pull all groups before a boss encounter. If I'm running with a healer who is in only myth or soldiery gear, I'll do one to two group pulls.

Basically, a good tank needs to be able to gauge a group, and move from there with it.

[Domira]

What makes a great tank is their personality type. A player who has a hostile and aggressive personality won't make a good tank. Tanks by nature are the team leaders, a leader requires a even tone personality and the ability to consider their team mates. Considering a team mate could be something like asking if you are ready for a pull or them slowing down pulls when they see the group is having trouble.

A great tank is conscious of their surroundings, this includes every thing outside of their field of vision. Great tanks are usually very good at micro managing agro, paying attention to the parties health and mana, mob positioning, mob pathing rotations etc.

Every run can't be perfect, just like dps and healers, tanks can make mistakes. Remember that.