Question about tanking an aoes in endgame trash

[Zari]

Alright so I just have a little bit of a question about lv 60 tanking. I just started actually using a tank in lv 60 dungeons rather than one of my healers and dps and I have not had really any trouble with hate or mitigation, though I do wonder a bit about my movement.

It generally was not much of an issue pre-60 (except for a couple of dungeons) but I notice a lot of lv 60 dungeons have enemies that just send aoe after aoe at you. I dont worry much about this when I have no melee dps in the group but when there are, I worry that I might be handling aoes a bit wrong? I know i am supposed to dodge them and with bosses it is easy since you can just get back in position after the indicator disappears and you can usually do that in trash groups but what about when the melee dps is attacking an enemy that is not using the aoe? Is it considered annoying for the tank to be turning the enemy like that or is it only so when the tank is fidgety in general?

[Slappah]

It's something that can't be helped.

If a melee dps gets mad at you for moving just let them know you'd rather not take unavoidable damage for the sake of their l33t deepz

They should be throwing out some aoe anyway, and the only aoe that has a true "positional" I would think is ring of thorns on drg since to get its full potency, it needs to be combo'd off a heavy thrust that met it's flank positional. Decent goons will overcome the movement that comes with enemy aoe by, making sure that's enemy isn't going to move during that GCD, or stun them first with leg sweep or SSD to make sure they get the positional off.

It can be annoying, yes, but that's just how it works.

I typically move out of the aoe, then get back in the position I was originally in, and the dps usually realize this and just work around it, they know the mobs are going to be moved back into their original position within a GCD.

And yes I know dps technically have positional AoEs, but it's in the sense of "cone in front of you" or "line in front of you"

I mean positional as in my ring of thorns example.

No melee dps has an aoe that only gets its potency if used from the rear or flank or whatever.(besides ring of thorns obviously, but even that move doesn't have a positional, it just doesn't get its full potency unless combo'd off a positional)


TL;DR
Don't worry about it. Do your thing, just don't be moving unnecessarily.

Also, in the case of mass aoe, just do your best. If there's a LOT of enemies, it's going to be a cluster f no matter what simply due to the way enemies position themselves when surrounded by many other enemies. (Examples like pulling everything before the ziggy boss in antitower)

[MahoSenshi]

From a MNK perspective (since they have the most positionals):

If >= 3 mobs, DPS should be doing their AoE rotation, so move as you like... (BUT!!!) try to clump mobs closer together as possible. Many melee AoEs have line or really small circle zone, and too often tanks don't bother themselves with clumping.
Example:

M...M
...T...
M.....

This is bad, Rockbreaker on any of the mobs will not hit another two. Same for Howling Fist, Geirskogul etc.

If 2 or 1 mobs then sure, try not to do excess moving. Escaping from AoE is fine, especially if you move back right after red cone/circle fade. Less damage to the tank - more time for a healer (well, for a good healer at least) to DPS, so total group damage is bigger.

[Jpec07]

Basically...yeah, dodging enemy telegraphs can really suck for the melee DPS (and SMN/SCH who already used Shadow Flare). Generally when handling a pack of trash, I'll try to keep them bundled up and inside as many friendly AoEs as I can, but when your facing off against something like the second big trash pull in Neverreap, where you basically can't stop moving unless you want AoE for breakfast, this can be tough.

Generally, dodging AoE is more important than letting your melee DPS keep wailing--not to mention, seeing you run away might be helpful for them to realize that AoE is incoming.

[Ragology]

From the perspective of a DPS, I really don't like it when the tank standing in the center with mobs in front and behind them. They get spaced to far apart for my Aoe's to hit them all at once, and also too far apart for me to switch targets and interrupt a mobs attack with my stun. Also I'm not sure if block/parry/dodge trigger as often when things are poking you in the back, so it could be making things harder on the healers as well.

Also I don't like it when a tank becomes too tunnel visioned and decides to park a mob in front of some obstacle. Sometimes it s a wall that prevents me from getting behind an enemy. Other times its a pool of fire or something on the ground that I can't stand in without taking damage.

[Drakkaelus]

From the perspective of a DPS, I really don't like it when the tank standing in the center with mobs in front and behind them. They get spaced to far apart for my Aoe's to hit them all at once, and also too far apart for me to switch targets and interrupt a mobs attack with my stun. Also I'm not sure if block/parry/dodge trigger as often when things are poking you in the back, so it could be making things harder on the healers as well.

You can try to bunch the mobs up but sometimes they just refuse to get in one spot. There's a point where I just say, "to hell with it" and tank them where they are.

[Zari]

Thanks for the responses guys, I've played melee dps too and I havent had an issue with it really before (unless the tank is just moving around in general not just to dodge aoes). I was just wondering if, despite how it is for me, the general consensus was different. Glad to hear it is pretty much the same though~

[iAmScallywag]

The way I handle AOE things is to move out of the way of it during casting and then get back into the same spot. I try to move the least amount of space possible to get out of AOE range so as to not pull the mobs too far off spot so that when I move back it'll get them roughly back to the same spot. For cone AOEs there typically is a little sweetspot you can move forward into right in the pack of mobs were nothing is behind you attacking (meaning the auto attacks can still be blocked or parried), you're out of range for the AOE, and nothing moves out of it's spot and instead just turns with you so when you move back it still remains in that spot having never left. Now for fights were a lot of movement is required the only advice is to just try to do it the best you can. I don't think people will get very upset unless you're just all over the place.

[Fernosaur]

Another option is to save your stuns in mobpacks that you know have big burst AoE, like the big Constructs in Pharos HM or the Centaurs in Antitower. It's better with PLD because chainstuns, but it can really help the Melees. Most of the times they won't notice your stuns and won't move out of the way anyways, though :P

[Alisane]

What I usually do is pull, Flash as I run through (moving forward a bit to pull the group closer together if needed) and turn around for enmity combo. This turns the mobs away from heals and allows DPS to get into position for their combos and such. If the AOE starts coming out, I will dodge, but always return to the point I started my enmity combo at. DPS will pick up on this and can get into position preemptively if they know you will always go back to the same position.

Seems to work well most of the time! Unless there is a LOT of AOE... But then the DPS are dodging like crazy right along with you