How exactly does enmity work in the lore?

[ToasterMan]

We've all seen it. Almost everything in this game to simple soldiers to GODS will go for the tank (Provided they make an effort to gain aggro,) and seemingly ignore all the dps and the healer. Throughout the fight they will never get the idea "Maybe I should kill the guy who's healing the person I'm trying to kill." Unless the tank either dies or someone else gains enough hate. How does a Paladin with a sword that hits like a wet noodle convince a target to keep attacking him in the lore?

[Naria]

Because with all the armor they are the shiniest target on the battlefield?

I'm going to chalk this up to gameplay and story segregation.

[Cilia]

Tanks look like the biggest, baddest [bleep]s on the battlefield, so naturally they're going to draw attention. They may not hit very hard, but it's very tough to recover in a fight if the healer doesn't have Combat Rez up (even then it can be tough) and the tank(s) die.

If the tank dies, things tend to go pear-shaped. That's the reason.

[TinyRedLeaf]

I imagine it's a case of one knight shouting FAT MOMMA jokes to another.

War ensues. {Good game!}

[Ametrine]

I imagine it's a case of one knight shouting FAT MOMMA jokes to another.

War ensues. {Good game!}

This is actually close to what I always liked to think. Like, they literally trash talk enemies and have skills that purposely annoy and draw attention to themselves.

[MilesSaintboroguh]

Also chalking it up to gameplay and story segregation. You also have a few enemies that don't follow aggro rules and attack whoever they want.

[TinyRedLeaf]

On a more serious note, though, I've often wondered if there's any way the game could implement "provoke" effects on player-characters. Perhaps it could work the way Charm spells already do in the game, that is, effects that force you to move towards an NPC tank. There are also abilities, like those of Siren's, that force player-characters to attack other players. It's not that hard, I suppose, to tweak the code to force players to focus attacks on an NPC tank?

On the same note, I have wondered why we've never faced enemy arcanists in the game. There have been plenty of enemy thaumaturgists and conjurers, but none in the way of enemy arcanists. Maybe the lack of an actual NPC tanking mechanic would be a reason? After all, an opposing arcanist would most likely be using a topaz carbuncle against players, and that would be meaningless if the carby can't hold player "hate".

[Belhi]

The lore on this is somewhat vague so I personally have kind of headcanoned to fill in the cracks. Fundimentally it seems to come down to a couple of things:

1. Technique: Having methods and attacks that get and draw an enemies attention and hold it or that make the tank an annoyance that the enemy has to deal with.

2. Magic: Magic is used a lot. In this case either to pull the rage of an enemy on to themselves.

3. Positioning: Its hard to attack someone off in the distance when the guy right in front of you keeps getting in your face.

Now to get a touch headcanony. Doing damage or healing doesn't automatically equal going for the healer, even in PvP. There are a lot of ways to get something's attention beyond just raw damage.

Take Flash. Flash does no damage. Its literally just a bright flash. However also image fighting when one of the guys is constantly shining a torch in your eyes. His healer buddy might need to be taken down but your going to be very sorely tempted to punch the guy in the torch in the face first just so he will stop doing it. Knocking a guy of balance, getting in the way constantly and generally being a pest that can't be ignored will make enemies want to just get you out of the way so they can focus on killing the guy at the back in the dress.

Their are other options beyond annoyance too. Magic could be use to inspire fear or hatred. Alternatively body language can do the same if done right. Some might be instinctive. Simply look at the WARs that berserk. They literally cause terror in the surrounding wildlife driving it into a frenzy.

There is also Pain, one I imagine many of the high threat attacks use, particularly with Dark Knights. You can inflict a lot of damage without causing much pain and you can also inflict a hell of a lot of Pain without doing much damage, especially if you know what your doing and you have magic at your disposal.

[Ametrine]

On the same note, I have wondered why we\\'ve never faced enemy arcanists in the game. There have been plenty of enemy thaumaturgists and conjurers, but none in the way of enemy arcanists. Maybe the lack of an actual NPC tanking mechanic would be a reason? After all, an opposing arcanist would most likely be using a topaz carbuncle against players, and that would be meaningless if the carby can\\'t hold player "hate".

There is an enemy arcanist in the early half of the AST quests, though I can\\'t remember if she used carby let alone it\\'s gem.

Which is another note to add, as the only NPCs to use Topaz are the Arcanist\\'s training you from Limsa. Alphinaud and Urianger use Carbuncle types we can\\'t; Ruby, Obsidian, and Amber.

[Zojha]

It's a bit iffy, really. In the Hall of the Novice, the tank NPC claims to "keep them occupied" while you do your job, so it's probably the closest you'll get. Lorewise, you wouldn't be able to just run past (or THROUGH) an armed person to kill someone else without finding a weapon inside your neck on the way. No real excuse for ranged enemies, tho.

Otherwise, yeah - gameplay/story segregation. Many of the fights you lorewise do alone, you actually do with 7 other players.