Looking for help with tanking

[Tirekyll]

Hopefully this is a good board to ask on, since the tanking board seems to be where 60's talk. Right now I'm trying to learn to tank as a gladiator. I did the novice guild training but I don't find that really helps in an actual dungeon where other players are a consideration. Right now my basic pull is shield lob + flashX3 + enmity single target rotation. I've been having quite a bit of issue maintaining aggro, even though I see other tanks doing similar pulls with no real issue. Is there anything more or better I can do? I really want to become a good tank but if I can't even pull Sastasha correctly then I slowly feel like giving up.

Any tips or hints? Would really appreciate it. Thanks.

[EveK]

I find flash is usually only useful for aggro when you're dealing with at least three enemies. Aggro also gets significantly easier with higher-level actions.

[Rongway]

Flash+Flash generates more enmity than FastBlade+SavageBlade, even against a single target. It's not until you get the enmity combo finisher (Rage of Halone at GLA26) that the enmity combo becomes worth it. Until then, Flash away most of your MP, then regain it with FastBlade+RiotBlade combos (which will also do more damage than FastBlade+SavageBlade, so once enmity is established, you want to use Riot Blade combos instead of Savage Blade combos).

If (1) you are geared and (2) you flash liberally, you'll never lose aggro. If you need help gearing, try making an inquiry to your server's novice network. There should be a few mentors who can recommend gear or maybe even craft some for you. Of the most importance is making sure your weapon is always current, as the weapon damage stat is the biggest contributor to damage output, and hence enmity generation.

[Lelila38]

And don't get discouraged if you lose hate a couple times, especially while you're still leveling and don't have your full skill set and especially against high level players. Even if they are synced down, they are still likely to generate a lot of hate. Pay attention around level 32 (Brayflox Longstop), it's the hardest time to maintain hate as Pld, since most dps classes get a hard hitting skill around that time, while Pld has to wait for his Shiels Oath (and that skill helps immensely with aggro generation) for a couple more levels.

On a sidenote, I think it's really awesome of you to come here for advice. Most people don't even bother and that way wwe get stuck with terrible tanks, who don't even try to improve, a lot.
Keep at it and you're gonna be a great Pld

[Hasrat]

Low level tanking can be pretty frustrating. If it's any consolation, most mob pulls won't be very dangerous, so don't stress too much over losing aggro. Chances are anyone that pulls hate off of you can probably handle anything they pulled.

[Sida]

Are you loosing your main target, or the other ones in the pull? What gear are you using? Up to level 20, pretty much the best you can have is the armor you get from the novice hall. Are you having mostly synced down players with you? That unfortunately means they have quite a better stats even while synced down.

Also, don't panick, this is something I learned when leveling tank. If the one target I was hitting was taken of me due the sheer damage it was receiving, it also meant it died within seconds, in casters case never even reaching it's new chosen target. If it looked it'll die before being serious threat to anyone, instead of trying to grab it back, I took a headstart hitting the next mob of the pull. I also had a habit of throwing a flash between the combos if my mana could afford it, to remind the surrounding monsters of my existence.

[Maero]

Low level is for sure harder to generate agro until you get more tools.
Flash+ Lob Shield as you are bringing mobs to other areas then Flash again once stopped.
Provoke also does come in handy later on and is a must have.
Rongway pretty much explained it better

[BiggsBeoulve]

One extra trick is to rotate your Rage of Halone combo between the mobs you're facing. Shield lob, pop flash, Halone combo on main mob your party is focusing on. Rotate to next mob with Halone combo, pop flash in between, and rotate back to the first mob. Sometimes I'll hit one mob with Savage Blade and another with Rage of Halone and then reverse, while weaving in a flash here and there to mix it up and sustain aggro. Just depends on the situation, and whether DPS is focusing on one target or multiple.

[ManuelBravo]

Here is a basic break down;

GLD/PLD: It's a great class to start as, friendly and easy to use traits. At low levels flash his your best friend. However, you need to time it. Lots of new tanks make the mistake of constantly spamming it. Should be done every 6-8 seconds for it to be effective. Once you have Shield oath keeping enmity is very easy. Get your class cross traits right away from MRD. Know your cool downs and rotate them properly.


MRD/WAR: A bit more advance tanking, aoe based. Some use flash as a cross trait, kind of pointless later on when you master it. Learn your aoes, rotations, and how TP affects you. Blood bath and overwhelm are a great combo for tough situations just watch your TP.

DRK: My personal favorite, easy to maintain enmity, balance power, can sprint and still grab mobs with aoes later on and one of the best for large pulls. Know your buffs, cross traits, and learn dark arts bonus asap.

HINTS OVER ALL: You are a tank, you can control the flow of runs. It's okay to be honest and start slow just let people know. Buy Max Potions, cheap do to POD, and can help grab enmity with multiple mobs or when healers grab enmity at start.

If you play all roles you will improve your tanking skills. Know how a healer thinks and works can help you analyze later on best course of actions. Before you know it will be a second nature if you really want to master tanking.

COMMUNICATE: If someone is over pulling please let them know. Basic rules: " I Pull I Tank, you pull by accident I will tank ( it happens ), keep pulling you tank I let you die. SPECIALLY after several warnings. : Don't worry some trolls out there.

Be open to tips or ask for them. Use markers at low levels when enmity is hard to maintain for easier flow. Rotate your attacks.

Range pulling, watch your surroundings, some link some don't.

TRY TO KEEP YOUR SELF WELL GEARED If under geared makes things harder.

Hope this helps.

[HyoMinPark]

Don't get discouraged at all if you lose aggro. Low-level tanking, especially for GLA, can be extremely difficult, even more so if all your party members are level-synced 60s. PLD tanking can also be pretty rough from levels 30 to 40, but once you get Shield Oath, it gets much better (and even better when you get Circle of Scorn at 50, since that's another AOE enmity skill to help you out). So don't be discouraged! In duties, feel free to tell your party "I'm still kind of new/learning how to tank" if you see that you are struggling, and hopefully you will get understanding party members that will do their best to adjust around you, and give you tips to help you. Even though GLA tanking can be hard at your level, you still chose the best tank class to start out on, since GLA/PLD is very user-friendly, and have tons of defensive cooldowns at their disposal to make your tanking job easier.

When I was a GLA, my basic low-level tanking rotation was: Shield Lob a group towards me, Flash 2 or 3 times, and then I would rotate my aggro combo on mobs (since we're speaking pretty low-level, Savage Blade combos), alternating with an additional Flash in between my Savage Blade combos as needed, and then start using Riot Blade to regen my MP for more Flash until the trash pack was dead. At level 26, you get your third-combo skill Rage of Halone (combos off of Fast Blade > Savage Blade), which makes holding hate even easier, and puts a Strength Down debuff on mobs. So you would use the same practice of Flashing 2-3 times, and rotating between mobs with RoH combos/Riot Blade combos to regen your MP as needed.

Basically, Flash is your best friend on GLA (and even on PLD), and don't feel like you're using it "too much;" just make sure to keep an eye on your MP and regen it when necessary with Riot Blade. Don't feel bad about only pulling one group at a time either. While learning how to tank, it is always best to take small bites, rather than biting off more than you can chew. It's much easier to rotate between 2 or 3 mobs than it is 5 or 6 when you're just starting out. With practice, you can slowly start to pull more/test your limits.

That being said, it's good practice to start rotating between mobs in your trash packs as often as you can, as some DPS enjoy targeting different mobs than you, and if you're paired with a THM/BLM/ACN/SMN/SCH/ARC/BRD/MCH, their AOE can also rip hate easily unless you rotate enough to keep the mobs focused on you. GLA/PLD doesn't have the kind of AOE skills that MRD/WAR and DRK have (Overpower, Steel Cyclone, Decimate, Unleash, Abysmal Drain), so definitely get into the habit of rotating now while you're lower level. Even if you choose to move on to MRD/WAR or DRK in the future, rotating is still a good practice to have, and I do it on all three tanks regardless of the amount of AOE enmity skills I may have.

You can easily check to see where your enmity is on mobs by glancing at the party list when you have one selected. At the bottom of each job icon is a small bar. For you, the bar should always be full white, with a capital "A" to the left of it. If you see a yellow bar with a "2" beside it that's almost full, that means that that party member is close to ripping hate from you, so you should focus on whichever mob they're close to stealing hate on with an aggro combo or two to reestablish your own enmity. Also, on the Enemy List, you should always see red squares next to the enemy names. This means that all mobs are focused on you. When you start seeing orange, yellow, or green, that means you've lost that mob, and you should target it and focus some aggro combos to take it back from whoever it is attacking (a quick Provoke + Shield Lob is good here for regaining hate on a mob that maybe wandered away from you to attack a healer or a ranged DPS, following up with a aggro combo or two on it when it wanders back within your range to keep it from wandering away again).

To make things easy on yourself, it's important to always make sure that your gear is as up-to-level as you can possibly have it, with green/pink dungeon gear being the best (at your current level), and HQ white gear being better than NQ white gear. Obviously, there is nothing wrong if you don't have the means of acquiring HQ tanking gear at your level; just try to keep your gear as close to your current level as possible. Especially your weapon. Having up-to-date gear will make you less squishy, so you'll take less damage and things will be easier on your healers, allowing them to help DPS mobs down so that you don't end up out of cooldowns before a trash pack is dead. Having an up-to-date weapon makes it easier for you to maintain as much hate on enemies as possible, so always make sure your weapon is as close to your current level as you can possibly have it. Same for your shield. For accessories, you don't start getting actual tank accessories until level 28-29, but you will want accessories stat'd towards VIT, always.

I hope this helps you!