Take it easy, Tanks.

[Tridus]

Remember the old days when you'd go into, say, <Lv30 dungeons like Copperbell, or even Toto-Rak and if you had a horrible tank that refused to use Flash, you'd tank stuff yourself and just not care, as you could tank better than the actual tank could anyways? lol

A part of me misses those days. I used to tank Graffias (last boss of Toto-Rak) and all of his adds and walk away with 3/3 commendations more often than a WHM should lol.

Back when Medica was known as "Taunt for Healers"? Good times.

[Deceptus]

There's no preparing for that, except maybe a macro on Protect saying "I'm casting Protect, don't run away."

This is why my protect macro says exactly that.

[Fealow]

We also have mitigation to offer the tanks and I think a lot of healers overlook this when it comes to pulling trash mobs. It seems as though there is some kind of ingrained behavior that can be observed with middle of the pack healers where they never use their mitigation during mob pulls. I can only imagine that they equate a long cooldown with the ability being "precious" and are reluctant to use it outside of anything that is not a boss fight. However if you use these abilities at the start of a pull they're usually ready by the time you get to the next set of mobs or boss.

You have a versatile and powerful kit as a healer, you need to use all of it in a smart way instead of spamming a single spell because you found yourself in a situation you failed to prepare for. You should always be prepared and have a plan of how to keep someone alive for situations you have encountered before.

example of me finding myself in a situation where tank immediately pulls everything at the start of a run when playing AST:

Largesse > regen > Earthly star on tank > Collective unconscious on tank > observe tank health for next 15 seconds > respond accordingly with oGCD heal or using stellar detonation

That's not difficult to do and it won't drain your mana at all. because you've provided a secondary regen, damage mitigation and a 720 potency heal for absolutely 0 mana cost... Wow! At this point enough trash should be dead to where your tank is not being bombarded with damage. All 3 healers have their own version of the above, so I don't see why bad Tanks is a good excuse.

[Capn_Goggles]

The problem is that there's no set pace to go at. If I pull big a healer at some point is going to get mad, if I pull small a healer is going to at some point get mad, if I pull just right the healer might just get mad anyway because everyone always thinks they can do someone's job better than them, regardless of whether or not it's true. Without any input, I will continue to pull at the pace that has worked for me in countless other runs of the dungeon.

I'm not here to get in a tug-of-war with anyone, I just want to get through the dungeon as smoothly as possible. If the tank is pulling too big: tell them. If they're pulling too small: tell them. Otherwise, we'll continue to do as we've done. Now, who you should REALLY be mad at are the DPS who think they run the show and try to pull more mobs.

[Tridus]

The problem is that there's no set pace to go at. If I pull big a healer at some point is going to get mad, if I pull small a healer is going to at some point get mad, if I pull just right the healer might just get mad anyway because everyone always thinks they can do someone's job better than them, regardless of whether or not it's true. Without any input, I will continue to pull at the pace that has worked for me in countless other runs of the dungeon.

I definitely appreciate that tanks are in a no-win situation on this. If you do it well, that's just what people expect. Judge it wrong and people flip out. It's unfortunate. That's why I never complain about smaller pulls. If that is what the tank is comfortable with, cool. We'll know if you do pulls that are too big, since we'll likely wipe at some point. Beyond that, I try to just let you do your job.

I'm not here to get in a tug-of-war with anyone, I just want to get through the dungeon as smoothly as possible. If the tank is pulling too big: tell them. If they're pulling too small: tell them. Otherwise, we'll continue to do as we've done. Now, who you should REALLY be mad at are the DPS who think they run the show and try to pull more mobs.

Agreed. Those people should go tank themselves if they want to set the pace. I've been known to let them die when I can do it without wiping the group <_<

[Bonbalon_Burcaso]

As someone who enjoys playing both tank and healer (PLD and SCH actually) I find the best thing a tank can do is look at his DPS. If he has two dps who do very little AOE damage, the tank shouldn't be pulling large groups as this will prevent the healer from dealing damage and the dps are still gonna burn everything down one enemy at a time.

If there are DPS who can deal massive aoe DPS (smn, rdm, brd, etc) the tank needs to pull large groups and use his mitigation tool to the best of their abilities.

When I'm pulling large groups as a PLD, not only am I using my CDs, I'm throwing Clemency on myself because I find that to be a very good part of my mitigation kit. There's also knowing when to NOT pull more, for instance the Halgai in Bardam's Mettle (that first pull) and the pull with the eagle because that eagle, along with the Dharas are going to EAT that tank alive, I don't care how good they think they are, unless they have Hallowed/Holmgang/Living Dead ready. Scratch Holmgang, that is a momentary death prevention.

As far as the healer side, know your CDs and learn to use them. The tank does not owe you the easiest dungeon possible, so be ready to use Largesse and use it often. You should familiarize yourself with any other healing CDs your particular job may have, like Lightspeed for AST and Fey Illumination for SCH. Your actual off global cooldown heal CDs should also be used extensively.

Know your kit, do the best you can in any situation.

[matteoxyz]

Your future tanks are most likely not reading this and even if they are they will not take heed. You need to communicate with them in Duty. It's not hard to ask for smaller pulls if you're not comfortable. Also, if you've only wiped twice it sounds like you're able to keep up with the mass pulls, so what is the problem? It won't be long until you only enjoy healing big pulls.

[IanFrench]

XD sinking faster than Katy Perry's career....

[Issildia]

Last night I had this very problem with my tank in a duty. I've only been playing AST for the last few weeks but I've healed as a WHM before and I've been able to deal with large pulls in the past. But he sprinted out and gathered every group prior to the first boss; It was a nightmare, and we wiped.

Runs like that make the game so stressful since healers often get blamed for wipes. I am already super high strung so experiences like last night make me question my job choice.

But I enjoy healing more than I dread tanks like that. And the reality is that the majority of tanks do a perfectly good job of managing aggro and choosing pull sizes.

So, to the tanks out there that know how to do their job, I thank you and my therapist thanks you too.

[KingFrost]

Just rage quit my first dungeon run as a healer. Run starts (Bardam) and the tank sprints without tank Stance or Protect. Pulls two pack. The bear shows up and we wipe. I begin to ask him not to run without protect and to put on tank Stance, and interrupts me with an, "Yeah, I don't care."

Bizarrely enough, I don't care so much if someone bites off more than they can chew or aren't that good, so long as they're a good sport or own up to mistaken made (As a healer you're there to cover for mistakes, after all), but egomaniacal rudeness or an unwillingness to take criticism drives me absolutely bonkers. I can't ensuna the "Head-up-the-ass" detriment, and it's one I can't play with either.