Why more people should try tanking!

[Draxxion]

From someone who has avoided tanking up to this point, I would agree with Amenian as to why at least I have avoided it. I was and still nervous a lot about going into to dungeon I have not tanked before and making a mistake. I know the feeling will go away in time with experience, but it is a lot less stressful to stick with dps as you aren't the one setting the pace of the dungeon and having all the responsibilities there of. It is community set expectations that places so much anxiety on a new tank that will drive many from it.

[Rufalus]

Yeah, I remember comments directed at me that hurt my feelings when I was learning. "Another clueless tank" sort of comments and worse things that I guess I shouldn't repeat here. I got over it though and got better with more experience. I was just as bad at dps roles when I was new, but dps don't get targeted by mean comments nearly as much.

[Hookla]

I've been playing this game for about two months now, only played warrior so far, and from what I can see it's the other players who keep people from tanking. If you're not on point or make any mistake people just get pissy. Or if you're not a fan of stance dancing people will get pissy. Or if you're not a fan of huge pulls people can get pissy. Personally I like being the tank, I may be horrible at stance dancing and don't do it often, but FFS I'm a tank not a dps.

[Wintersandman]

As someone who plays tank, every group wants something different of you. Big Pulls, small pulls, etc. I love tanking but I am not going to even bother queueing as tank if I don't feel like dealing with people pulling for me, dps not managing threat, or people wanting me to go at a pace I just don't feel comfortable with. There are days I love large pulls, but then there are days I just want to relax and not pull big. Those days I won't tank, so I am one less tank filling the queue.

[Bernkastelx]

Every class gets flamed when you are slacking, I leveled war and drk during heavensward and did some end game content its just a boring concept and boring experience. I usually mained mnk in heavensward (prefer sam now more ocd usage) so I like the positional and fast pace game play so that may be why I can't even bother trying to tank in stormblood.

[Wyndam]

There are three main things that keep me coming back to tanking.

1) First and foremost, I love being useful to my friends. Tanks are always in demand and playing one has meant being able to play with the widest variety of people in my FC since most are DPS mains or have DPS alts.

2) It's impossible to oversell the instant queues and the overall independence the role brings. I have the freedom to do whatever content I want whenever I want to. I take for granted that I can solo most FATEs. This past weekend I started pony farming the level 50 primals on my own.

3) I really enjoy being in the thick of things at the center of the battle. Not to say that other classes don't have to do this, but tanks have to dodge more AoE than most. I get a thrill seeing multiple overlapping AoE templates and dancing between them. Never quite getting to safety but always staying one step ahead so I don't get hit. Being the center of the battle means you're the center of attention. You might get blamed when things go wrong but you also get credit when things go right. Player commendations are a small little pat on the back and triple comms always make me smile. That happens with tanking more than any other role.

[CYBEReris]

I'm new to the game and this is the first time I've played a tank in an MMO but what I've been liking about tanking so far is the gameplay fantasy of taking a group through a dungeon without them taking so much as a scratch. Apart from stuff like boss AoEs/mechanics I have minimal or no control over.

I'm sure it's not so satisfying for people who don't have a protective personality or have just gotten a bit burnt out from experience.

Most groups have been either kind and generous with tips or at least patient and tolerant, but there was a BLM at one point mad I wasn't comfortable with more than a double pull.

[Lynesse]

I started a Gladiator today.

I just finished my first Sastasha run as a tank, and I had a revelation: Low level tanking in this game blows.

I almost don't want to continue leveling. ><

It's so easy for level-synced people to steal aggro from me, and then I look like a jerk when a mob turns and swats the healer.

I feel like I had to do a lot of work just to hold aggro. I was tabbing between targets and using my enmity combo to stay ahead, but it was difficult to keep track of aggro in packs of 4-5 enemies.

I feel embarrassed. Even though no one died or was in any real danger, it was plainly obvious that I was just "okay." I'm sure the healer was raging at me behind his monitor for being made of paper, but all I have is Rampart! (Actually, the healer was really nice and understanding, but I still felt bad.)

These early dungeons aren't giving me a good first impression of the role at all.

I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, too, and I now think the poor design of the beginner dungeons contributes a lot to the problem.

[Anienai]

I started a Gladiator today.

Grats.

It's so easy for level-synced people to steal aggro from me

Flash 2x and start your aggro combos. Bards and MCH at that lvl can kinda dictate which mob you have to keep an eye on since they tend to pull b4 you do.

I feel embarrassed.

Keep your gear up to date and you should be fine til Braylox(sp?).

I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, too, and I now think the poor design of the beginner dungeons contributes a lot to the problem.

If someone goes out of their way to make your job hard then remember the first rule of tanking:

You spank it, you tank it.

hope this helps.

[Lynesse]

snip

Thanks for the advice! I'll remember to Flash x2, then do my aggro combo. The second run went a lot smoother now that I'm figuring things out. I'm still really nervous. ^^