Advice for Newbie Tank on Pulls

[SicariusSeven]

So I started to learn how to tank, leveled mostly through POTD. Then I practiced through Squadron Missions, then I did roulettes with a friend. I have the basics of dungeon tanking down, my issue now is pulls.

I've seen some dungeons where a tank will pull a large amount of mobs and live 95% of the time. I find that a bit intimidating so I always just pull one set of mobs and keep it small. Though I worry the others in my group will become irritated at that, I just sorta want to go at a safe pace. What are your advice on very big pulls vs small pulls?

[ManuelBravo]

First thing is to always communicate if your new to tanking, be well geared, and if possible learn t o use your markers if your having a tough time keeping hate so your party can focus and help out. Depending on your job, know your cool downs, and rotations. Which tank are you using? Each is a bit unique and I rather give you more helpful advice.

Over all for all 3;

Rotation on mobs, use your Cool Downs, depending if your Off tank or MT you may need job role selection.

Gear wise ; Tendency takes priority, if you craft try to go for HQ items and meld materia properly. If Not Dungeon gear until you can get tome gear.

Tips; Know when to stun , when to cover ( if PLD ), and when to mark.

[SicariusSeven]

First thing is to always communicate if your new to tanking, be well geared, and if possible learn t o use your markers if your having a tough time keeping hate so your party can focus and help out. Depending on your job, know your cool downs, and rotations. Which tank are you using? Each is a bit unique and I rather give you more helpful advice.

I've been using DRK. I don't seem to be losing hate. That's one of the first things I always worried about. Generally if I saw one mob losing more health than the one I was focusing, I'd switch to that one while occasionally throwing out one of the AOEs if I saw fit.

[Hazmick]

Practice practice practice ^_^ The more dungeons you do, the more comfortable you'll get with your skills and your pulls. You don't NEED to do big pulls, just go at your own pace. Manuel's point about communication is important too. If you tell people that you're not comfortable with big pulls, most will be fine with it.

Inevitably you'll meet people for whom no pull is big enough, and all you can do is keep on going and not let them bother you too much.

[Casualty]

When you are new to tanking there is nothing wrong with starting small, especially if you aren't used to the dungeon. However, if you want to start doing bigger and aren't sure when to wall to wall pull, try doing a double - grab the first pack of enemies and pull them to the next. A lot of places (especially past 50) will wall you past 3, so you will learn where you can possibly add one or 2 more packs and when you have to stop.

Also get practice on your cooldowns. I have seen plenty of tanks who save them for bosses. Dungeon bosses are the least dangerous encounters of a dungeon if you are doing large pulls. You are better served having them up for big pulls and rotating through them for each pull or going through all of them as necessary on some boss-to boss pulls.

Finally, if you want to start doing larger pulls, once you are moving DO NOT STOP until you reach whatever destination you set. Stutter stepping or stopping to establish aggro on a pack before moving on makes you take more damage than necessary and likely will waste resources/cooldowns of DPS and healers.

[ManuelBravo]

I've been using DRK. I don't seem to be losing hate. That's one of the first things I always worried about. Generally if I saw one mob losing more health than the one I was focusing, I'd switch to that one while occasionally throwing out one of the AOEs if I saw fit.

Dark Knight oh good your in 60's,

First thing I would recommend is master the usage of Dark arts as much as possible and find a balance for MP absorption that works for you. Many DRK that I've seen stick with rotations yet have no idea how Dark Mind , Syphon strike, Quietus, abyssal Drain , and later on the Blackest night works properly.

For Role Shirk is a must if encountering Tank swapping , Low Blow for stunning, Rampart as an additional cool down for Defense, Provoke a must.


Depending on party dynamics you can swap some if they know how to stun or silence properly. As long as you understand that enmity is your main priority you should be fine.

At times you will get those healers that will spam regen while pulling which will trow you off track so please let them know, or carry Max potions HQ and pop if they get enmity while pulling to shift it back asap. I see we are in the same server if you like add me and we can do a few runs together if you would like to practice.

[SicariusSeven]

Thanks for all the advice guys! So very helpful. I will practice and communicate more. I'm just always worried about disappointment!

[winsock]

Large pulls wall-to-wall pulls really aren't that bad (most of them wont demand more than cure II spam), but if you dont know what you're doing, they're going to be a problem. There is a technique/trick to them, so if you dont know it you may struggle. Mechanically, here's what you want to do:

1) Preparation
If you're going to be doing a large pull, you're going to want your powerful defensive cooldowns available. The means that even if you have cooldown X available, you may not want to use it on pull Y because if you do, it wont be available for pull Z. So make sure you identify the sections that will require strong cooldowns as well as the sections where you can allow those cooldowns to recharge. Boss fights are usually good options to allow your strong cooldowns time to recharge, but there are also large pulls that have fairly low incoming damage where weaker cooldowns would be appropriate.

2) The Pull
When you are pulling, you want to sprint and grab initial aggro on mobs. If you just walk up to them and let them aggro you, they'll break off as soon as someone generates aggro (ex: healer casting a heal = instantly dead healer). You need to hit them with an aggro skill (in your case unmend/unleash/AD) so that you have some initial threat.

When you are conducting this pull, make sure it is as fluid as you can make and avoid completely stopping. If you stop mobs behind you will catch up to you and deal damage, dps may think you are ready to fight and blow cooldowns. One tip for this is that if you jump, you can keep your forward momentum while using a ranged skill on a target that is behind you.

3) The Transition to Combat
As you get ready to stop and just prior to the mobs catching up to you, use a strong defensive cooldown. Any mobs that have abilities will have queued them during the pull, every mob is going to hit you as soon as they catch up, and the healer needs a little time to recognize that the pull is stopping. Make sure you hit a strong cooldown to facilitate the transition into combat. After that, generate any additional aggro you'll need on the pack and from there, it's mostly business as usual. Chain your mitigation, dont lose threat, etc.

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If you're wanting to practice, going unsync'd by yourself into something like sastasha is fine. The biggest things to work on are smoothly picking up initial aggro on all mobs during the pull, then ending the pull with a cooldown (+ gaining additional threat.)

One last piece of advice I wanted to make sure I included: Dont be afraid to pull large. Overpulling is part of learning to tank. You'll find there are some pulls in ARR dungeons you just shouldnt make. You'll find there are certain pulls that you should only attempt with certain parties. Just have fun with it.

[Canadane]

I think the best advice about being intimidated by large pulls is this: don’t be.
Just do it.
Sometimes, rarely, you’ll die. But this just lets you learn the limits of the gear you currently have (or the healer you’re currently with).

Seriously, you’re a tank. The best role in the game. The unstoppable force. Go wild!

[Nedkel]

You need to trust your healer a little bit, the heals in this game are really strong and just enough to keep you alive with large pulls.

Pull 2-3 groups of mobs most of times, but keep in mind the knowledge about each dungeon is the most important part of the pulling. Where and when you are able to pull more or less is the part of the that knowledge, it all comes with time, the more you play the more you know.