I'm a level 67 paladin... Who does not know how to tank.

[CaptainLagbeard]

Shield Oath, have it up all the time.

The only real reason you could have to not have Shield Oath is if there is a second tank and you're not gonna be tanking.

Flash a lot, at least 3 times, and Circle of Scorn is off the global cooldown and should be used between Flashes.

For bosses, use the Enmity combo, Fast Blade -> Savage Blade -> Rage of Halone.

For tankbusters, now that PLD can block magic damage as well, Sheltron (or Bulwark).


And if you notice you are losing aggro on a mob, start doing the enmity combo on it.


And a general note, outside of Savage or Extreme, you shouldn't worry too much about your damage as a tank, that's the DPS job. Just focus on enmity and surviving.

[Kiasta]

On top of a lot of other people's perspective on tanking, I would also recommend to ignore those who call you garbage. A LOT of those people have never tanked or don't know what they are talking about. Don't take what they say to heart they are just assholes who are full of themselves. I'm a 61 PLD main and my early tanking days I remember this guy who was just a complete dickhole. He constantly bitched about me keeping agro during bosses... when those bosses randomly attack people. He also complained that I didn't use flash or anything, called me garbage, he was a complete idiot who didn't even know the mechanics of bosses. Anyways, people like to bitch just to bitch. Ignore them and have fun. I refuse to play with people like that. I will leave a dungeon as soon as I hear ANYONE talk shit to me, instant ignore and leave. They can then spend 10-15 minutes looking for another tank.

[WaterShield]

It's not so much that I don't know how to tank. It's more like, I don't understand it.

Seriously... In dungeons, 40% of the time people are neutral about me, 30% they love me, and 30% think I'm garbage. For example, these past few days I've spammed that Shisui of the Violet Tides dungeon about a dozen times. The first 11 times I got a bunch of commendations. And the last one, one of the players said the following...

You... (dramatic pause) ... are garbage.

Here's my basic formula for drawing aggro...

Move forward. Once the monsters are close, I use flash twice, and then fight.

Here's my formula if it's a boss...

Move forward. Once the boss is close, I use that ability, whatever its called (the one that supposedly puts you on top of its enmity list or something), and then use flash twice.

90% of the time I draw aggro successfully. But for some reason, the rare times I fail, I get scolded severely by the other players.

I don't understand. Why the inconsistency in people's view of me as a tank? If I suck, I should suck all the time. But no. Whenever I get complimented, I get insulted as well. It's really bugging me.

I never use that ranged shield attack and I never use that weak-butt rotation that increases enmity. I've gone this far without them and I prefer to keep it that way.

What are your thoughts about my confusion?

Thanks.

There's one thing that you're wrong about. Most of what you said is good and helpful, and I thank you for that. But you're wrong about one thing.

Any community, whether online or offline, social or business, needs an egomaniacal leader. History will tell you this as well, not just me. The greatest military leader of all time, surpassing Caesar and Alexander, is Napoleon Bonaparte. He's my childhood hero. He wasn't a perfect man but his ego knows no bounds. Yet despite his ego, he was well-loved by his own soldiers. They remained loyal to the bitter end, even after his one-year abdication to Elba. His secret? Well, that's a lot of things. It's complicated. But the point is, his ego drove him to greatness. I have a fondness for the man because I'm the same way. And my experience tells me that greatness in leadership is not gained through purely morally upright motivations, but through sheer willpower and arrogance. The secret is to learn how to hide this arrogance when it counts, and flaunt it when the time to show-off is ripe.

You're talking to someone who have earned over 30 million gil throughout his 7 months of playing, half of which were gained by socializing alone. That's 15 million gil gained through sheer social skills. And wanna know something else? Before buying my FC house, I had 200k gil. I went to the house plot and hustled a nearby player who eventually gave me enough to get the plot for myself.

I created this thread to get practical advice, NOT to be sermoned to become a kinder, "purer", morally-upright person. My intentions for my FC is for my own benefit. But who cares? I'm forced to do things for others' benefit as well, so no harm done.

Can't you just use your social skills to get other people to run dungeons with you instead of randoms? That way you never have to worry about getting people in there with you who will dislike your play style.

[Seig345]

It's not so much that I don't know how to tank. It's more like, I don't understand it.

[...]

I never use that ranged shield attack and I never use that weak-butt rotation that increases enmity. I've gone this far without them and I prefer to keep it that way.

What are your thoughts about my confusion?

Thanks.

My thoughts are that, if you truly don't believe that you understand tanking but refuse to use Shield Lob or the rotation that is the foundation of your job's role in a party in this game and want something else to stop people from calling you garbage at tanking, you should address your question to the development team instead of the community who otherwise are just as beholden to the very same rules of the game and are simply utilizing the options that provide the most desirable results.

Gotta say, I'm glad to see you're still around, Super_Bee. Change can sometimes be scary, and though I don't find myself logging in as much anymore, your consistent approach to starting/replying in threads has been a comforting constant.

[TroySoFab]

Just rotate your combo around if you're tanking a small group. If you have a large group, your aoe combo should be fine. If some one is pulling aggro on one mob then they are single targeting a large group, and its their fault not yours.

[Artemiz]

Im going to go right ahead and hope that after 3 years he has figured it out.

If you're going to try a troll necro, a less obvious one is better than one with vastly outdated mechanics.

[TeraRamis]

Paladins are - I want to say - the tank with the most active defense necessities. If you aren't using at least reprisal and rampart (and sentinel during emergencies) regularly, you're going to take way more damage than other tanks in equivalent situations. Shelltron should always be up, and you should be dropping occasional heals via clemency as needed.

Honestly, Paladins have an easy rotation, but they're really demanding of a tank to pay attention to damage spikes, making them somewhat unforgiving if you're just hoping to faceroll all content.

[Endariel]

Necroposting should be a bannable offense

[Krotoan]

Necroposting should be a bannable offense

For the absolute love of Mike.. just.. click on the yellow triangle below their portrait instead of responding (I UNDERSTAND I AM DOING IT TOO!) and it could be!