Bad idea having first character as a tank?

[Varyntheos]

That's what im doing, looked up all the classes and thought warrior was the coolest so I've been playing as that. Ive usually been a tanks in other mmo's so that may help me with the basics. All content has been pretty simple so far (im only at heavensward so im sure it will get harder in the future). So far ive been winging it in dungeons and for raids ive watched a quick youtube video before hand. Have had 0 problems yet and if i do make a mistake, no ones ever been toxic or mad in the parties yet (which is crazy since im coming from tanking in wow). So i say its fine starting as a tank

Yeah god forbid you make one mistake in wow tanking before you get bombarded with DIE in a fire and so on lol

[Kaedan]

Not knowing the mechanics of the dungeon has nothing to do with your ability as a tank. So don't worry about it.

Best thing you can do with every new boss is to ask your group if there is anything special about the boss you have to watch out for.

[Noldornir]

So I am playing a tank and currently loving it, but sadly my team mates doesnt always like it.

Why? Because I am a beginner. Of course, theres nothing wrong with that since I know my role (having enmity at all times and know my rotation), but after reaching higher level the enemies has more difficult tactics and arent just tank and spank.

I was in The Sunken Temple of Qarn today, and I know its a low level dungeon, but there it really started to get difficult for me. Each boss has complex tactics (when you havent been there before and dont know anything about it).

Should I go there as a DPS first, or read up and down about every boss fight before entering a new dungeon? Will it only get more complexed from now on?

You shouldn't if you ask me; I always main a tank in every game i make 'cause:

1) I like the job/role more than i like DPS and I dont like to heal at all so
2) Elitist ppl WILL complain everytime (even when they are not elite), just state out when it's your first time so that other can help you out with tips on specific bosses/ take it easier
3) You are going to learn MUCH faster the specific mechs required in each boss.
4) Mechanichs are not a "tank" thing; you can piss ppl off even as a DD/Healer if you ignore them/do them wrong; in that dungeon (sunken temple) I usually see a lot of ppl ignoring the glowing floor tiles in second boss: that means they'll die (possibly complaining you bacause, since they got hit, must be 'cause you lost aggro while even the first bosses have "aggro ignore" or party-wide skills).

The only person you could really piss off is another tank (in an 8-man content) if you mess up while aggroing-swapping but even there a normal person wouldn't piss u off too much (unless you keep on doing that after he explains).

Last week I had to tell a tank wich skills to use for swapping in Binding Coil 2 (synced) (there are not many tankswaps until laaaaaater in game); he was not using Provoke but his aggro combo instead (even if I shirked when I realized it he took 20 secs or so to get the lead). We wiped with 8 "vulnerability up" on me

Told him to use voke followed by aggro combo did the trick on 2nd attempt, no need to get pissed, he didn't knew, now he does and he did learn it fast too. I firmly believe that's how ppl should behave if you are "doing wrong".


The same happened to me many times (in trials always state if it's your first run so if necessary other tank will tell you when/how to swap).

[RopeDrink]

Healer is the easiest. Simply based on view of the area and amount of focus required elsewhere. It is possible I'm a bit skewed since I've been a healer main since about 2003.

None are much harder or easier than the other, yet the most common issue people have with playing Tanks & Healers is that feeling of responsibility. Joe Soap might find Monk hard to play in the context of positional vs rotations and all the rest, but the damage-dealing process in and of itself is the most simplistic and easiest to play and comes with the least responsibility. It counters this by being the role with the more complex machinations to achieve that role (rotations, positioning, lack of sustain in a lot of cases), whereas the rest have other issues to worry about hence do not share the same concerns (ie. keeping the trinity alive).

If you main X, of course you would typically find X easier than the rest because that is what you're focusing on, so yes, you're being a bit skewed by saying it as a blanket statement, even though none of them are essentially 'difficult'. The reality is that we cannot account for how the person next to you feels about it. I know more people anxious or worried about Healing/Tanking than I care to admit, and no amount of me telling (or showing) how easy *I* find it will make them believe differently.

[Gula]

Just tell your teammates at the beginning, that its your first time in a dungeon. Then they know that explanations are probably needed.
For normal dungeons thats enough.

If you get lvl 50 and want to do some extreme primals or raids, pls watch a video first and do it with partyfinder, not dutyfinder or with friends/fc mates that can explain on the run.

I disagree. I got through all the ARR Extremes without a guide and synced. Those, like literally any piece of content, can be done when people talk to each other in an MMO.

[Duskane]

play what you want
you be you

[Rezef]

Stay like a tank. Dps queuing will bore you. You can just state that it's your first time there and ppl will give you tips. None wants the tank to fail mechanics and as a result lead to wipes. But be ready if you mess up some uncivilized creatures will start bashing you. Just don't pay attention to them.

[Shurrikhan]

There's a lot to be said about improving your tank play by having first played the jobs a bad tank can badly inconvenience, but if you're aware, it shouldn't matter too much. Ideally, though, I'd still look up the abilities of all healers and see if you can learn to track the shorter cooldowns in your head (and to rely on them somewhat so that you can actually get a certain interval of use out of them that you can get a feel for), and make sure you're not giving false signals to DPS. The last thing you want is to pause briefly to pad some AoE enmity and have it mistaken for the final gather such that the BLM pops their Ley Lines and the other dps starts going ham when you still have another group to pull, etc.

[Gideon_Welles]

I started with PLD and actually didn't play anything else until I had hit lv70. You should stick with it and take it slow if you're not sure about the trash mechanics. You can set the pace, don't let them rush you.

I generally do something along the lines of shield lob > circle of scorn > flash > flash > emnity rotation on enemy 1 > emnity rotation on the enemy 2 > emnity rotation on enemy 3 > circle of scorn > repeat

If you don't have circle, you can just replace it with flash.

This video is a bit older, but it's what I used to learn how to play the game back in the day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qd9...yCI-pv&index=2

[Niurok]

Tanking is gravy really just don't get sloppy so dps can do their rotations instead of having to adjust to a wussy tank that want's to constantly move the mobs around. Some tanks just run ahead and gather a whole "quadrant" of mobs and expect a new healer to keep up which is a no-no. With raids and being "new" to it don't try to tank the bosses and then complain about how you want to be MT if you don't know which attack if any is a tank buster. Watch for any A B Cs in a raid and look at which alliance your in so that you will know which letter to go to. I laugh a lot when I see tanks drop because they think tanking in dps stance is fine. YOUR JOB IS TO TANK NOT TO DPS!!! Personally I think if tanks go into a instance or raid tanking in dps stance they should automatically be hit with a K.O. Being new to a raid just tell your party you are new but stay at the top of the party threat list. If you see other players moving away do the same thing. Its not hard to dodge void zones etc. When a new instance is released I always go slow at first until I get a handle of what is up ahead and what dps I get. Some dps do great and some don't. Use your low blow skill and shield bash to stun attacks. Playing dps I low blow as often as I can because I get tired of the tanks not doing it. Same with silences. Not enough tanks silence casters. Shield swipe works on most mobs and some bosses but some are immune even though it sticks.