Duty Anxiety

[PhantomDave]

Having just completed the 2.0 storyline, I'm at a point in the game where dungeons and bosses are becoming more involved than simply moving forward and fighting everything we see. Whenever I come upon a new challenge, I always end up putting it off for fear that I won't perform well enough.

I enjoy playing this game, and I don't want this hang-up to get in the way of my fun. Any advice for getting over this?

[AxlStream]

Just do it. If you hesitate to get into new instances, you will have a miserable time moving forward.

[Rosentretter]

It would be good if at the beginning of duties you could tell people, not in detail, but just let them know to be more patient with you, or else it's going to be very rough. Good luck!

[Callinon]

It would be good if at the beginning of duties you could tell people, not in detail, but just let them know to be more patient with you, or else it's going to be very rough. Good luck!

I had a tank a couple weeks ago open a dungeon with something along the lines of: "I haven't tanked in a long time, so I apologize for the crimes I'm about to commit."

We thought it was really funny and it let us all know that this tank would probably take things slow while he got his feet again. That's really all it takes. Most people will be patient with you if you just ask them to. The difference is if you don't tell them and then end up wasting everyone's time by not knowing what you're doing and then getting like.. super defensive when someone tries to help.

[Brightmore]

Tell people and relax.
I acted like this when I began tanking too, so I know your feeling.
Just have fun, three runs and you can do it without blinking! Cheers for you!

[InkstainedGwyn]

Reasonable people, if you ask for patience, will give it to you.

Unreasonable people won't, whether you know the fight or not, and even if you're good will probably still be jerks, so not knowing isn't going to make you any worse off there, either.

There's always guides, if you want to have an idea of what you're getting into, and the reasonable people far outweigh the unreasonable, I promise. Once you've seen it, you'll know it, and you can practice as much as you want.

Good luck!

[Gemina]

I go through it every time I do my roulettes, especially as tank; and because I always queue up as whichever role is currently the adventurer in need, I think this will likely clue you in on how much anxiety there is in the air just from roulettes alone.

I wrote a blogpost on this very topic and invite you to read it:
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes.../blog/4021829/

In short, I can't really say that you actually get over it so much as you get through it because eliminating anxiety entirely isn't possible. The overwhelming feeling of it however, can be lessened to more reasonable levels where it no longer affects your performance and you become confident inside of duties. What this takes though is throwing yourself inside of duties. You can't learn to swim without getting wet is the best way I can put a metaphorical spin on it.

The benefit to anxiety is the massive euphoria received when you get through a duty knowing that you performed well. It is a highly rewarding experience that transfers over to your subsequent runs in DF. In the blogpost I linked, I talk about a really bad run I had in Bardam's Mettle as a DRK. It was so bad I couldn't even really sleep that night thinking about how atrocious my performance was, but I had been tanking so long now that I already knew that I was far better than that performance. The way I countered it was the very next day, I queued specifically into Bardam's, lassoed its hooves and owned it.

You've gotten this far and you are still here, correct? We oft have to remind ourselves that this is a game, and with players with anxiety issues such as you and myself, nobody and I do mean NOBODY puts as much pressure on us to perform well than ourselves. We have a great community, and most players are going to be understandable if you're not the best of the best.

I wish you the best of luck during your future runs. Get out there cowboy!

[SomeRandomHuman]

Yell at the dps for not controlling their aggro and compliment your healer for healing you. That's what I did when I first started tanking back in 2.1.

On a more serious note, just concentrate on your role first and foremost. You are a tank that is supposed to be the one getting hit. If any targetable mob is not a giant red(or whatever color you see) square then make it that way using your enmity tools. In the case of Paladin don't be afraid to just blow your mp bar to basically empty on flash. It's not like you use it for anything else until level 58 and even then you mostly just flash still. Always use Circle of Scorn whenever its off CD as well. It's free and free enemity is best enmity.

Once you have yourself used to the basics just keep them strong and second nature.

Oh and the most important part: Don't let other people control how you feel. Any decent person will be more than happy to give some lenience and maybe even a tip or two. Some people are more direct than others in advise so just be warry of that

TL;DR: Focus your role first then expand comfort zone and your anxiety should be a little less irksome.

[ADarklore]

Having just completed the 2.0 storyline, I'm at a point in the game where dungeons and bosses are becoming more involved than simply moving forward and fighting everything we see. Whenever I come upon a new challenge, I always end up putting it off for fear that I won't perform well enough.

I enjoy playing this game, and I don't want this hang-up to get in the way of my fun. Any advice for getting over this?

I used to feel this way when I first started. I know before I enter any new dungeon I always watch YouTube videos so I have an idea of what to expect. After doing so many dungeons because of MSQ requirement, I just stopped caring about what other people might think and just do the best I can. I figure, I only have to do it once, and it's the DEVS forcing me to do this, not by choice... but in order to progress the story, I have to do it. Perhaps the new TRUST system coming with 5.0 will help a lot with anxiety issues and get people more comfortable with group dungeons.

[AnimaAnimus]

It helps if you read your tool tips or a guide or two and have a basic understanding of your role and abilities. You don't need to be a god, just know the basics. Simple things like, face the boss away from the pt unless you are 100% certain it only single targets and doesn't cleave. Also practice on a dummy if you wanna learn your rotations well.

I had a tank today, a sprout, in a lvl 50 story dungeon that you haven't been to yet, who said nothing, that just stood in everything, didn't dodge most things and when he did dodge he turned the boss to the pt and just let it cleave them. Also was in gear that was way below lvl/ilvl, not using cooldowns and I am quite convinced he was dual boxing the drg in our pt.

As long as you're not that guy, most ppl will be understanding. With that guy though, I took a 30 minute hit, not healing thru that.

Also when I tank on my alt I try to pull as much as I am comfortable with but I stay on top of things, meaning no needless standing around or slowly marking targets and I push myself to pull bigger just to hone my skills (which is frankly the only way your gonna get better) and if a dps pulls, I just let it eat them.