AoE or HP Combo?

[AlphaFox]

So a question as I have been playing DRK and GNB, loving them both but something I have been seeing that makes me question if I need to rethink what I am doing. I can do normal pulls, even big pulls, I use my cool-downs, dodge what I can yet my HP still seems to go down more so than when I am healing tanks of equal equipment.

Which makes me wonder, in these cases should I be focusing on the HP healing combos to help mitigate or focus on AoEs? To me, AoE seems to be the right course but maybe its a healer issue and not me?

[Canadane]

Perhaps your healers aren't giving you shields, or they play more fast and loose.
As long as you're not dead, there's likely nothing wrong happening.

[RopeDrink]

Can't speak for DRK but I make an effort to at least get Brutal Shell up during the pull before AoE spam // mitigation rotation. I find that if I don't do this (and the Healer is a non-shielder), then even with a mitigation-CD rotation, I'll still get chunked. Assuming the Healer isn't of the AFK variety, I'd sooner give them more freedom to do damage rather than force them to sit on my healthbar while taking more damage during an AoE combo spam.

[Typhoria]

Eh, on an AoE pull Brutal Shell isn't worth it. A ~3k-5k shield depending on if it crits is not worth it and won't save you compared to killing the group faster.

Keep Aurora and Heart of Stone basically on cooldown as a Gunbreaker.

Don't forget you have Arm's Length. For trash packs, it is an amazing cooldown that slows mobs by 20% for 15s when they hit you.

[Duskane]

Just aoe and mitigate correctly

Make sure you are using arms length as well slow effect can give you and the healer time to breath

And i have notice abyssal drain is much better to save till your pretty low as Drk and running low on CD if possible

[Valic]

Honestly for GNB I just split my mitigation tools in half so one set is up by the next pull at least after at least 2 uses. Depends on how many you're pulling of course, but arm's length is a MUCH bigger help than you think with the knockback effect. Enemies attacking slower = less damage being taken so quickly. It lasts a good 15 seconds too and can be paired with small cd's like camouflage. Stuns are also nice if you see something casting aoe's or in later dungeon cases... TANK BUSTERS.... As far as GNB goes, it's "kill asap while I have mitigation available" for big pulls. Which is pretty enjoyable when you build up 2 cartridges, and have bloofest and no mercy available. Then it's just a fated circle spamfest along with your aoe dot. The faster it dies, the less MP your healer needs afterall.

As far as DRK... TBN still for days, but we can't be as ballsy as we were in SB with our abyssal drain DA'd and etc aoe madness.

What you're going through could be a combination of healer issue or tank gear issue. I've run into some healers struggling with some of the changes, and the fact MP is a default set for every job now makes you realize that a healer's MP can much more easily run out now(unless you're WHM). DPS can help mitigate with some of their tools like stuns and such as well too. Good communication can never go wrong though, but GNB has some oddly placed mitigation with weird parry increases and magical mitigation only raid buffs.... So.... It's hit and miss why you take a ton of damage, could be healer, could be unfortunate criticals, could be gear differences, could just be everyone's new to a certain job. I definitely feel a bit squishier as a GNB and not as "godly tanky" as I used to feel on DRK but that's "working as intended" so... yeah.

[Maneesha]

While the single target combos do offer some mitigation/selfheal, depending on the size of the pull (4+) it is not worth doing it, because you/your healer will barely feel the heal/mitigation. So actively you would mitigate more dmg if you were to do aoe combos and help killing the stuff faster (dead mobs don't attack). If the healer can't keep up with the dmg the mobs do (if you mitigate correctly), or the dps don't kill stuff fast enough before you run out on cd's (single target combos or simply very low gear), then just reduce the pull size and all should be good. The "wall to wall" pulls can get very inefficient,be a burden for the group, if the group isn't pulling out good dps,tank/heal don't use their cd's efficiently.

[Seraphor]

Shouldn't have a problem with DRK.

TBN on cooldown.
Rampart and Arms Length after your first TBN pops.
Next TBN followed by Shadow Wall.
Weave in an Abyssal Drain once you've sustained enough damage.
If there's any magic damage, bonus Dark Mind.

Should be more than enough mitigation, unless your healer just isn't healing you.

[wereotter]

Eh, on an AoE pull Brutal Shell isn't worth it. A ~3k-5k shield depending on if it crits is not worth it and won't save you compared to killing the group faster.

Keep Aurora and Heart of Stone basically on cooldown as a Gunbreaker.

Don't forget you have Arm's Length. For trash packs, it is an amazing cooldown that slows mobs by 20% for 15s when they hit you.

Supporting this advise.

The shield and heal you'll get from brutal shell aren't worth the increase in time that you'll actually be tanking damage.

Use Aurora and Heart of Stone as was mentioned, as well as rotating in Rampart and Nova is needed. Arm's Length is a fantastic mitigation tool too, just remember it doesn't work against magical enemies, like many of the enemies in the third section of Dohn Mheg. So in that case if you're having trouble, Heart of Light can be a helpful tool.

[Wyndam]

Focus on rotating cooldowns to get maximum uptime on having some form of mitigation. If you prioritize your shortest cooldowns first you'll get more uses of them. Obviously that means the 15-30 second CDs get used as often as possible, but then also like Rampart vs Shadow Wall vs Arm's Length, you want to use Rampart first even though it's a little weaker. If you use it early you'll probably have it for the next pull. Arm's Length is really only good for trash, so you want to prioritize that on trash packs.

The healing from souleater is insignificant compared to the damage you'll be taking and the MP regen from Stalwart Soul feeds into keeping up TBN more often. Indirectly, you are enabling more self healing by the DRK AoE combo anyway.