Question for healers about GNB

[aishwab]

Hello Everyone, I am starting to get more into tanking and really enjoying the GNB. While looking around for tips and advice I've noticed several threads where healers state that they do not like healing GNB. I imagine that this is because of superbolide or new players but I wanted to make sure so that I don't end up making your jobs miserable.

Apart from the obvious things like managing cooldowns and such is there any advice you would give to an aspiring meat shield to help make your lives easier?

[Risvertasashi]

Do not pop Bolide after you've received critical damage, but damage you have survived. The only thing it is going to do there is eat healer cooldowns. Use it as a preventative tool only, not a reactive one.

Aside from that, the only other advice I could offer applies to all tanks. Know the limits of your gear, maybe pull smaller while your CDs are CDing, etc.

[Jaelommiss]

Best thing you can do is ask your healer(s) when they want you to Superbolide. Some healers don't want it ever. Some will want it for specific mechanics. Make a macro that asks in party chat and press it when you first enter an instance. If you hear nothing back assume that they don't want you using it.

Apart from that just keep trying to use CDs effectively and maximize your offensive performance.

[Lodi]

GNB is about just as easy to heal as the others; main combo offers the same survivability as WAR and DRK, and defensive CDs across all tanks are more or less the same.

Just don't use Superbolide as a panic button, because it's easy to make your healers waste precious CDs. If you want to use it, make sure your healer(s) is/are aware so nobody wastes their CDs.

As long as you don't panic superbolide, you can tank as GNB without worries c:

[Rilifane]

Regarding Superbolide: I had a GNB in an expert who had a macro which said "Superbolide coming up soon!" in party chat which was my cue to stop healing him as I knew he would use it when he reached critically low HP so I was able to wait that out and heal him back up afterwards.
Nothing worse than a GNB using Superbolide as a panic button the millisecond after my Bene hit ... so don't play the "let's see who panics first" game, give your healer a heads up when it's your next course of action and you're good.

Otherwise just the usual cd using. I honestly didn't notice GNB being harder to heal than the others. I found them to be quite pleasent to heal. My only gripe was when they decided to use Superbolide randomly but those were few.

[Phileas]

Make sure you add arms length to your cooldown rotation and pop heart of stone as often as it allows.

Arms length adds a slow debuff to mobs that hit you and this can help a weaker buff like camouflage.

[Osmond]

Healing GNB isn't so bad. If they do their Camo,Rampart,Nebula/Heart of Stone combo is easier to manage for a healer. HoS pretty much somewhat busted utility for 7secs every 25sec on CD. Aurora is weird, but it's ok for a regen. Arm's Length is really good for big pulls for the 20sec slow, it'll save you as a tank for a while. Superbolide though, unless you let your healer know you going to pop it helps. Somewhat noticed when GNBs pull adds and not stun or interrupt one of the mobs that does a dmg buff on themselves. Having 2 mobs that does it via the twinning, you asking for it. I doubt the healer can save you at that point with a big pull of adds still on you.

[Doozer]

People claim to not like healing GNB because of Superbolide and they pretend that every GNB spams it as soon as it's available. Just like how they insist that every PLD uses Clemency as much as physically possible in order to waste their heals.

Maybe healers shouldn't let their tanks be at 10% while they're still DPSing, and maybe they wouldn't use Superbolide so much. Also: in like 90% of content, who cares if they waste an oGCD because the tank used Superbolide right after. Server ticks and ping are a thing, and as every Good Player has ever said to me, "No one died, so who cares."

If you're physically unable to heal a tank without Benediction/Lustrate/etc., git gud.

[Miziliti]

I assume you are talking about dungeon run because healing GNB is a breeze in boss fight. I love GNB and got a lvl 80 one myself.

The biggest thing I have to tell new GNB is to please use Rampart on your very first big pull, please. With 20% mitigation, I can actually heal you and dps.
Please prioritize Rampart over Camouflage. Camouflage's 10% mitigation really is weak and that parry is still quite useless if you are not the guy that carries a shield <_<

Use Heart of Stone whenever possible. This is one of the best tank defensive cool down.

Don't forget Nebula. When everything is on cd, anything helps.

Superbolide should be no problem for any healer to deal with, really. It is 8s complete invuln, no damage taken and you don't die. Miles ahead of holmgang and 1000% better than living dead. I guess some healers hated it because you either use it on >10-20% hp or they don't know when you use it, so make a macro to announce it when you use could really help. Use it when you think you might die, and you might just lived.

[Saefinn]

I guess Superbolide is about the only thing I imagine, GNB is a good tank so nothing else stands out as anything for healers to have a problem with that your don't get with other tanks.

Generally I'd say use Superbolide for mechanics that need invincibility or if you must, should your healer be clearly struggling, taking big hits or being low on health doesn't mean that the healer is, so that one can be a tougher call. Maybe if they have already let you die once or twice, then it's a little more reasonable you pop it when your health is low.

However, I think a good courtesy is to have a macro to announce that you've just popped it, then the healer knows they don't have to waste a CD. And they don't have to buy a new pair of underwear.

Also I am guilty of misfiring Superbolide 3 or 4 tines by accident, and I have since moved it somewhere else on my crossbar, so I'm sorry to all those healers. :P