New tank here, have some random questions.

[Goji1639]

First, why does tank stance turn off at the beginning of dungeons randomly? I swear that trips me up a good 30% of the time; run in, pull a bunch of crap, notice that enmity is all over the place and "DAMNIT! AGAIN!?" I'm sure I'll get used to it, but just... why?

Second, how do you recognize tank busters? Is there some kind of specific tell or do I need to just pop sheltron every time it looks the boss is winding up for something?

Think that's it. Tanking is actually pretty fun; I like being the one in the group who can fight everything head on. My sense of direction sucks, though.

[Nedkel]

Because imagine if your coop tank forgot about turning it off in raids or alliance raids. Lol

For tank busters i rely on my sixth sense i gained after playing tanks for extended amount of time. Hehe

[whiskeybravo]

Tank stance will remain on unless you switch jobs or end up getting level synced in a dungeon.

Tankbusters are just something you'll learn along the way, most of them have a cast bar so just try to remember the names/attack patterns as you go

[Noitems]

1) Level Sync does that since it resets your status to whatever level you are. Trust me doing it in dungeons isn't that bad, forgetting you turned off tank stance for a mechanic in a savage and pulling is far worse haha.

2) For most cases now with SHB you just gotta pay attention the move names. Prior to that the general motion was TB -> Raidwide but with Titania they made it so Raidwide - TB. Meanwhile Eden Prime is TB - Raidwide so you gotta pay attention. When you tank enough you can generally predict what will be what on a first fight basis but overtime you'll naturally learn what does what so better map your mitigation.

[shao32]

First, why does tank stance turn off at the beginning of dungeons randomly? I swear that trips me up a good 30% of the time; run in, pull a bunch of crap, notice that enmity is all over the place and "DAMNIT! AGAIN!?" I'm sure I'll get used to it, but just... why?

Second, how do you recognize tank busters? Is there some kind of specific tell or do I need to just pop sheltron every time it looks the boss is winding up for something?

Think that's it. Tanking is actually pretty fun; I like being the one in the group who can fight everything head on. My sense of direction sucks, though.

level sync turn off you tank stance, every time you go to a dungeon of lower level that you current tank remember to put on tank stance again, if you notice on expert rouletes that don't happen since they put you on content of the same levle of you tank.

for tank busters well it's more getting used what every boss does, every time a boss cast a attack that means it can be an aoe mechanic like party damage/don't stare/party stack, ect, or a tank buster, with time you will learn what attack is the TB by getting hit by it, so try to focus on what it's casting and what it does so next time doesn't cach you off guard and you can mitigate it properly (note: certain boses don't cast anything to do a TB kind of attack but those are pretty rare like the last boss of castrum abania lvl69 dungeon), be sure you mitigate when the boss target you withspecific mechanics like run away marks too, normally you have to intercept certain links that target you party members but in resume if test and try again.

if you still don't know how to dealt with certain mechanics feel free to ask in the novice network or look for a guide on youtube, there is even dungeons guides so it can help you to identify them on future conten since they repeat most of the time.

[Lodi]

If you think "I don't like the name of this attack" then it's probably a tank buster

[Goji1639]

Thanks everyone.

Since I'm mainly tanking through the MSQ and random roulettes now, a lot of these dungeons are basically 1 run then I rarely see them again. It's not like they're difficult dungeons, but the game throws so many at you that learning what specific move is what for each boss is kind of futile.

I figured if there was some kind of subtle cue that would allow me to make reads it would be good practice, and help me tank a little better in all these new dungeons. If it's just knowing what move is what for every individual boss, I'll just have to do research if/when I start tanking hard content.

[Lodi]

Joking aside, if you see an attack with a cast bar then it's either a raidwide, a TB, or a mechanic. There's sometimes no way to tell which is what until you eat it, but in dungeons it's rarely lethal anyways.

Cues can be found in the animations though!
An enemy's arm glowing red can indicate a one-sided aoe, a long windup can indicate a TB, etc

As for harder content, guides often give you the attack names and their effects, so you just need to memorize them.

[Palibun]

Any level sync will turn of tank stance, fates do the same. I'll admit when i take a big tank break it even throws me off, but you'll get used to it.
If you have any greet macros you can tie it to that, ex:
Hi (or whatever greet you want)
/wave
/ac "Iron Will"

For tank busters you kinda just learn them over time. You can try looking up guides but i think that takes away from the enjoyment of learning how to combat it yourself.

[Kabooa]

Second, how do you recognize tank busters? Is there some kind of specific tell or do I need to just pop sheltron every time it looks the boss is winding up for something?

Early on, 'tank busters' are just instant cast attacks that deal higher damage. You don't really get into the standard tankbuster design until 50+.

However, in almost every fight, the "Busters" happen first, of raid and tank variety. I can't say if it's one or the other every time, but generally, the first two ability names that pop up will be tank or party buster for the last boss of a dungeon.

In 90%+ of cases, those 'busters' are also cast time abilities with a few exceptions, such as the Yol in Bardram's mettle, who don't care none bout fight conventions.