How to use a melee-DPS in dungeons?

[Atlentor]

I play primary a healer but last time I tried a melee-DPS (Samurai) in an extreme dungeon. I moved to the back of the boss but still got killed several times by invisible AOEs. Next issue that I can not see if there are adds coming. This is not an issue with a ranged class. Third I can not see if the tank is switching the target.

Solo I don't have any issues with the Samurai.

I would like to get some help.

[Frizze]

Do you remember which boss it was that killed you? The reason i ask, is that most dungeon bosses telegraph their avoidable attacks. So you might not have actually been killed by an "invisible AoE", and it might have been a normal roomwide attack that the healer was supposed to get you through. Yes, you want to avoid the attacks you can to save your healer some stress but it is ultimately their job to keep you standing because almost every boss has a few moves that hit everyone and not everyone has a self-heal to survive it. As for general tips, pull your view out a bit to improve your overall vision. Certain bosses use physical tells to show upcoming moves, so watch for patterns to pick up on them(boss is raising a claw in a certain direction? probly about to do a big move that way so stand behind or on his other side). You can usually see boss adds appear on the aggro list to give you an idea of when they appear. And again, during bosses it normally doesnt matter if the tank switches targets. If there are adds that need to be killed, you just do it(whether the tank grabs them or not). If there are two targets, the tank is usually supposed to get aggro on both so you can keep targeting the one youre on unless theres an actual reason to switch. An awake tank shouldnt lose aggro to you if he has to hit something else for a bit. During trash pulls this matters even less, as you want to be using your AoE attacks most of the time. If something does peel off and chase after you, just stand next to the tank and he should get it back with his next AoE attack(and you would still be able to reach everything, so your AoE would still be fine too).

These are all general tips. If you know the specific boss, im sure someone here(if not me) knows the moves it does.

Bonus tip: You might already know this as a healer, but ill share for any other new players who might read this. When you get ressed during a fight you get a buff that lasts for a few seconds that makes you immune to most attacks. This buff goes away instantly if you use any attacks, skills, or spells. So when you stand back up from a res dont attack right away. Give the healer a chance to top you off(or use a self heal) and just make sure the boss isnt in the process of using a big attack that will knock you right back down again.

[Rongway]

I play primary a healer but last time I tried a melee-DPS (Samurai) in an extreme dungeon.

We don't have extreme dungeons. Do you mean an expert dungeon or an extreme trial?

I moved to the back of the boss but still got killed several times by invisible AOEs.

If you look at the circle on the ground around your target, you'll see a gap in the back. This 90º gap is the "rear". Don't park inside that gap, as some bosses have rear cone attacks. Be at the edge of the gap, the boundary between flank and rear. This allows you to hit positionals without having to move more than a step in either direction, and also to dodge more easily when there is a side cone or rear cone attack. In some instances, standing inside the rear gap for too long will force an enemy to perform a rear cone attack--in this case, baiting such an attack can spare the tank for a couple seconds; just dodge after triggering it.

Next issue that I can not see if there are adds coming. This is not an issue with a ranged class.

Zoom out. Also, move the enemy list near the middle of the screen. By default it's way off to the side. You should put it where you will see it without moving your eyes much. A ghosted or darkened enemy plate in the enemy list means you cannot target the enemy. These are usually just mechanic indicators. A solid plate in the enemy list is probably an enemy that needs to die.

Third I can not see if the tank is switching the target.

In a dungeon, the tank's target is generally irrelevant. If fighting trash, you should be spamming AoE skills and switching your autoattack target to whichever enemy has the most health whenever it changes. If it's an add on a boss, the tank might not target it at all, so you'll need to keep an eye on the enemy list.

[Atlentor]

The rear or side AOE concerns me because there is no visible indicator that there will an attack being coming out.

I dunno what a trial is. It was a place fighting vs a primae. We were fighting Ramuh on extreme setting. And next will be Ifrit, Garuda and Titan on extreme.

[Pepsi_Plunge]

On Extreme the Enemies often don't telegraph their attacks any more. You usually need to learn the fight step by step to know what's happening next to react. Don't expect to go in the fight and clear it on the first pull, you'll have to fully understand the mechanics first before you can beat the boss.

[RicaRuin]

The rear or side AOE concerns me because there is no visible indicator that there will an attack being coming out.

I dunno what a trial is. It was a place fighting vs a primae. We were fighting Ramuh on extreme setting. And next will be Ifrit, Garuda and Titan on extreme.

Trials are all those that are called 'Prüfungen' in the german client, so all the Content that is in the Duty Finder in the tabs with the angry red smiley.

Trials are 8 man versus a singular boss (old trials have a 4 man setting as well) while dungeons are 4 man exploring the dungeon with mini bosses and a final boss. (Exception: Meridanum and Praetorium as 8 man dungeon.)

[RicaRuin]

Trials are all those that are called 'Prüfungen' in the german client, so all the Content that is in the Duty Finder in the tabs with the angry red smiley.

Trials are 8 man versus a singular boss (old trials have a 4 man setting as well) while dungeons are 4 man exploring the dungeon with mini bosses and a final boss. (Exception: Meridanum and Praetorium as 8 man dungeon.)

There are 8 man raids that are just a singular boss as well, but those are in the tabs with a red/orange cave symbol.

[Atlentor]

Angry red smilies, red orange cave symbols? Where to see that in the duty finder?

[Darkstride]

Angry red smilies, red orange cave symbols? Where to see that in the duty finder?

The line of icons along the top of the Duty Finder. There's an icon at the top of each "list" of dungeons, trials, etc.

[Rongway]

no visible indicator that there will an attack being coming out.

fighting Ramuh on extreme setting

Every attack in that fight is telegraphed except the AoE tank buster, which won't hit you unless you're standing by the tank.

Some of the indicators are more subtle, but they are there.

Circles on the ground will be struck by lightning. Some circles will be around people and move with them. Don't stand in other people's circles. The Chaos stricken people (frozen) need to be hit on purpose by people with circles in order to unfreeze them, so don't stand near them if you don't have a circle because you will get hit by someone trying to unfreeze them. If you do have a circle, hit the frozen people with it but make sure not to double up the circles if someone else is already there. Two circles at once will kill you.

The water gets electrified whenever lightning strikes the ground circles, so get back on the island if you see blue circles on the ground. But stay away from the tank, because the tank buster is an AoE.

During the add phase, the Ramuh-egis around the edge of the arena shoot lightning in lines. The lines are faint but visible. Kill the adds to make them stop shooting lightning. But also don't be in the water when lightning strikes the ground circles.

And also, if you leave lightning orbs on the ground from Thunderstorm (the attack where lightning strikes all the ground circles), the next Thunderstorm hits much harder. The orbs need to be cleared out between Thunderstorms when they're not being used by the tank to block the tankbuster or by a tethered person to cancel Rolling Thunder.



It's probably also worth explaining what Extreme and Savage content are, too. The Extreme and Savage versions of fights typically don't use orange AoE markers to telegraph the mechanics that were in the easy version of the fight. They expect you to remember the mechanic from the easy version and dodge it without a telegraph. In addition, they throw in new mechanics that don't appear in the easy version. The fights are on a set script, so they expect you to memorize the order that all the attacks happen and choreograph your movements accordingly. As such, you should do them on a job you're used to so that you don't have to think about the job and can think just about the fight choreography.

Don't judge your experience as a melee job by your performance in an extreme fight that you're not familiar with yet. Play it in more relaxed content first to get used to it before you start taking it into harder content.