Tanks who play on controller.

[Yvresse]

Hi there,

I am new, I am playing Paladin on controller.

I want to find out, is there any reason to use Cover?
It is really tricky to target someone with it, so they usually get hit/die before I can actually do something.

I was in the Tonberry dungeon and I wanted to be all cool and save someone with cover from being stabbed, but I ended up just toggling between enemies and the wrong allies etc.

Is there a way to make this easier to use? Or is it the players own fault that they got stabbed? Should I just be spamming the block ability instead?

Thanks,

Also I used my chocobo new player silver feathers on the sword and shield of Magitek, was this the wrong thing to do?

[XiXiQ]

if you're using controller and have the party list on screen, using up/down will target party members.

[Reinhardt_Azureheim]

Cover is currently extremely underwhelming. The best use for it right now is being able to redirect an attack to yourself when tank aggro won't work for that, assuming it either saves someone from certain death or making a mechanic intended for DPS (mainly Damage-over-time effects) go on you instead.

In your case, Tonberry stabs are pretty much non-lethal at this point, so your Healer could've just taken care of it.

Regarding controller usage for abilities, if you aren't doing well with the D-pad target switching, consider making targetting macros for party members and assign one crosshotbar layout for it.

There are plenty controller setup and macro guides out there that go into detail about it, feel free to look them up.

Using more Sheltron is fine, just make sure you don't use it unless you actually mitigate damage if you do.

Regarding your Silver Feathers, there isn't a whole lot you can buy with them, Ironworks gear probably isnt bad as it saves you a bit of Tomestone of Poetics farming.

[ItMe]

I want to find out, is there any reason to use Cover?
It is really tricky to target someone with it, so they usually get hit/die before I can actually do something.

I've learned the hard way that if you are not talking with your healers in voice chat... don't use cover*.
If the other character would have taken enough damage they die, by using cover suddenly you'll be taking a bunch of extra damage out of nowhere and even if you macro to say you're using cover on [target], this catches healers by surprise often enough that you'll die more than you're comfortable with. And usually a tank going down is a much bigger issue than a DPS going down.

*using cover to save clerics though is a total Chad move and you should totally do it.

Also I used my chocobo new player silver feathers on the sword and shield of Magitek, was this the wrong thing to do?

There is no wrong way to use silver feathers.
There are no unique items they buy, so there is nothing you could be missing out on.

[whiskeybravo]

There are other controller settings that may be worth messing around with, namely the target filtering. By default Up/Down will cycle through party members while Left/Right cycle through pretty much everything else visible on screen. You can limit "everything else" in the target filter settings. For example, you can set it so if your weapon is drawn it will only cycle through enemies. It's not perfect but will cut out some of the targeting non-sense, play around with it and see if it helps at all.

PLD in particular has a lot of abilities and at level cap Cover is the one ability currently left off my cross hotbar setup. It can be fun and come in clutch on occasion, but it doesn't seem to be a frequently used ability anymore.

[Sqwall]

I wonder what kind of controller you use? Xbox or PS(4)(5)?

I have found a larger issue with Xbox controllers where I have had to completely remap because of where your thumb naturally rests on a controller. Xbox my thumb naturally goes to the thumb stick. Playstation it goes for the D-Pad everytime, and that's just me. So that being said I tend to place my combo heavy attacks/casting spells on the RIGHT trigger + circle, x, square, triangle and RIGHT trigger + D-pad for the not so heavy combo attacks (less prioritized).

This way I can move while still pushing combo buttons. While most of my CD's/ogcds are more on the LEFT trigger or with R2/L2 expanded cross hotbar.

With your question though. I have 2 cover hotkey's. One that is targetable so that I can d-pad up and down to find the desired party member in trouble. (normal skill)

And one that is macroed (can't remember the exact commands going off memory here)

/macroicon "Cover" (this gives you a cooldown timer on the skill and the exact image of paladins skill cover for the macro)
/macroerror off or /merror off (this get's rid of the stupid errors you get spammed to you when mashing a button) "Skill not ready" "target not in range" etc.
/ac "Cover" <2> (casts cover on the 2nd player in the party list slot)
/ac "Cover" <2> (this is the same line, just helps with server ping issues. I only need 2 repeated I have found, but some may need up to 3 repeated to missing a tick)


Now this IS by no means expert level usage, it's merely for QoL targeting for myself with these one off skills.

Cover is a skill I forget about, a lot. It's just not as useful as it once was, but that doesn't mean it has no uses. I have used Cover in Titania Extreme to cover the other tank that is going to soak all 6 tethers. While I take 3 of those with Cover active. Don't really need to, but it's fun to use sometimes.

I wouldn't be surprised if Cover is removed from the game and intervention get's a buff as it's a much better skill and works well with other mitigations.

I have the exact same macro setup for intervention, Nascent Flash, The Blackest Night, Heart of Stone, Aurora and they work beautifully with my co-tank or healer. The only moments I can think of when I would just pop these. is when I'm the OT and I'm sitting on oath. Just toss out an intervention on the MT and it's simple free mitigation, helps the healers and saves MT CD's (raw intuition, heart of stone, etc.)

And tank swaps. If I know a heavy tank buster is coming in and the MT is getting a debuff, then toss it to them fast before the hit. Then provoke while they shirk. I look at it as tanks are pro wrestlers and just need to tag each other in and out. With a macroed intervention I don't have to cycle or fumble around. It's quick and painless so that I'm ready for the provoke or shirk, and I can move while pressing the hotkey.

[MellowMink]

There are some clever uses of Cover for helping another tank survive certain Savage tank-buster attacks without them having to use their invulnerability move. Otherwise, I haven't seen it used very much.

[Marxam]

merror off
/ac "Cover" <t>
/ac "Cover" <2>
/micon "Cover"

The <t> is there incase you need to manually target another player i.e. healer or dps.

[Tint]

Here are some tips for targeting with a controller:


With up and down on the D-Pad you will move through the party list.

Hold L1 and press up and down on the D-Pad and you will move through the enemy list (maybe you want to disable auto-run, which is also on L1).

Hold L2 and press R1 and you will cycle through the enemies on the screen. Or Hold R2 and press L1 and you will cycle the other way around.

This is not very usefull as a tank, but when you hold L1 and press left and right on the D-Pad you will move through the alliance list in 24 man raids, so you can target the people in other alliances.

[BluexBird]

Hold L1 and press up and down on the D-Pad and you will move through the enemy list (maybe you want to disable auto-run, which is also on L1).

And here I was pressing left and right like an idiot until it landed on the right monster. LMAO