Tanking 101

[Galeforce]

I can't believe I have to write this but a string of bad dungeon runs have convinced me that it is needed.


How to be a good tank

Five simple rules for being one of the best tanks in the game.

1. Stance. Without it, you aren't tanking. You will not keep enmity off the healer or the dps because your base damage simply isn't enough to counter either healing enmity or the damage that a DPS can pour out.

2. AOEs. As long as there is more than one enemy on the field, hit those AOEs like you are getting paid for every time you hit the button. I don't care if your single target attacks do more damage, they only do more damage to one enemy. If there are three or more enemies, your AOEs will do more total damage (take all the damage you are doing at once and add it together - doing 100 damage to three enemies or 300 total damage is always better than doing 200 damage to just one enemy.) But even if there are only two enemies, stay on that AOE. If you aren't doing damage to an enemy you aren't keeping the enmity on it.

3. Don't pull more than you can survive. Dying slows the run down. Dying repeatedly slows it down a LOT. Pulling fewer groups lets your healer help with DPS if he's not having to keep you alive with every spell he casts. If you notice your health dropping fast, you are probably pulling more than the healer and your own mits can keep up with. Try pulling one or two fewer groups until the healer can comfortably keep you at around half health or so.

4. Stay out of AOEs and if there are repeating stationary AOEs like the crystals in Dzemael Darkhold, pull the critters away from them. The less work your healer has to do to keep you alive, the better. The last thing you want to see is all your mits on cooldown and the healer out of mp just because you won't work the mechanics. And letting the enemies stay inside the range of stationary AOEs means that the healer has to split his focus between keeping you alive and keeping the melee DPS alive. Less work for the healer = better run all around.

5. Rotate your mitigations. You can't keep one up all the time, but try to keep one up as much as possible during combat. Again, the less work the healer has to do to keep you alive, the better for everyone. If the healer actually has a chance to help DPS a little, even better. Remember, the healer casting damage spells is the same thing as the healer casting heals or shields, it is preventing future damage by ensuring the enemies die faster so they hit you less.


Yes, I know I left out interrupts and stuns and when to use them, when to use shirk to help swap aggro to the secondary tank, learning the specifics on individual fights, and the rare exceptions to the above rules. All of that is Tanking 201, the advanced class. Using these simple rules will make you a better tank than around 90% of the tanks I have encountered. Learning the advanced stuff will make you a better tank than 90% of the remaining 10%.

[Kreyd]

DRK raises hand
DRK:"Is Dark Mind a wall to wall pull mitigation?"

[Galeforce]

DRK raises Hand
DRK:"Is Dark Mind a wall to wall pull mitigation?"

Only if everything there is using magic and only magic... or, as I like to say... No.

[XeroXelence]

Good start. The funny thing about number 3 is healers and dps like to just run ahead and pull wall to wall even if the tank doesn’t want to.

[Zeastria]

Edit your UI:
a) Scale up buffs and place them in middel so you see them easly.
b) Separate the [enemy cast bar], and also scale it up.
The castbar often gives clues about incoming dmg --> AOE/TBS - inc abilties that are interruptible

[rawker]

Dying and wiping is part of learning. Complaining about non-tank players pulling ahead of the tank achieves nothing. Man/Woman/Catperson/Lizardperson/furry up and pull. Everyone will adjust.

[Eastwall]

For number 3, l will slow down if l die. I like to cheese arr dungeons, And You can make a big pull in them. It is just fun to make big pulls because there are so many mobs that l can't even see myself. If l see a healer, especially a sage, with a crown, You bet l will pull the entire hall in the starting area in wanderer's palace. That's like 20 mobs. Obviously l will use hallowed ground in that pull then slap on all mitigations.

[dspguy]

Back when 2.0 came out, some ARR dungeons were very difficult to pull wall-to-wall. SE's has mostly addressed that in future expansion dungeons as well as going back and reworking ARR dungeons. For the most part, the party's toolset is designed for these pulls. Between the tank's mitigation, healer's kit and DPS's AOE burst damage, it is expected to wall-to-wall pull. And frankly, if you die... then you die. The time lost in that ONE dungeon might be small, but the more skilled players the server has, the faster everything is completed as players learn.

[Sqwall]

Back when 2.0 came out, some ARR dungeons were very difficult to pull wall-to-wall. SE's has mostly addressed that in future expansion dungeons as well as going back and reworking ARR dungeons. For the most part, the party's toolset is designed for these pulls. Between the tank's mitigation, healer's kit and DPS's AOE burst damage, it is expected to wall-to-wall pull. And frankly, if you die... then you die. The time lost in that ONE dungeon might be small, but the more skilled players the server has, the faster everything is completed as players learn.

Also the complete lack of AOE Combos for WAR and PLD in 2.0. Hell PLD only had Flash...which did zero damage. Scorn was trash as it only used ASAP to generate agro, but it wasn't enough if you had a BLM that would unload ASAP or a DRG dropping bombs.

2.0 was just another animal for tanking all together...and was more akin to WoW vanilla. Tab targeting to next mob to maximize agro (change mob for Rage of Halone combo)...WAR was just as bad as Overpower would WRECK your TP...then you would be standing there with no resources to DPS...to keep gaining agro. 2 over power MAX...then tab target between GCD's and bring Overpower in every so often.

2.0 tanking was....pretty rough tbh....Agro was based off of Tank Damage vs. stance on or off what we have now. I would build agro with shield oath...then change to sword oath after I felt comfortable with agro...but I took 20% more damage while in sword oath...so you had to be careful not to kill your self or OOM your healer.

[Sqwall]

I would also add:

-8 man tanking vs. 4 Man tanking and knowing when you are the OT or MT. Typically the norm is who turns stance on first or has the highest HP. Unless a tank says otherwise i.e. "Can I MT?"

-Know what each tank buster does...

• Invlun timings
• Cone/Cleave (and how large)
• Line Tank Buster
• Shared
• Swap
• Double Swap
• Either/or (random buster on each tank flare or point blank and vice versa)
• Stack
• added DOT/Bleed
• Debuff with phsyical damage increased
• Debuff with elemental damage increased
• Debuff with Magic damage increased

-Getting used to tank positioning for DPS players, and moving a boss for positioning with max melee in mind. Moving a boss while DPSing or stutter stepping. (this takes a long time to master since each savage boss is different)

-Knowing when a Boss will go mid or teleport. This helps with always being max melee or using your ranged attack when you can't reach the boss. Remember ABC. (Always be casting)

- Reprisal and Party Utility mitigations/heals. USE USE USE these as sometimes it can mean a clear or 2-3 deaths because sometimes those savage raid wides can just wipe out squishy targets without that added mitigation.

-Communicate with your MT/OT and work with them. The tanks are kind of on a small team...and sometimes called Tank-Bromance. Those tank busters hurt...and tanks need to be in sync so as not to kill each other or other raid members...So take the time to hash out party utility mitigations and reprisal rotation.

-Watch the agro bars....I have seen times when a DPS is in second and that tells me the OT doesn't have their stance on. Or maybe they turned their stance off on purpose for a reason...always be aware of what your OT is doing so you can stay in sync...and keep each other in check. Remember your a small team.