What makes tanking fun?

[BabyYoda]

let's have a positive post shall we?

for me tanks are fun because:
- full control over encounter.
- higher responsibility.
- most of the time boss feels like 1vs1 or 2vs1 which is I like.

What makes tanking fun for you? not only in FFXIV but tanking in general

[Rithy255]

1. Feeling like a DPS with heavy support options, Personally I'd argue tanks need more fun rotations but tanks at least have semi interesting dps kits compared to healer.
2. being able to save people, while healers are obviously capable of this, tanks are actually very good at preventing party members from going down if you're weary of your party members which i like, because it gives me something to look out for.
3. controlling the pace of dungeons, I like to wall to wall I know i can do it effectively too, being a dps or healer it's frustrating when a tank doesn't pull a lot and the dungeon takes ages.
4. feeling like the "main character" this ones more silly, but when you have aggro it obviously "feels" like you're the actual threat which i personally prefer over being on the side lines.

Personally I think tanking is fun in ff14 but i will argue that they should have better dps options still it's lacking.

[OliviaLugria]

let's have a positive post shall we?

for me tanks are fun because:
- full control over encounter.
- higher responsibility.
- most of the time boss feels like 1vs1 or 2vs1 which is I like.

What makes tanking fun for you? not only in FFXIV but tanking in general

I like them becasue:
-no responsibility
-basically invincible
-taking the jobs of healers

[Oizen]

I like them because they're more engaged in the fights and mechanics and there aren't awkward dps breaks for you while your supports handle mechanics.
Like damn thinking back to P8S PII I'm pretty sure the fight doesn't even ask a dps player to do anything other than press rotation for a solid minute before anything even happens.

[Doomfist]

The role has the coolest jobs in the game. You get the classical one handed sword job with Paladin, you get the iconic Warrior job from Final Fantasy I, you get DARK KNIGHT with greatswords! you get the GUNBLADE JOB! While melee dps are stuck with weeb sword jobs like Samurai and Ninja, or a caster in Red Mage who doesn't use their sword the whole time, tanks get THREE flavors of sword jobs to fulfill the Main Character Fantasy.

[Valence]

let's have a positive post shall we?

for me tanks are fun because:
- full control over encounter.
- higher responsibility.
- most of the time boss feels like 1vs1 or 2vs1 which is I like.

What makes tanking fun for you? not only in FFXIV but tanking in general

Unironically, Cover. That's it.

Unless you're asking what MADE tanking for me, then :
- Enemy facing and crits on your rear
- Positioning
- Aggro control
- Death through attrition (I'd rather have a model where you get blooded a lot instead of a model where you keep healing a lot... but clemency doesn't count, if all tank self healing was tied to opportunity cost + resource cost that matters like clemency, I'd be a lot more okay with it already)

[Derio]

Honestly its the main character energy for me. The boss is fighting you while you have 3-7 people backing you up.

Boss strongest hit is designed for you.

You start every encounter.

There is a reason why all tanks except gunbreaker have been poster childs for expansions

[CaedemSanguis]

- main character vibe
- high apm/fun rotation (for gnb at least)
- good looking weapon/armor
- you can carry (tbn/hoc/cover)
- figuring out which mechanic you can ignore to gain uptime
- CDs optimization

[CKNovel]

Among the only jobs that can clutch save a party member or create more opportunity.
Many times I've been able to save a healer or a fragile party member by throwing cover or heart of corundum at them.
Common players often misunderestimate the value of boss placing which makes them loose a GCD, especially when the boss is at the edge of the arena and jumps to another spot.

My favorite role is support DPS, since the ranged role felt terrible at it I played tank and felt at home.

[kiotsukete]

I enjoy being able to (slowly) solo most dungeon bosses as a tank if the healer goes down, to pull out a win for the team. Makes me feel like a hero.