How to Help Tanks in Dungeons 101.

[Sheer]

Hey guys! I posted something over on the Lodestone because I wasn't able to make a thread here sooner, but essentially it contained a few basic tricks as to how to help tanks out. It was recommended that I post it here, and so without further ado, I hereby present to you basic tank-helping skills 101!

*Note: Please read the edit on the bottom. The summary of it is that this is only an effective and/or proper guide if you're under level 30. If you're above level 30, I strongly recommend looking into more in-depth guides regarding dungeon strategies and general rules.

Hey everyone! I'd like to take a minute to quickly run through a basic guide of what you should be doing to help out a tank in dungeons so you aren't the guy who's making the dungeon harder than it has to be - if you're new to ARR or MMOs in general, I highly recommend you read this! Keeping in line with what I just said, this is largely focused at lower-level dungeons.

Let's start with something that's essential: Do your best to attack the target the tank is currently attacking. Tanks have Flash to make sure that any slip-ups or occasional AoE attacks you throw out don't get you killed, but our MP is limited! If we start to use Flash too much, we have to stop using Savage Blade and switch to Riot Blade to regenerate our MP, which means we're generating less enmity (threat) than if we were to use Savage Blade. If there's a large group of MoBs, throwing DoTs on all six or seven of them and spamming AoEs is bound to cause trouble! If you're having trouble targeting the monster the tank is attacking, it's completely acceptable to ask him to mark the targets in order of which you should be killing them.

Secondly - and this is for Arcanists/Summoners - but please don't use your Topaz Carbuncle. When I'm tanking three-four (and more) MoBs, I'm not looking at each individual MoB to make sure they're all looking at me. I check my enemy list. If it shows one (or more) of the MoBs isn't attacking me, then I have to check to make sure it isn't attacking any of you guys, make sure the Carbuncle doesn't die and/or the enmity goes to another player in the dungeon, etc - long story short: As a tank, I want all the MoBs on me. I'll be using moves to increase my defense and enmity, and the healer can worry about the rest. If you're doing damage, focus on doing damage.

Lastly, and this relates back to my first point, but please follow the order in which the targets are marked. If I target the MoBs, it's to make the dungeon easier for everyone. You're not a hero because you killed a dungeon MoB by yourself. All you do is make it that much harder for me or any other tank to keep its aggro. And if I have to switch to a MoB marked #3 while the MoB marked #1 is getting hammered by everyone else, you bet I'm going to lose its aggro. Please, please, PLEASE follow the order in which targets are marked.

Other than that, have fun! Ask questions if you have to. But if you follow those three basic steps, you're already yalms ahead of what's considered a bad party member.

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodest...53/blog/48278/

I've also started putting up videos of myself tanking - they're essentially videos of my first or second run in dungeons on ARR. I want to put up more, but with college and login restrictions, that's been a little difficult, so there's only two videos for now. But if you're just curious and/or want to check them out, any criticism you have would be appreciated. They're by no means professional, and not a commentary - you can find the videos here.

Happy dungeon crawling!

Edit: It seems some people are misinterpreting my post as a sort of basic guide for any dungeon. Let me be abundantly clear that it's not. There are many, many, many tactics, tricks, tips, and other general rules that can apply to running dungeons. At the end of the day, most if not all of them will make a dungeon run more efficient by some degree. This is not a guide to learning those tips and tricks at a lower level. This is not a guide for dungeons at level 50 - in fact, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone over 25 (30 at most) simply because there is a lot more to dungeons that needs to be examined at that point in the game. This is a guide for people who are level 15 or 18 and looking to do a dungeon like Satasha Seagrot or Copperbell Mines; this is a guide to encourage people who don't want to do a dungeon because they're afraid they'll goof up the run.