How to Help Tanks in Dungeons 101.

[SkyRobo1]

I'm only a level 32 Paladin but so far I haven't had any wipes or problems Tanking in this game..

In terms for marking, maybe this will become quite important later on in endgame raids and such but currently I have never used them, well I did use them during my early levels but after finding out that damage dealers rarely follow the one's I mark I stop using it..

My personal advice for starter or new tanks in the game are;

1) Cycle through your Mobs..

2) Use your potions if the need rises..

3) Don't be an Tyrant..

4) Up-To date and Repaired Gear

5) Have fun

It's a game so just have fun!! Make friends and if S.E goes with their plan even get married.

[CrisGer]

Great advice Sky, i like your post a lot, nice and relaxed and I agree lets have fun thanks

[SkyRobo1]

Hehe ^_^ Thanks and your welcome

[Orbital-Dragon]

Earlier I ran the second dungeon with my friend. He is a tank, and I am Arcanist. I run my emerald carb unless he loses aggro somehow and our healer is getting focused. I will swap into topaz carb to pull off the healer. Anyways we had a TMG/BLK in our party, who was casting AoE abilities non stop through the whole dungeon and made it pretty much impossible for my friend to keep aggro on everything. Yet, throughout the entire dungeon the TMG did nothing but yell at my friend for not tanking correctly.

On top of this, the same guy Need/Greed every single item in the dungeon including melee tank gear. Such trash.

[Bixby]

Earlier I ran the second dungeon with my friend.

I'd advise against busting out your Topaz. That's not going to help your friend develop his tanking reflexes. Knowing how to regain enmity is a very important skill, right up there with knowing how to gain it to begin with.

And it sucks, but folks like that THM happen. Every tank has those stories. Sometimes, tanking is as much about managing your party members as it is about managing your targets.

[Sheer]

I gotta agree with Bixby here - but before I go on, let me just say that it doesn't excuse the THM for making the tank's job more difficult than it should be. The tank should be able to hold the MoB's aggro through AoEs. Speaking as a GLA (MRD should have a much easier time with AoE aggro), I will admit that it does suck when a party member is spamming AoEs or not attacking the targets in the order they're marked, but it's also a chance to turn it into a learning experience as to how to regain and hold MoB aggro.

[Tazz]

I'd advise against busting out your Topaz. That's not going to help your friend develop his tanking reflexes. Knowing how to regain enmity is a very important skill, right up there with knowing how to gain it to begin with.

Ok I get this explaination. This is alot better than going into a dungeon and getting told, "DONT USE THAT PET, PULL OUT THE BLUE ONE!!!!". The first thing that comes to my mind is Im paying the subscription to this game not you. But on the other hand if the tank is STILL learning how to tank and steps into one of the 30+ dungeons and still doesnt know what he/she is doing then im pulling out my pikichu.

[Sheer]

Ok I get this explaination. This is alot better than going into a dungeon and getting told, "DONT USE THAT PET, PULL OUT THE BLUE ONE!!!!". The first thing that comes to my mind is Im paying the subscription to this game not you. But on the other hand if the tank is STILL learning how to tank and steps into one of the 30+ dungeons and still doesnt know what he/she is doing then im pulling out my pikichu.

Hmm, I'm not sure exactly how helpful a Topaz Carbuncle would be in a level 30+ dungeon - from what I've heard, they go down in a hit or two at higher levels. At the end of the day, dungeons can be done on a case-by-case basis, and if your party is okay with you using a Topaz Carbuncle, I can't see a problem with it.

[lord_naarghul]

I have a bad habit I suppose you would call it of switching targets frequently when I'm tanking. This is a bit of a carry over from WoW where that was the way you tanked - spam AOE abilities if you have them, stack threat on target A, switch to target B, stack threat, switch target, AOE, stack threat, switch target, AOE...you get my drift. Unfortunately beyond sleeping casters I have no knowledge of particular tactics when it comes to FFXIV dungeons, so in this case I tend to fall back on what worked for me in the past. I also tend to get particularly neurotic about adds and when they spawn, I make every effort I can to get them all beating on me instead of my teammates.

Am I doing things wrong? I had a CNJ in Haukke Manor telling me that I wasn't doing it correctly and he got a bit testy. We never finished the dungeon - the ahriman sentry glitched out on the stairs and broke the dungeon. >.>

[Bixby]

I have a bad habit...

No you don't. You have a good habit. A necessary habit. You're not going to be able to hold hate on packs without tabbing through them with your single-target enmity rotation. It's just a question of when you start doing that vs. when and how often you do your AOE enmity move(s). And that partly depends on the party. Whether the DPS behave and let you focus on the one you've marked as #1 for a bit before they start AOEs, how low the healer lets you get before they start healing you, etc.