Seeking Help From Experts: Tanking

[Kyp]

Flash only makes u equal to the highest threat, and then adds 1, so if they hit it before u do, they should be higher in threat, even after a provoke.

I think your backwards, flash only adds 550 enmity (1100 with shield oath)
Provoke is the +=1 tool

http://valk.dancing-mad.com

[Lafaiel]

Mark your mobs, shield lob 1 as you run in and when they all come at you drop flash in the middle of them, make sure the target you shield lobbed is 1 as thats the one the dps will target first, after flash, do fast blade> savage blade twice on it, then drop flash again as by then the healer will have started to build a decent ammount of hate.

Try to position yourself with the mobs in between you and the party, that way you can keep an eye on all of the mobs, if one breaks away for your healer shield lob/tomohawk/provoke it, it normally comes back to you, if the dps is not following your marks thats not your fault, they have a deathwish, let them have thier wish granted.


If you have a thm/black mage in your party either use the bind markings on the second and third mob or just tell them to sleep 2 and 3, if you do you only need to flash once most times if they do sleep them, when 1 dies and you attack 2 open with fast blade> savage blade to cement hate on that mob first before any other actions.

When marking, if there is a ranged mob mark it as 1, it will be out of your range as you kill the other and agro the healer, if there are healer mobs kill them first for obvious reasons. Don't be afraid to pop rampart when pulling groups of 3 or more to lessen the burden on the healer.

[Kaedan94]

Yeah, you seem to have the right idea. Here's what I posted in another forum about advice on tanking:

Provoke does not establish threat. It's an emergency skill that puts you at the top of the mob's threat list for a VERY short window of time. It's only purpose is to stop a mob from getting to the healer once you've lost aggro on it. It's useless as a way to accumulate threat. Here's a good protocol for a 3 mob pull:

-Shield Toss main target
-Flash
-Savage blade combo main target
-Flash (the blind debuff will have come off by the time you use Savage blade, allowing you to use it again)
-Blade of Halone secondary target
-Savage blade combo tertiary target
-Flash
-Blade of Halone main target


Also, many tanks think they can spam Flash for group threat. You cannot. While the Blind debuff is up from Flash, another use of Flash will have no effect. You need to wait until the Blind debuff is gone before Flash will apply enmity again. That's why you weave it in with your Enmity combo (it doesn't reset the combo... you can continue to Blade of Halcyon even after using it after Savage Blade). That, and Flash only works 3 times on a target before not having effect.

Not that you need this advice necessarily, but it's good information to have.

[Kyriea]

On your question about marking, there are usually groups of 3 mobs where 1 is a "main" mob and the other 2 are kinda minions as such. What I mean by this is that 1 mob will use an AOE move of some sort and have red markers that are usually conal that the DPS/healer need to stay out of.

You'll learn which mob is which when you run the dungeons for the first time and can use that knowledge later on when you run the dungeon again. I usually mark these main mobs first as the others don't need to be downed as fast, in the case of there being 2 main mobs which does happen, just mark them as 1-2. It's perfectly fine to not know the most effective kill order on your first run and if people kick up a fuss, make them mark.

I play on the PS3 so use the cross bar and keep L+directional buttons 1, 2 and 3 for marking 1, 2 and 3. I keep cure on the 4th one so I can top myself up if theres a big move coming up and helps hate a little. Never had a problem this way.

[Ruminate]

I spam Flash all the time on my GLD after the Blind enhancement and I can clearly see other people's enmity bar being lowered. Flash generates about as much threat as a comboed Savage Blade. Before Rage of Halone, you can Savage Blade every 5s. You can Flash every 2.5s. No reason not to spam your highest enmity per second move on trash.

The best advice I can give for struggling GLD/PAL is to keep your weapon up to date. Your weapon affects the potency of all your enmity skills, including Flash. If your weapon is 10 levels below you, you're gonna have a hard time holding threat. I was in a group with a GLD that was weilding the level 10 spanking stick in Halatoli the other day... boy did that run suck.

[Claire_Pendragon]

I think your backwards, flash only adds 550 enmity (1100 with shield oath)
Provoke is the +=1 tool

http://valk.dancing-mad.com

I meant to say Provoke, but for w/e reason said Flash :P

[Kenka]

Also, many tanks think they can spam Flash for group threat. You cannot. While the Blind debuff is up from Flash, another use of Flash will have no effect. You need to wait until the Blind debuff is gone before Flash will apply enmity again.

Is there any evidence to support this? From my experience Flash works everytime to increase my enmity, even if the Blind component has no effect/is fully resisted.

[Hawklaser]

On marking, it really depends on the group of mobs. Personally, I would tend to weight it on two things, how disruptive/dangerous a mob is, and how fast a mob dies. Haukke Manor has a good example of a disruptive and dangerous enemy that should be prioritized in a dungeon, the matrons. Most of the time it depends on your party as a whole, if feel the healer is going to be the weaker link, give more priority to the faster kills, if the DDs focus more on the ones that will be more disruptive/dangerous if allowed to go wild.

As to DDs pulling hate, most of the time that is entirely their fault. Though there are times to not worry about it, like they picking up adds, peeling off the healer, or the mob is almost dead.

[ReiszRie]

Personally, being a tank also means making the battle predictable,making it easier for healers and DDs to position themselves, as such a tank shouldn't move frequently unless absolutely required, for bosses that cleaves (forward cone splash damage) its best to not bring the boss towards the group, even if there are adds or when you're low and needs heals; doing so adds chaos and dramatically increase the chances of a wipe.

Interrupt enemy skills if possible to mitigate damage, otherwise, for forward cone skills, move through the boss to its rear and immediately return to the front once the casting bar completes, the animation delay allows you to get back in position without turning the boss to face the melee DDs. This is oftenly employed in Garuda H when she uses Slipstream

Make the healer's job easier by activating Convalescence and defensive CDs whenever you can or if you're familiar with the battle's patterns, use when you're expecting to receive a damage spike such as during Garuda H when adds are out and 1 or even both of the healers needs to divert healing focus on to other party members

In times where a healer needs to ress, give them the window of opportunity by using Hallowed Ground (for PLD) this allows them to briefly stop healing you and cast Raise on a fallen comrade.

Tanking is to make the jobs of others easier, as such you'll have to be aware of the difficulties faced by DDs and Healers, utilise Utility skills and be aware of the surroundings in order to steer the battle. If a healer is the heart and lifeblood of a party and DDs the arms and legs, a Tank would be the brain that co-ordinates it all.

[Zaiken]

I heard that you cannot spam Flash none stop. It will make mob immune to Flash and will not work anymore. Is this true? How often should you be spamming flash? Only been tanking in 1.0 and skills have seam to change a lot.