New to tanking help Two questions

[jamesrandal]

!. Where should GLD and later PLD put stat points? ive seen people say VIT, STR, and DEX.. But if I put a point in one at every other level, I feel that it may spread my stats a little to thin.

2. How would one go about making them and is there a way to mark all targets at one? And should I keybind certain abilities?


I think that's all.. Thanks for any help.

[v_jones]

Vitality

I use F2 - F9 for marking targets. You probably only need 1 and 2 for the most part. You drag them to a hotbar, hide it, and set your keybinds.

[jamesrandal]

Thank you, but they ALL go in VIT? will I need STR for holding threat? and DEX for block/perry?

[IndigoHawk]

At level 40 PLD I changed from all str to all vit, and swapped to parry trinkets. My health changed from about 2000 to 2500 (half from trinkets, half from vit), and I can still hold threat.
I'm trying this out because it seemed like I was dying too fast with all str and str trinkets. I wasn't getting that much mitigation from str.

To Terinn23, a bit of health seems more effective than a bit of mitigation in FFXIV for stat allocation. Mitigation is important as it is in other MMOs, but FFXIV has different ways of getting that mitigation with the most return.
For stats, vit can give a 10% boost in health, improve health regeneration, and improve the effectiveness of skills that are based on a percentage of the target's max health (like Stoneskin or Benediction). STR gives 1-2% mitigation, and doesn't seem necessary to maintain threat.

For mitigation, instead of stat allocation, look to gear and skills.
Tank gear adds directly (and more effectively) to the mitigation you want than indirectly adding to mitigation with str and dex.
For more mitigation, look at the PLD's skills. Skills in the rotation can reduce damage by 20-40%, and boost block by 60%. Shield Oath alone reduces damage by 20%. Combining 20% DR with 10% health boost gives about the same mitigation as the STR bonus does.

Maybe it will turn out that "mitigation trumps all, no matter how small" like in other MMOs, but so far it seems like FFXIV is making a case for vit in stat allocation, contrary to conventional MMO wisdom.

[Taeyeon]

Thank you, but they ALL go in VIT? will I need STR for holding threat? and DEX for block/perry?

There is no need, we have skills that grant/adds enmity. More VIT will leave you with a cushion for error and less stress on healers.

[Terinn23]

I am a Lvl 29 and have 9 points to put into my stats. As you said Vit, Dex and Str all have factors for tanking. The prob you have is not with threat. You will build threat with your attacks(yes I understand the harder and faster you hit the more threat). You also have to take into account that Dex and Str both play a part in our parry. This is an important part of ensuring we have high mitigation. The more parry you have the less damage you take. Stacking vit is not always the answer and until I get to look at the end game gear I will not know how the stats balance out. Mitigation is more important than a few more health. 500 health is not that great if you can dodge or parry more attacks that may equal a higher amount of damage you would have taken. Your healers will love you when you have a good mitigation build and they don't have to heal you as hard. I will keep you updated as I look at the gear. I have tanked in WOW, RIFT, and SWTOR as a progression tank.

[v_jones]

Stacking Vitality is the answer, because STR affects Block and Parry based on a tiered system. If you do not happen to reach that particular tier (which is usually a range of 40 or 50 points), then the STR over the previous tier is providing no additional benefits to your Block or Parry. Therefore, unless investing your attribute points into STR will push you beyond a tier, it's a waste. Of course, if you hit 50 and get geared out well, and a few points of STR will push you above a tier, then feel free to respec and adjust. However, until that point, it is more likely that every point of VIT will provide a tangible benefit while you are leveilng.

Also, from a healing perspective, consistent damage is the ideal. It's wonderful if you put a bunch of points into STR and DEX to improve your Block and Parry, but if that just leads you to taking spikey, unpredictable damage, your healer will not be happy. I would much prefer a tank who takes 1000 damage every hit, than one who takes 500 damage some of the time, and 1500 damage the rest of the time.

[PiedPiper]

Stacking more STR only results in improvements in mitigation after certian points (283, 324, 337, 363, etc). Really, In my opinion, unless you happen to be within one accessory of reaching the next tier, I would suggest not pursuing STR. In terms of threat generation, STR again has poor returns.

Vitality is not tiered, each new point will increase your hp. Think of tanking HP as a kind of funnel. The tank funnels the enemy's damage stream away from the party while the healers seek to keep the funnel from over flowing. The bigger the funnel, the more time the healers have to "empty" the funnel. Therefore, more HP is always a good thing. Moreover, several fights have a sort of minimum requirment where if the tank has less than that amount of hp, it will be nearly impossible for them to survive.

[Remn]

I'm lv 50 PLD and i can't remember how many time that extra vit save my butt !! in AK and other 50 content ><.
pre 50, all str is fine but after Primal HM fight or AK, you will want as much HP as you can. (espicially , when u do speed run ;P)

[Furyan]

Sorry to jack your post but I didn't want to create a thread. I was thinking of changing from male midlander to a falafel for my MRD. My worry is, will I suffer from reduced damage and hp? I don't want to switch if it is going to have a large adverse affect.

Any help appreciated