[Guide] A basic primer on party play and dungeons

[OblivOblivio]

This guide is really helpful, thanks a lot.
I wish there will be more examples for DPS & the shorts used in doungens like 'Adds', that's right I didn't know what it means untill now.

[Urthdigger]

One other piece of advice to help the healer pull less hate: Make good use of crowd control! An enemy that isn't hitting the tank is an enemy that isn't making the healer grab more enmity. Sleep is the most effective tool, completely halting a foe, but a good number of enemy types are downright immune to it. Conjurer get Repose, a single target sleep, at level 26, while Thaumaturge gets Sleep at level 10, and upgrades it to an area version at level 36.

When facing enemies that cannot be slept, bind works on just about anything short of a boss. However, this only stops a monster from moving, and as such is ineffective against enemies with ranged attacks, or if they are bound next to the tank. Fluid Aura works as a short-lived solution, both knocking the foe back and binding it, albeit for a mere 6 seconds. Summoner gets a 20 second area bind, while archer gets a 10 second single target bind.

Note that in all cases of crowd control, the effect is removed if the monster takes any direct damage. However, this does not include damage over time. Not only does this mean that DoT effects already on a monster do not stop it from being slept/bound, but you can also use any skills that inflict a DoT without actually doing damage from the skill itself. Namely Bio, Bio II, Flaming Arrow, Shadow Flare, and Bane.

Finally, if using crowd control, communicate with your party members. Players should avoid using area attacks, and summoners should use "order" to stop their pets from using area attacks as well. For those concerned over the less damage this way, it's useful to note that a skilled healer will use the time and MP saved by not having to cure as much to deal damage instead.

[Blackard]

Do they "sticky" valuable threads in this forum? If so, I would recommend this one as I'm sure people will be adding to it. I'm new to the game (started yesterday), so I'll not post anything until I have some sort of understanding of the format, but I've been a raid tank, raid leader, in a good many games. I've healed raids and dps'ed everything, so would be happy to add to it once I actually know what I'm doing. LOL

Great start though. Helped me.

Few general things that I actually can add now, that I know exists, is target marking for difficult pulls. In short, tank marks primary target with one marker, secondary with another, crowd control markers to others (as have been assigned to individual people with crowd control skills). With that, dps focus on primary target, no AOE near crowd controlled mobs etc. Not sure how tough pulls are set up in this game so that's just a general rule of thumb.

Good idea for tank to "key-bind" target markers if possible. In a fight where all heck breaks loose, quick marking of the focus fire targets, as they go down, can mean the difference between surviving it and wiping by allowing the tank to manage his aggro (enmity in this game?) on all mobs and re-gain control of the fight. Allows the dps to stay on that mob no matter what the tank is attacking for aggro purposes. If there is a group "target of target" (not versed enough in that area yet) the tank does not really have to look around, but fire up the main target, then tab through mobs to see who is their target of target so as to pull them off the player. Just keep tabbing them as you hold the main target. Tank is the manager of the fight. Ats one of your "duties", to direct the "kill order". I've pulled many a groups feet out of the fire by just remaining calm and re-directing the fight.

Other is for healers to relax. Let the tank drop a bit in hit points before casting that first heal so as to build up enough hate to counter your enmity from heals. Depending on your strength of heals, can drop 25% to 33% (easily) and be safe to both keep him up, and manage your enmity. Don't start immediately pounding heals on a dps that has taken enmity from the tank, especially while the tank is trying to pull it off. Do not compete with the tank on the enmity list....You can sometimes wait until the tank pulls it back before healing, and then only enough to keep the dps alive and in the fight. You don't have to top him off right away.

Kill weakest mobs (enemies) first. That is the quickest way to reduce overall damage input. The faster you can eliminate damage input, the better (again not sure in this particular game, but as a rule of thumb). If you go after the biggest guy, those little guys will be tearing you up the entire time it takes to bring him down (which if this game follows standard format) will be much longer then taking out the lesser "adds" first. This varies in some cases, but as I said, rule of thumb.

Dps do not drive your healer crazy, but protect him/her. Wait for the tank to build enmity for a second or two (gauge this as you learn how well the tank can take "snap aggro"). Stay on tanks target, but keep a half an eye on your healer. keep enmity off healer at all costs. If tank is not doing it, hit, stun, knock-back, bite in the ankle, anything you can do to keep them off your healer will help save your group by allowing the healer to keep you all up instead of trying to heal himself. If you go down in the process, group can still survive. Healer goes down, not much of a chance.

Anyway, just some thoughts. Hope that helps.

[Soukyuu]

They don't sticky user created threads here, besides, people tend to ignore stickied threads anyway. The problem I noticed is that once the healer pulls aggro from the enemy, it's very hard for a dps to take it away, because healing is much quicker enmity generation than dps. It used to be easily doable, but not in this version anymore. Stunning/sleeping/biting in the ankle is still better than to watch the healer die though

[MercuryAquarius]

As an Arcanist I mostly use Emerald Carbuncle because Topaz seems to get get in the tanks way. Summons gain enmity correct? So as Carbuncle is casting "Gust" do I also gain enmity from the attack as well as my summon?

I'm trying to learn the nuances of this class so I can be a helpful and effective Summoner eventually.

[CrisGer]

still one of the best posts for help in groups.

[Reauland]

Holy crap! I had no idea that regen hate was even a thing o.0

Granted, I don't yet even have the spell or the job, but that's a big change from what I'm used to. Also, in a situation where healers have been smacked around pretty hard, would it be better for them to regen themselves slowly back to full hp than to drop another hate spike of a cure?

[Michelasso]

Great guide!! I just copied it in a doc in the computer. Thanks!

[Soukyuu]

This guide is really helpful, thanks a lot.
I wish there will be more examples for DPS & the shorts used in doungens like 'Adds', that's right I didn't know what it means untill now.

Adds stands for "additional enemies", which should be killed off as soon as they spawn for different reasons. For example, too much damage to the tank, mechanics like boni applied to the main boss if adds not killed fast enough etc.

As an Arcanist I mostly use Emerald Carbuncle because Topaz seems to get get in the tanks way. Summons gain enmity correct? So as Carbuncle is casting "Gust" do I also gain enmity from the attack as well as my summon?

I'm trying to learn the nuances of this class so I can be a helpful and effective Summoner eventually.

Pets are treated as a separate entity, so their hat is not your hate. You can use Topaz if the tank doesn't seem to handle hate well, just make sure to position it so that it stands in the same position as the tank. Otherwise the shifting hate will cause the enemies to turn between topaz carbuncle/tank, messing up melee dps positioning and reducing their damage.

Holy crap! I had no idea that regen hate was even a thing o.0
Granted, I don't yet even have the spell or the job, but that's a big change from what I'm used to. Also, in a situation where healers have been smacked around pretty hard, would it be better for them to regen themselves slowly back to full hp than to drop another hate spike of a cure?

It depends. Regen is building hate slower, so if the damage you are getting is not that high, it's a better option. On the other hand, in boss battles you might suffer sudden spike damage, risking death if you are not full hp as fast as possible.

Also, Regen is only an option for WHM, SCH only get a regen on the fairy, which is an AoE version on a longer cooldown.

[Urthdigger]

(Topaz questions)

You should rarely, if ever, use Topaz Carbuncle in a party situation. Just because you get him later, doesn't make him better. Topaz's advantage is his high defense and HP, however he actually deals less damage than Emerald (Gouge is 70 potency while Gust is 90 potency) and needs to be in melee range while Emerald can stay out of AoE range (Gouge has a 3 yalm range, while Gust has a 25 yalm range)

That said, Topaz (And Titan once you're a summoner) is amazing in the right situations. He's a sturdy tank in his own right, allowing you to solo things you wouldn't normally be able to, and can also be used as an "off-tank" is party situations, keeping additional mobs occupied and off the main tank. Only do that if the party wants you to, however.