New Comer needs help in Tanking, and setup.

[jdkfrisco]

I have gotten to level 43 ok, and now some of the harder stuff is happening. I have not made it through most of the Dungeon stuff because I get backlash from other players when things are not going their way, and it does not make for a pleasant game experience for me as anew comer. I am about to just stop playing because I don't need the stress of other people telling me to leave. How can I become better at this? I have skills that I can't even use because I can't get to the point where they become active. SSSSOOOOO FRUSTRATED about to give up!!!!!!

[Darkrotor]

Hey I know tanking can be tough, I have been playing this since 1.0 but just recently started tanking with PLD. When I start having trouble what I usually do is go back and tank a few of the easy dungeons to get back into the rhythm or different pulls and things, also have you started doing guildhests? those are a good quick way to repeatedly practice tanking bosses and strange trash pulls.

[jdkfrisco]

Yeah, I have been keeping up on the guildhests. Have the first LVL40 one to do, It is I just don't know how to utilize what I have and if placement on the controller is bad. Cannot get my latest to Warrior Actions to come on. I get stress from people at work, I don't need it when playing a game. I can go back and do some of the earlier stuff, but I just don't understand some of the things I am suppose to do. How do get the targets to focus on me? It seems that everyone gets impatient and just attacks and don't allow me to get back before starting. I have read on how to stack things but just cannot get things to work.

[Pogues]

Does anyone know a good rotation for gladiator for holding agro?

So far I haven't gotten anyone killed yet but I do flash and the mobs sometimes don't attack me and continue chewing on my buds. Do I just need a better weapon? It is tough holding agro in this game compared to other MMO's

[juniglee]

Does anyone know a good rotation for gladiator for holding agro?

So far I haven't gotten anyone killed yet but I do flash and the mobs sometimes don't attack me and continue chewing on my buds. Do I just need a better weapon? It is tough holding agro in this game compared to other MMO's

Pre-26:
Pull one group of mobs with Shield Lob. Then Flash once. Then use Fast Blade -> Savage Blade on your first target, use Flash once more after. Switch to your second target and use Fast Blade -> Savage Blade. Use Flash once more. Rinse and repeat until 2 mobs remain, then just alternate Fast Blade -> Savage Blade without Flash, until the group dies.

Post-26:
Same as above, except you now have Fast Blade -> Savage Blade -> Rage of Halone combo. As part of a combo, Rage of Halone generates a lot of aggro, and is your most potent skill in the combo chain as well, so use it on that one mob that you might lose aggro towards. So far I've been repeating the above with Rage of Halone thrown in on a single target, which seems to work. Otherwise I'd use Fast Blade -> Savage Blade on my first target, and then Rage of Halone on the second target to help maintain the enmity.

Post-40:
Same as Post-26, but you will now have Shield Oath, which doubles your aggro generation from every enmity generating skill you have.

Check out the Tank Roles forums (http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/forums/657), lots of helpful tips there. I was once a lost lamb like you were, so I hope my advice helps out!

[Mezolitik]

Pre-26:
Pull one group of mobs with Shield Lob. Then Flash once. Then use Fast Blade -> Savage Blade on your first target, use Flash once more after. Switch to your second target and use Fast Blade -> Savage Blade. Use Flash once more. Rinse and repeat until 2 mobs remain, then just alternate Fast Blade -> Savage Blade without Flash, until the group dies.

While you're obviously more experienced than I am at this, doesn't continuous FB>SB usage drain too much TP - while Riot Blade restores it?

I try to alternate to some extent, as I once ended up with no TP in a raid boss encounter, and lost all aggro.

[Krsnik]

snip

I have a detailed version of my tanking methods, you can find them on my blog on lodestone HERE

Some key things before I share how I tank:

1) Always mark your targets, hotbar them if you need to. (I place my signs on a dedicated hot bar, and keybind them to my NUMPAD.) Make sure your party is taking the mob out in the order you specify (I tell them to work their way up, 1-5)

2) Always make sure your party is ready before every boss fight and at the beginning of a dungeon. I've had tanks (when I'm not playing PLD) who recklessly charged into boss fights without making sure the party is ready, and almost 100% of the time, either buffs haven't been put up yet, or someone gets locked out.

3) You are always the puller, unless otherwise noted. Very rare are the situations where someone else should pull.

4) Shield Bash is your friend, but don't overdo it. Every time you use Shield Bash the enemy gains resistance. At 50, the timer is 6 seconds of stun, 3 seconds, then 1, then enemy becomes fully resistant for a certain amount of time. Save Shield Bash either for stunning devastating enemy abilities/AoEs, and/or for using them as a back-up plan if you lose aggro and your Provoke ability is not up (Those 3-6 seconds while a mob is stunned can be vital for taking the time to regain aggro or preventing a death.

5) Study mobs pulls carefully. If you hover your mouse/cursor over mobs, there will be a yellow line that indicates which mobs will link if you pull. If there's no yellow line connecting to another mob that means no mobs will link when you pull. However, there are exceptions. (I.E.: The Succubi in AK: If you pull the succubi within a group, you will just pull her, but if you pull any other mob with a succubi grouped in it, you will pull the whole group + the succubi)

6) If you have a THM/BLM (Level 15+/Sastasha and up) or a CNJ/WHM (Level 26/Toto-Rak and up) and you feel you're taking too much damage, or healing can't keep up, ask them to cast Sleep (THM/BLM) or Repose (CNJ/WHM) the other mobs. Make sure you mark your targets so they know which to sleep (I usually ask them to sleep mobs #2 and up). Just make sure no one is hitting those mobs while they are asleep. DOTs WON'T wake them up IF they are casted on the mobs before they put to sleep. However, if you cast them while they are asleep, it will wake them up. Like Point #4, mobs gain resistance to Sleep effect (30s, 15s, 6s, then fully resist)

Here's how I tackle tanking in standard 4-man dungeons:

Lv 15 and up:

Mark targets > Shield Lob (Pull) > Gather mobs > Flash > Fast Blade > Savage Blade >

W/BLM (Sleep): Repeat from Flash > Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Repeat until target is dead
W/O BLM: Flash > Switch targets (TAB)* > Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Switch Target (TAB)* > Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Repeat from Flash

For Buffs (Rampart/Fight or Flight/Convalescence/etc): I usually use Damage Reduction/Increase Damage at the Beginning to middle, but NEVER the end. It's simple common sense.

*I usually do a switch target to check the threat meter. If your party is following orders properly, the person who has highest emnity (besides you) should be your healer. If the meter is only 1/4 filled, I sometimes don't bother, and do another combo pass (FB > SB) on the original target or move onto 3 (Chances are if target #2's threat meter is low on your other party members chances are target #3 is the same, you can do a quick tab through to check). If the next person on the threat meter is 1/2, I throw in an FB > SB > Flash > Switch.

Level 26 and up:

Mark targets > Shield Lob (Pull) > Gather mobs > Flash > Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Rage of Halone

W/BLM or WHM(Sleep/Repose): Repeat from Flash > Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Repeat until target is dead
W/O BLM/WHM: Flash > Switch targets (TAB) > Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Switch Target (TAB) > Rage of Halone** > Repeat from Flash

**Use on Target #3 if Threat Meter on Target #2 is low among other party members.

At Level 50:

Shield Oath (Only need to turn on at beginning of dungeon if not on already) > Mark targets > Shield Lob (Pull) > Gather mobs > Circle of Scion*** > Flash > Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Rage of Halone

W/BLM or WHM(Sleep/Repose): Repeat from Flash > Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Repeat until target is dead
W/O BLM/WHM: Flash > Switch targets (TAB) > Fast Blade > Savage Blade > Switch Target (TAB) > Rage of Halone > Repeat from Flash

***Make sure to use it before mages cast sleep

Some key abilities I use from other jobs:

Foresight (MRD)
Bloodbath (MRD)
Fracture (MRD)
Cure (CNJ) (You'd be surprised how many times this saved my party from a wipe)
Raise (CNJ) (Just nice to have)

Hope this helps some.

[Soldier]

As a tank you should put signs on your enemies to let your group know which mob your fighting. If you see a dps attacking another mob tell them plz attack the same target. If he or she did it again, let them tank it. Also, tell your group run toward you if they have mob on them. Also, tell your dps watch their dps hate meter,

green keep attacking, your dps are fine.
Partial red, back off a little let me put hate on mob
Red Tell your dps BACK the F***k OFF of the mob

[Shuon]

first make sure ur party members rnt ass holes

it helps to introduce urself politely at the beginning of the run, and say u r new, and that u need time to grasp things and there will be hiccups along the way. tell them from the start that patience is appreciated, and that if they are not willing to accommodate you, they should leave the duty. of course, be polite all the time!

if theybr ok, then just do what u gotta do: learn, be humble, be nice, and if they get impatient, that's their problem.

[DuhblinnZA]

I haven't really played tank in ARR yet, but I have in other MMOs. There are some great tips here, and the only thing I can add is that learning the dungeons before hand really helps.

I'm also a big fan of using macros, especially as a tank for setting priority on enemies (as Soldier mentioned) and skill rotations for aggro (juniglee's post). There's a good guide on Eorzea Reborn for how to create macros, along with (what I thought) was a nice intro to tanking focusing on Communication, Control and Mitigation.

Then as Shuon suggested, just communicate. Keep practicing pulling and keeping aggro, communicate with the party and make sure you know what to expect in the dungeon and you'll get the hang of it no time.