Final Fantasy XIV Evercold New Tank: Bastion! Analysis and Impressions!
So, the keynote has just wrapped up and we got our look at the first of the two new jobs. That being the new tank, Bastion! The trailer below:
I have thoughts about the things we see and the things we've learned. But first, let's analyze the smidge of gameplay footage we see in this trailer.
GAMEPLAY
Firstly, we see the Roegadyn charge up their shields with stuff. This potentially could be a cast time, since the animation seems long enough to be a small cast time, but it could also just be some buff that just has a big animation, especially since we see the buff animation being applied to him right before the shield glows starts.
Then we see a big attack. Notably, this is a claw attack... at range. Going frame by frame, they shoot out one of their claws into the target and then follow it up with the other one which cases a big explosion. This might be related to the before buff we saw. Hell, if I have to make a guess, this might be a Soulsow from RPR equivalent for Bastion. It does seem pretty similar.
Then we see a gap closer... with damage. This is interesting, since PLD was one of the last tanks with damage on their gap closer, but is getting that removed in Evolved Mode from the last showcase, but now Bastion is getting it.
After that we see the Bastion follow it up with 4 claw strikes, going right, left, right, left. Not sure what this is, since it doesn't seem to be their basic combo. No combo sparks comes from this and those haven't been removed from Evolved Mode, since PLD still gets them. The cones on the ground as the robot is getting hit might indicate that this is AoE. If so, thank god for unique AoEs on tanks again instead of it all being player or enemy based circles! Well, outside of DRK Flood of Shadow, Shadowbringer and Eventide being lines.
Then we have a big flurry of blows, which transition into an uppercut and then a slam down with a pretty big explosion on the ground to end it. It doesn't actually seem to be AoE, but it seems to just be a big thing. Again, not sure where this fits into their kit.
We then see them switch to the cannons on the "back" of the shields. I assume this is some sort of buff, potentially their damage buff in the vein of PLD's Requiescat/Imperator mode, just not with a damage pop. First we get to see a double shot from the right shield, then a three round barrage from the left and finally a hop up into a left shot, right shot and then a combined bigger shot. This just seems to be a combo, but no combo sparks shown, which is weird since RPR and VPR's trailers do show those as more recent examples.
Then we see a defensive skill. This is likely either to be their Guardian, Damnation, Shadowed Vigil and Great Nebula equivalent or that is their invuln. GNB's showcase back in the day showed both Superbolide and Nebula, so I think it is fair to assume that this is one of those two.
After that, we see them put their cannons to the ground, shoot them into it to create an explosion at their enemy. Again, and I'm sorry, no idea how this actually goes into their kit at the moment.
Then, their final attack. They put both their cannons to each other and shoot of a big shot. Again, no idea how it fits into the kit, but it did remind me of something so I made this quick little meme (it's definitely not perfect, but you understand)
So, we get a little bit of info for gameplay, but not a lot and that's no surprise. It does seem they are gonna go heads down and work on Evolved Mode (and the new jobs obviously) until they are ready to show them during the job action trailer live letter. We'll find out more and I'll have more thoughts on the job at that point!
Also, from the bit that was talking about the lore of the job, it also has defensive and healing skills or spells. So uh, yeah, this might genuinely just be another PLD like, just slightly different in how they end up playing.
Aside from that, as we already knew, it is a main tank and it is Evolved mode only. It's main and only weapon are the Skyltborg (roughly translates to "Shield Castle" from the old Germanic), the dual shields we see. While we didn't outright get confirmed whether they can block... let's be real, they will be able to.
Now, let's discuss the bit of lore that we got. Wasn't really worth to be mentioned in the title, because it isn't much, but still, let's go over it.
LORE
So Bastions come from the Northern Empty, ancestral homeland of both the Sea Wolves and Hellsguard Roegadyn, though it is specifically more known as the Sea Wolves' homeland. So it is just from Hydaelyn, but not from mainland Eorzea, so that's nice. This is as martial art that has been cultivated for generations upon generations into the technique we see it as today and partially have seen it on Rhitahtyn sas Arvina.
So this does confirm that we're looking at a still existing martial art... seemingly. We don't really know much about the Nothern Empty, so who knows? Maybe the last surviving Bastion will be our job trainer and die by the end of it, so we're the only ones left on the Source, which won't matter when we have united the stars or whatever.
Last up, the opinion corner or my impressions!
IMPRESSIONS
This seems to be FF14's most direct or indirect reference to Viking, which was an old job from FF3 that never got brought back in any of the main FF games that had a job system, but it was a tank job in that game. The armor kind of resembles more classic viking aesthetics, regardless of how accurate those actually are. Obviously, everything else has basically been made from the ground up.
With that said, how do I like it? Well... quite a bit. I wasn't expecting the Rhitahtyn shirt to be as straight forward as "it is literally just the gunshields" but I also don't hate that. This job also seems to take some animations from like a slower MNK or something. Not quite punches, but a good amount gets kind of close and seeing how the Skyltborg get used in melee? Yeah, I can definitely see some inspiration from that. I'm very down for this job, even though I am very much wondering what makes this unique to a PLD. Especially since it does seem to go a bit close with taking the ranged aspect PLD was kind in and having both healing and defensive things it can use for allies. Sure, that might not literally mean Requiescat/Imperator, Passage of Arms > Round Table and such get copied, but I do feel like the distinctions also with subroles needs to be bigger.
Again though, this is based on the very limited information that we have. Maybe this is a stance swapping job that switches from melee to ranged to keep cooldowns rolling on both, which could make it feel very different from PLD. We'll just have to see. Definitely leveling this day 1 though. I was going to anyway, but I'm super interested and am so down for what I saw, I could see this being the new main.
So uh... that's it. Based on like 5 minutes of total footage, I got all that. Dang. Anyway, thanks for reading and have a nice Fan Fest everyone! o/
I make this guide in the hopes that it helps out new players to Final Fantasy XIV, as the in game tutorial is um, bad.
I also included a general etiquette guide, because when it comes to working with other players, a lot of these things you don’t pick up unless someone tells it to you.
Suggestions welcome! However, remember that this is meant to be a general beginners guide, so I’m not likely going to add in anything that’s specific to a single dungeon/raid/boss and such.
Last updated since patch: 7.5
Everything under the cut!
Basic Tanking and How it Works
Part 1: How to Pull
As the Tank it’s your job to make everything in the room hate you the most! That way they punch your extremely durable face instead of everyone else's more squishy ones!
You do this by creating what the game calls “Enmity”, aka the stat of creating enemy aggression, or “Aggro”. There are three steps in which the Tank must do this.
PUT YOUR STANCE ON
Your stance is the thing that makes the bad guys turn their heads and go “Oh! You’re a mother fucker!”. You will generate enmity just by having it on. This is called a different thing depending on your job: Defiance [WAR], Iron Will [PLD], Royal Guard [GNB], and Grit [DRK]. You click it once to put the stance on, click it again to turn the stance off [there are a few instances you may need it to be off, they will be explained later].
It’s important to put this on because if it’s not, no matter how much you attack, other players WILL take aggro and get hurt.
USE AN ENMITY GENERATING SKILL
Unlike some other MMOs your mere presence does not make the enemies incensed enough to fully ignore your party members, you must encourage them to hate you and only you! You can do this in a couple ways. There is the Provoke skill, which has the longest range. All Tanks also have a ranged skill which works similarly to Provoke but slightly closer distance and slightly less enmity, Tomahawk [WAR], Shield Lob [PLD], Lightning Shot [GNB], and Unmend [DRK].
[While they are fun and look cool, none of the skills that rush the enemies actually generate enmity]
Using one of these once is enough to piss off a group or a boss.
ALWAYS BE ATTACKING
Enemies in this game are drawn to the player doing that are doing two things at once: generating the most enmity & doing the most damage. This is important to remember! Because even if you have your stance on and you use an enmity skill, if you are not also attacking with all your might, the enemies will think you are all talk and start attacking your DPS/Healers instead!
If you are fighting a group of enemies [and that is more often the case] make sure you are using attacks that are going to hit multiple enemies at once. These are called Area of Effect or AOE skills. I go more into detail about how attack skills work in my DPS guide.
NOW THAT YOU HAVE DONE ALL THAT-look at the names of the enemies.
What you want is the red square, indicating that they are focused on and attacking you. If they are not, don’t panic! A few things could have happened:
You might have just missed one
Your Healer used a Regen skill as you were engaging, and enemies just hate that.
Your DPS is doing some bonkers damage to start pulling enmity, good for them!
Regardless of the why, you can either use an enmity generating skill, or just hit them really hard a few times, and they’ll be pissed off enough to turn around and hit you instead!
Part 2: Managing your Damage
OK, now everyone in the room wants you dead more than they want your DPS/Healers dead. Excellent! Now you move to Step two: STAY ON YOUR FEET. You are made to take all the blows from the enemy and laugh at them! It’s time for MITIGATIONS.
All Tanks have several mitigation skills [or “mits”] that they can use to either reduce the damage they take from enemies, reduce the amount of damage their enemies are doing, or temporarily negate damage altogether [only one of these per Tank Job].
Ideally you want to be spacing these skills out, rather than using them all at once. These skills have a longer recharge time [or Cool Down] than your attacking skills, so if you use a bunch, you will more than likely end up halfway through the fight with nothing to shield you but the Healers skills and the speed of your DPS. ALSO, mitigations have a soft cap, that is to say, the game will only allow you to negate so much damage at one time. So at most you can use 2 of these skills at once while still effectively negating damage, anything past that goes to waste.
Now there are too many mitigation skills to go through all of them individually [most are unique to their Tank Job], I encourage you to read all your skill descriptions and get familiar with them. If you want a job specific guide, I personally found Megastar's videos quite helpful. But I will touch on a couple Role ones and the full damage negation ones.
Reprisal: Great for groups and bosses, it will reduce the damage enemies do to your party
Arm’s Length: This is not advertised as a mitigation from it’s description, but it is in fact quite helpful for large pulls. Because every enemy that hits you [physically] will have their actions slowed by 20%, which means less time hitting you, and more time for the Healer to do their work.
The full damage negation or invulnerability mitigations are great! But a couple of them can be risky to use, and require your healer to be paying attention. They also have very long Cool Downs, so they’re meant to be used sparingly.
[PLD] Hallowed Ground: You’re impervious for 10 seconds, have fun.
[WAR] Holmgang: You will still take damage, but cannot be taken down past 1 HP for 10 seconds, and also root the targeted enemy in place.
[GNB] Superbolide: This will negate all damage for 10 seconds, BUT it will also take you down to 50% HP.
[DRK] Living Dead: You will still take damage, but your enemies cannot take you down past 1 HP for 10 seconds. HOWEVER, if while using this mit you would have been killed by your enemies, your Healer now has to heal an amount of points equal to your HP points in a limited amount of time, or you die. So say your HP is 5000, and you use Living Dead, and you would have “died” while using it, the Healer now has you heal you for at least 5000 points [within 10 seconds], or you die .
Some tanks like to use simple macros that announce when they are using the Superbolide and Living Dead mits in particular, to give their Healers a heads up. This is up to player preference.
Every so often a boss will decide they’ve had enough of you kicking them in the shins and will try to get you in one blow. This is called a Tank Buster and most of the time they look like this:
coupled with a progress bar. Stay calm! So long as you have a mitigation to use when you see it coming, everything will be fine. The Healer will know to be watching your health. Some will of course hit harder than others though, so if you’re worried or low on health use 2 mits to be safe!
Part 3: Stunning Enemies & Interrupting Attacks
Now you’ve got the enemy right where you want them and you’re weathering their blows- but oh no! They’re preparing to attack the party anyways! It’s a huge AOE too. What do you do? You give them the finger and then kick them in the balls! [partly true, most of the time.]
Most enemies in the game have both an auto-attack, and attacks that can be stopped in some fashion by specific skills. There are two different ways to stop an attack, you can use a skill that will Stun the enemy [Tanks and Melee DPS], OR you can Interrupt it [Tanks and Ranged DPS]. Stun and Interrupt are not interchangeable in their use.
So! How can you tell which attacks can be stopped by players? They are the attacks that have a progress bar, showing the enemy has to charge them up before they are actually used. The normal progress bar indicates an attack that can be stopped by Stunning the enemy. For Tanks this is the Low Blow [PLD gets an additional one called Shield Bash, but be aware that it shares your timer for other skills, unlike Low Blow].
The flashing progress bar indicates that the attack can be Interrupted. For Tanks this is the Interject skill.
Keep in mind that both these types of skills will also have longer cool downs, so you cannot spam them. This means sometimes you might have to be strategic about when you use them, as some attacks will be more dangerous or troublesome than others. HOWEVER, not all enemies can be stunned, and enemies that can be stunned will become impervious to it after a few uses. You cannot stun bosses period.
You And Your Healer
You may be the biggest baddest person in the room now, but you are not a one man show, and you certainly cannot stay alive without your Healer! Your mitigations can only do just that-mitigate, in the end you have to rely on the Healer to help keep you standing.
You and the Healer are partners in this system. You have to make sure that if you are going, they are following close behind. If you decide to pull a ton of enemies around the corner, your Healer now has to run around that corner first before their spells can effect you.
Most Healers are going to assume you will run and grab all the enemies you can, but if you’re finding that you and your Healer are struggling to keep the party alive, you need to tone down your pulls! If the Healer tells you that they are new, or straight up asks you not to full-pull, be considerate of that! Remember, while they have their eyes on you often, they are charged with keeping the whole party alive too! Literally in their case lol
It's not necessary to know everything about how the healer jobs work to Tank, but some tips to keep in mind:
WHM: Very no frills big bones healer, but their spells are costly, so a lot of times they will let you take a decent amount of damage before healing you. Plus there's also a mechanic that gets them better heals for doing this later on. Just have faith they will heal you lol They also have a main AOE attack that stuns enemies, and they will be spamming it, you won't be able to use stuns unless its at a boss.
SCH: These guys are less about straight heals and more about shielding you from damage in the first place. You'll know because a yellow bar will be capping or taking up space in your health bar when they use it.
Basically the enemies have to do enough damage to get through that barrier before they can even touch your health. Their main AOE is centered on them, so don't be surprised to find the SCH nearby and slamming a book at the ground. Also don't worry about what the fairy is doing, the healer doesn't actually control its actions lol
AST: Your tarot healer is doing double duty-healing the party, and doling out various buffs to you and the DPS. It might seem like they are not usually healing you for a lot because most of their heal pool is regenerative, or Regen heal types rather than flat heals. Meaning you'll regain some HP initially and then keep healing more over time. But don't worry, they have a couple good big heals and can speed up their actions in a pinch.
SGE: Like SCH, the SGE is big on the shields, but also is more combative in mechanics than the others. You'll find them more often tailing close behind you and attacking frequently. This is because they will [hopefully, if they read their tool tips] put a buff on you called Kardion, which will give you small amounts of healing as they land attacks on enemies. And most of their attacks have a short range, so they have to get in close.
General Tank Etiquette
Dungeons & General Tips
As the Tank it is your job to protect the party and make sure you are the only one taking damage. This also means you set the pace, and lead the group into every battle. This is because it is much easier to pull enemies to you if you are the first thing they see, and are the first to attack. Most players will follow your lead and wait to attack after you have done so. Mostly. So! It’s good to remember that your comfort level is important. Go at the pace you feel works for you, let people know you are new if you are worried. Most other players are understanding of this! Many are willing to explain mechanics even!
Additionally since you are the leader, most players will expect you to run in first and generally to keep running until you’ve decided you’ve gathered all the enemies you feel like pulling. But! Don’t leave your party in the dust. You need you DPS to kill all the things you pulled and your Healer to keep your ass alive X’D
Remember to check that your stance is on before you run in! Most times when you enter a dungeon or a raid its turned off at the start, even if you had it on when you were in the field.
Also, while not a hard rule it’s generally advised not to do big pulls in early dungeons anyways [like, Lv 40 or under]. This is mostly to do with the amount of enemies in some areas versus your mitigation options and your Healers healing options. Often at this stage there is simply not enough of these to go around between you and your Healer, and a big pull can sometimes result in a party wipe.
Whether engaging a group of enemies or a boss, common courtesy is to run through the enemy and tank them from the other side [or if you’re out in the field, attack from the opposite side of the other players]. This rotates the enemy so that they face you and not the rest of the party, making it so no one else is caught in the majority of enemy attacks. [You do not prevent damage from happening to others by standing in front of them, so attacks can go through you and hit other players, this is called Cleave]
Generally speaking it is also best to keep enemies in one place and facing the same direction as best you can. This makes it easier for the DPS to do their job [especially if they are using casting skills] and easier for the Healer to keep track of you.
Many of the melee DPS have a thing usually referred to as Positionals, meaning they do more damage if they strike enemies from the flank or from the rear. When possible it is good to position bosses so that they can do this, and reposition bosses out of harmful terrain for the melee DPS to strike without harm to themselves.
Speaking of that, do not stand in bad things or perfectly dodge-able attacks! You might be the Tank, but you don’t need to tax your Healer while you’re at it. They have to worry about other people too!
One last note on movement and control of enemies: generally speaking it is also best to grab all the enemies you feel comfortable with and then stay put until all of them are dead, rather than pull a group and kill some and moving to the next one. It might seem like you are saving time by advancing slowly, but in actuality you are making everything harder for everyone else. This is because this forces all the other players to stop and start their actions constantly, which is bad. Why? Because now your melee DPS are having to chase after enemies they are trying to kill [meaning they are only hitting them half the time], and your DPS casters/Healers basically cannot do anything until the party stops again [because they have to stand still for 95% of their actions]. In the end it it more effective to stay put until all the enemies are dead!
When it comes to the Limit Break [or LB],
you as the Tank will almost never need to touch this button. The Limit Break is shared by the party and usually something the DPS will use to make a big attack on the boss, or in the case of a boss/raid not going well, the Healers can use a Limit Break Three/LB3 [when you have three full Limit Break bars] to revive the entire party. Thus far in the core game encounters, there are only a couple specific cases that utilize the Tank LB3, and that will not occur until the ShadowBringers Expansion.
Provoke is not part of your attack rotation! If you have used an Enmity skill once in the fight, especially if you opened with it, you will not have to use it again to keep the enemy on you. While using Provoke consistently is not a big deal if you are the sole Tank, it is a bad habit to get into, as it will become a problem in situations where there are multiple Tanks.
Raids
In a Raid, be it a 8-player one [Normal Raid] or a 24-player one [Alliance Raid], you are not the only Tank on the field, making things slightly confusing and sometimes chaotic lol
When you are all facing mobs of enemies, all Tanks should have their stance on to ensure none of the Healers or DPS get hurt. Sometimes the mobs are spaced far apart when you find them, and its easier when Tanks work together to bring them in. Sometimes you may notice your Enmity being pulled, it is [hopefully] the other Tanks.
When you are facing bosses, generally the first Tank to put on their stance and engage the boss is now the Main Tank:
If that is you, cool! Have fun tanking boss!
If that is not you, DO NOT turn your stance on and try to provoke the boss away from the other Tank. That is rude. Keep your Stance off so you don’t draw Enmity, you are now the Off-Tank and play the part of a beefy DPS.
If you are an Off-Tank, DO NOT stand next to the Main Tank to attack the boss. This makes you vulnerable to being Cleaved from boss attacks and unnecessarily overtaxes your Healers. Off-Tanks need to be attacking from the flank or the rear with the other DPS.
Main Tank is the Main Tank until they die.
Off-Tanks, if inclined, can help bring any extra enemies that appear on the field to the Main Tank so they do not have to move the boss around. This is helpful to the group because they can now attack all enemies together at the same time, rather than in small pockets. In this case it’s okay to Stance On to get the enemies and then Stance Off so the Main Tank can take them.
IF the Main Tank dies for whatever reason, [one of] the Off-Tank[s] must put their Stance on and take control of the boss. They are now the Main Tank.
Some raids will also require Tanks to switch control of the boss off to each other, require Off-Tanks to manage their own mechanics or assist the Main Tank in some way, or even make all Tanks have to position themselves away from the group to take three-pronged Tank Busters that can cleave others! Raids are very diverse so it’s a matter of learning the fights. There are many online guides for dungeons and raids you can use for this! In the past I have used vids from DemonSlayerGaming1 and MTQCapture, which has also given helpful pointers for some areas in addition to showing off the mechanics and what to watch out for.
NOW GO! PROTECCA YOUR FRIENDS AND ATTACKA YOUR FOES!! >:3
I make this guide in the hopes that it helps out new players to Final Fantasy XIV, as the in game tutorial is um, bad. (-｡-;
I also included a general etiquette guide, because when it comes to working with other players, a lot of these things you don't pick up unless someone tells it to you.
Suggestions welcome! However, remember that this is meant to be a general beginners guide, so I'm not likely going to add in anything that's specific to a single /dungeon/raid/boss and such.
Everything under the cut!
Basic Tanking and How it Works
Part 1: How to Pull
As the Tank it's your job to make everything in the room hate you the most! That way they punch your extremely durable face instead of everyone else's more squishy ones!
You do this by creating what the game calls "Enmity", aka the stat of creating enemy aggression, or "Aggro". There are three steps in which the Tank must do this.
PUT YOUR STANCE ON
Your stance is the thing that makes the bad guys turn their heads and go "Oh! You're a mother fucker!". You will generate enmity just by having it on. This is called a different thing depending on your job: Defiance [WAR], Iron Will [PLD], Royal Guard [GNB], and Grit [DRK]. You click it once to put the stance on, click it again to turn the stance off [there are a few instances you may need it to be off, they will be explained later].
It's important to put this on because if it's not, no matter how much you attack, other players WILL take aggro and get hurt.
USE AN ENMITY GENERATING SKILL
Unlike some other MMOs your mere presence does not make the enemies incensed enough to fully ignore your party members, you must encourage them to hate you and only you! You can do this in a couple ways. There is the Provoke skill, which has the longest range. All Tanks also have a ranged skill which works similarly to Provoke but slightly closer distance and slightly less enmity, Tomahawk [WAR], Shield Lob [PLD], Lightning Shot [GNB], and Unmend [DRK].
[While they are fun and look cool, none of the skills that rush the enemies actually generate enmity]
Using one of these once is enough to piss off a group or a boss.
ALWAYS BE ATTACKING
Enemies in this game are drawn to the player doing that are doing two things at once: generating the most enmity & doing the most damage. This is important to remember! Because even if you have your stance on and you use an enmity skill, if you are not also attacking with all your might, the enemies will think you are all talk and start attacking your DPS/Healers instead!
If you are fighting a group of enemies [and that is more often the case] make sure you are using attacks that are going to hit multiple enemies at once. These are called Area of Effect or AOE skills.
NOW THAT YOU HAVE DONE ALL THAT-look at the names of the enemies. There should be a little red square next to them, indicating that they are focused on and attacking you. If they are not, don't panic! A few things could have happened:
You might have just missed one
Your Healer used a Regen skill as you were engaging, and enemies just hate that.
Your DPS is doing some bonkers damage to start pulling enmity, good for them!
Regardless of the why, you can either use an enmity generating skill, or just hit them really hard a few times, and they'll be pissed off enough to turn around and hit you instead!
[and for reference, green circle means they are not focused on you at all, and yellow triangle means that your face is beginning to look punch-able!]
Part 2: Managing your Damage
OK, now everyone in the room wants you dead more than they want your DPS/Healers dead. Excellent! Now you move to Step two: STAY ON YOUR FEET. You are made to take all the blows from the enemy and laugh at them! It's time for MITIGATIONS.
All Tanks have several mitigation skills [or "mits"] that they can use to either reduce the damage they take from enemies, reduce the amount of damage their enemies are doing, or temporarily negate damage altogether [only one of these per Tank Job].
Ideally you want to be spacing these skills out, rather than using them all at once. These skills have a longer recharge time [or Cool Down] than your attacking skills, so if you use a bunch, you will more than likely end up halfway through the fight with nothing to shield you but the Healers skills and the speed of your DPS. ALSO, mitigations have a soft cap, that is to say, the game will only allow you to negate so much damage at one time. So at most you can use 2 of these skills at once while still effectively negating damage, anything past that goes to waste.
Now there are too many mitigation skills to go through all of them individually [most are unique to their Tank Job], I encourage you to read all your skill descriptions and get familiar with them. But I will touch on a couple Role ones and the full damage negation ones.
Reprisal: Great for groups and bosses, it will reduce the damage enemies do to your party
Arm's Length: This is not advertised as a mitigation from it's description, but it is in fact quite helpful for large pulls. Because every enemy that hits you [physically] will have their actions slowed by 20%, which means less time hitting you, and more time for the Healer to do their work.
The full damage negation mitigations are great! But a couple of them can be risky to use, and require your healer to be paying attention. They also have very long Cool Downs, so they're meant to be used sparingly.
[PLD] Hallowed Ground: You're impervious for 10 seconds, have fun.
[WAR] Holmgang: You will still take damage, but cannot be taken down past 1 HP for 10 seconds, and also root the targeted enemy in place.
[GNB] Superbolide: This will negate all damage for 10 seconds, BUT it will also take you down to 1 HP.
[DRK] Living Dead: You will still take damage, but your enemies cannot take you down past 1 HP for 10 seconds. HOWEVER, if while using this mit you would have been killed by your enemies, your Healer now has to heal an amount of points equal to your HP points in a limited amount of time, or you die. So say your HP is 5000, and you use Living Dead, and you would have "died" while using it, the Healer now has you heal you for at least 5000 points [within 10 seconds], or you die .
Some tanks like to use simple macros that announce when they are using the Superbolide and Living Dead mits in particular, to give their Healers a heads up. This is up to player preference.
Every so often a boss will decide they've had enough of you kicking them in the shins and will try to get you in one blow. This is called a Tank Buster and will be indicated by a red targeting marker on you [red circles around your character and a red arrow pointing down on them] coupled with a progress bar. Stay calm! So long as you have a mitigation to use when you see it coming, everything will be fine. The Healer will know to be watching your health. Some will of course hit harder than others though, so if you're worried or low on health use 2 mits to be safe!
Part 3: Stunning Enemies & Interrupting Attacks
Now you've got the enemy right where you want them and you're weathering their blows- but oh no! They're preparing to attack the party anyways! It's a huge AOE too. What do you do? You give them the finger and then kick them in the balls! [partly true, most of the time.]
Most enemies in the game have both an auto-attack, and attacks that can be stopped in some fashion by specific skills. There are two different ways to stop an attack, you can use a skill that will Stun the enemy [Tanks and Melee DPS], OR you can Interrupt it [Tanks and Ranged DPS]. Stun and Interrupt are not interchangeable in their use.
So! How can you tell which attacks can be stopped by players? They are the attacks that have a progress bar, showing the enemy has to charge them up before they are actually used. The normal progress bar indicates an attack that can be stopped by Stunning the enemy. For Tanks this is the Low Blow skill [also the Shield Bash skill for PLD]. The flashing progress bar indicates that the attack can be Interrupted. For Tanks this is the Interject skill.
Keep in mind that both these types of skills will also have longer cool downs, so you cannot spam them. This means sometimes you might have to be strategic about when you use them, as some attacks will be more dangerous or troublesome than others. HOWEVER, not all enemies can be stunned, and enemies that can be stunned will become impervious to it after a few uses. You cannot stun bosses period.
You And Your Healer
You may be the biggest baddest person in the room now, but you are not a one man show, and you certainly cannot stay alive without your Healer! Your mitigations can only do just that-mitigate, in the end you have to rely on the Healer to help keep you standing.
You and the Healer are partners in this system. You have to make sure that if you are going, they are following close behind. If you decide to pull a ton of enemies around the corner, your Healer now has to run around that corner first before their spells can effect you.
Most Healers are going to assume you will run and grab all the enemies you can, but if you're finding that you and your Healer are struggling to keep the party alive, you need to tone down your pulls! If the Healer tells you that they are new, or straight up asks you not to full-pull, be considerate of that! Remember, while they have their eyes on you often, they are charged with keeping the whole party alive too! Literally in their case lol
General Tank Etiquette
Dungeons & General Tips
As the Tank it is your job to protect the party and make sure you are the only one taking damage. This also means you set the pace, and lead the group into every battle. This is because it is much easier to pull enemies to you if you are the first thing they see, and are the first to attack. Most players will follow your lead and wait to attack after you have done so. Mostly. So! It's good to remember that your comfort level is important. Go at the pace you feel works for you, let people know you are new if you are worried. Most other players are understanding of this! Many are willing to explain mechanics even!
Additionally since you are the leader, most players will expect you to run in first and generally to keep running until you've decided you've gathered all the enemies you feel like pulling. But! Don't leave your party in the dust. You need you DPS to kill all the things you pulled and your Healer to keep your ass alive X'D
Remember to check that your stance is on before you run in! Most times when you enter a dungeon or a raid its turned off at the start, even if you had it on when you were in the field.
Also, while not a hard rule it's generally advised not to do big pulls in early dungeons anyways [like, Lv 40 or under]. This is mostly to do with the amount of enemies in some areas versus your mitigation options and your Healers healing options. Often at this stage there is simply not enough of these to go around between you and your Healer, and a big pull can sometimes result in a party wipe.
Whether engaging a group of enemies or a boss, common courtesy is to run through the enemy and tank them from the other side [or if you're out in the field, attack from the opposite side of the other players]. This rotates the enemy so that they face you and not the rest of the party, making it so no one else is caught in the majority of enemy attacks. [You do not prevent damage from happening to others by standing in front of them, so attacks can go through you and hit other players, this is called Cleave]
Generally speaking it is also best to keep enemies in one place and facing the same direction as best you can. This makes it easier for the DPS to do their job [especially if they are using casting skills] and easier for the Healer to keep track of you.
Many of the melee DPS have a thing usually referred to as Positionals, meaning they do more damage if they strike enemies from the flank or from the rear. When possible it is good to position bosses so that they can do this, and reposition bosses out of harmful terrain for the melee DPS to strike without harm to themselves.
Speaking of that, do not stand in bad things or perfectly dodge-able attacks! You might be the Tank, but you don't need to tax your Healer while you're at it. They have to worry about other people too!
One last note on movement and control of enemies: generally speaking it is also best to grab all the enemies you feel comfortable with and then stay put until all of them are dead, rather than pull a group and kill some and moving to the next one. It might seem like you are saving time by advancing slowly, but in actuality you are making everything harder for everyone else. This is because this forces all the other players to stop and start their actions constantly, which is bad. Why? Because now your melee DPS are having to chase after enemies they are trying to kill [meaning they are only hitting them half the time], and your DPS casters/Healers basically cannot do anything until the party stops again [because they have to stand still for 95% of their actions]. In the end it it more effective to stay until all the enemies are dead!
When it comes to the Limit Break [or LB], you as the Tank will almost never need to touch this button. The Limit Break is usually something the DPS will use to make a big attack on the boss, or in the case of a boss/raid not going well, the Healers can use a Limit Break Three/LB3 [when you have three full Limit Break bars] to revive the entire party. Thus far in the core game encounters, there are only a couple specific cases that utilize the Tank LB 3, and that will not occur until the ShadowBringers Expansion.
Provoke is not part of your attack rotation! If you have used an Enmity skill once in the fight, especially if you opened with it, you will not have to use it again to keep the enemy on you. While using Provoke consistently is not a big deal if you are the sole Tank, it is a bad habit to get into, as it will become a problem in situations where there are multiple Tanks.
Raids
In a Raid, be it a 8-player one [Normal Raid] or a 24-player one [Alliance Raid], you are not the only Tank on the field, making things slightly confusing and sometimes chaotic lol
When you are all facing mobs of enemies, all Tanks should have their stance on to ensure none of the Healers or DPS get hurt. Sometimes the mobs are spaced far apart when you find them, and its easier when Tanks work together to bring them in. Sometimes you may notice your Enmity being pulled, it is [hopefully] the other Tanks.
When you are facing bosses, generally the first Tank to put on their stance and engage the boss is now the Main Tank:
If that is you, cool! Have fun tanking boss!
If that is not you, DO NOT turn your stance on and try to provoke the boss away from the other Tank. That is rude. Keep your Stance off so you don't draw Enmity, you are now the Off-Tank and play the part of a beefy DPS.
If you are an Off-Tank, DO NOT stand next to the Main Tank to attack the boss. This makes you vulnerable to being Cleaved from boss attacks and unnecessarily overtaxes your Healers. Off-Tanks need to be attacking from the flank or the rear with the other DPS.
Main Tank is the Main Tank until they die.
Off-Tanks, if inclined, can help bring any extra enemies that appear on the field to the Main Tank so they do not have to move the boss around. This is helpful to the group because they can now attack all enemies together at the same time, rather than in small pockets. In this case it's okay to Stance On to get the enemies and then Stance Off so the Main Tank can take them.
IF the Main Tank dies for whatever reason, [one of] the Off-Tank[s] must put their Stance on and take control of the boss, they are now the Main Tank.
Some raids will also require Tanks to switch control of the boss off to each other, require Off-Tanks to manage their own mechanics or assist the Main Tank in some way, or even make all Tanks have to position themselves away from the group to take three-pronged Tank Busters that can cleave others! Raids are very diverse so it's a matter of learning the fights. There are many online guides for dungeons and raids you can use for this!
NOW GO! PROTECCA YOUR FRIENDS AND ATTACKA YOUR FOES!! >:3
It's 9:00 AM in the city, and I'm already smoking a joint. A lot of these days I'd say it's pretty, and hell sometimes that's even the point!
Bad poetry aside, I don't even really know what I wanted to talk about with this post. I'm just so tired, you know?
I literally just woke up and I'm still tired.
It's not the first time. Hell it'll probably happen again tomorrow too. Does that ever end though? Will I ever reduce my stress to the point where I actually get a good night's sleep? Who knows.
Hey, I guess we could do a Final Fantasy update!
THIS is Slicks M'harbeck, a fucking giant of a woman. She and I have been traveling Eorzea together for a couple of weeks now, and just cleared A Realm Reborn a couple of days ago. Last night we got to the only raid I've ever done (and the last bit of content I actually remember), the Crystal Tower! Honestly that raid is fun as fuck, and I can't wait for the next one.
My roommate says I need to do Coils of Bahamut, but I don't know how to unlock them. I mean, this is an MMO, I can just look it up. Or ask my Novice Network, since they believe that Coils should be mandatory.
I'm still trying to get my relic weapon, but it seems like nobody queues up for that fight. I waited 30 minutes and didn't even get the queue to pop. I just wanna fight Chimera! I'll ask my D&D group if they'll queue with me later today I guess.
Even if they don't though, I can always get HW's relic, right?
Right?
Jokes aside, this game is so much fun. Tanking is my favorite, and I can't wait to unlock Gunbreaker! Slicks is going to look so damn cool with a gunblade. She deserves it after having to abandon her girls back home!
Oh yeah, I wrote her backstory, it's on a blog on the Lodestone.
Blog entry `Slicks' Journal, Entry 1` by Slicks M'harbeck.
It was fun to write, and I hope to keep writing more about her as inspiration strikes!
Anyway, I'm honestly just writing to write at this point, no direction in mind. Sometimes it's nice to let your mind wander and just say whatever comes to it.
