FFXIV Tanking Advice
I don't normally make these posts, but I'm noticing a lot lately in FFXIV that we're getting a lot of new sprouts... A lot of new sprouts that want to try their hand at tanking - and that's great - but please... PLEASE for the love of everything that's holy... Please learn tanking etiquette! Don't be THAT tank that doesn't care and wants to do their own thing. If that's the case, that's what Duty Support and Trusts are for.
Learn the ins and outs of the class you are playing in that dungeon/raid/trial. Learn the mitigations you have and don't be afraid to USE them (don't just think a healer will heal you through absolutely everything, that's asinine). Learn to keep an eye on your tank stance to make sure it is on at ALL points in time (I cannot TELL you how many sprouts I've seen just run headlong in without their tank stance on and then it's a hassle for the healer to try and keep EVERYONE topped off instead of just the tank since aggro bounces everywhere) Learn to use your provoke on things if an add DOES get away from you and start attacking someone else. Learn to keep an eye on everyone's health in your party to know if something is attacking them that should be attacking you. Learn to use your aoes on packs of adds a few times before going into your 123 combo once or twice and then switching back (in doing so, you shouldn't have any problems with keeping aggro on just you). Learn to tab target through the mobs to make sure that you are hitting them all in a group and keeping their attention on you and you alone (You want to be the only one basking in the attention and light!). Learn the minimal amount of moving you can do in order to get out of an aoe and slide back to the front of the boss so you're not rotating it around and leaving poor dps either getting hit by the boss's cleaves or ruining their positionals. Go to a training dummy so you get a feel for your rotation. Go and do the Smiths' training - which can be found in just outside of Aleport or any of the major cities in the inns by the innkeeper. Possibly run a few lower level dungeons when you are starting out with either an all friend group (if you can, so they know you're learning) or with a duty support, so you know that you can practice your rotation, mitigation, and movements without making life a living hell for random people you get put with. (Of course, when your level is higher, you should know by that point the dos and don'ts of tanking)
As a tank, you have a responsibility. It is your responsibility to keep the aggro on you, make everything hate you and not the dps trying to kill them or the healer trying to keep you alive. But you also have a responsibility to try and make it as easy as possibly FOR your dps to kill the adds/boss as quickly as possible. That means trying to keep things as stationary as possible - unless it is absolutely needed to move them (aka moving out of aoes or puddles of bad/fire upon the floor). It does NOT mean that you spin around the adds/boss causing them/it to spin like a beyblade/top - making it absolutely IMPOSSIBLE for dps who do have positionals (aka ninja, monk, dragoon, samurai, reaper, AND viper... so ALL of your melee dps) to do those positionals.
Another thing you should do - which is respectful - is upon loading in, talk to your healer... ask them if they are comfortable with bigger pulls, or smaller pulls... Or, if you are comfortable with smaller pulls, let them and everyone else know so they don't try to keep pulling and stress you out... or you keep pulling and stress your healer out. Many a time I have seen a tank just decide on their own they are doing wall to wall pulls without consulting their healer, and then the healer can't keep them alive and the group wipes. Only for it to happen again and again because the tank doesn't want to do smaller pulls. It is also a responsibility of the tank to make sure their healer is comfortable - or... at least semi comfortable in healing the pulls their doing. If you're not confident in yourself tanking, you can say that, most people are incredibly nice about it. Those that aren't, forget about them and ignore them.
I said this above, but I'll say it again... Go and do the Smiths' training. Not only will it give you an entire set of gear for a starting out tank, but it will teach you all the ins and outs you will need to know and helpful hints for tanking. 10/10 I recommend doing this as soon as you're able to! And the nifty thing is... if you aren't quite comfortable after completing one of the Smiths' training exercises, you can just que up for it again and do it once more. It gives you xp AND gil, so it's a no loose situation, honestly!
This is going to sound weird, but I live by this really... As much as you have a dps rotation - your 123 combo - you also should have a mitigation rotation. All of your mit has different cooldowns, so learn what they are and where you can possibly in a rotation get full - or as close to full - coverage as possibly without that mit falling off. It's mostly doable, but that's really at your higher end levels. Try not to use more than one mitigation at a time, it doesn't do much extra for you, and you loose out on the extra mitigation you could have had after the one mitigation wears off. (I've seen too many tanks do this and then not have ANY mit for big hits that come afterward). One mitigation is perfectly fine, pop it and then trust in your healer, and once the time on that mit is up, pop another if you still need it.
Oh! And mitigation isn't a stopgap... And when I say that, I mean it like this: If you pull a large pack of mobs, usually when you immediately pull them, you should pop a mitigation cooldown, that lowers the amount of damage you're taking right off the bat, allowing your healer to also dps a little bit - taking adds down quicker. What you SHOULDN'T do is pull the large pack of mobs, wait until your health is at 20% and THEN pop the mitigation... that's not going to do much for you, considering healers have cast times for their heals, they usually aren't instant... so usually by that point - unless you have a REALLY good healer - you are probably taking a dirt nap. Pre-emptively use your mitigation BEFORE it becomes an "Oh shit" moment. Aid your healer in that aspect. A happy healer means a happy group, honestly. It's ok to use your mit at like 70%, but 20% is WAY too low... that's just ASKING for you to die and the healer to struggle to bring you back up while ALSO healing the dps to make sure THEY don't die.
Don't forget too, that if you're in trials/normal raids where you have 2 tanks... If you are the off tank and have a mitigation that can ease the damage on another target (aka The Blackest Night, Oblation, Cover, Intervention, Nascent Flash), don't be afraid to use it! It helps out the Main Tank immensely as well as your healers!
For any dps out there that might be reading this, a little dangling fruit that is helpful for tanks... If you have an ability that lowers the targets attack (aka feint, addle, dismantle) it's REALLY helpful to use that when a tank buster comes in... So as soon as you see those red indicators of a tank buster (or you see the name of the tank buster being cast since some tank busters from older dungeons don't have the indicator), slap that boss with that sucker on its backside so hard that its so affronted and its attack lowers because of it.
This all being said... if you are in a full group made up of your friends, then it is up to you and them if you want to toss etiquette aside. This is for when you're quing and you are with randoms. Even if you have someone else that has qued with you, if there are still random people in your group, that etiquette should be in place. Be respectful of other people, if you can.
That's... all I can think of right now... I might remember more later.
Signed,
An exhausted Paladin Tank main that has been playing healer and dps lately and watching tanks being disrespectful and has had enough.
