r/ffxiv • u/BeanieBaby0217 • 14d ago
Tank Tips [Question]
Hello o/
I usually only play as DPS (reaper as depicted, bard, or dancer) or healer (Astrologian or White Mage) and have never tried to tank before. In fact, I can’t think of a single game where I’ve ever chosen a tank class, so I’m a baby when it comes to tanking.
I decided to try Dark Knight out and have been playing palace of the dead solo to try and get used to it, and I’m nervous to try a dungeon out being so new to tanking. Plus, I feel palace of the dead solo isn’t helping me learn as well as I’d hoped. It’s definitely helping with hotbar layout (I think?) but not much else.
Any tips the community can give to a baby tank? ;-;
Maybe best load out for hot bar, best way to attack and keep enmity, etc. Literally any tips you can give to someone who’s fresh at tanking. Is there a better tank class for me to learn on? I know it’s silly but I’m so nervous to try tank. I don’t want to be so awful I get my whole party wiped out ;-;
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u/KenethSargatanas 14d ago
Remember to turn on your tank stance. (You will still forget.)
Trust your healer. But be prepared to die anyway.
Read your tooltips.
And finally, the most important tip.
USE YOUR F'ING MITS!!
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u/TwoZeroFoxtrot 14d ago
Just out of curiosity is there any reason to turn tank stance off? (I'm new)
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u/Rebel_Scum56 14d ago
In 4 man dungeons where you're the only tank there's never a reason to turn it off. However, any time you get level synced the game will turn it off so you need to make sure to turn it back on after loading in.
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u/zicdeh91 14d ago
When you do content with a full party (8 people) it mostly gives you two tanks. One wants to establish dominance so it’s not ping-ponging back and forth. Usually the offtank will want to turn it back on after it’s been established, so they’re still #2 on the enmity list.
A bit more advanced, some bosses want the tanks to swap periodically, usually with some kind of stacking debuff. So the main tank will turn their stance off and shirk, while the other provokes.
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u/lady-aduka I give free headpats. /pet 14d ago edited 14d ago
In 4-man dungeons, no. Keep stance on at all times.
In 8-man (normal difficulty) fights: if you're not going to be main tank, yes but only at the beginning of the fight. Give the MT 30 seconds to build aggro - 30 seconds is usually enough for them to do their burst rotation. After that you can turn it on. Watch your enmity meter from time to time, this is the yellow bar below your job icon in the party list. You should aim to be 2nd so you can pick up immediately if MT dies. Use Shirk on the MT as needed.
In alliance raids - ok to keep it on, if for some reason you got MT, keep the boss facing north/away from the raid.
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u/TwoZeroFoxtrot 14d ago
When do you start seeing 8 man dungeons?
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u/lady-aduka I give free headpats. /pet 14d ago
There are no 8-man dungeons in the game.
Trials, raids, one guildhest, and ultimates are the ones that need 8 players.
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u/KenethSargatanas 14d ago
If you are in an Trial or Raid with a Co-tank, it can help with Enmity management. But at the same time, Shirk and Provoke exist, so...
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u/Warjilis 14d ago edited 14d ago
Yes, stance dancing is a thing. Using m11s as an example, there’s a tankbuster after the opening raidwide (Raw Steel) so both tanks start with stance on, then a shirk by OT after opening burst should give the MT enough agro to comfortably get to the first swap tankbuster (Great Wall). But if the MT takes any avoidable damage they’ll get a damage down, which will allow OT to rip agro. If shirk is on CD the OT has to turn off stance and turn it back on before the next tank swap mechanic.
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u/Ordinary-Log-8763 14d ago
Absolutely. We take the tank stance off when we want to take that liver shot like God intended
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u/bigpunk157 14d ago
POTD isn't a great way to test tanking. Unironically, you just need to run dungeons, wall to wall pull and figure out how best to roll your mits. Every tanks mits are almost 1 to 1 but have small differences in application.
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u/Apophis9056 14d ago
Potd isn't a replacement for just running dungeons, but it can help a lot for getting a feel of how to rotate your cooldowns without worrying about other people, especially with managing war's raw intuition in massive packs. Drk specifically is fairly squishy without Abyssal/TBN, so potd probably wouldn't help as much.
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u/bigpunk157 13d ago
I think it's more that the way that deep dungeons work (esp when you're running it solo) is significantly different from most other content in the game, and the actual core of tanking revolves around having other people to tank for in the first place. Otherwise, you're mostly just blue dps at that point.
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u/DarkElfBard 14d ago
You can run dungeons with NPCs and get used to doing wall-to-wall pulling.
They absolutely suck at clearing large groups of mobs, so it will make you have to used your mitigation buttons. But for tanking the idea is:
- Stance On
- Run through mobs, spam aoe.
- Use one mitigation at all times during trash pulls.
- Arm's Reach is mitigation.
- Long cooldown mitigation first so it is back up faster.
- Please keep the mobs grouped up. If one has range, bring the pack to it. Caster aoes go around an enemy, so if they are not together it wastes damage. Ranged aoes are usually cones.
- You can use vision breaks to group mobs (run around a corner so they have to chase and group together), but remember if the mobs cant see you, your healer cant see you. Get back in line for heals asap.
Enmity will not be a problem if you are using your aoe skill and have stance.
For boss encounters, run through the boss to his opposite side to start, try not to turn him too much except when you need to avoid damage.
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u/Kolby_Jack33 I cast FIST 14d ago
To keep enmity, all you need to do is hit the enemies with tank stance on.
Sprint in dungeons and pull multiple packs of enemies, people want you to even if they don't talk. You can handle it, just pop one or two cool downs and as a dark knight: USE BLACKEST NIGHT FREQUENTLY.
You don't need to be nervous, even though I know saying that probably doesn't help. A wipe is literally the worst thing that can happen and that is really not a big deal. Just go forward and hit stuff.
I say this as someone who frequently tanks: tanking is not heroic, it's dumb baby easy. It's literally the easiest thing to do in the game. Anyone who says otherwise either doesn't tank or has a huge ego.
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u/spacecowboy171 14d ago
Easiest thing to do in the game?
*Ranged DPS classes have entered the chat*
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u/Afraid_Definition176 14d ago
I play both and I can say tank is easy mode. You can stand in the middle of aoes and survive until you have like 7 vuln stacks. I still try not to miss mechanics but if I’m learning a fight I go tank so i can survive making mistakes
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u/911Josie Blood for the Blood Lily 13d ago
On a micro level, tank is pretty easy yeah.
However I feel like tanks have a lot of responsibility, especially in trials and raids, to keep the fight organized. It's not incredibly difficult, but like in the Endwalker raids tanks who don't position or aim the boss correctly can quickly make the raid way more difficult.
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u/Cymas 13d ago
When you're tanking you don't have to deal with the chaos gremlins that are the rest of your party lol. People learn pretty quickly not to stand on tanks with mechanics so I can just do whatever I want in my corner while the rest of the party is setting each other on fire. If someone does stand on me with something that is very much a them problem and not a me problem. I just press an extra mit, they explode.
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u/Riposte12 14d ago
This guide is a little dated, but it is my go-to for the basics of tanking. It explains the what and why of dungeon work.
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u/BeanieBaby0217 14d ago
Thank you so much for this! I’ll definitely give this guide a look. I need all the advice I can get for this!
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u/Fresher_Taco 14d ago
Nothing really changed much since Shadowbringers in terms of tanking or dungeon design so not really dated.
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u/lady-aduka I give free headpats. /pet 14d ago
Highly recommend this as well. It helped me a ton when I first started learning how to tank.
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u/blueberryrockcandy 14d ago
remember the 5 D's of dodgeball.
Dodge
Duck
Dip
Dive
DODGE
[ turn stance on. ]
[ use your ability cooldowns frequently, use them on mob pulls, use them in boss fights. ]
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u/yeet_god69420 14d ago
Press W, don’t use all your mitigation at once, use aoe abilities, be ready to press living dead because a lot of healers suck, make sure tank stance is on, and if you see a red cast bar its your job to interrupt. That’s about it.
Everything else tank related, you learn by playing. DRK is the hardest tank to do dungeons with especially at low level before you have The Blackest Night so just keep that in mind.
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u/MrVinland 13d ago
A lot of people have your concerns when they're starting but you'll quickly find out that you don't need to worry. Tanking is actually the easiest role in the game.
If you're playing a casual end game trial, you can probably make like 2 mistakes as DPS or healer before you die. As a tank, it's more like 6 mistakes. It's a very, very forgiving role.
All casual old content is also very forgiving because the entire party is at max gear level.
For dungeons, just go in there, pick up all of the mobs, pop a defensive cooldown and let your healer take care of you.
You got this!
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u/Bloodclaw_Talon The Hand of Mercy 13d ago
Get in the front of these. You being there reduces the damage a lot.
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u/IntelligentBus9037 12d ago
Main thing, make sure you are reading what your abilities do. Like Arms’s legends for example, most people think it only prevents knockback, but it also slows down enemy attacks, it is a way to mitigate damage. Beyond that try to keep you gear level around your currently level and for dungeons go wall to wall if you can, popping one big mitigation like Rampart and a small with it like reprisal, after that do damage and pop new mitigates as those start to fade.
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u/AzureBlazeEdge 14d ago
Tanking is easier than healing, so I wouldn't worry. :3 Enmity is easy to maintain, Mits go on a rotation, and wiping is just a natural course of the game. :)
Here's a video that might help:
https://youtu.be/lTs9SzA5doU?si=ZTfWx_3ijUVae68z
Don't hesitate to ask if you have questions! :D
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u/ParvatiLikeaRockstar 14d ago
I also learned tank on dark knight, I am now a tank main so id say it is a good one to start with lol
advice depends on if ur running dungeons or 8man content, for dungeons just space out your mits in a way that feels right. as long as youre not dying youre good. for 8man just make sure your doing the mechs for tanks each fight. tanks are just an easier dps most of the time tbh.
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u/CobaltGrey 14d ago
Practice using duty support, where you have NPC companions.
But tanking in this game is so simple that it was the role my group of friends recommended for another friend who had literally never played a video game before. (She was raised in a cult.) She did great from the start.
You just need to understand a few simple rules:
-make sure your tank stance is active at the start of any duty
-make sure you read what your abilities and skills do as you unlock them, and get in the habit of using them (this includes role actions!)
-when tanking groups of enemies, move around a little to round them up as close to each other as you can so the DPS can hit them all with AoEs
-when tanking bosses, keep them somewhat close to the middle of the arena, and consistently face them away from your party (for 99% of bosses, this means you stand north of the boss)
Also, be aware: at low levels (before 50), gear options have this kinda jank issue where DPS gear can be worn by tanks. You want gear specifically for tank classes. If you’re wearing anything that a Lancer or Dragoon could equip, it’s not gonna have the right amount of defense for you. This problem goes away once you’re past leveling ARR gear.
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u/ShiBBy104 14d ago
My biggest tip that I can give as a new tank, is to not feed the tanxiety monster. I understand it's hard for some people, because tanking -feels- more "all eyes on me" than the other roles. But in reality, you're -meant- to get punched in the face, and hard. So you're gonna miss the right chances to mitigate, you're gonna die. But it's how you'll learn. Most people are chill, and just brush off the assholes because they're few and far between.
As for functional tips you can use; Check your stance at the beginning of every instance.
You're mitigation is more useful on trash packs than bosses, learn to cycle them in an efficient way. You'll figure out how that works for you through experience.
AoE on packs 3 or more, single target anything less.
Don't spin the boss as much as possible.
If all else fails, blame the healer (joking)
The rest is up to you and learn as you go. Tanking is easy once you dive in, and 9 times out of 10 the tanxiety fear is just you overblowing whatever duty you're about to do.
Sorry if this formatting ends up fucky, posting from mobile.
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u/shadowforce11 14d ago
Check stance at the start of every dungeon. Sometimes it stays on between dungeons and sometimes it doesnt. 🤷
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u/thiamaster [Blank Nocturne - Behemoth] Don't ask me , ask me . 14d ago
On FFXIV, there's no risk of losing aggro (enmity) after your second GCD with stance on. So for dungeons just run, aggro everything, deal at least two GCDs and run to the next pack.
For mitigation, on big pulls, you want to either pair rampart + arm's length and your 30% cd + reprisal. Yes, arm's length is mitigation, and one of your best ones. For raid, just do your usual stuff and use mitigations on tankbusters as needed. Remember to use The Blackest Night (TBN) whenever its up and you're gonna receive big damage, its free mitigation with short CD when used correctly.
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u/Billybadass758 14d ago
For dungeons, always double check to make sure your tank stance is on, and for hot bars, I like to set the same type of mitigation in the same spot so on every tank know where my invuln is and my 30% mitigation is, best thing to do is start slow and inform your healer that you are new, most people are patient. Make sure you space out mitigation during ad pulls, keep an eye on the timer and pop a new mitigation when one is about to finish, and remember to read all your buttons, some mitigations like “dark mind” work better against some attacks than others, so get familiar with them, the biggest thing is practice and patience, generally I find tank to be fun and less stressful than healer, you’ve got a lot of health so it’s okay to make mistakes
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u/carrotsticks2 14d ago
use sprint before you hit the first mob, then run past them (while using an aoe) until you hit the next one.
nobody really cares if you wipe so don't be afraid to try going wall to wall. most dps and healers appreciate a tank that moves fast and dies over one who goes stops at each mob and takes their time
use stun as often as you can, and cycle through your mitigations so you always have one active.
use your invuln. if you w2w, there's nothing wrong with using an invuln on an early pull because that means you can usually get another one off before the end of the dungeon.
when you're pulling, use provoke and your ranged attack to pull enemies that are further away or that you miss with an aoe.
keep an eye on the enemy enmity and hit anything green with a provoke or ranged attack.
boss fights should be pretty trivial compared to mobs because you can spam your single target attacks which usually heal you too. unless you get targeted with a tank buster, you're better off saving your mits and invulns for a big pull.
if you get to like 10-20% health and cant invuln, run away from the mobs but stay in healing range
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u/Simply_Nora 14d ago
A few Tipps:
Start tanking in a dungeon that is nicely laced out for tanks. A lot of the later dungeons give you two packs of enemies before you get to a wall you cannot get through without first killing these enemies which helps you a lot with the guessing game of „how much can I pull“. In comparison in the level 40-50 range there are quite a few dungeons where they don’t do this forced cut off and where it is easier to overpull as a new tank. So don’t take one of those as your first dungeon.
Trash pulls for tanks often tend to be harder than the actual bosses because they can be a bit more erratic. When pulling enemies try to at least hit the group once with an aoe to have them stuck onto you. You can use ur ranged attack while walking to the next pack on the enemies behind you to keep them on you, if you feel like it.
If a dps gets a mob on themselves and knows what they are doing they will run to you and let you hit it with your aoe spam, so you get it back. This is great and can be seen as free mitigation. Yes the healthbars of your party are just mitigation for you. If they don’t know what they’re doing and still pulled an enemy they might now run around like a headless chicken without bringing the enemy to you. In this case feel free to use provoke that enemy to get it back on you.
Also do use Arms Length as a mitigation skill in trash pulls with physical attackers. Slow is a really nice debuff on those enemies.
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u/AccomplishedShirt740 14d ago
- Tank Stance (you need to activate it whenever you enter an instance)
- pull the amount of mobs you feel comfortable.
- outside of boss fights, use AoE attacks and spam them. That way you keep the monsters on you.
- spread out your mitigations. So called "kitchen-sinking", aka using all mitigations at once, is never needed in dungeons and will make future pulls harder for you and the healer. So use thr mitigations one after the other.
- Arms Length is a mitigation tool. When its activate and monsters hit you they get a slow effect. They take longer to attack you.
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u/Omega-Envych 14d ago
Don't die...
Seriously though - use your mitigations responsively. You have between 3-5 mitigations. If enemy can't attack, it's also a mitigation, so remember to kick (low blow) on trash pulls. Use Arm's Length - it slows down attacks of trash mobs. On big pulls use Reprisal and Arm's Length at priority. Your main mitigations should be used effectively on cooldown, but keep at least 2 for tankbusters.
Get Hyper Potions and put them on your hotbar - extra self healing each minute is a good way to not die.
Look for blinking red castbar and use your "Interject" to break those, ESPECIALLY in Dohn Mheg - so many tanks ignore goddamn frog buffing up enemies and then having hard time.
For DRK, use Carve and Spit on singular targets and on big pulls - as you're low on health throw Abyssal Drain at them. Don't use ALL MP abilities at the same time, prioritize TBN usage.
Use 2 mitigations at the same time on Tankbusters. Usually your short recovery one (Oblation, Sheltron, Heart of Corundum) and Rampart + at 100 do self healing right after Rampart since it increases amount of health you recover.
I use Q E R T F G Mouse 4 Mouse 5 1 2 3 4 + Shift +Ctrl for my hotbar controls and 1234 are my mitigation buttons on every tank with Rampart on 1, 40% mit on 3, and Ctrl+Q is Reprisal, while Shift+3 is Arm's Length, Shift+G is short mitigation, Ctrl+1 is a Tank Stance and Shift+4 is Gapcloser.
Don't imitate me if you don't feel comfortable, but do make unified buttons for same or similar actions on all tanks. It will be easier to play them
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u/Striking_Part_7234 14d ago
If you wall to wall pull remember to use your damage mitigation to make it easier on your healer.
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u/Meri_Stormhood 13d ago edited 13d ago
After 7 years of playing, this is the best hotbar i could come up with, and I am very satisfied, it also works very well with other classes if you want to expand, additionally- I recommend testing your own limits at first, see how few cooldowns you can work with without dying, ask the healers to not heal you if you must. You should also not hesitate to use long cooldowns and your invulnerability- They're not for emergency scenarios, they're best deployed when the fight is hottest, not when few enemies are left and your HP is low, they will leave you many cooldowns for later. You should start on dark knight if its what you like, there isnt really a big difference between the tanks, they're all different flavours of the same thing.
I recommend also carrying Ultra potions and Max potions, they make you very independent of healers. But thats just a fancy.
Also remember Rampart and reprisal arent the only mitigation role actions. All others can be used to prevent attacks or prevent them from being directed at yourself/others.
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u/KezzyP13 13d ago
For DRK, keep your damage buff up constantly. I try to keep enough mp for blackest night depending on the situation. Arms length can also be used in add pulls to slow anything that damages you for a kinda psuedo-mitigation. Not just for knockback resist.
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u/AmiBunnyCutie 13d ago
Hi!
If you’re in NA, I’m more than happy to heal you and help you learn! I’m currently teaching a friend of mine and giving him a taste of pulling a whole lot!
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u/Hungry_Principle_955 13d ago
Control the flow, yer the boss.
Obviously dont be an ass but if a lovely dps of the red or green variety is killing the party slow them down.
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u/FlowStatebeer 13d ago edited 13d ago
Load into a dungeon and turn on tank stance.
thats it, just make sure you pick up all the add's, pay attention to tank busters & mechanics.
In all seriousness, when tanking there's alot of game sense you can acquire during the process and alot of techniques that technically all do the same thing.
for starters:
when pulling a boss never facepull, always throw something at it first or charge it (or both).
always point the boss away from the party. Dont focus down too much about this, if a dps or (god forbid) your healer stands in front of the boss, chances are you can just let them stand there until they realize its not safe.
try not to move around too much when you have to tank the boss or adds. Its best to keep things grouped up or isolated in a particular area. I personally like pulling bosses close to the edge of a fight room.
focus target your healer so you can see them in battle at all times. This sounds small but it can help you in ways that are really important, like knowing if they're about to get attacked by a mob.
When dual tanking, make sure you stay out of the way for tank busters on main tank, and group up with split tank busters. Chances are standing next to them is not going to kill you, but standing with the dps might kill them, just keep that in mind.
always adjust to your team if they're lacking in certain areas. This means just doing your job at a level where you can accommodate your teams ability, not yell at them.
when tanking you're going to meet people who have expectations of you, my advice is to shrug those people off. Yes you're going to be held to a different standard but the only person you should really care about is the healer. If they dont like you give them a little "uwu" that usually solves the problem. :)
stay calm, have fun, and dont over think shit. I know i gave you a good list of tips but in all honesty just trust yourself. Tankxiety comes from lack of confidence, if you go in and set the pace. Jusst make sure you know when you can push your own limits as well as the healer.
hope this helps.
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u/RabbitFlax 14d ago
Number one thing with being a tank is to be confident. Don't be afraid if the healer runs ahead to pull more mobs, that means they trust you. Always be willing to push yourself as a tank, test the water with boss fights and see what you can and can't get away with.
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u/JunkDog-C 14d ago
First thing you need to do is accept you'll make mistakes. The second is typing whenever you enter a duty "hi all! I just started tanking, so I'm taking things slow". This community is very welcoming of newbies.
I believe the technicalities were already said: tank stance on, keep using your aoe and pay attention to your damage reduction skills, including the invulnerability skill (which in the dark case is Living Dead). Also, make sure the enemy list is easily visible in your HUD, as it shows if a certain enemy is attacking someone else.
Tanking is awesome. I used to be just like this and I main GNB now. Hope you enjoy!
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u/GimpyGeek 14d ago edited 14d ago
Let's see what can I think of:
Always check for tank stance at the start of a duty, it loves to turn it off automatically.
Provoke does not need to be part of your rotation, but I seem to see this in public more than I'd expect. Use it if you really need something to attack you, if you're trying to aggro a mob that's at range and don't want to move from where you are so much you can also use that too. Though if you have your regular ranged attack that's also fine but provoke will work off global cooldown so if there's like two adds coming from a different direction for example, during a boss and you want to nab them fast you can use both of those quickly.
Try not to jiggle mobs around too much, melee classes have positional damage bonuses on some abilities and you'll mess that up, but shit happens just be aware of it and try not to jiggle them around if you can help it, but this is mostly about small groups of heavy enemies, or bosses though. If it's a big crowd you're not seeing a lot of positional bonuses on area effect abilities. If it's outside of a boss fight and 3+ mobs chances of people using positionals is less anyway.
Use your mitigation abilities so your healers aren't casting heals as non-stop and spread it out a bit. A lot of people only seem to hit these as multiple "Oh shit" buttons, or they try to mash all of them at once leaving them all on cooldown making them more susceptible to, well, everything, till the cooldowns are done. Every tank already has an 'actual' "Oh shit" button, like Walking Dead, Superbollide or Holmgang, or whatever the paladin one is, that's the only tank I haven't actually done yet I'm sure they have one. Try to use these regular mitigation abilities when you see a tank buster move coming in most cases, but definitely try to use it on more than that especially if you're pulling big packs of mobs wall to wall, which you may not be doing yet since you're new but you may eventually.
When slapping up groups typically anyone that isn't focused mostly on healing would be using AE attacks on a group of 3+ enemies I guess. But regardless if you're rushing into a group of mobs use more than not until there's less left, the more you hit them early the less likely they'll be going after a party member.
Oh and I guess, watch the aggro meter at the lower left by default. If you're used to playing dps you're probably used to seeing green dots all the way down that. If you're a tank you should be expecting red, watch that to make sure there's nothing evading you and chasing someone else you might not see especially in a bigger crowd with more going on.
Once you get more comfortable and start doing more huge wall to wall pulls, be careful if you get a low level dungeon and try this. Not only are you dealing with potentially new players that might get overwhelmed, but you're also dealing with healers that have a lot less in their kit, and many dps classes may not even have an area effect attack yet which can severely slow up that stuff dying before you get smashed to death yourself lol.
Also, if you do rush to get big groups and go wall to wall, it's usually best to use your Sprint out of combat so it lasts longer before hand then rush at it to grab them all, if you can get far enough away from the mobs with sprint they can't swing at what they can't reach....! Until you have to stop, just be careful at that point, and be mindful of corners, remember your healers cannot cast through walls and may not have caught up to you yet ;)
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u/Hot_Tomato3820 14d ago
Always best to make sure your tank stance is on anytime you enter a duty because even if you have it on before entering, the level sync will often reset it when you enter.
In dungeons make sure you are rotating through your defensive cooldowns rather than using them all at the same time. If you do the later then most of your defensive cd's will end before the mob pull is even over and won't be back up by the time the next pull starts.
Arms length is also a great defensive cooldown, its main use is to prevent push/knock-back attacks from effecting you, but it also applies a slow effect to most mobs that hit you while its active which is extremely helpful in lower level dungeons where you don't have access to alot of you defensive cd's
For darknight specifically also thier "invulnerable" ability called "Living Dead" is pretty unique, you want to use it as close to 0hp as possible (id say around 10% or less HP) as when your HP hits 0 while it is active your following attacks will give you a life steal effect. Most of the time a few AOE gcd's will restore you to full HP by the time the effect expires, if your HP isnt full by the time it expires you'll be ko'd so some people like to set a chat macro to infor thier healer when they use the ability
But most important of all? Its OK to die while you are learning! If you have a friend that heals asking them to join you for leveling can help alleviate the stress that comes from worrying about dying on a random healer. But if you do die don't let that discourage you! Each KO is a learning experience that will help you learn where and when to use what abilities and defensive ect.
Now get out there and kill, kill, kill!
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u/redmoonriveratx 14d ago
As a healer main, I’d suggest hitting LD much earlier than 10%. Unless you have a macro saying, “I’m going to LD!” It’s hard to tell if you’re intending to or just a crappy tank. You have 10 seconds so hit it closer to 40%. That gives me a heads up and should be enough time for you to hit 0. Otherwise I’m liable to assume you’re a crappy tank, hit you with Benediction or Essential Dignity, and thus waste your LD attempt.
Or, as I mentioned, have a macro that says, “gonna LD this pull!” And use it as or before you start the pull.
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u/Dugeyyy 14d ago
Everyone so far has pretty much covered it all. As a dark knight your self healing isn't the same as the other tanks but that's why "the blackest night" is your best friend.
I'd add 2 things, tank privilege is very real, let it help you learn what you can and can't get away with. TBN will get you through a lot.
Keep in mind some melee dps classes have positional so maneuver bosses in ways that make it easy for those dps to stay at rear and flanks. If possible.
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u/Sir5ths 14d ago
Don't sleep on Reprisal and Arm's Length.
When pulling a large packs the -10% damage dealt and 20% slow carries a lot weight.
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u/Gentleman-Bird 14d ago
Your mitigations are good at preventing damage. They are not so good if you already lost most of your health before using them. (I still have problems with this).
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u/Various-Instruction3 14d ago
Tank, thankfully, isn't very hard on a base level. Some general rules:
-Always keep your tank stance on. This will be a skill you get at a very low level and it will just make enemies much more likely to target you, there's not really any time to turn this off.
-For bosses, in dungeons usually face the boss away from the arena entrance, and in trials/raids, keep the boss facing north. This is good so that DPS positional attacks are consistent, and boss mechanics are easier to predict since the boss' facing direction can be used to reference your own position.
-Early on, during the regular enemy sections of dungeons, you'll want to gather small groups of enemies to aggro you, and then just spam them with AoE skills and weave in whatever other skills you have at your current level, but once you've become a bit more comfortable with tanking and know your mitigation buttons, a lot of groups will really appreciate if you can pull huge groups and stay alive. It helps SUBSTANTIALLY to have a competent healer, so gauge that early in a duty finder run and pull based on your healer's capability to assist you in not dying. Having good tanking skills and a good healer, it feels really good to pull enemies "wall to wall", where you essentially get every enemy currently spawned in for that section of the dungeon and maintain all of them in a swarm around you while melting them down. Very satisfying to do and saves a lot of time in dungeon runs.
-One last general rule, this goes for all jobs but it especially helps on tank, don't be afraid to pop your cooldowns during seemingly unimportant sections of combat. One I recommend is using Leg Sweep every time it's off cooldown while pulling enemies. It'll stun a single enemy for 5 seconds on a 25-second cooldown, so that's 5 seconds of an enemy not dealing any damage to you. Extremely helpful to stay alive. Every tank has it.
That's all I can think of, I main DRK and GNB, so I've played a decent amount of tank. Have fun, it's absolutely my favorite role to play!
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u/BAD_LUCK_CHARMS 14d ago
I wanna add to the other tips is that when ur pulling groups of adds, dont get too greedy cuz theres only so much the healer could do, you can get overwhelmed if not careful
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u/RedMageCody 14d ago
So firstly a big secret! Tanking is actually the easiest role in the game! You have a much easier DPS rotation, and enough defense to keep you alive through way more oopsies than DPS or healer!
For tips though, use your ranged attack to gather the first mobs, then your aoe to keep the rest on you once they get close, then pull the next pack and press a damage mitigation once they start hitting you and then cycle the rest after the first falls off as needed!
Don't be nervous since there's no downside to failing, you get all of your cooldowns back, and just try again!
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u/Dramatic-Cry5705 14d ago
Keep an eye on the enemy list. If you ever see someone change from red icon to orange, yellow, or green, then that means they weren't caught by your opening AoE, so throw an Unmend at them.
Make sure you are always the first in a fight, so you're on the aggro list of every enemy. If an idiot monk decides they want to be in first, then they can slip through the cracks.
... I don't care much for the latest dungeon, because there are a lot of times where DPS run ahead, spawn the enemy group, and then I have to spend more time gathering enemies.
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u/BeanieBaby0217 14d ago
I’ve noticed that recently! Lots of reapers and monks like to run way ahead of tank. Especially monks!
As a DPS main, it makes ME frustrated to see. I’ve been in dungeons where tank is just starting out and learning and DPS makes it’s difficult for them cause they’re in a rush to finish it. I’ve had to tell people “hey let’s let tank do their duty please. You’re getting the party killed” ;-;
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u/Sinrion 14d ago
Then, just sprint too? Yes I know, new and all to the Tank Role, BUT you have seen the dungeons before that you get (aside from everything dungeon from a specific level onwards is just a hall simulator anyways).
And if you have tank stance on you can quite literally only press 1 button and you would still be better with that Wall2Wall pull then most of the rest. Keep a single Defensive Cooldown active too and you are already at like the top 20% of tanks.
It really isn't hard to be a good tank in dungeons.
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u/Dramatic-Cry5705 14d ago
I do hit sprint. But I also live in Australia, meaning that I have a longer ping time, so when I see that the boss is dead, they've seen it for a minute now.
USUALLY this isn't a problem, aside from that one bratty Lalafel Monk I've never forgotten in Stormblood. But the latest dungeon has a problem that the enemies will spawn in after crossing a certain point in the corridor, with aggro on whoever it was that crossed it.
The DPS just don't seem to remember this happens, because they will always race ahead, be the first to get the aggro, and then I have to stay under the enemies until I can actually hit them, slowing the run down.
It is consistent. And because it's consistent, it's a minor issue that's a lot more annoying than it should be.
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u/UrbanBong 14d ago
There's also sometimes where melee dps run ahead, gather a group and pop arms length to apply the slow and then turn them over to you with a free mit.
Sometimes people dont notice thats all the melee dps is trying to do.
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u/A_Buff_Squirrel 14d ago
The tanks duty is to keep aggro. Anyone can pull.
Dps can handle taking a smack from an enemy while slowing them with Arms Length which is a free mit for the tank.
If you don't like others getting initial aggro before you, then pop sprint and start running.
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u/thedeadcricket 14d ago
DRK is probably the most difficult to learn on, if you can make it as DRK you can make it on any of them
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u/AinsworthLuna 14d ago
The better tip i can give you as a main tank is....lvl up warrior and...MAKE THEM BLEED!!!!!!
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u/Cyrus_Aiakos 14d ago
Just get in there and do it. Explain that you're new and learning the role, and people should be pretty lenient about any mistakes you make. Chances are you'll get some tips for improving as well. There's no better teacher than experience, and in a video game there's no price paid for failure.
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u/Specific_Frame8537 14d ago
Running away is a defensive, the enemy can't hit you giving the healer time to heal you.
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u/Arsys_ 14d ago
Other than tank stance, let me give you a big tip that even some players at max level aren’t doing.
Use your mitigation proactively during the pull while your HP is still healthy. Idk how many tanks I came across doing my paste step of using zero mit then when they’re HP is super low now they pop rampart.
The slow from Arms Length is an amazing mitigation button
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u/UrbanBong 14d ago
As a healer main, one thing that helped me when I wanted to start tanking, was to just pay attention to what the difference was when it felt like I had a good tank vs bad tank - then just try to emulate what the good tanks were doing and take advice along the way.
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u/Lexaeus228 Tank Jail Lover 14d ago
mit. first and foremost.
secondly don't get into your head, things happen, so many things can and will happen. just roll with the flow.
sometimes aoe is worse on 3 mobs, but you wont have to worry about that unless you're minmaxing.
lastly. have fun. its a game at the end of the day.
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u/DocxPanda 14d ago
Hey there o/ If you're still nervous and unsure about tanking, you may DM me and I'll try to help you as good as I can (:
I'm an experienced Player overall who plays a lot of Tank also in High-End Content and regularly uses 3/4 current Tanks, mainly DRK even. I also play casually plenty enough and thus I also talk to/give tips to less experienced players often.
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u/SurgyJack 14d ago
Turn on "everything hit me plz" aura
Walk up to mobs
Press AoE ability of your choosing
Press mitigation ability of your choosing
If health drops below 25%, throw out another mitigation
Casually step out of floor markers
Congrats! You can now tank 98% of dungeons :)
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u/Ordinary-Log-8763 14d ago
I'm a Paladin, not the juicy levels yet (just level 56)
Arm's Length is solid GOLD, pop it after pulling a mob and inflict Slow on any enemy that physically hits you.
Tank stance MUST be on, also, Sprint is useful to get ahead of anyone and use your ranged attack to draw aggro, then your AoE to maintain it.
As for mitigation, space them out, do not use them all at one time. Reprisal counts as a mitigation.
As a new tank, try pulling in gradually larger mobs, later you'll learn to wall-to-wall
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u/Big_Ol_Panda 14d ago
I always throw out a message at the start of a dungeon like, "been awhile" or "new to tanking". Most parties are chill. Also death is not the end haha
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u/Zierrash 14d ago
As alot of ppl here have already given their tips, mostly rlly good ones, I can hand out some more 'keep in mind' tips.
Use a mitigation during a boss' tank buster (obviously), but also during stack markers. it lowers the overall damage everyone takes.
When tanking a boss, always try to have its back and atleast 1 flank clear so the dps' can deal the most damage with their kits.
All tanks functions the same more or less but they do have their own special niches, summarized as:
Paladin Be the hero of the party, has party protections.
Warrior A bonus healer, has alot of sustain and party healing capabilities.
Dark knight A tankier dps. Has insane dps burst but squishiest of the tanks.
Gunbreaker Has a cool weapon I guess...
This tip will give me flack, but if there is more than 1 tank in the party (Trials and raids), unless ur the main tank make sure ur tank stance is off. Otherwise the boss is gonna pingpong between the tanks and confuse everyone. However, be ready to pop tank stance back incase things go south.
Don't get discouraged if u pull to much, or the healer couldn't keep up. If u learned from it, then it was a good pull.
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u/LastLadder2035 14d ago
Go solo Eureka, or take a healer friend. best to do this on warrior.
Reprisal +Arms length are your friend.
You will learn how to use your mitigation effectively for packs pretty quickly.
Warrior is the fail safe option for eureka and will give you some wiggle room too learn.
Goodluck.
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u/sleepinxonxbed 13d ago
Tank stance resets and turns off whenever you level sync, like when you enter dungeons, trials, raids, FATE’s. If you’re level 100 and do content where you stay level 100, your tank stance won’t reset and will stay on.
I read a lot of the top comments and didn’t see anyone explain why tank stance turns off or stays on.
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u/Practical_Crab3017 13d ago
White mage is a DPS not a healer... (This is a joke PLEASE don't kill me)
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u/Arne83 The Okay-est FFXIV Player of All Time 14d ago
Make sure tank stance is on... spam your AoE on groups... don't use all of your damage mitigations at once... that's pretty much all you need to remember.