Post by Ekho El (Ez) on Nov 27, 2014 18:27:52 GMT
Why hello there EXCAL! As you know I am Ekho El, your Guild Leader. But what you may not know is that I’ve been a tank main for almost 10 years now. I started when I was 16 in WOW and had both a WAR Tank Min Maxed and a Druid Tank. I’ve also been a tank in Guild Wars 2 as a Max level Guardian and a tank in SWTOR as a Max Jedi Guardian. Heck, I even main Top Lane in League of Legends with an affinity to tanky champs like Shyvana. Needless to say, I have a love for tanking and have an abundance of experience being the shield for the party.
Tanking in FFXIV’s holy trinity is a little different than I’ve experienced before so I would like to take a moment to write a basic guide to help you through a Paladin’s POV. Tanking in general has always been about protecting the party by having the responsibility of being the leader and setting the pace, having knowledge of all fights at all roles, positioning bosses and mobs in the correct and optimal spot and keeping all enemy eyes on you at all times. While I will admit, this task is daunting and difficult for PLDs before level 40 and Shield Oath, it is a task I know you can do and hopefully this mini guide will help you.
1. Marking. Marking is essential in XIV because your AOE threat isn't the best. Your DPS will thank you for the direction and your healer will love you for it. You must mark the casters/healers to begin with and trickle down to the melee, depending on the fight. We will talk about rotations later in the guide but once you have “1” marked proceed to Shield Lob it, flash to gather the other mobs and turn the mobs away from your party. Here are some simple marking macros that I use:
/mk attack1 (use this for 2 and 3)
/p “Kill <attack1> First Pls!”
/mk bind1
/p “Can you CC <bind1> pls?”
/mk cross
/p “Focus <cross> Pls!”
2. Distribution of Threat. Just because you marked and the DPS are doing their job correctly, doesn't mean your job ends there. By design, the healers will naturally build agro as they keep you alive and can easily pull off the 2nd or 3rd mob. You need to finish your combo, tab over to 2, do your combo, tab over the 3, do your combo etc etc. All the while, you need to keep a watchful eye on the small aggro bars under each members icon.
3. Single Target Rotation. Whether it be a boss or the first marked mob, your rotation is essential to keeping threat. This is where you shine! Begin the pull with Shield Lob>Circle of Scorn>Flash…then tab to 1 and Fast Blade>Savage Blade>Rage of Halone. That is your main stay. In between cooldowns be sure too add in Shield Swipe when up (your best TP saving move), Spirits Within and Fracture if you have cross classed it. Don't forget about your buffs! Before a pull I always Fight or Flight>Bloodbath and I use my defensive buffs as required. Using your buffs to help keep yourself alive is what separate the good tanks from the great ones.
4. Multi-Target Threats. This mainly applies to speed runs with incredible teamwork. Or hunts for hate generation. You will begin the pull as stated above then Flash until out of MP. At that point, you will Fast blade>Riot Blade>Flash repeat. Proceed to throw in buff and off CD moves during your CD but that's your main AOE hold rotation. Its no overpower, but it is what SE gave PLDs.
5. Macros. Besides the Macros stated above I also use a macro for 8 man tank swaps.
/macroicon "provoke"
/ac "provoke" <t>
/wait 1
/p Hey <t>! Pick on someone your own size! <se.1>
Cover:
/macroicon "cover"
/ac "cover" <tt>
If you have any questions comments or concerns, please comment below of reach out to me in game.
I hope everyone likes it