Tanking in FFXIV (New Player)

[Kazgrel]

I feel stupid. I even looked for abilities from previous levels because I swore I saw it and I didn't find it. Well...I can be happy now I guess, lol.

Agreed on DRK. I'm honestly having a little trouble with The Blackest Night (TBN) in most boss situation because the duration is so short I don't get full use of it. But as I learn the fights better I am definitely making better use of it. It's one of those abilities that actually require you to know the fight to take full advantage rather than just popping it when it's available. DRK didn't ever feel like it had something like that before. Defensive cooldowns are a little different because their duration are at least triple what TBN is and you can always benefit from damage mitigation whereas with TBN you really only get full advantage of it if it gets fully used up.

The simplest way to thing of TBN is to think of it like it's Stoneskin in Sheltron form, or simply think of it as the DRK equivalent of Sheltron. It should be up for any and all tankbusters (in addition to another cd like rampart).

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Out of curiousity, how does this work now? I have all my crystals (that I'll need any time soon), but... Is it the same as it was before, except you don't need to have the sub-class leveled before you're offered the job quest? Or do they just give you the job crystal now once you reach 30?

You still have to do the initial job quest at level 30 to unlock the jobs, but you no longer have to level up a bunch of other classes/jobs to obtain cross class skills; that system was axed in favor of the shared role actions, which you unlock as you level each job. I believe they also eliminated the secondary class requirement for jobs; aka, you simply level marauder up to 30 to get the quest to unlock WAR.

[Katchii]

The simplest way to thing of TBN is to think of it like it's Stoneskin in Sheltron form, or simply think of it as the DRK equivalent of Sheltron. It should be up for any and all tankbusters (in addition to another cd like rampart).

Right, but because the content I usually run as a tank is just dungeons which aren't that deadly unless you over pull or completely fuck up boss mechanics I've just never paid THAT much attention to the timing of tank buster type attacks and usually just rotate cooldowns when I'm expecting one to come up and I can be a few seconds off on a normal cooldown. TBN only last 5 seconds so the timing has to be much more precise and several moves wind up for longer than 5 seconds before actually hitting. Shelltron is much easier to manage IMO because that's usually the only thing a Paladin ever actually uses their oath gauge for, whereas with DRK, we use MP constantly so making sure I have 2400 MP at any given moment is more difficult when I'm also trying to optimize my damage output and using Dark Arts all the time...especially in packs when Dark Arts + Quietus is some of the best feeling and looking things to do as a DRK, lol.

TL;DR- You're right I just need to "git gud."

[DarkTZeratul]

Out of curiousity, how does this work now? I have all my crystals (that I'll need any time soon), but... Is it the same as it was before, except you don't need to have the sub-class leveled before you're offered the job quest?

Basically, yeah. As soon as you hit 30 with the class you can take the job quest.

[Karamaru]

The simplest way to thing of TBN is to think of it like it's Stoneskin in Sheltron form, or simply think of it as the DRK equivalent of Sheltron. It should be up for any and all tankbusters (in addition to another cd like rampart).
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Agreed TBN made my life so much easier with tank busters and the blood meter boost is a nice thing too to use bloodspiller or quietus.

[Deleted]

Basically, yeah. As soon as you hit 30 with the class you can take the job quest.

Actually, I did this yesterday, but it seems like you have to also have passed the storyline to a certain point. I finished the Marauder questline, but didn't get a new quest. However, mainstory wise I just got in a grand company, so that's around lvl 20 only. I guess you might have to also progress the story to a certain point first.

[DarkTZeratul]

Actually, I did this yesterday, but it seems like you have to also have passed the storyline to a certain point. I finished the Marauder questline, but didn't get a new quest. However, mainstory wise I just got in a grand company, so that's around lvl 20 only. I guess you might have to also progress the story to a certain point first.

You know, now that you mention it, I do vaguely recall needing to join a Grand Company before being able to take the Summoner quest, even when I had a level 30 Arcanist and level 15 Thaumaturge. It's been awhile. In any case, the point is that all they changed was removing the subclass requirements.

[darkwarrior42]

Thanks for the replies everyone. This is interesting, and maybe a bit disappointing. I thought the jobs were all optional, increasing the amount of choice you have, but it seems like it's mandatory.

Ah well, switch to Warrior I shall then!

To put you somewhat at ease, due to the recent changes there's really no reason not to switch.

Prior to this expansion, there was a system of cross-class abilities where you could pick up a few abilities from other classes. Regular classes, like Marauders, got more classes to choose from and more abilities. Jobs, like Warriors, got fewer choices and fewer abilities, but more advanced job skills to make up for that.

All that is gone.

Now you have role abilities, 10 abilities to choose from based on your role, and you can take up to 5 of them (based on your level). All classes that have the same role have the same abilities to choose from, so all tanks (Dark Knight, Gladiator, Paladin, Marauder, Warrior) get the same choices.

Warriors can do everything Marauders can, they use the same weapons, and they have the same role. They also get access to new abilities, and some job-specific gear. There is nothing a Marauder can do that a Warrior cannot, at this point. So yes, it is basically mandatory, but there's no downside.

[MisterBigglez]

Thanks for the replies everyone. This is interesting, and maybe a bit disappointing. I thought the jobs were all optional, increasing the amount of choice you have, but it seems like it's mandatory.

Ah well, switch to Warrior I shall then!

You still keep the core abilities, you just learn additional spells from being a warrior

[Deleted]

Thanks!

I guess I just expected that there were more classes than there actually are (in a way). Like...you cannot be an Archer OR a bard, because the archer will always transition to a bard. In the same way you cannot really be a Marauder or a warrior. It's more of a transition.

Not a big problem at all, just different than what I was expecting.

[Sorrior]

A bit of tanking advice that my friend gave me when I was first leveling paladin:
In the low levels, when you start the pull, let the enemies get to you, then use Flash three times. It's a boring opener, but it gives you AoE threat to build up and hold them a bit. After that, tanking is a bit like older school WoW - you just want to tab target through the group and hit them with a threat combo. As you get more comfortable, and more tools, you'll start mixing in more "when to threat vs when to dps" options and you'll get another AoE threat ability.

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There is one exception my friend told me about....

He was running 24 man, I think Dun Scaith or Weeping City, and they were on the 2nd or 3rd boss when someone asked the Alliance "Why do we have a pugilist in here? Not a monk, a pugilist."

Everyone looked to the person not wearing their job crystal to figure out what was wrong with this nutjob. He was dressed appropriately....and his name was Hamon Holyfist.

Everyone thought it was pretty funny and couldn't bring themselves to admonish him, let alone kick him. He played it up, too.

I still wouldn't advise it, but still.. amusing story!

Honestly CERTAIN cases classes DID have an advantage not a big one but a few in that they were able to equip more cross class skills.

I recall a few niche places that came in handy

That said think of tanking in ffxiv to vanilla and tbc ya know before defiance or auto aggro were a thing

[Faroth]

Honestly CERTAIN cases classes DID have an advantage not a big one but a few in that they were able to equip more cross class skills.

In the past, Marauder was a better choice in PvP than Warrior because of the cross class skills pool. Of course, that's no longer the case.

[Katchii]

it's really important to read some guides or watch videos that allows to understand rules etc.
There are many tutorials

Holy fucking necro batman!