If you're new to tle or eq2 in general and you want to play a tank. I'd suggest trying out other classes before running right into tanking. I have solo'd my way to lvl 38 (as in no guild groups or premade groups, just regular ol' LFG) and every single group I have been in the only person who hasn't either played eq2 before or played a tank ever happens to be the tank in the group so far on Kaladim. If you go this route no matter what just know you lead the way and you should TURN mobs. Yes, many mobs have 180 frontals and plus you scouts will be happier. Also don't forget to upgrade gear as much as possible, check the broker often. Any survivability you gain will help out healers immensely considering they do not have any focus effects among many other things missing in Shattered Lands era. I love you.
Not that half the players in pugs will actually follow the tank, bother with letting the tank position and turn the mob before charging into a room full of aggro to get position on their own, or assist on the mob they're supposed to so DPS and aggro isn't spread over half a dozen mobs.
Amen MM! Every class has 'responsibilities' within the group. It's not fair to single out the tank. I'd say if you ever encounter a player doing terribad with their class to politely point it out. That's how we learn. If no one says anything, that person will have a hard time getting groups, and may eventually leave the game. Lord knows Kaladim could use some more tanks. It's in everyone's interest to help out the new folks with class roles in a group.
I've always found that it's helpful to have a few "teaching moment" macros set up when you're playing a tank. (1) At start of group: "Please give my all your hate transfers and apply buffs." (2) After all the buffs are sorted: "I will tell you where to stand before a pull, STAY THERE. I will get the mob, bring it to the group, and turn it around. AFTER THAT you can blow it up." (3) Just before getting close enough to pull: "DO NOT cast anything, shoot arrows, or throw weapons. DO NOTHING until I have had time to both TAUNT and HIT the mob, or I WILL let it eat your face off!" (4) When people are ganking aggro: "It is EACH INDIVIDUAL'S JOB to manage your own aggro. It doesn't matter how many snaps I have, you see you're getting aggro, you RUN TO THE TANK and USE ANY DEAGGROS you have. And for the love of the gods, STOP ATTACKING IT until I get aggro back solidly!" (5-OPTIONAL) Usually for repeated aggro "oopsies": "%T, did I not explicitly tell you DO NOT attack the mob before I get it hit and taunted? Are you stupid, or just prematurely ejac..."
Among other things it should be no secret that communication is an integral part of being in a group. The responsibility is not solely on the tank, this is true. As Sig mentioned having a few macros or at least something important to say before and between pulls is also dependent on group make up. This post isn't to narrow all problems with the tank in particular. It's about their role in the group. I could go on to talk about mezzing, assisting, interrupting, debuffing, reapplying debuffs, and buffs in general for your group. That just is not what this post is about. If you are new to the game I just simply suggest trying something other than a tank. The reason being is that when you're not the tank you are typically not in the hot seat of decision making and communicating to healers about death saves etc. From a dps, utility, and healer stand point the way a group of mobs (or just 1) looks and feels is different from those perspectives vs what the tank does and sees. If you want a post about, PSA melee dps, or PSA ranged dps, or PSA utility then by all means provide a link of this post at the end of yours so collectively there could be a generalized PSA for each role for new players.
(the view from Kaladim) What is this "tank" of which you speak? Do you mean "tank pet"? In that case, just click 'attack', make a sandwich, and then open the loot chest.
Can you put your post in spoilers so no one else has to suffer the loss of brain cells as I have reading your "input"?
Since this is a tanking PSA, here's a repost of something I wrote a zillion years ago for new tanks. ==================================== First, what level are your combat arts? If you are just using the Apprentice spells that are automatically given to you, it's like using a pea shooter when you should be using an assault rifle. Check the broker for Adepts (or, for your best CAs, get Masters if you find them very cheap or when you get to around level 40) . Next, what kind of armor, jewelry, and weapons are you using? Gear "greys out" when you are ten levels higher than the gear level, and is then completely ineffective. Gear comes in levels, just as Combat Arts do. There's (in rough order of quality) Treasured, Handcrafted, Legendary, Mastercrafted, Fabled. If you harvest a bit as you wander around questing, save your rares and have a player crafter make stuff for you. You don't have to be a crafter. If you have the rares, many crafters will make it for you for the cost of fuel plus a tip. In general, Mastercrafted gear is better than most low-level Legendary or even some Fabled, but check out Handcrafted as well, it might be a big upgrade for you. Are you using a sword and shield? When you are tanking for a group, you'll probably want sword-and-board. At other times, a two-handed weapon might be better for DPS. Tanking 101 Preparation: To start with, before your group heads into battle, get your buffs from each member. Many classes have helpful buffs that make you more effective as a tank. Ask questions about what folks place on you so YOU know which buffs are helpful, and so you can ask for them later in other groups! Aggro: The job of a tank is to HOLD AGGRO. You are not there to deal damage to the foe really, you just have to hold aggro so it doesn't eat the rest of the group while THEY kill it. That being said, pretty much 1 point of hate = 1 point of damage. There's no way a tank is going to dish out the humungeous damage that, say, a wizard nuking can. So you also have other tools in your repertoire to help you get more hate than you can acquire simply beating on the foe. Some tank classes have stances that increase hate towards the tank. Paladins have a spell called Amends that lets you have a percentage of the hate of another member of your group. Some tank classes get hate by being hit. Read through your spells/combat arts, and see what each of them really does. All tanks have some taunts. Some have more taunts than others. When you pull, you start off EARLY on the mob. You want to get it hit once and taunted at least once as you pull. The hit establishes you on the hate table, and the taunting adds to the hate you have directed at you. Another trick is that some classes, such as Swashbucklers, can do a HATE TRANSFER. It's basically a buff that transfers some percentage of the hate they're getting to you instead. Ask members of your group to give you any hate transfers they've got. Selecting a Place to Fight: Another critical item when tanking is that you are the one who keeps the group safe. And it's your responsibility to position the group in a place that you can safely fight without getting adds, so you learn to pick a good place to fight in. Usually the way you've just come is clear of foes - presumably you killed them on your way in - but you kind of keep an eye out for adds or repops that way. Turning the Mob: However, the way your group is headed is full of foes, so it's a REALLY good idea to turn the mob after you pull it. This leaves you, the tank, between your group and the foes further in on your path, so that anything that wanders up will hit you first and not the lightly-armored healers or casters. You also need to turn the mob for the safety of your group. Anytime the foe ripostes, or does an AOE attack, if the thing is facing AWAY FROM THE GROUP, only the tank gets hit. Your healers need to focus mainly on healing the tank, so you want for JUST the tank to take damage if possible. And turning the mob is critical to allow your scouts to do the most damage. All the scout classes have flank or back attacks that usually do pretty high damage, so you need to allow them room to get in behind the foe. Finally, turning the mob(s) is a BIG help to you as tank. If you see the mob facing you, YOU have aggro. If you are looking at its hiney, you DON'T have aggro and need to switch to that mob and taunt and whallop until you get aggro back. The Fine Art of Body Pulling: A key tool to learn early on is the Fine Art of Body Pulling. At first, not many foes are SOCIAL. The higher in level you go, however, the more social mobs you are going to encounter, so you need to learn this technique early and get it perfected. When I say a mob is "social", that means if you hit it, it can call to its nearby friends for help. Then instead of having one thing to fight, you have the whole room trying to eat your face. To deal with this, the body pull is used. Instead of, say, lobbing an arrow or a taunt at the foe, you edge up until it JUST notices you. then when it does see you, you backpedal and it comes with you. Once you have it far enough away from its friends, you start taunting. Here's some info from a thread on the old forums two iterations back (http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/...d=Newbie&message.id=154977&query.id=0#M154977) that's helpful for all classes, especially tanks. This is the illustrated fine art of body-pulling...
Here's another tanking tip, one I'd forgotten and was reminded to do tonight in group. When a mob is almost dead, your DPS, if they are targeting though you, appreciate it if you move to the next target once the current one is almost dead. You can let dots and AOEs finish that one off. Keeps them from mashing buttons uselessly while waiting on you to pick another target when one could already be dying.
Or the DPS can stop being lazy. Targeting through the tank is a terrible habit, it causes accidental wand/bow/ranged pulls, it lowers dps potential, and if the tank is playing correctly they should be rotating through mobs he/she has lower hate with.
/togglethreatlistwindow. It's handy to have up. If I recall Mob that you have most threat with is at the top, the least the bottom.
Oh hey, we have a visual tanking guide here now, too. Reminds me of the one we made on the FFXIV boards lol. Another bit of advice for Tank players, go Armorer/Tailor. Don't listen to ANYONE who insists that the gear is not going to be helpful in any way; with itemization issues out the back end, having MC armor as a fallback is always a good idea. At least until the 40-50 range atm, on Kaladim. This is in part due to recent armor rebalancing changes, which inserted a different progression pattern for gear.
The biggest advice is to not take 5 seconds in between pulls. The amount of times a break is required in this day and age is zero to none.
Why waste hours getting lvl 42 mastercrafted crap armour when you can get 5 slots of superior lvl 50 Icy Digs plate gear for like 10-15g a piece. t. just got tank alt to 50
