Final Fantasy XIV - Guide on How to Play as a Tanker

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Final Fantasy XIV - Guide: How to Play as Tanker

18/09/24, 0 comments

Complete guide with everything you need to know about tankers in Final Fantasy XIV and how to use them efficiently!

Por Luiz Otávio

traduzido por Meline Hoch

revisado por Romeu

So you're telling me you want to learn how to stand your ground and come out alive to tell the tale? You've come to the right place! Playing as a tanker in FF XIV can seem intimidating at first, but with a few key tips and understanding how the game's system works, it can be easy!

General Concepts and Tanker Mechanics

Aggro and Enmity

“Aggro” is the term popularly used to explain the game’s Enmity system, which defines who the enemies will attack. How does it work? All actions that influence the battle generate “aggro”, and consequently make a player focused. By default, healing generates more “aggro” than damage. So if healing generates more aggression than damage, how do tankers make enemies focus on them?

That’s where “Tank Stance” comes in. Upon reaching level 10, all tankers unlock a “Toggle” type ability that causes them to generate much more “aggro” in their actions. With this in mind, they need to continually be dealing damage to enemies to hold their focus.

The “Provoke” ability is not as intuitive as it seems. All it does is put the Tanker at the top of the aggro list, but the problem is that it does not generate Enmity itself. Maybe I confused you a bit - For educational purposes only, consider that enemies have a kind of aggression counter that goes from 0 to 100. If you start a fight with “Provoke”, the tanker is the only one on the enemy’s target list, so the top of it’s only number 1. Then, your team attacks too, and since their attacks actually generate aggression, they would already start at 25 or even higher, causing them to be attacked, and not you.

“When do I use Provoke, then?”

It's simple, it's often used to take the existing focus from another player's enemy. In more advanced content, it's common to see "Tank Swap", which is when Tankers use Provoke to alternate attacks from a boss, so both can survive. Another case is when the party has only one tanker, and they fall, the ideal thing to do when they get a res is to wait a moment for a heal to arrive and then immediately use "Provoke".

Interrupt and Stun

It's quite common for new players to think that they’re the same, since at the initial levels, enemies are not immune to the stun generated by "Low Blow". But this changes quickly, and abilities that can be interrupted are good to interrupt, as they often have some devastating effect on the group. In the example below, this Dark Mist ability creates an area in which players within it are unable to move and use abilities for 5 seconds. To identify whether an attack can be interrupted, pay attention to the glow around its charging.

Big Pull

This is when the tanker runs through the dungeon pulling several enemies and gathering them so that the group can use area attacks and finish them all off at once.

“If I pull too much, won’t I end up dying?”

If you don't rotate your defensive abilities well and your healer does his part, I recommend that you do small versions: pull two groups of enemies, then try with 3 groups and so on.

“But you didn't say what I have to use”

Use Sprint and then use a ranged attack. This will draw the attention of the first group. Then, use 1 or 2 area of effect attacks, making sure that all enemies are on you and move on to the next one. Once you have pulled enough, use Rampart and some “short CDs” (Raw Intuition, Sheltron, Heart of Corundum, Blackest Night, among others). Avoid using 2 “long CDs” (Rampart, invulnerabilities, 30%/40% mitigation ability) in the same pull of enemies as much as possible; otherwise you won’t have them for the next group.

Main Tank x Off-Tank

In activities with eight or more players, it’s important to keep in mind who will be the main tank that will move the boss. Typically, this can be communicated by turning on your “Tank Stance” or even by speaking in chat.

It’s vital that there is no more than one tanker with this stance on; otherwise the boss will keep switching targets, possibly making her turn around and possibly throwing an attack towards the party.

With the Main Tank defined, the correct positioning is to always have the boss with his back to the party, as it’s common for bosses to have “cleave” attacks, which are area of effect attacks focused on the main target, which hits him and anyone nearby. If you’re the Off Tank, never stand close to the other one, stay with the party or on the sides of the boss.

Which is the best Tanker in Final Fantasy XIV?

Let's evaluate our options, but remember that here I will consider the entire job kit up to level 100. There are a total of 4 tankers in the game, one of which is only for those who have the game and its expansions, in this case, the Gunbreaker, so let’s start off with it:

Gunbreaker

It's quite common for people to associate Gunbreaker players with DPS players who don't want to wait in line. This tank gives you the feeling that you're playing with a DPS, as it has multiple combos and offensive abilities to use, which makes it very intense in his damage windows.

In short, the job works with its typical 1-2-3 combo, which generates healing for itself and ammunition, and this ammunition is used to activate its damage-focused 1-2-3 combo of Gnashing Fang, Double Down every one minute, and its Lionheart combo every two minutes. Yes, it's Squall's Limit Break from Final Fantasy VIII.

This is all well and good, but all of these rapid attack sequences require a certain amount of focus from the player to be executed correctly, and moving enemies during Gunbreaker's damage window without losing DPS can get tricky.

As for its unique defensive abilities, the highlight is Heart of Corundum, a “short CD” that offers 15% mitigation and a 900 potency heal if HP drops below 50% or when the timer runs out, whichever comes first. In addition, this ability can be used on allies as well, and if used at the right time, it can save the life of a DPS or Healer.

Finally, let's talk about your invulnerability, which is also widely known and feared by Healers. Gunbreaker reduces your own HP to 1, and becomes invulnerable against most attacks for 10 seconds. I think you can already imagine why healers fear this ability because using it at the wrong time, for example, when you have full health right after the healer has used all of it to heal you, can put the group in an awful spot.

Warrior

One of the game's first tanks, starting as a Marauder, Warrior is the simplest to play, but that doesn't make it any less effective. If you like the theme of a berserker warrior who uses its fury to amplify its attacks and, if an arm is broken, just put the bone back in place, this is the job for you.

In short, the job has a 1-2-3 combo with 2 possible finishers. One generates a 10% damage buff, and the other gives you a heal and more fury. Regarding fury, the job has a meter that allows you to perform powerful attacks by spending 50 units of the bar. The highlight is the Inner Release ability, in which your character screams and releases all accumulated hatred, which allows you to use fury attacks without spending a bar and all of them have guaranteed critical hits.

You have no idea how nice it is to use this and see giant numbers on the screen.

Now, about the Warrior's invulnerability, it prevents your HP from falling below 1. You still take damage, but your HP won't reach 0. One thing to be careful about with this ability is that when you use it, and you're aiming at an enemy, it will attach itself to them, and if they disappear, your immortality will go with it. My tip is that if you need to use this in a "Big Pull", remember to take your aim off first.

As for defensive abilities, Warrior is undoubtedly the tank with the most options for healing itself. The “short CD” gives him a small temporary life and the ability to heal 400 potency for each GCD used. In a dungeon, when you pull multiple enemies, each one hit by your area attack will heal you for 400 potency. And the most incredible thing about this is that the Warrior can even share this healing with an ally.

As good as it is, the job itself is simple, maybe too simple. Outside your one-minute windows, you don't do much more than use 1-2-3 and the occasional GCD rage here and there.

Paladin

Along with the Warrior, Paladin is also one of the initial tanks, starting as Gladiator. It has a simple mechanic in which it mixes physical combos, and at higher levels, magical combos, giving it good flexibility of movement during fights.

In short, it has the classic 1-2-3 combo that grants it a buffed use of an offensive spell and opens up a new special combo, stronger than the classic one and focused on mana recovery. Every 1 minute, its magic combo, Confiteor, can be used after the Requiescat ability, in which you basically summon dozens of swords from the ground and the sky to pierce your enemies. Basic stuff in some anime.

As for defensive abilities, Paladin is the Tanker with the highest number of mitigations for the team, having Passage of Arm, Intervention and Divine Veil. The highlight goes to Passage of Arms, which despite being difficult to use in practice, offers a 15% mitigation for the entire party and 100% Block Rate (This is equivalent to about 17% to 20%, depending on your shield) for the Paladin.

As usual, not everything is perfect. One of the main problems with the Paladin is its initial levels. The job takes a long time to receive its magical attacks and has basically 0 self-healing until level 82, with only Clemency as an emergency heal, but using Clemency causes a huge loss of damage. It’s also worth mentioning that the Paladin's invulnerability is the simplest, the "become Immortal for 10 seconds" type, however it has the longest cooldown of all tanks.

Dark Knight

Well... Dark Knight is not a starting tank and to unlock it, you need to have reached Ishgard, where the Heavenward expansion takes place, which is part of the Free Trial. In terms of combo complexity, it’s on par with Gunbreaker, having numerous attacks to be used and still requiring good mana management during fights.

Starting with our everyday 1-2-3 combo, the Dark Knight has two main oGCDs (Flood of Shadow for 3 or more enemies and Edge of Shadow for the rest) that spend a ton of mana, aka 3,000 per use, which you should use whenever possible. It’s also worth mentioning that many consider the Dark Knight to be the “magic Tank” because it has specific mitigations for this type of damage, such as Dark Mind and Dark Missionary.

Starting at level 70, with the unlocking of the Blackest Night ability, you will need to be careful with your mana usage, as this ability will be your main means of survival, and it also uses up to 3,000 mana.

“Does this mean I lose damage if I use it?”

It depends. It works like this: it grants you a significant temporary life for 7 seconds and if that life is drained by damage, you gain a free use of Flood of Shadow or Edge of Shadow, so when used correctly, you don't lose damage.

As you might expect from the tone I used at the beginning, Dark Knight currently has some pretty significant downsides. For example, the job itself has very little self-healing, so it depends on your healer, and you also need precise mana management to even do what other tanks do by just using their abilities without much concern.

About his invulnerability, the infamous Living Sad - I mean - Living Dead. This ability is not very intuitive because it has a wall of text, and it doesn't always work out. Starting with the initial buff it gives you, the “Living Dead”. It, by itself, does nothing, and its immortality effect is only activated if you die within 10 seconds. In other words, if your healer doesn't know this ability, they will think you’re going to die and will do everything to save you, however, when they save you, they will run out of resources, and you end up dying because the buff ends before being used. We're off to a good start, huh?

But assuming you actually died within the 10 seconds, the Living Dead will become Walking Dead. At this stage, your HP cannot be reduced below 1, and your attacks will heal you for each enemy hit. However, there is a catch here as well: From the moment Walking Dead is activated, you have 10 seconds to heal yourself to the equivalent of your maximum HP, or you die. I will say in advance that it’s quite common for a Dark Knight to fail to heal themselves alone in time to survive, so it’s necessary to have a good amount of Skill Speed and to get a good timing to activate this ability.

Practicing with Tankers in Final Fantasy XIV

Hall of Novice

With your chosen tanker and being at least level 10, I recommend that you do the Hall of Novice activity circuit. There, the game itself will put you in a controlled environment to practice everything I talked about in the first topic of this article.

To access the Hall of Novice, simply look for the NPC Smith, who is in the Adventurers guild of each of the three main city states or through the Duty Menu > Hall of Novice.

Dungeons

It’s quite common for people to have something called “tanking anxiety”, which occurs due to the pressure of responsibility generated by being the team’s tanker.

For those of you who are just starting out, communication is key. Always remember to communicate with your team that it’s your first time in that place, or that you’re still getting used to the new job.

Conclusion

Well, this guide covers all the main points you need to know when taking on this role. It may seem like a lot, but it all comes together quite intuitively with practice. Whichever tanker you choose, know that they’re capable of completing any activity in the game.

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Luiz Otávio

Aficionado em jogar de tank, artista digital e escritor nas horas vagas.

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