Tank Guide

This is a simple guide to some of the basics of tanking. If you understand these, as most tanks do, you're ready to tank!

Offense

• Pull as much as you and the healer can handle in dungeons. The more you pull, the more damage your party does, because AOE attacks deal their potency to every enemy affected.
• Spamming AOE attacks is almost always better with 3 or more enemies. At lower levels this might mean hitting the same button over and over again, which sounds simple, but it is optimal.
• Do not move unnecessarily while tanking a boss. Position the boss so that its rear and flank are both available.
• While tank DPS rotations are generally simple, make sure you grasp the basics. Generally this means:
  • Constantly triggering your GCD abilities, minimizing downtime.
  • Using oGCD abilities the moment they become available ("on cooldown"), without delaying your GCD cycles due to animations ("clipping").
  • Fitting your damaging abilities as much as possible into your high-damage window; sometimes delaying oGCD abilities slightly to do so.

Defense

• Keep your gear up to date. This is very important for tanks because gear affects your damage, HP and defense (how much damage you take):
  • Before level 45, buy gear at the main markets of the three big cities to keep your gear updated. You can buy from NPCS or the market board.
  • For level 45, do your job quest for gear.
  • At level 50, visit Mor Dhona for Ironworks Armor, which can be augmented to 130 at North Shroud. You can similarly obtain a weapon in Mor Dhona by trading poetics for the right tokens and items first.
  • At level 60, visit Idyllshire for Shire Armor, which can be augmented to 270 there.
  • At level 70, visit Rhalgr's Reach for Scaevan Armor, which can be augmented to 400 there.
•   Rampart and   Reprisal are good cooldowns for both boss fights and large mob pulls.
•   Arm's Length is an excellent cooldown for large mob pulls because it applies Slow to targets that auto-attack you. It is generally useless for bosses.
• Every tank has a powerful defensive cooldown (WAR:   Vengeance, PLD:   Sentinel, DRK:   Shadow Wall, GNB:   Nebula) that reduces damage by 30% and lasts for 15 seconds. It is best used when you anticipate taking a great amount of damage (such as a large pull, or boss tankbuster followed by raidwide).
• Space out your defensive cooldowns, do not blow all of them together.
• Every tank has a unique death-defying cooldown (WAR:   Holmgang, PLD:   Hallowed Ground, DRK:   Living Dead, GNB:   Superbolide). PLD and GNB should also use their cooldown during mob pulls to reduce damage (after informing the healer).
• Every tank also has abilities, sometimes multiple, to help their party reduce damage taken. Saving the party from wiping by protecting the healer/rez-mage is a great move.