So you want to be a tank?Follow

That brayflox story is unfortunate... With sleep, ideally, the blm should wait until the tank gets the first flash off and then cast the aoe sleep, with the target on 1. Then if others need to be slept because they were out of range, get to those second. The reason I start the sleep target on 1 (the one the tank is attacking) is because I know that the aoe sleep is going to hit everything, I know that the #1 target will be woken up immediately, and if I am already targeting it I can follow up with my dps rotation.

Edited, Oct 4th 2013 2:13pm by Valkayree

Nice, simple, and effective:). Doesn't work for tanking (as I typically switch targets before the last one is dead), but definitely effective.

He wouldn't stop doing it either, after like 4 wipes I ended up just leaving.

I have been running brayflox a lot trying to get the battlecaster robes, lately I've just been queuing to join a group in progress hoping to skip some of the trash at the beginning, the flip side to that is you get into a lot of groups were someone doesn't know what they are doing. Usually I just suggest they go read up on their class and then drop group.

It works both ways tho, I've actually had a lot of fun helping a tank who doesn't know the fight get through it, and there is a lot of satisfaction having a group tell you thanks about 100 times for being helpful, I cant wait for the MVP system they are going to implement in 2.1.

I am a lvl 44 BLM. When I run dungeons the tank will normally pull the mobs towards him/her. I normally wait for all the mobs to gather together before casting sleep so I can make sure all of them are slept.

From your comment it seems like you would like me to wait a little longer before casting sleep. Is this correct? If so when would you suggest i cast? I ask because I have tanks hit the slept targets all the time, I will cast sleep again and the tank hits the targets again. All while the first target is still alive.

I never asked why they do this as I play on PS3 with no keyboard.

I have also noticed that if I do not sleep quickly the tank will be beat on by a mob of monsters and their HP will fall which means the healer will cast heal on the tank and pull hate.

Isn't this macro backwards?

Same for me also, It just makes things sooo much easier for everyone if there is a kill order, I play a BLM and if the target we're on is at less the 10%, I'll switch to the next target, cast thunder on that target, and then move back to the first one, That way I'm not wasting a Dot on a target that's about to die. The same thing goes if I don't think I'm going to get a cast off in time before the current target dies.

Also it just helps the DD focus on a target, nothing is more annoying to me then having DPS all over the place so it takes a mob twice as long to die cause everyone isn't focusing the same target.

Just makes sense to me that if there is something you can do to make the run go smoother all around, why you wouldn't utilize it.

That is what I was thinking, but how I think this works is it targets 5 first then switches to 4, 3, 2, 1... if 1 is dead then it stays on 2, if 1 and 2 are dead then it stays on 3, etc.

Probably they just woke up on their own.

Only direct damage will wake a sleeping target. Damage over time effects? Nope. Status effects? Nope. Punching it in the face, absolutely.

I honestly think people who espouse the notion that "marking isn't necessary"* are 1) missing the point** and 2) trying to (inexplicably) make themselves sound more pro




*of course its not necessary, neither is min-maxing your gear, derp

**the point is getting everyone in the group to be on the same page

First off, please buy a keyboard, they are inexpensive. =)

And really, you don't have to be casting anything for the first few moments of a fight. It really is common courtesy in my opinion to let everything get settled before you start wailing away on any of your skills. Once a tank hits with shield lob/tomahawk, he has to wait at least 2.5 seconds before he can get off another attack, whether it be an OP or a Flash. If you cast anything at all in that amount of time, there is a chance that the enemies not hit by the initial pull will head straight for you. In your case, you're a BLM, so I'm assuming you're back a ways from the tanks desired tanking spot, so now he has to make haste to run over to you to pull those mobs, lest they kill you. For the most part, up to the point I am in the game, there are only a handful of pulls that really put me on me heals in terms how much damage I was taking compared to how much the healer was healing for. I don't play a BLM at all, so I really have no room for suggestions, but at least wait until the tank has used a couple skills before touching any buttons. This obviously changes with every party that you come across, as some do worse/better then others, and you will have to adapt accordingly.

Seriously though, keyboards are like 7 dollars some places. Pick one up, you will be doing yourself, and others that play with you a kindness. =)

Edited, Oct 4th 2013 8:31pm by supermegazeke

What scews my hate management the most is that pt member who does nothing but aoe a pack of mobs over and over. I mark targets and tell group to focus fire in order marked. To get full aggro I pull, flash, then begin rotating ws between them, but before I can get that sequence off someone starts aoe spam and the secondary and tertiary mobs peel off. Single target dots are fine...on the primary marked target. Aoe spam just slows down the effectiveness and negates the point of marking/focus fire. Yes, I get aggro back, but it makes me look like im ******** up while I frantically provoke/shield lob the aoe'd ones that peel off.

I've tanked through Cutter's Cry with a BLM in static and I'm on WAR...

We've started using sleep as a more prominent tool lately as the mob pulls get more complicated and tougher, but the one thing I ask her to do is not just wait 2-3 seconds to sleep, but give me closer to 7-8. My pull is almost always Tomahawk, then 2-3 Overpowers followed by a Flash. After my last overpower I tell her "ok to sleep" and know I have to stick to Flash for AoE hate. Before we started communicating like this, I'd always wake up her slept mobs as she'd wait that 2-3 seconds but I was still in my initial hate cycle.

Sleep is great, but know your tank and talk to them to understand how they like to work their hate cycle.

EDIT: Oh and since people were discussing...I always mark my mobs, except the last one usually. 4 mobs in pull...1, 2 and 3 are marked. I like to think the last one is obvious ;)

Edited, Oct 7th 2013 10:36am by dawgdchi

I'd also like to chime in and touch on the point again about being the leader. You control the pace and the movement of the group. You are the foundation. It is crucial that the other pieces of the foundation know what is going on via communication. Just like in real combat with silent hand signals, if you aren't going to talk you need to use marking so everyone knows what you are attacking. This is the only foolproof way to ensure you communicate what needs to die first. This is the core of teamwork on the battlefield, foolproof communications that are KISS. Such as counting.

Tl:dr this whole thread: Use marking and do whatever you can to figure out a button or macro combination to make it work for you, even if you only use #1 and put it on the target you currently want dead. And make sure the others are following it! YOU ARE THE LEADER. THE PROTECTOR. YOU WILL DRAG THEM TO GLORY WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT.