Low level tanking!

[exile2k3]

Hey, I know everyone has a lot of problems keeping the hate at low levels. Especially without a PLD, or a THF that can sneak/trick. Valkurm PTs seem to be the worst in handling this, most likely because its cure2 spamming from the WHMs, and nuking from the BLMs. Here's what you need to do to keep that hate!

*note*Provoke will be referred to as Taunt throughout this(except macros)

1)Macro taunt! I can't stress this enough. You NEED taunt macroed to be effective.
-Here is a great macro
/ja "Provoke" <t>
/p Provoking <t>!
/wait 15
/p Provoke@15!
/wait 15
/p Provoke OK!
-It lets your PT know that you are taunting, and how much time is left until your taunt is recharged.

2A)Have two tanks, at low levels, pretty much any melee(sans THF) will work as a tank. Make sure to get all the melees defense and use the highest ones. Also, if you have 3+, have a nontank pull your enemy with a ranged weapon. Taunting to pull will cause extra hate on the puller. Only taunt when with major competition.

2B)If you really cant get two tanks, you need one with high defense and some good skill. Skip to 4 if you have only one. Same rules apply as 2A

3)Taunt every 15 seconds! Ok, this is what may make or break your PT. The first taunter should be predetermined. After the first taunters macro says 'Provoke@15!" or something along the lines of that, that is when the other tank will taunt the enemy. This strategy works so well that it will get the monster off of a WHM after Benediction! You will still lose the hate sometimes, but the good thing is, it is roughly every 15 seconds, if it is even lost, so as soon as the mosnter becomes disinterested in beating the sh*t out of you, the other tank will be taunting.

4)So you only could find one tank eh? No problem, the mages just have to tone down at the beginning of the fight. The tank should taunt every 30 seconds. No matter what. Even if he still is whacking the hell out of you. Taunt stacks my friends, and that is a good thing. Within about 3 or 4 taunts, if a WHM uses benediction, it may not even turn to the WHM, highly unlikely though, but one taunt will bring it back to you.


Good luck with your tanking abilities. Have fun.

*note*Dont be stealing this guide you plagarizing bastards.
*note2*Im serious. I dont like gettin my shit stolen.

[Somajan]

unfortunately I haven't seen any mages who listened or read those Provoke @ 15 things.

In any case I'm having a dandy time keeping the hate as a paladin by throwing in a cure or two to keep the whms from curing me too much.

Paladins max your healing skills!!!

[Disciple]

Originally posted by exile2k3
Valkurm PTs seem to be the worst in handling this, most likely because its cure2 spamming from the WHMs, and nuking from the BLMs

Gotta agree with you there! I was in Valkurm the other day leveling my DRK. I was in a group the other day with me, a WHM, BLM, and 3 WAR's. You would think with 3 WAR's that they could tank and keep the hate and allow me to use last resort every now and then and increase a little damage and such....wrong.....I ended up being the MAIN tank and always had to tell them to provoke it off me when I was getting in the red or when it aggro'ed a mage and my voke is down. I will always hate leveling in Dunes.

[Atma]

Valkurm parties are the worst at this because Level 15 tanks, Paladin or otherwise, don't have the tools required to reliably hold hate.

[neighbortaru]

As a low lvl Valkurm tanker myself, I live by this strategy (I like to think I can hold the hate pretty well). However, last night I came across a party that insisted on doing something different.

It was a galk war in bone setup, myself in lizard setup (except for the fugly helmet), thf, whm, blm and drk. The galk insisted, with the backing of the thf and whm, that he main tanks and i should only provoke if his provoke has not refreshed (which he doesn't report btw) and the mob goes after the mages. The reasoning behind this, according to him and the whm, was so the whm only concentrates healing on one person and the hate stays on one guy.

So I'm like ok whatever, but I thought it would be horribly inefficient. The whm would have to break out cure2 very often cause his HP would go down so much. If we alternated vokes, the whm might be able to get away with a couple of cures and only an occasional cure2. Less down time no?

After playing with them for a while, I noticed that the whm was down to <50% mp every battle and we'd have to wait for him to charge up. We never made it past XP chain #2 and we did an awful lot of waiting around.

So anyway, I just wanted to see what your thoughts on this are. Is there any benefit to having one tank (a war mind you, not pld) keep all the hate? Or is it better to alternate vokes?

btw, I'd like to add something to the guide. If you are secondary tank, try to stand behind the main tank when you provoke (what i always try to do). This will keep the mob facing in one direction so the thf's won't miss SA.