Let me introduce... well me.
IRL I am a Senior in college getting a BS in Biology and a BA in Japanese Studies. I know this seems an odd pairing but it is for 2 reasons. 1, I have always had a deep desire to become a doctor and am well on my way to that path and 2, I hope to join the JET program and teach english for a year in japanese high schools in order to gain a unique life experience before I go into the medical field.
But let me introduce my other self...
I am Ventus Invictus, a Gladiator from Saronia. At the time of writing this I am nearly rank 27 and have some insight for current and future Gladiators. Although, I'm not about to give away all my secrets just yet, you're going to have to keep coming back for more!
Tonight though, well its 3AM and I have class in 7 hours but.. oh well, tonight I am going to go over the very basic mechanic in this game that troubles many gladiator's in the party environment.
Here goes the simple version:
If a mob's name is YELLOW it has not yet created its threat table, therefore, OPENING WITH PROVOKE OR TAUNT IS WASTED.
Once a mobs name is RED it has said threat table and provoke will generate a large amount of threat.
So,
This seems to be the chief complaint I hear from people who are in groups not being tanked by me ;).
What is the easiest way to solve this:
Personally, in large exp groups (5+ people) I tell everyone that it is important to be a couple steps behind me when I go to initiate a fight. I find the best opener to be Light Slash/Stab >>> Provoke (only if the mob has a red name, yes bugs happen and mess this up). The reason I do not use Heavy Slash/Stab which gives increased enmity is because this enmity is wasted because the threat table is not yet created.
After that, your own style really comes into effect, but let me assist you in the best way to stay alive and keep hate.
After the LS>>>Provoke opener you are going to use Aegis Boon>>>Still Precision.
Aegis Boon is a shield level 10 skill so you need to work on ur shield rank immediately to be an effective tank!!! What it does is this, and this works for multiple targets: It CANCELS MELEE ATTACKS and GIVES HEALTH. Now, this means your healers have a large window to get in position, rebuff, and be ready to heal. Note: Ranged and Special Attacks will not be cancelled by AB.
Still Precision grants you more ACC at the cost of EVA, however, this EVA loss is negated by AB. Making my opener the BEST for SURVIVAL and THREAT GENERATION for a few moments after the fight has began.
Next time I will go into what you should do after this opener.
I hope you will forgive me, this is my first blog entry so please do not be too harsh internet, I am trying to help and not trying to come off as conceited or elitist. This is a learners tool.
Yours Truly,
Ventus Invictus, a Saronian Gladiator
(One last note: if you have specific questions or would like to ask for a write up on a mechanic or encounter please feel free to ask below. I will either answer your question or prepare to address it in a future entry.)
thanks for the insight, I'm a tanker in games at heart <3, and my main is Gladiator in Palamecia server.
ReplyDeleteHow is your leveling progress going along, and keeping up-to-date with gear? I'm having frustrations leveling up DoM/DoW classes. So I had to put it aside and been fishing lately.
-Blade
Hi Blade,
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you have also taken the gladiator path. Currently, I am level 26 glad, just finished the first storyline quest with an NPC Companion, fun stuff. I find the best leveling is in large groups on strong monsters that can really tank the beating. You'll see 300-500 SP per kill in that environment.
Currently almost all my gear is optimal for rank 27 so it is pretty much the best I can currently have without losing too many stats by being under level, but this is a topic for another entry.
I've leveled all other classes to 6-10 and armorer to 18 along with various other crafting classes.
Personally, I am not the type of person who can do a DoL job, but more power to you if you can endure it!
Nice to see someone who understand how gladiator's work in FFXIV. Most people are spamming skills and still complaining that a gladiator suck. It's a fun class but you have to be calm while fighting, and that's what i like about being gladiator :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, unlike a game like wow where you can have a rotation or just slide ur finger across the numbers on ur keyboard repeatedly, FFXIV requires much more strategy and planning of your abilities. Also similar to how rogues in wow will pool some energy to reserve for a kick I do so on my glad in order to have enough stamina to use that emergency provoke or second wind. But, I'll discusss stamina pooling in another entry.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Happy.
Great Guide. I especially liked the aggro breakdown I did not know thats how the threat was set up in the game. I may be getting ahead of myself and correct if you plan to cover this but what are your thoughts on cross classing for instance I went far enough into pugilist for the self heal and extra taunt.
ReplyDeleteThe information on provoke and heavy slash before the mob is engaged is interesting. But it does make sense. I am now Rank 24 glad and have a much better opening than burning your provoke early on.
ReplyDeleteI usually open with Obsess, this tags the mob at range, then run in (by the time you get there, your bar is basically full again) for a heavy slash, followed by guard. This pulls hate well, gets your defense up super high, and you still have at least half your stamina bar left. And you also haven't burned Provoke (which has a pretty long CD).
Burning Provoke and AB at the beginning of the fight sounds like a very poor choice of skills to use, but that's just me.
Provoke is ranged, I use that when a mob attacks someone else to quickly pick it back up.
AB is far better use when ... you actually need heals. Wasting it when you are full HP is a poor choice, IMO.
Hi Anon,
ReplyDeleteI believe I stated very good reasons to use the abilities in that order but let me give you a further description of the scenario. This is in a large group,and roaming around killing monsters. Yes, your ranged obsessed is a good idea but you are doing 2 things differently: Burning ur stamina to 0 at the start by using a heavy slash right after this and getting less burst threat and overall threat from provoke.
Currently provoke seems to be the highest threat ability I have found in the game. Therefore, using it on CD gives more overal threat throughout a fight.
And lastly, I explained why i use AB so early, it is to give the healers time to get ready. once they are ready, if they are worth anything, you will no longer need aegis boon during the fight.
Sleven,
ReplyDeleteI was actually gonna post a lot of cross-class abilities in my next entry so stay tuned!
what do you prefer first to get with guild marks? the heavy slash/pierce, or the ability to keep your shield up longer? Or something not mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI suggest getting Self-Preservation first and then Heavy Slash.
ReplyDeleteSelf-Preservation is just such a nice ability, it effectively removes one guard cast per minute if you keep it up 24/7.