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Tanking Strategies in Flashpoints


DarrkLore

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Tanking is new to me so I just wanted to clear some things up so I can tank well and efficiently. When you're marking targets in Flashpoints (including marks for CC) do you mark them for every single fight or is it more work than it's worth? Is it better just do these things for the boss fights or should I keep myself in the habit of always doing it?
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it will really depend on the pull and what the makeup of the enemies is. for example, if its just an elite and two strong enemies than it wont really matter, jus tgrab the elite and possibly one of the strong and let the dps kill the weak ones first. on the other hand if you have a pull that is say a champion, 2 elites and a strong you will want to be sure to establish a cc target and priority kill targets. you will usually want to kill the weakest enemies first and save the heavy hitter for last, just make sure your dps is all focusing on the same target
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no problem, with regards to keeping everyone on target though it can be a pain. sadly, some people just dont follow direction well. my advice would be to communicate with your healer and tell them not to heal the person who is killing the wrong target. that person will likely pull threat from you and end up getting pounded, so a swift death is usually a good lesson they will learn from.

 

or they will just get pissed, blame everyone else for sucking and drop group.... either way you solve your problem and can easily grab another dps.

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no problem, with regards to keeping everyone on target though it can be a pain. sadly, some people just dont follow direction well. my advice would be to communicate with your healer and tell them not to heal the person who is killing the wrong target. that person will likely pull threat from you and end up getting pounded, so a swift death is usually a good lesson they will learn from.

 

or they will just get pissed, blame everyone else for sucking and drop group.... either way you solve your problem and can easily grab another dps.

 

^^ This

 

I make it clear before the group starts that I will not save DPS who don't follow the order.

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The above suggestions are solid. If I am with a new group I will mark a lot until I feel the group has a firm grasp on how I do things. Remember, as a tank you are a natural leader. People will trend to look for you to set the pace, give instructions and make decisions (from my experience). If they don't do things the way you are comfortable doing them then you are within your right to boot them.

 

At the same time, however, ranking is just as much about communication. You must be clear with your expectations. Those dps people will run around like children if you don't set them straight. Make sure they know their jobs.

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The above suggestions are solid. If I am with a new group I will mark a lot until I feel the group has a firm grasp on how I do things. Remember, as a tank you are a natural leader. People will trend to look for you to set the pace, give instructions and make decisions (from my experience). If they don't do things the way you are comfortable doing them then you are within your right to boot them.

 

At the same time, however, ranking is just as much about communication. You must be clear with your expectations. Those dps people will run around like children if you don't set them straight. Make sure they know their jobs.

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  • 2 weeks later...

You have to set the rules when they need to be set. If a DPS is hitting in the wrong priority but the other one knows what they're doing, you'll be fine in most cases. If both are just all over the place, set the kill order and the general rule of Weak, then Strong, then Elite. If nobody is using a CC and you know they have it, just ask them to use it.

 

If one of your DPS uses AoEs and breaks CC, just tell everybody not to use AoEs. Personally, I tend to drag the fight as far from the CC'd target as I can, because anybody who uses an AoE when there's a CC'd target is probably not paying attention to what the **** is going on and won't listen to you anyway. They're just playing the "kill, tab, repeat" game. If a DPS is pulling threat off you, that's your fault.

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If you have an enemy selected and Right click on their portrait you can Go to Group>Select Marker and there will be a bunch of icons you can select.

 

Or just go easy street and buy a [Faction] Targeting Device from a Social Vendor. It's fun to quickly mark Targets in PvP. Although it is a very small Icon compare to normal Markers.

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I have only done FP with guild who are friends. But in veneer I start off marking what I cc'd and I plan to start working on. Once the group has jelled and we have a rythum, I don't bother. I just start the fight hitting the strongest Target and let the group do their thing. On boss fights I communicate, give out jobs, "you cc this, you grab the teas/adds and you are back up heal. And I use the group markers mentioned. I have the targetting device but its hard to see sometimes.
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*snip*

If a DPS is pulling threat off you, that's your fault.

 

Not sure I always agree on that one. Might often be true, but you wouldn't believe how often I encounter DPS running around in Tank stance and refusing to switch or doing it on purpose with the intention to 'help' without realising what a nightmare this can get for the healer. A shadow's tank stance alone is completely worthless if you don't know how to build up your defenses. Lots of armor and HP don't help. You drop as if you were naked. People don't understand that.

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The ability to keybind marks would help a *lot*.

 

My usual tanking MO in other games is to designate CC targets and kill targets, and change the kill target's symbol to indicate the next mob after the first one is dead / indicate to the party that it's time to switch to an add. Can't really do that here... I can mark up the mobs before engaging them (it's clunky, but at least it works), but that's about it.

 

Other than that, I LOS large groups of spread-out weak enemies whenever possible. Hit the closest one with a ranged ability, duck behind cover, prepare my big channeled aoe (mortar volley) to hit them just as they close in, follow it up with an AOE stun and my other AOEs (pulse cannon, explosive surge, sticky grenade).

Edited by Zaphir
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And don't be afraid. Some FP content can't be tanked at all as it randomly switching aggro or irgnores any aggro generating at all. Some bosses are even taunt imun.

 

You tank this stuff by massive CC and guard-switching ;).

 

Last 3 champs from the Ghul-FP for example. Left+Right Meele Champs ignore aggro! Just the ranged one in the middle can be tanked. But it's fine as they two meeles do very low damage anyway. Just guard the one they attack and stand next to him and you are fine.

Edited by Jahor
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