Veteran Chapters: Easier as Tank than DPS?

[Elemutation]

I’ve been playing for a while pretty casually, and have started getting into veteran mode chapters after years of doing story, and I’m having difficulties (pathetic, I know).  I’m playing Prototype Powertech and have always played DPS in this game, and I’ve had to set a few chapters to story to progress.  I have all 50 influence on companions in the chapters, and I’ve accepted that at this point I’ll just avoid some frustration and finish the chapters casually now, but I’m thinking about my next run.

I have never played tank in this game, but I am familiar with the style as it is my usual in FF14.  I was thinking of playing as a Juggernaut, and before I put the effort into learning how to play the tank discipline I would like to know if it at all makes the chapters more manageable than playing DPS (albeit I know it will be slower).

I am aware that it is a bit sad that I’m having trouble on just veteran, but I play very casually and haven’t done much outside of story.  If anyone is willing to give advice on this subject it would be much appreciated.

[ZUHFB]

tanks (and lethality) are the best classes to solo any content with. Tanks are generally tuned to be stronger than a DPS class due to just having more options in terms of stuns and defensives, the dps loss is just small due to tanks doing bigger pulls than DPS. The HP pool of enemies is also too small to make rotations work properly, so tanks are just generally better for solo content, especially if you play them with healer gear + shield offhand

[ThanderSnB]

I haven't tested Veteran/Master Chapters on tanks, but on Master mode, I read that DPS was better than tank because the enemy damage is so high you die in seconds regardless of defensive stats, meaning the faster you can wipe out enemies, the more likely you are to survive. Also, there are some battles with waves of enemies, where tank can get overwhelmed because they can't kill waves fast enough. This is just second hand though, so I'm not sure it's true. I've only done Veteran Chapters myself and have finished them all with DPS Sorcerer/Sage, Sniper/Gunslinger, and Juggernaut/Guardian. I haven't tested any other classes, but Veteran is probably doable with all classes. I haven't done Master because I don't like hard mode much. I might try it someday, but I'm not too motivated.

Remember that Veteran/Master Chapters are designed for max level characters with high item rating, preferably max. These days that would be level 80 with 336-340. Veteran is probably doable 326-330 with some classes. For example, I was able to do Veteran with Sorcerer/Sage in 330, but that's a good soloing class (strong mobility, defensives, burst dps, self-healing, etc.) Other classes might need better gear.

Edited April 22, 2023 by ThanderSnB

[Ramalina]

Veteran and Master mode chapters are all designed around the assumption that the player is in a DPS spec, knows the max DPS rotation (even if they may not execute it perfectly), has a stun, has an interrupt, knows how to LOS around terrain, reads buff/debuff tooltips on themselves and the NPCs, and is generally competent with respect to being able to do the harder MM flashpoints or Vet or NiM operations.

 

A lot of the Vet chapters you can get through without all of that, but some are challenging if you're not really on point.

 

Almost all of the encounter mechanics are either DPS races, interrupts, line of sight/AOE/positioning challenges, or knowledge of when to use a defensive cooldown.  In other words, things tank specs either don't help with much, or actively hurt.    The preference for specs is  DPS > Tank > Healer.   Having stealth is a bonus, but chapters tend to be heavy on skytroopers that ignore stealth.

 

DPS that is geared and skilled will have the easiest time of it, esp. with stealth.

Tanks may have problems on DPS checks, sometimes severe problems, but there is a bit more forgiveness in terms of survivability in places where there's not a DPS check.  Maybe 1 out of five chapters or so has a significant DPS check.

Healer with stealth is an exercise in misery.

Healer without stealth is an exercise in misery with a generous portion of bonus misery.  It's doable, but having done it, I wouldn't recommend it.

 

If you're not confident in your PvE skills, I'd say it's reasonable to run the content in a tank spec until you get to an encounter where you just can't kill things fast enough, swap to DPS spec for that fight, and then swap back to tank.   It's more relaxed that way on survival, if slower and more tedious.    Having a level 50 companion, ideally Z0-0M healing, and 336 blue gear with at least blue augments will help quite a bit too (or better gear if you have it).  Reading guides on some of the harder encounters can also smooth things out quite a bit if you're not into figuring out encounter mechanics on your own.  If you're really struggling also pick up some stims, adrenals, and medpacs.

[DawnAskham]

Easier in tank spec? No.

Below 80 scaling can be whacky, and when trying to run them in whatever green fixed stat gear the game has provided, can be rough.

At 80 with augmented 336+ gear and a rank 50 companion, Vet chapters should be easy enough as DPS. 

Stealth is best, though as mentioned, many places have auto-spawn into combat mobs (annoying AF but whatever).

Quick tips - use LOS (line of sight), kill weak to strong, use control abilities (stuns, interrupts, etc), and use damage reduction and self-healing.

Also, remember the design appears to be 'the best defense is a good offense' - so practice your discipline to dish out maximum damage in the minimum time.

 

Edited April 28, 2023 by DawnAskham

[ZUHFB]

14 hours ago, DawnAskham said:

Easier in tank spec? No.

doing mm chapters solo was only possible in tank spec, to be fair when I did them in 7.0 it was a few minor patches ago but I doubt anything has changed

hell, some bosses require to guardshroud your companion, the only class comparable to tanks in solo content is lethality, all tank specs and leth are SOOOO much better than lets say virulence its a huge difference, especially lethality is basically made for solo content

Edited April 29, 2023 by ZUHFB