Blinking Constantly As A Tank

[Allundaria]

My name is kind of long, so in the rare occassions I get called on to kite things in dynamis I try not to blink at all. Pop on my enmity/damage down/HP gear, run around, and recast shadows without haste gear and hope I dont die

[SchuldigGER]

If you expect mages to make macro's for seperate tanks every event and fight then your off your head! >.>

So you refuse to change your /assist macros for dynamis every time too ?

to be honest its not muc work to create a extra macro set for events that includes player bound spells...

every capable mage should either use <p1> or name macros so Tanks can do their job proper... imho its stupid to tell the tanks to gimp them self so you dont need extra macros...

[Eddie]

Is it harder with a controller or something?

Cause I just hit F(1-0) and Ctrl or Alt 1-0.

[kisada]

with a controller it's actually pretty fast. just hit the d-pad up or down a couple times and you're there. the problem is that if they change target while you're on them, it'll reset your target and you gotta d-pad to them again.

[Eddie]

Ahh, that's why I'm wondering WTF all the fuss is ab00t.

[kisada]

yeah. it's especially worse if the target is in another party all the way at the top, and you spam the up-arrow to get to them only to get kicked back to yourself.

[Ryko]

2: Tanks don't blink!
Wow I was amazed to see a couple tanks in this post actually say that they actively try not to blink when shadows are down. That makes me want to give you big WHM hugs and kisses.

I'll allow it.

[Eddie]

See now that there's no easy way on PC, at least I don't think. But in alliances I never really bothered with outside alliance since anything big I was just a refresh whore.

ANYWAY, that sucks use a keyboard. w

[Ryko]

You can do the same thing with a controller on PC but yeah no way to do that with keyboard.

[Woozie]

If you expect mages to make macro's for seperate tanks every event and fight then your off your head! >.>

So you refuse to change your /assist macros for dynamis every time too ?

to be honest its not muc work to create a extra macro set for events that includes player bound spells...

every capable mage should either use <p1> or name macros so Tanks can do their job proper... imho its stupid to tell the tanks to gimp them self so you dont need extra macros...

Well in dynamis, it's just a single macro that you have to change a lot less often. A lot different than rewriting a bunch of macros every time a new tank comes into every single fight.

[RKenshin]

I blink therefor I am.

I'm very rarely in a situation where I'm going to blink off something that could even remotely mean life or death unless I make a serious mistake, and in that case I usually just don't blink anyway. Not that mistakes don't happen because they definitely do, but they're just not common. But if something is going to hit me hard, then I'll already be in the proper gear to counter it 99% of the time. The only things that hit that hard in this game can all be anticipated to some degree, so really you shouldn't be blinking at horrible times all too often.

Then, if you're not in serious jeopardy of blinking off something that could save your life, there's no reason not to IMO if the equipment change will benefit you. And in many cases this benefit outweighs the occasional lost target anyway.

A <10% Tiamat will crit me for 500-800 with the wrong set of gear on, versus defense gear bringing it down to 280-400. Deciding not to blink when I have the wrong gear on so I can be cured faster, doesn't mean much when it takes just 2-3 attacks to take away all my HP. Versus blinking and living for 4-6 attacks, and having more time to be cured/get shadows up while taking less damage, losing less hate, and consuming less MP at the same time. As I said though, you can anticipate this so you're not blinking at the worst moments. Same applies for stuff like bahamut Flares, just about any kind of shadow tanking (although more difficult for PLDs), GoH, Fullimation, etc.

I do nearly all of my blinking during just normal tanking when I don't need to be targetted for much of anything. I really don't see a reason to hold back during normal tanking, as the only thing casted on me individually other than occasional regen/small cures is haste/refresh, which can be easily applied if blinked off at no major cost. It may be inconvinient at times, but the costs far outweigh the benefits for my preferred playstyle.

[Eldelphia]

I deal with it but there are times when it's just stupid. No, I won't make a named tank macro for 95% of the things I do, sorry. We're not a big shell we don't have infinite resources and whilst my focus is usually on one or two tanks, I need flexibility.

I'm not setting up Cures 3 and 5 (at minimum) for 6 let alone any more people. I need the spaces I have in my macro palette for other crap. Yes, I tweak what I need for each fight but I set it up in advance where possible.

If you need to then type /ma "Cure 3" Sometank and then reuse it by hitting space and the up arror. One place where this works nicely is on something simple like Hakutaku with Paralyna.

I can type fast - saved more than once person.

The thing about a good tank is that they're aware of themselves as part of something else. So they're aware of things like location, direction of mob etc but they're also aware of their support. Now it's my job to get that timing right, not their's but good WHM + tank partnerships are built on co-operation.

I like the idea of changing non blinking items when you're in trouble, might well save your butt but at the end of the day, its you who needs to make the decision. Balance out whether the gear changes will save you/do more good... than letting a cure land. Most mages appreciate some blinking is a necessity but constant blinking is infuriating.

Melee DD are far worse when they get into trouble.

'haz guyz lolz I don't have shadows see my uber ws damage!' /blink /blink /blink...

[Elesirdur]

What kind of visible armor are you switching anyways? Are you referring to things like Koenig Schaller and Gallant Boots (+1 I hope)?

For PLD/NIN my visible armor is Wahalara Turban, Gallant Surcoat +1, Homam Manopolas, Adaman Cuisses, and Gallant Boots +1. If I had Homam Cosicles then I would wear those 24/7 when I was PLD/NIN. If you've got Valor Breeches, I would use those as well in the legs.

I wouldn't really bother trying to put the Koenig Schaller in for Utsu casting; the 5% Haste on the Turban will be more beneficial than stacking your Shield skill from like 312 to 322.

[Blackice]

I'm a blinker, unfortunately. Syl and my other favorite WHM Moochie (sucking up because I know they hate when I blink) have become very good at working with Ruke and I on this so it's not as bad as most of you make it out to be for us anyways. I do however see how in some shells where people haven't been playing together as long or haven't dealt with much blinking in the past would have problems with this therefore not blinking would be more beneficial to you.

Like Syl said earlier, a lot of it comes down to the comfort you have between your healers and your tanks and knowing their tendencies and when they'll be blinking for each mob, that all comes with time and practice.

[evilbau]

blinking tanks is where good whms truly shine

[Berdysh]

I only have WHMs put my name in a cure macro during B. R2, because as Ninja sometimes you cannot help but have irregular blinks in there. On pretty much anything else though, a tank should be minimal and consistent with their blinks, to the point where their regular support will know when they are going to, anyway.

That said, switching every time shadows drop and you are waiting on timers might be a bit much on most things. I can see it being necessarily for Bahamut, or Mighty Strikes Tiamat, but in most other situations it's probably more risk than reward if your mages are complaining. A well-connected, familiar tank party is a very fun thing to watch in big fights and when you have that you are probably free to take a few more liberties as tank. If your mages are griping, I would let them know why you do what you do, but work with them and slowly incorporate your blinking more.

[-Zer0-]

When I'm with new mages I've never pt'ed with before, I usually just apologize ahead of time, and so far, blinking's never been a problem, and I blink constantly~

Sometimes you'll find out that mages actually appreciate that you're doing your job to the best of your abilities.