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I was liking gunbreaker for a while, feeling pretty good about learning the role, but a few missteps in the Alexander raids have set my confidence back a bit. There are a couple fights in the series that require (or heavily encourage) tank swaps, and not knowing that going in can make for a pretty bad time. I guess there are certain tells, like when an attack has "double" in the name, or you see special vulnerability stacks building up on the main tank. But in A5N, with the goblin that grows big, I didn't know you wanted to specifically wait for the concussion on the fourth stack (which clears the stacks) before swapping, so I ended up putting us both at three stacks. Plus there's still the occasional dungeon that gives me trouble, like the first part of Bardam's Mettle, and I feel like a bad tank when I end up pulling too much and dying. On the other hand, I also picked up sage recently, and once I wrapped my head around the toolkit, it's been a much easier time. You really don't need to know a whole lot about any given encounter, even going in completely blind. Remember the names of raid-wide attacks and try to Kerachole/E-Prog the next time they come up, then just use whatever skill is appropriate to keep the tank's health from dropping too much/too quickly. In dungeons, the tank is the one deciding how much to pull, and I just have to try and heal through the damage. I'll probably come around again on gunbreaker soon, but right now I feel like I just have to get better at reading encounters in general. I actually find it easier as sage than as my first job, dragoon, which takes just a little too much attention to remember the "proper" sequences of various oGCD skills to weave between the very rigid 10-GCD rotation while also trying to focus on mechanics
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May 1, 2024 02:07
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| # ? May 7, 2024 16:48 |
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404notfound posted:Plus there's still the occasional dungeon that gives me trouble, like the first part of Bardam's Mettle, and I feel like a bad tank when I end up pulling too much and dying. If it's any comfort, the first section of Bardam's Mettle is widely regarded as one of the most challenging pulls in the post-ARR game; the caster mobs can do a ton of damage during the pull, and if you're going for full pulls to the minibosses, it can add up even without doing anything wrong. Those pulls suck and needing to split them doesn't make you a bad tank.
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May 1, 2024 02:14
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Also, that Alexander fight is like the only time tank swaps come up in normal difficulty content, and usually just results in the tank dying. That flight in general is kind of a mess unless most people remember the gimmicks.
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May 1, 2024 02:26
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Oh yeah, "nobody remembers the gimmick and it takes a few deaths/a wipe to get people sorted" is the natural state of a lot of the Alex raids
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May 1, 2024 02:33
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Most of the game has a very consistent visual language, but while they've updated a lot of old content, they haven't really touched Alexander. There's a lot of mechs that will tear you apart, but it doesn't telegraph what you're supposed to do. It doesn't quite fit modern encounter design, and getting blown up a few times is easily forgivable. I still don't know how Brawler works and I don't plan to learn. e: and Bardam's Mettle is notorious for having a few really hairy wall-pulls. Just don't try to rush it and you'll be ok. Maximum Tomfoolery fucked around with this message at 02:37 on May 1, 2024 |
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May 1, 2024 02:35
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404notfound posted:I was liking gunbreaker for a while, feeling pretty good about learning the role, but a few missteps in the Alexander raids have set my confidence back a bit. There are a couple fights in the series that require (or heavily encourage) tank swaps, and not knowing that going in can make for a pretty bad time. I guess there are certain tells, like when an attack has "double" in the name, or you see special vulnerability stacks building up on the main tank. But in A5N, with the goblin that grows big, I didn't know you wanted to specifically wait for the concussion on the fourth stack (which clears the stacks) before swapping, so I ended up putting us both at three stacks. Plus there's still the occasional dungeon that gives me trouble, like the first part of Bardam's Mettle, and I feel like a bad tank when I end up pulling too much and dying. In Savage/Extreme content tank swaps are easy. Since hard content is more like learning a dance routine you'll always know exactly when to provoke/shirk.
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May 1, 2024 10:23
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It's the "obvious" and possibly the hardest hitting one, but definitely not the only one. Especially the Alex series has a lot of mechanics applying vuln debuffs of some sort and other mechanics you're supposed to share or swap tanks for. Newbie tanks often get flattened by them, especially since the EW stat squish made the Alex raids more dangerous (bosses last longer, fewer phases get skipped, bosses hit harder). Most of these mechanics are survivable if you anticipate them with mitigations or a shield healer, but they can all be deadly with bad healers, bad gear or without proper cooldown use. A3: Pepsiman hands deal blunt resistance down, you're supposed to offtank the 2nd hand in a different direction but nobody ever does, so the stacks add up very quickly. In the final phase the regular cleave will also add the blunt resistance down debuff, if the boss doesn't die fast enough you'll die or have to swap. A5: Already covered, you're supposed to swap just before Ratfinx Twinkledinks' tankbuster, but it's still survivable if you're swapping sooner (you'll have fewer vuln stacks). A6: Brawler's double laser should be shared. A7: Uplander doom will stack physical vulnerability up on the current MT, swap or challenge your healers. A8: Onslaughter's perpetual ray will add magic vulnerability up, if you don't swap you may or may not die to hydrothermal missile. Brute Justice's double rocket punch should be shared. A9: Faust Z has a big cleave that has the potential to one-shot tanks, but it can be shared with the 2nd tank. orcane fucked around with this message at 14:20 on May 1, 2024 |
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May 1, 2024 14:15
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O4 also has a tank swap iirc, but that's one of the only times I can remember in anything less than an Extreme, and it's definitely the most recent one in one of those I'm aware of.
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May 1, 2024 14:31
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e4n has a tankbuster that applies a vuln, but it's very mild and can easily be ignored
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May 1, 2024 14:38
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A lot of these tank busters are overgeared by three tiers of ilvl at this point, so they hit like a noodle regardless. The o4 and e4 ones were easier to do the swap properly than heal through at the time. I think E10 also has one but just doesn’t do any appreciable damage if you have the vuln. It’s kinda a shame they’re tuned quite so easily. They could have a tank vulnerable marker or something to help out newer players.
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May 1, 2024 15:34
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orcane posted:A9: Faust Z has a big cleave that has the potential to one-shot tanks, but it can be shared with the 2nd tank. :O that's a split tankbuster? I've been doing "hit mitigation and pray" this whole time.
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May 1, 2024 15:50
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sorry wrong thread!
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May 6, 2024 02:49
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Wrong thread
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May 6, 2024 03:11
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Well, I'll grant that's simpler
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May 6, 2024 14:24
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Nitrousoxide posted:Well, I'll grant that's simpler Yeah, there's a major DDOS attack ongoing. I'm seeing similar things trying to log on the EU servers.
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May 6, 2024 18:00
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