FFXIV: Using Tank Cooldowns

A lot of people ask how you should be using Cooldowns in duties. How you should be pairing them together. Here, I talk about those things!
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#FFXIV #Endwalker #tank

[@aiellamori]

You are responsible for most of what i know of this game, thank you sir

[@iamtorryian]

This.

[@Chowdah101]

Fr. I've learned more from watching his guides than I've done with any other.

[@ShoryukenPizza]

fr this comment

[@nickfry6000]

SAME!!! and the whole reason i got into ff14!!😂😊

[@iamtorryian]

I believe this guide deserves to exist as most others are more like, " use this specific cooldown in this situation and if you don't, you're doing it wrong." This is a under addressed topic and was very happy to see you cover it. Also, thank you for blowing my mind with the ranged attack/provoke/ranged attack combo that you were using on groups of three. It's been mentioned in other videos but it never clicked until right here. Utilizing your gap closer as well made me realize how much I still need to grow as a tank and how I can use more of my tools to do my job better.

[@arkhamknightex6929]

I've always been using that for groups of 3 but was always paranoid that I was wasting an extra gcd as I could just run up and aoe them 😅😛

[@iamtorryian]

@@arkhamknightex6929 I think it's great for keeping strong aggro on those targets as you're running past and pulling multiple groups.

[@elgatochurro]

For the main content, it's not THAT punishing

[@scarlettwhyte4170]

As someone who's been tank-main for around a year, this is how I summarize mitigation (primarily from a dungeon perspective, but mostly translatable into trial/raid): Big Damage? Big cooldown - Like how you pool all your outgoing damage into offensive cd, you want to use your mitigative cds as the ideal uno reverse to any incoming damage. With the "meta" dungeon layout of [ 2 packs - wall - 2 packs - wall - boss ] decide which half of the wall does more damage, and use your 30% cd for that. Or, if you know a boss does a tankbuster early into the fight, start with rampart on the first half, so the cd can be up and ready in time for the boss and provide meaningful value. (consider the reverse where you start with your 30% mit, but the 120s cd might not be up in time, and you're left with a weaker or no mitigation to respond with) - Ultimate cd / Invuln - in much the same spirit, your invuln is a 100% mitigation, consider which point of the duty have exceptionally high incoming damage and plan to use your invuln for it. In dungeons especially, I like to follow up with my 30% mit, expecting the majority of enemies to still have high damage output but reduced lifespan from the damage done during 10s of invuln (making the 15s duration less of a concern compared with ramparts 20s) Sprint is mitigation - Really! When pulling mobs in dungeons, sprint allows you to effectively kite enemies, keeping your health high and giving you and your healer the best chances for when you end the pull and group everything together. If you want to get into w2w pulling, the difference it makes is genuinely impactful, and I feel often overlooked - and most people will probably appreciate you going faster. Diminishing returns are still returns - Stacking your 30% mit with reprisal (10%) devalues the mitigation of your reprisal... by 3% - if you're not going to use reprisal again for another 60s, 0% is worse than 7%. Sure it's sub-optimal to stack the mitigations, but it's still less optimal to not use them at all.. Naturally this requires practice and familiarity with the dungeon, but even blind you can afford to stack in a reprisal every other pull at a minimum. Shields stack additively - Consider pairing a 25k shield with a 30% mitigation... it now requires you to take 30% more damage (32.5k) before it breaks - increasing the value of both mitigations when paired together. In general, shields work better with stronger mitigations, but sometimes, you may pair it with your 20% so that both walls are equally easy to heal (rather than one pull requiring next to no healing, and the following pull greatly taxing your healer). - as a final note, thrill of battle behaves in much the same way as a shield when at max hp Don't Stress It - Yes, there is an "optimal" "perfect" play (somewhere, good luck) but for the most part, just a simple 20% here, 30% there, has a huge impact on providing ease for your healer. Optimal play doesn't come overnight, and a basic understanding will already take you 80% of the way.

[@TrueHunter999]

I love planning mit for savage and ultimate encounters. It's by far the most entertaining part of playing either Tank or Healer

[@Jethro0815]

"Shake it off", "Dark MIssionary", "Heart of Light" and "Divine Veil" may be AoE mitigation but that doesn't mean you can't use them for dungeon pulls. Only sucks that DRK get's the short end in those moments since there's not much magic damage in those pulls. Same goes for healers.

[@WeskAlber]

I mention this in each job guide but I shoulda mentioned it here!

[@Ravio.Helianthus]

Heart of Light is magic only too.

[@Jethro0815]

@@Ravio.Helianthus All this time I thought it did all dmg. Looks like DRK isn't even the only one with anti magic since the change of Addle. xD

[@femthingevelyn]

Arms length is a wonderful cooldown for any melee class, dps included. if your tank goes down, put up arms length and bloodbath and youll be able to take the heat for a few seconds

[@FaythRender]

Arms length is the most underused roll action in the game, this is a fact

[@orangesinger8628]

I’m new to your channel. I looked at your character and I was like… that looks like wesker. Then I realised. That’s the point.

[@noblewolf8232]

Tank is my main class and a knowledge is always welcome no matter how big or small it is. Great vid!

[@MystiInferno]

I have 1 and only 1 criticism for this video, the Thumbnail's text color is green, not blue. :P

[@DeadEye935]

In general I think most newer players intuitively think of mitigation like "I'll use this when I need it" rather than using things more proactively. Especially when it comes to invulns. At least, that's how I thought when I was new and it wasn't until someone explained it to me much like you did here that I was making things harder on myself. So, I do think this guide is valuable.

[@SinHurr]

Can confirm. That's a lot of the reason I kinda sucked at tanking back in WoW. I saved them all for oh shit moments rather than using them to _prevent_ oh shit moments.

[@dnawulf3212]

Thanks for this, haven't tanked in a while and this is a great refresher

[@Shotzdeltasig]

Dude never stop making videos . All these are freaking gold

[@ginjabr3ad330]

For adds, I love Reprisal + Arms Length together.

[@TheKarishi]

It's good to see acknowledgement of the diminishing returns paired with a reminder that "avoiding diminishing returns" isn't everything. Sure, a 30% reduction and a 20% reduction isn't a 50% reduction total, but that doesn't change the fact that if you need more than the 30% on its own you need to use multiple cooldowns, or an ult, anyway. Saving cooldowns for later and then dying isn't actually more efficient, any more than wall-to-walling with a bad group and dying repeatedly.

[@jude4195]

Your guides are always amazing man

[@briancatt7813]

Thank you for the demystification my man.

[@herrsoosmann6248]

Well in your outro, you said that nobody ask for it. Well I NEED IT. Much love to you ❤

[@starofaetherius]

Was pretty sure i knew this but had to watch anyway for potential learning. Glad to know i was basically on the right track lol

[@ShoryukenPizza]

lmao the physick though @ 12:03 For dungeons, I mostly just braindead a lot and can figure out if dps is on the lower end thereby requiring a more loose mit plan or higher when I can just use the main short CD with a long and reprisal. The 2nd pull I go all in and use everything else not on cooldown, so the main long CD, main short CD, another short, rep, and arm's length. For 99% of any pulls, this is enough to keep myself alive enough. Obv there's whacky stuff like Lapis Manalis where the last pull is an onslaught so I have to make a decision to either use rampart earlier in the last pull so its up sooner or invul. As a healer though, I sometimes feel like invul can be an insult to the healer or sometimes to the dps if pulls are taking longer than roughly 1min30secs. Maybe its just me who feels that way. When I see a tank use invul in a dungeon, it just translates to me as "this healer is trash" or "its not hard to heal me". I suppose the timing of the invul is appropriate too. If its used too early, it seems almost intentional and omega gigachad brain levels of usage. If its used too late, it definitely feels like I'm lacking somewhere. I'd love to see a video for healers in dungeons in 2023! Tanks are just half (maybe technically 1/3) of the problem. So, dps roles too?

[@slimeblue4873]

Something that you didn't seem to have mentioned is when to use reprisal. It's often swept under the rug by new tanks as another personal mitigation button but it's also party mitigation. Raidwide coming up for a big chunk of damage to the whole party / alliances? Reprisal! Co-tank about to eat a buster? Reprisal! Dual-Busters? You guessed it, Reprisal!

[@ChaosEndInfinity]

A very helpful video. The thing that always gives me tanxiety, though, is the existence of tank swaps. I'm always worried about missing one and then feeling like an idiot afterwards

[@WeskAlber]

They basically only exist in EX and Savage, which require iteration of wipes anyway

[@sesamechicken1000]

Hey boss, all it takes is just practice and you're all set. I'd recommend grabbing a shirk macro which automatically targets your cotank to make it easier for swaps.

[@MauserKnight]

I wonder if A5 normal is the only normal raid that usually requires a tankswap. With current gear even that could be survived at times.

[@WeskAlber]

Yeah, I do wish they put Tank Swaps back into more casual content. Teach us a lesson, Yoshi P!

[@rtiq270]

Look on the bright side, even if you die, you did still perform the tank swap.

[@BeckyScottFairley]

Started my third character a few weeks ago which is going to be tanks only and learning where and when to use each of the cooldowns is interesting.

[@dragonyeti88]

I do wish you had provided some common pairings. Obviously they are not a hard rule and there's a lot to consider, but I'd have still liked to have seen some of the more common mitigation pairings that tanks are using. Like, what is the baseline of mitigation you use before you adjust for the party's performance.

[@MegaVbnz]

A review, I'm intrigued

[@lucybell6815]

These guides are so helpful! I've checked out the black mage, warrior, ABC series and settings guides, alongside this video, and they've been incredibly helpful for helping me get to grips with my first MMO. One thing I was wondering though, is why do you jump as you escape AoEs? Does it give you a benefit/should I be doing that?

[@WeskAlber]

Cuz it's fun

[@lucybell6815]

@@WeskAlber ohh lol :D

[@rekoJdeR]

while the overview is good and perfect for people struggling to understand basics i feel like there should have been a mention on block and parry, at least of their existance, especially since camouflage and bulwark are actual CDs. and, speaking to those 2, how they specifically do not work for DoTs (the mit part of camouflage works but you get what i mean)

[@WeskAlber]

Yeah, that coulda been a good mention. I didn't think of it because it's mostly a Savage thing. Mostly. Maybe DT will make it a lot more common in everything.

[@0g00n8]

Thanks for making me a better player overall

[@emilyedwards4914]

my healer thanks you for this video

[@Noah-gn2gu]

6:27 TY for this. As a long time tank main, I'm sick of "pairing" being repeated over and over. In expert, you're usually doing enough damage nowadays to just nuke the first pull and kitchen sink the second. Pairing is for lower levels or low dps teams. A smart tank adjusts, but if 2min comes up in a pull you really don't need much.

[@YugiMomo]

Its so hard healing pf after being spoiled by my statics co-supports good communication in VC, my tanks call stuff when they have to mit differently in a pull, say our DPS is behind from a death or whatever and we don't skip a hard hitting mech which now requires the tanks to use cds they may normallt use for upcoming mechs and throws them off for the entire fight (often its shake/veil/invulns/reprisals), that communication lets me and my cohealer know not only how we have to adjust, but that we need to adjust in the first place. Can be the difference between slapping a benison on and calling it a day vs having to burn all my lillys and bene/tetra, and I don't have the mods that show you other ppl cds so I have to either assume pf tanks will mit how i see other tanks mit and risk them dying if they don't or I have to heal as if they aren't gonna mit/invuln things most tanks do and risk my dps taking a plummet from the overheal which wildly strains my CDs. Communication of mits goes so god damn far with co-supports who know how to use that information properly

[@Nathan-dd5ci]

Hey I use those

[@Ex_Machina.]

If cooldowns are multiplicative, wouldn't Rampart + Vengeance give 56% mitigation? 1.2 x 1.3, 1.56%

[@WeskAlber]

Other way around. You're not increasing a defense value, you're reducing a damage value.

[@theazuredemon4854]

Tank Mastery is a natively 20% mitigation, so numbers are a bit skewed in the video.

[@WeskAlber]

Because it is passive you basically just ignore it. As far as using CDs you don't factor it in. Because a move doing 10k means it does 10k after said passive

[@fredriklind6727]

As a healer, the amount of times i've seen warriors in dungeons popping Bloodwhetting alongside Vengeance on trash is to high to count. for trash pulls Bloodwhetting might aswell be Hallowed Ground on steroids.

[@ProphetOfTruth_]

As a 14 noob how would a tank weave in their mitigation when also trying to do the optimal dps rotation? Like when a Warrior is doing their inner release fel cleave stuff or whatever it’s called, where each damage button press tends to fairly be tied to strict timings, how would one go about properly using mitigation while not losing any uptime on their dps rotation?

[@WeskAlber]

You weave it into the spots available. There's lots of open spaces. Plus openers usually do not correlate to tank busters unless you're doing Ult

[@ProphetOfTruth_]

@@WeskAlber I meant more along the lines of in dungeons where tanks are expected to do wall to wall pulls. I guess it evens out since you’ll be doing your aoe rotation, which is fewer buttons? I’m not sure I don’t have really any practice with the game mainly just theoretical research beforehand

[@WeskAlber]

​@@ProphetOfTruth_ Oh, yeah. AoE has WAY more weaving room. Further, mitigation is for preventing damage, so you use it before the damage. You finish grabbing the enemies, hit a mit, then get to DPSing. And then there, it's one mit. You don't pop all your mit at once, only ever 1-2. Then WAR is a special case in that you're going to mit after your opening AoE is done, because of how Raw Intuition/Bloodwhetting in specific work. Or at the very least DRK/GNB Ultimates.

[@NajaBenja]

It perfect

[@slythergale]

Raw Intuition, my beloved

[@NessyWZ]

How to use cooldowns? Easy! Just put them on your hotbar and press them

[@breannelewis3674]

Hey, just wanted to say a big thanks for all the work you do. You really fill a need in the community that has been sorely missing for a long time. I come back to your videos all the time, and I really appreciate how clear and detailed you are in your explanations!!! I'm a better player and party mate for it. Hope to see you back and feeling better soon, but if you can't that's also okay. Looking forward to your Dawntrail videos in the meantime!

[@seriodenoyarohi7403]

As A DRK I always save Abyssal Drain until I'm at about ~25% Health to get a free full heal in Trash-Pulls. It's a really useful tool to ease the load on your healer given that DRK has, in my experience, the most trouble staying alive in Dungeons.

[@youngimperialistmkii]

I learned how to play heals and tanking from your vids. Thx.😊

[@AshHole_]

could you do a guide on common raid markers? i got hit with a clock thing today for the first time and have no idea what it was.

[@WeskAlber]

Do you mean like, clock spots? Because if not, that's not a common raid mark.

[@HyouVizer]

Arms Length slow debuff is crazy good. Basically say an enemy auto-attacks you 5 times, now with slow debuff applied they auto-attack only 4 times. Have that for a group of enemies, all not dealing that 5th auto-attack hit, thats a lot of prevented damage.

[@r3sid3nt3vil8]

Plus it adds 20% slow to spell recast timers which is awesome for hard hitting elemental/magic trash mobs