Hey all, skilled lancer with 2 years+ experience on the class.
I would like to share some knowledge about tanking, since a lot of people complain about tanks.
So here is a list of what I think is the most important aspects of tanking.
1 - Stay alive
A dead tank is the worst sort of tank
2 - Mindset
If you are the type of guy who doesn't care for every member of the party, don't roll a tank. Your aim should be to make the run as smooth as possible for DPS and healer.
3 - Rotation
With a good rotation, you won't have problems holding aggro, and additionally you will have decent DPS output.
- A great way of learning rotations apart from reading guides is to fight of as many BAM's as possible.
4 - Positioning
A good tank know's how to position a boss correctly. This will greatly increase DPS output.
5 - Mechanics
Some bosses can be stunned before mechanics, and as a tank you should know which mechanic you can stun.
You need to know every mechanic of every boss to be considered a good tank. This will make your rotation smoother, increase your DPS and let you control the boss at will.
6 - Buffs
Know when to buff your party. It doesn't make sense to enrage a boss at 31% HP if he will enrage naturally at 30%.
It doesn't make sense to give your party more attack speed if all of there hard-hitting skills are on cd.
It doesn't make sense to use Pledge of Protection if you save the DPS, but kill yourself in the process.
Learn when to use your buffs.
7 - Leader
Most of the times, if you have a skilled tank in your party, he will take the lead and "guide" you trough the dungeon. He will be the first to pull mobs, the first at the boss etc. A tank that is sort of a "leader" in a party will make the run much more structured, therefore more efficient.
So, if you don't like to lead people, think twice about rolling a tank
Of course this is no real guide, and it won't improve anyone just by reading.
This is just meant to be a little bit of text to see on which aspects you may need to improve.
If you have any specific question about tanking (rolls, rotation circle, jewelry, crystals, boss movement etc.) just ask!
I would love to help!