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An Understanding to Tanking

Last Updated: April 22nd, 2018

Intro

First off, all of this info is taking up to version 4.25 (v 4.25) into consideration. If possible, I can update the guide to suit any changes that have happened since then. This guide is intended for all types of players, from beginners who just started or are looking to get into the game to the more experienced crew who would like to help further their knowledge and understanding. All of this written is taking my experiences and understanding of each tanking class into consideration as well as with the help of a few friends. Any constructive criticism is appreciated and encouraged, and ideally we can keep it informative to help us tanks out!

Keywords

• Enmity (Aggro): determines how aggressive an enemy is towards a player; if your value is the highest out of all the other players attacking it, the enemy will target and attack you
• HP: health points; if it drops to 0, you die
• MP: mana points; utilized for magical abilities like spells or songs
• TP: tactical points; utilized for most physical abilities from non-spell casters
• Tank: character designed to keep enemies on them; they take all the damage for the team
• DPS: Damage Per Second; refers to the classes that deal high damage, but are not as a bulky as tanks
• MT: Main Tank; refers to the tank that initiates the fight and typically holds enmity on the main enemies
• OT: Off Tank; refers to the tank that is more of a back-up tank, typically holding enmity on additional enemies or taking over for the MT if they die

The Basics

Covers:

• Your role in a team setting
• What is enmity/aggro and how does it work?
• How to gain enmity
• MT vs OT

To start, let’s get a good understanding of what a tank is. A tank is a character that tries to keep enemies on them and takes the damage for the group. Tanks are known for their high defense and high HP, and their gear is designed specifically for that. Tanks do not deal as much damage as other classes, but can still do a decent amount if you know what you’re doing. If the tank falls, the rest of the group can be in serious trouble.

As a tank, you need to keep track of the enemies on screen and grab any of them so they target you. Each player has something known as enmity (or aggro as it’s known in other games of the same genre). Enmity is important for tanks to keep track of because if any other teammate’s enmity is higher, they will take the enemy from you and take damage.

Since tanks are weaker than DPS, they can steal the enmity away from the tanks if they do too much damage. There are a few ways to help keep track of this:

• While in a party, every person in your party that has attacked the currently targeted enemy will have a number ranging from 1 to the number of players in the party in their role icon located left of your name (ex. the Gladiator’s swords, the Marauder’s axes). It also displays how high everyone’s enmity is compared to the highest one in the party. Typically, the number 1 is replaced by an A, meaning that person currently has the enemy on them. In some rare cases where the enemy targets someone else even when you have the highest enmity value, the number 1 will be displayed and someone else will get A. You cannot take enmity back until the enemy stops what he’s doing or is interrupted. This method only works with the enemy that’s currently targeted by you and displays only the enmity the party has against that enemy. It also only shows your party’s enmity and nobody else’s, so if you have 1 but not A, it means someone outside of your party has the enemy.

• The Enemy List keeps track of all the enemies you have enmity towards. Right beside of the name there is a shape that vaguely determines how much enmity you have towards that particular enemy. There are four types of shapes that can show:
  • Green circle                              = Low Enmity
  • Yellow Triangle pointing up       = Medium Enmity
  • Orange Triangle pointing down = High Enmity
  • Red Square                               = Highest Enmity

This method is good to show how your enmity is compared to others with larger groups of enemies or an enemy that other players outside of your party are also attacking. The drawback is that it’s an approximate value and there is no clear indicator of how close you are to others on the list. It also can take a moment for the shapes to update if you lose enmity.

Although a tank’s damage output is lower, they have abilities that help generate more enmity than the other classes can. Each tank has different abilities, but they generally have the same effect. These are:

• Gladiator/Paladin:
  • Savage Blade: Potency of 100, Combo Potency of 210 if used after Fast Blade. Obtained at Level 4
  • Rage of Halone: Potency of 100, Combo Potency of 270 if used after Savage Blade. Obtained at Level 26
  • Flash: Gain enmity from all nearby enemies and blinds them. Obtained at Level 6
  • Shield Lob: Ranged attack, Potency of 120. Obtained at Level 15 from Gladiator’s Level 15 class quest
  • Shield Lob: Potency of 100. Causes Pacification for 6s. Can only be used right after blocking an attack. Obtained at Level 30 from Gladiator’s Level 30 class quest
  • Circle of Scorn: Potency of 100 to nearby enemies, does damage over time with Potency of 30 for 15 seconds. Obtained at Level 50
  • Shield Oath*: Permanent buff that reduces damage received by 20% and damage dealt by 15%, but increases enmity further for other abilities. Reusing the ability or using Sword Oath cancels the buff. Obtained at Level 30 when unlocking Paladin

• Marauder/Warrior:
  • Skull Sunder: Potency of 100, Combo Potency of 210 if used after Heavy Swing. Increases Beast Gauge by 10. Obtained at Level 4
  • Butcher’s Block: Potency of 100, Combo Potency of 300 if used after Skull Sunder. Increases Beast Gauge by 10. Obtained at Level 30 from Marauder’s Level 30 class quest
  • Overpower: Potency of 130 to all nearby enemies within a cone in front of the character. Obtained at Level 10
  • Tomahawk: Ranged Attack, Potency of 140. Obtained at Level 15 from Marauder’s Level 15 class quest
  • Defiance*: Permanent buff that increase max HP by 25%, own HP recovery via healing magic by 20%, reduces damage dealt by 20% and increases enmity further for other abilities. Also increases parry rate up to 10% depending on how much Beast Gauge is accumulated. Reusing the ability or using Deliverance cancels the buff. Obtained at Level 30 when unlocking Warrior
  • Steel Cyclone*: Potency of 200 to nearby enemies. Portion of damage dealt is absorbed as self-HP restore. Can only be used when in Defiance. Obtained at Level 45 from Warrior’s Level 45 class quest
  • Onslaught*: Potency of 100 and rushes towards the target. Costs 20 Beast Gauge. Can only be used while in Defiance/Deliverance. Obtained at Level 62

• Dark Knight:
  • Spinning Slash: Potency of 100, Combo Potency of 220 if used after Hard Slash. Obtained at Level 4
  • Power Slash: Potency of 100, Combo Potency of 300 if used after Spinning Slash. If under Dark Arts effect and combo’d, increases enmity further. Obtained at Level 26
  • Unleash: Potency of 50 to nearby enemies. Obtained at Level 6
  • Unmend: Ranged Attack, Potency of 150. 30% chance that next Unleash will cost no MP. Obtained at Level 15
  • Abyssal Drain: Ranged Attack, Potency of 120 to target and enemies nearby. If under Dark Art effect, absorbs portion of damage dealt as self-HP restore. Obtained at Level 56 from Dark Knight’s Level 56 class quest
  • Grit: Permanent buff that reduces damage received and dealt by 20%, but increases enmity further for other abilities. Reusing the ability cancels the buff. Obtained at Level 30
• All Tanks’ Role Abilities:
  • Provoke: Puts you at max enmity for the target + 1. If you’re already highest enmity, nothing happens. Does not work outside of instances. Obtained at Level 16
  • Ultimatum: Uses Provoke on nearby enemies. Does not work outside of instances. Obtained at Level 44

* : Only usable as Paladin/Warrior

All of these abilities increase more than regularly for their respective classes, which allows them to easily keep their enmity higher than everyone else’s. The last thing to add is that any HP restoring ability will also increase enmity, as it is considered a threat to enemies. Keep that in mind if you want to further increase your enmity. If used effectively, no one will be able to reach your amount of enmity. 

As you get further into the game, you will get into instances where you’ll have more than one tank in the party/alliance. In these cases, there will be one MT (Main Tank) and the others will be OTs (Off Tanks). The MT will normally be in charge of leading the group, grabbing the majority of the enemies or the boss. The OTs typically provide support to the MT, extra DPS and/or grab additional enemies if the MT is in charge of a boss.

Tank Types

Covers:

• Gladiator/Paladin
  • Summary
  • Sword Oath vs Shield Oath
  • Oath Gauge
• Marauder/Warrior
  • Summary
  • Deliverance vs Defiance
  • Beast Gauge
• Dark Knight
  • Summary
  • Darkside vs Grit
  • Dark Arts
  • Blood Gauge

Now that the basic idea of what a tank is established, we can describe what makes each tank unique to the other. Although their role is the same, the way they achieve this goal is different.

Gladiators/Paladins

Gladiators are the base class of Paladins. At Level 30, after doing the Paladin unlock quest,  you equip the Paladin Soul Stone to become a Paladin. Paladins specialize in high defense of all types (physical and magical). Their main priority consists of keeping their defense high and have a good amount of abilities to help out the team survive. They are also the only class with a shield, allowing to randomly block attacks from the enemy. Some abilities help increase the block rate to higher chances. Most of their abilities increase defense way or another. Their Cover ability can shield a party member from attacks for 12 seconds, which is nice if they are in a bind. Divine Veil provides a shield to nearby party members after the Paladin that used it is healed. They also have their own healing ability called Clemency, which has high healing potency for a non-healer class with the additional effect of receiving 50% of that healing for yourself if you heal another party member. They have more abilities of this sort that help themselves and others out, being the ultimate support tank of the three.

Every tank class has what’s known as an offensive stance and defensive stance. Generally, the offensive stance is for OTs and the defensive stance is for MTs. For Paladins, these are known as Sword Oath and Shield Oath respectively.

• Sword Oath deals a 75 potency hit for every auto-attack the Paladin. Although not a lot, it racks up a good amount of damage over a long period of time. It also restores 5 Oath Gauge for every auto-attack. Obtained at Level 35 from the Paladin’s Level 35 class quest.
• Shield Oath, as explained in the enmity portion, decreases damage received and dealt. It also increases enmity generation from other abilities. While in this stance, every blocked hit increases the Oath Gauge by 5, and the ability Holy Spirit increases the Oath Gauge by 20. Obtained at Level 30 from the Paladin’s Level 30 class quest.

        Oath Gauge in Sword Oath                       Oath Gauge in Shield Oath

At Level 52, Paladins receive the Oath Gauge. The gauge maxes out at 100 and is used for only two abilities: 

• Sheltron guarantees a block for the next attack received, and if hit, restores MP. It only lasts 10 seconds, so if you do not get hit in this period of time, you will lose the effect and not restore MP. It’s useful when you need to restore MP or are about to be hit by something big. Obtained at Level 52 from Paladin’s Level 52 class quest.
• Intervention provides a 10% damage reduction to a targeted party member for 6 seconds. The damage reduction can be increased more by using it while under the effect of Rampart and/or Sentinel. It takes 50% of the active buffs and adds it onto the Intervention buff. This means if Rampart is active when Intervention is used, intervention now has a 20% reduction, 30% if Sentinel is active and 40% if both are active. It works well when targeting an MT who’s about to receive a big hit or reduce damage dealt to another ally if they’re in danger. Obtained at Level 62.

Marauders/Warriors

Marauders are the base class of Warriors. At Level 30, after doing the Warrior unlock quest, you equip the Warrior Soul Stone to become a Warrior. Warriors boast high HP over defense and are typically a very offensive tank. Although they have a good amount of defensive cooldowns, they usually prioritize on self-sustaining. Thrill of Battle increases maximum HP by 20% and heals the amount increased, giving them even higher HP. Vengeance provides a 30% damage reduction, but also does a 55 potency attack every time the user is physically hit. Berserk guarantees that all attacks are critical hit and direct hit attacks for 10 seconds, meaning a huge damage spike during those 10 seconds. At Level 70, Berserk is replaced with Inner Release, which does the same as Berserk, but prevents disabling debuffs or attacks, like knockbacks, from working on the user. It also causes all Beast Gauge actions to cost 0 for those 10 seconds, but can only be used during Deliverance and Defiance.

Warrior’s offensive and defensive stances are known as Deliverance and Defiance respectively. Upon the use of one or the other, 10 seconds must pass before it can be deactivated or switched.

• Deliverance increases damage dealt by 5%. As Beast Gauge increases, critical hit rate can reach up to a 10% increase. This stance also allows the usage of two more powerful moves and has a different effect for another ability:
  • Fell Cleave: Potency of 520. The strongest attack a Warrior can perform without other buffs. Obtained at Level 54 from Warrior’s Level 54 class quest
  • Decimate: Potency of 280 to nearby enemies. Obtained at Level 60 from Warrior’s Level 60 class quest
  • Equilibrium: Restores 200 TP while in Deliverance. Obtained at Level 58 from Warrior’s Level 58 class quest

Obtained at Level 52 from Warrior’s Level 52 class quest.

• Defiance, as explained in the enmity section, increases max HP and enmity generation, and decreases damage dealt. As Beast Gauge increases, parry rate can reach up to a 10% increase. This stance emphasizes survivability over damage not just with its effect but with the abilities allowed during this stance:
  • Inner Beast: Potency of 350. Absorbs a portion of damage dealt as self-HP restore and grants a 20% damage reduction for 6 seconds. Obtained at Level 35 from Warrior’s Level 35 class quest
  • Steel Cyclone: Potency of 200 to nearby enemies. Absorbs a portion of damage dealt as self-HP restore and increases enmity further. Obtained at Level 45 from Warrior’s Level 45 class quest
  • Unchained: Ignores the damage reduction inflicted by Defiance for 20 seconds. Obtained at Level 40 from Warrior’s Level 40 class quest
  • Equilibrium: Restores HP to self with a Potency of 1200 while in Defiance. Obtained at Level 58 from Warrior’s Level 58 class quest.

Inner Beast and Steel Cyclone both ignore the damage reduction from Defiance. Obtained at Level 30 from Warrior’s unlock quest

              Beast Gauge while in Deliverance                                    Beast Gauge while in Defiance

Once Warriors have access to Defiance, they unlock the Beast Gauge. The gauge maxes out at 100 and provides a minor buff to both stances and allows the use of certain moves, including some of the previously discussed abilities. These are:

• Deliverance:
  • Fell Cleave: Costs 50 Beast Gauge
  • Decimate: Costs 50 Beast Gauge
• Defiance:
  • Inner Beast: Costs 50 Beast Gauge
  • Steel Cyclone: Costs 50 Beast Gauge
• Either stance:
  • Infuriate: Increases Beast Gauge by 50. Can only be used while in combat. At Level 66 or higher, if Fell Cleave, Decimate, Inner Beast or Steel Cyclone are used, it reduces the cooldown on Infuriate by 5 seconds. Obtained at Level 50 from Warrior’s Level 50 class quest.
  • Onslaught: Potency of 100 and rushes towards the target. Costs 20 Beast Gauge. Obtained at Level 62.
  • Upheaval: Potency of 300 if max HP, but lowers as HP decreases. Has the unique effect that the maximum potency increases depending on how high the maximum HP is via self-HP increasing moves, like Thrill of Battle and Defiance. This means that Upheaval is capable of doing better damage in Deliverance+Thrill of Battle, even better damage with just Defiance activated and higher damage than Fell Cleave by being in Defiance+Thrill of Battle+Unchained. Costs 20 Beast Gauge. Obtained at Level 64. More info on Upheaval here.
  • Inner Release: Guarantees all attacks done by Warrior are both critical hit and direct hit for 10 seconds, meaning greater damage during this time. You cannot be hindered by disabling debuffs like stun, sleep, heavy and bind, and you cannot be pushed or pulled by most attack that have knockback or pull-in effects. Also allows the use of all Beast Gauge specific moves without any Beast Gauge cost. Obtained at Level 70 from Warrior’s class quest.

Dark Knights

Dark Knights are the only tank class that does not have a base class since it was released with the Heavensward expansion. You start this class in level 30 with all of its abilities until then learned, except Darkside. This class can also only be unlocked once in the Heavensward areas. Dark Knights are a bit of a hybrid of each class with their own little gimmick. They can shield others like with Paladin’s Intervention with the ability The Blackest Night, which works more as a barrier that nullifies 10% of the your max HP, meaning if you had 1000 max HP, they receive a barrier that can absorb 100 HP. They can also use it on themselves for a 20% barrier instead. They also have Dark Mind, which increases their magic defense by 15% or 30% if under Dark Arts. I believe Dark Knights to have a greater skill cap than the other two, as they require MP management where the other two are not as heavily focused on resource management. Dark Arts plays a heavy role with a Dark Knight’s performance, as well. It can enhance a couple of abilities with either more power or an additional effect.

Dark Knights also have the unique trait of being able to be in their offensive and defensive stance at the same time, which allows for more damage while still defending themselves. These are Darkside and Grit respectively. However, they are a few drawbacks from having one or the other on/off.

• Darkside increases damage dealt by 20%, but stops MP auto-regeneration and any MP recover ability received from other classes do not work while active. Some abilities only work while under the effect of Darkside:
  • Dark Passenger: Potency of 100 to enemies in a straight line in front of the character. Obtained at Level 40 from Dark Knight’s class quest.
  • Dark Mind: Reduces magic vulnerability by 15%. Obtained at Level 42.
  • Dark Arts: Powers up or adds an effect to other abilities. Obtained at Level 45 from Dark Knight’s class quest.

These abilities will turn off if Darkside is cancelled. Obtained at Level 30 from Dark Knight’s Level 30 class quest.

• Grit, as explained in the enmity section, reduces damage taken and dealt, and increases enmity further from other abilities. It can be used with Darkside at the same time and allows the usage of one ability and adds an effect to another ability:
  • Blood Price: Restores MP when damage is received for 15 seconds. Obtained at Level 35 from Dark Knight’s class quest.
  • Souleater: Restores partial damage dealt as self-restore HP while under Grit. Obtained at Level 38.

The ability will turn off if Grit is cancelled. Being on Grit does not allow the usage of Blood Weapon, as well. Obtained at Level 30.

Dark Knights possess the ability Dark Arts, which can modify a good amount of abilities to deal more damage or add an additional effect. These are:

• Syphon Strike: Potency of 100, Combo Potency of 250. Dark Arts Potency of 240, Dark Arts Combo Potency of 390.
• Souleater: Potency of 100, Combo Potency of 300. Dark Arts Potency of 240, Dark Arts Combo Potency of 440.
• Power Slash: Potency of 100, Combo Potency of 300. Dark Arts increases the enmity generated even further.
• Dark Passenger: Dark Arts increases potency to 240 and adds a Blind effect that lasts 15 seconds.
• Dark Mind: Increases magic defense by 30% with Dark Arts.
• Abyssal Drain: Absorbs portion of damage dealt as self-restore HP while under the effect of Dark Arts.
• Carve and Spit: Potency of 100 and MP restoration. Dark Arts Potency of 450, but removes MP restoration. Highest damage increase with Dark Arts. Obtained at Level 60 from Level 60 Dark Knight’s quest.
• Quietus: Potency of 160 to nearby enemies that restores MP. Dark Arts Potency to 210 to nearby enemies. Obtained at Level 64.
• Bloodspiller: Potency of 400. Grit Potency of 475, but does not negate Grit damage penalty. Dark Arts Potency of 540. Dark Arts Grit Potency of 650, but does not negate Grit damage penalty. Strongest unbuffed action for Dark Knight. Obtained at level 68.

Whenever any of these abilities are used, Dark Arts fades and another will need to be used to enhance the next ability.

Blood Gauge without Grit activated

Blood Gauge with Grit activated

At Level 62, Dark Knights get the Blood Gauge. It remains on regardless if a stance is being used or not. The gauge maxes out at 100 and with it, they can use a few more abilities that can help increase damage or manage their MP. Abilities affected by or have an effect on the Blood Gauge are:

• Delirium: Restores MP. Extends the duration of Blood Weapon and Blood Price by 8 seconds and 16 seconds respectively. Costs 50 Blood Gauge. Obtained at Level 62.
• Quietus: Costs 50 Blood Gauge.
• Bloodspiller: Costs 50 Blood Gauge.
• Blood Weapon: Reduces weaponskill cast time and recast time, spell cast time and recast time, and auto-attack delay by 10% and converts physical damage dealt into MP, while reducing weaponskill TP cost by 20%. Lasts 15 seconds and cannot be used if Grit is active. Will be turned off if Grit is activated. At level 66, increases Blood Gauge by 3 each time a physical attack lands. Obtained at Level 18.
• Blood Price: At Level 66, Increases Blood Gauge by 1 every time damage is received and by 4 over time while in battle.
• Souleater: Increases Blood Gauge by 10 if combo’d into.
• Salted Earth: Creates an area that deals 75 damage to enemies within the area. Lasts 21 seconds. Every tick increases the Blood Gauge by 1. Obtained at Level 52 from Dark Knight’s Level 52 class quest.
• The Blackest Night: Creates a barrier around self that absorbs damage totaling 20% of your maximum HP, or around a party member that absorbs damage totaling 10% of your maximum HP. Lasts 7 seconds. Increases Blood Gauge by 50 when full 20% (10%) is absorbed.

Rotations

Covers:

• Paladin Rotation
  • Level 50
  • Level 60
  • Level 70
• Warrior Rotation
  • Level 50
  • Level 60
  • Level 70
• Dark Knight Rotation
  • Level 50
  • Level 60
  • Level 70

In this section, we will cover each class’s ideal rotation based on what you’re aiming for. This will include the levels where these classes hit a milestone, which I consider to be the previous and current level caps (50, 60, 70). Although with current content all that matters is Level 70, it’s nice to gain an understanding on how each class functions in these milestones, if you ever want to do old content that was those levels for old time’s sake. Keep in mind that the original rotation may have been changed since 2.0 or 3.0 for Level 50 and 60 respectively, considering abilities that may have been removed or changed since then.This will also only focus a single target as it’s the easiest to experiment with and typically the more important one for raids/end-game content. Also, all OGCDs showcased here are related in terms of damage or enmity in one way or another.

Paladin

->->

Enmity Combo Total Potency: 640

->->

Goring Blade Combo Total Potency: 650+60×7 over 21s

->->

Damage Combo Total Potency: 760

until MP runs out (assuming no MP restore, x5)

Holy Spirit Combo Total Potency: 1900

OGCDs (Off Global Cooldowns)

• Fight or Flight: Increases physical damage dealt by 25% for 25s
• Shield Swipe: Potency of 100. Causes Pacification to enemy for 6s. Can only be used right after blocking.
• Spirits Within: Potency of 300. Potency decreases the lower own HP is.
• Circle of Scorn: Potency of 100 to all nearby enemies + 30×5 over 15s.
• Requiescat: Potency of 350. Potency decreases the lower own MP is. If MP is at 80% or higher, increases magic attack and healing potency by 20%.

Level 50

For optimal enmity generation, remain in Shield Oath throughout the whole fight. Begin the fight with Shield Lob as you approach the enemy, then do the enmity combo. Weave in any OGCDs available at this level and Fight or Flight right before a Riot Blade to perform 3 Riot Blades and 3 Rage of Halones with FoF for maximum damage/enmity output.

For an enmity and damage hybrid, begin the fight as stated above. Use Fight or Flight at the same point as above, then land the last enmity combo in FoF. Switch to Sword Oath right after, then continue the rotation as usual.

For a higher damage hybrid but more risky enmity rotation, begin the fight as stated above. Do two enmity combos, then switch to Sword Oath, then continue rotation as normal. This rotation relies more on teammates to watch out for their own enmity or help you with yours.

For damage optimization, start in Sword Oath and do rotation as normal. If the enemy starts too far away, you can start with Shield Lob to deal damage as you approach.

Level 60

For optimal enmity generation, do Level 50 enmity rotation.

For high enmity, low damage, start the fight in Shield Oath and with Shield Lob. Start with enmity combo, then Fight or Flight right before Riot Blade. Continue doing enmity generation combo until FoF ends. Do Goring Blade combo once, then two damage combos, then another Goring Blade combo. Rinse and repeat, and weave OGCDs in between. Make sure Goring Blade is reapplied when it’s about to run out and not earlier.

For medium enmity, medium damage, start the fight as stated above. Begin with Goring Blade combo, and Fight or Flight right before the actual Goring Blade. Enmity combo twice, switch to Sword Oath, then reapply Goring Blade. This should give you enough time to reapply Goring Blade with FoF right before it runs out while going into the damage combos.

For high damage, low enmity, start the fight as stated above. Do one enmity combo, then switch to Sword Oath. Go straight into Goring Blade combo, Fight or Flight right before Riot Blade, apply Goring, then go into two damage combos, then back to Goring Blade. Continue this pattern. This rotation relies more on teammates to watch out for their own enmity or help you with yours.

For damage optimization, start in Sword Oath and simply start doing Goring Blade combo with FoF right before Riot Blade, apply Goring, then proceed with two damage combos until Goring needs to be reapplied.

Level 70

For optimal enmity generation, do Level 50 enmity rotation.

For high enmity, low damage, do most of the Level 60 high enmity, low damage rotation. Difference here will be that after you just reapply the first Goring Blade, you do Requiescat and do the Holy Spirit combo. After MP runs out, do Goring Blade to reapply, then damage combo twice. FoF should be back by now and you should be able to use it right before the upcoming Goring Blade. Then continue the rotation, Requiescat right after Goring Blade when it’s back, and so on. Make sure to use Sheltron at least once to gain enough MP for the next time you do Requiescat to Holy Spirit combo.

For medium enmity, medium damage, you can start with one Holy Spirit at the beginning while in Shield Oath. As you approach the enemy, Shield Lob and position yourself wherever you need to be. From here, there are two ways it can go. Do two more Holy Spirits to lower you MP just enough to regain it with the upcoming combo, or just go straight into the next set of combos. Do Goring Blade combo, doing FoF right before the actual Goring Blade, then enmity combo. Switch to Sword Oath, damage combo once, then Goring Blade combo. After Goring Blade, go into Requiescat to Holy Spirit combo, then rinse and repeat Goring Blade to two damage combos until the next Requiescat is ready.

For low enmity, high damage, you can start as stated above, but only do one Holy Spirit. Then do enmity combo, switch to Sword Oath, apply Goring Blade then Requiescat to Holy Spirit combo. Continue with reapplying Goring Blade to two damage combos, applying FoF where necessary, then go into Requiescat to Holy Spirit when able. This rotation relies more on teammates to watch out for their own enmity or help you with yours.

For damage optimization, you can start with one Holy Spirit, go into Goring Blade combo, then Requiescat to Holy Spirit combo. Reapply Goring Blade, two damage combos, then FoF right before reapplying Goring Blade again. Waiting on FoF is important this time so it lasts long enough to be able to use Requiescat with the FoF buff, since Requiescat is a physical attack, giving it a nice boost of damage, then go straight into the Holy Spirit combo.

Things to note:

• Make sure after every Holy Spirit combo, try to use Sheltron successfully at least once. If skillspeed is too high and you do not do this, there is a chance that you will run out of MP before you do all 5 Holy Spirits. If you are aware that this will happen and it can take too long to restore that last bit of MP necessary, simply replace with a damage combo, then go into Goring Blade combo. This will reset your MP to be okay when you next do Requiescat.
• You can change up the damage combo a bit at the beginning depending on the fight you are doing to make cooldowns line up better for better damage overall. For example, I normally start fights with three Holy Spirits, then do Goring Blade with FoF, two damage combos, Goring Blade combo again, then Requiescat into Holy Spirit combo. I haven’t noticed a huge difference in damage with these changes, but your performance in the fight can change depending on how you begin the fight just because of how cooldowns can align.
• If you are not MT, please do not have Shield Oath on unless you are grabbing adds. You can potentially steal enmity from the MT while in Shield Oath, and it is an unnecessary loss of damage, as well.
• As MT, which enmity combo you pick depends on how comfortable you feel with your current skill set as well as how much you trust your team. You could potentially shorten the enmity rotation with a good enough team (looking at you, Ninjas). The important thing is you perform as your role is expected to, then improve as you get more comfortable.

Warrior

->->

Enmity Combo Total Potency: 670

 ->->

Storm’s Eye Combo Total Potency: 640

->->

Storm’s Path Combo Total Potency: 640

->x5 (assuming unbuffed)

Inner Release Combo Total Potency: 2600

OGCDs (Off Global Cooldowns)

• Berserk: Guaranteed crit hit and direct hit attacks for 10s.
• Inner Release: Replaces Berserk at Level 70 and adds unable to be knocked back, pulled in and hindered by most disabling debuffs. Also reduces any Beast Gauge cost to 0.
• Infuriate: Increases Beast Gauge by 50.
• Unchained: Negates damage penalty from Defiance.
• Thrill of Battle: Increases Max HP and restores HP by that same amount.
• Equilibrium: Increases TP by 200 in Deliverance. Increases HP in Defiance.
• Onslaught: Potency of 100 and rushes towards target. Generates enmity. Costs 20 Beast Gauge.
• Upheaval: Potency of up to 300. Potency decreases as HP decreases. Potency max cap can increase if max HP is increased by abilities caused by self. More info here.

Level 50

For optimal enmity generation, remain in Defiance the whole fight. Right before the pull, begin with Unchained then Tomahawk. Do the Storm’s Eye combo to get the slashing debuff on the enemy and the damage up for yourself. Then continue with enmity combo. Infuriate whenever possible, but make sure that you have 50 or less gauge when you do to prevent losing potential gauge. Thrill of Battle whenever possible since HP restores generate enmity as well. Whenever you reach 50 enmity or higher, Inner Beast for damage, then return to enmity combo. Berserk whenever you are able to use the most amount of Inner Beasts. Refresh Storm’s Eye right before it runs out.

For optimal damage and high enmity, begin in Defiance. Start with Unchained and Tomahawk as you make your way. Storm’s Eye combo then straight into enmity combo. Deplete your gauge with Inner Beast right after Unchained ends, since Inner Beast negates the damage penalty. Turn off Defiance, then continue enmity combo and refresh Storm’s Eye right before it runs out. Whenever Infuriate and Unchained come back, switch to Defiance, Unchained, Infuriate and continue the regular rotation, deplete gauge when Unchained runs out, turn off Defiance and back to normal. Make sure Berserk is used whenever the most amount of Inner Beasts can be used.

Please note that Warriors are able to retain high damage while still generating good enmity thanks to Unchained’s effect. Even as OT, I would recommend changing to Defiance and doing that combo for the damage increase from Inner Beast. If you’re OT, make sure to pass on some enmity to the MT with Shirk so you don’t steal it.

Level 60

For optimal enmity generation, do the Level 50 enmity rotation while adding in Equilibrium in between, since HP restores generate enmity as well.

For high enmity, medium damage, start in Defiance. Begin the pull with Unchained and Tomahawk, do Storm’s Eye combo, then enmity combo twice. Switch to Deliverance, ideally with maxed out Beast Gauge, Berserk, then Fell Cleave to deal a great amount of damage, which helps with enmity. From there, do Storm’s Path combo until Storm’s Eye needs to be refreshed again to generate gauge quicker for more Fell Cleaves. Infuriate whenever possible, and only change back into Defiance when Unchained, Thrill of Battle and Equilibrium come back to generate more enmity, then switch back to Deliverance when gauge is maxed out to Fell Cleave.

For medium enmity, high damage, start in Defiance. Unchained and Tomahawk, then do Storm’s Eye, and one enmity combo. Weave Thrill of Battle and Equilibrium in between. Switch to Deliverance, Berserk and Fell Cleave. Then go into Storm’s Path combo until Storm’s Eye needs to be refreshed. Infuriate whenever, and Fell Cleave when possible.

For optimal damage, remain in Deliverance, start with Tomahawk as you approach. Storm’s Eye, then Storm’s Path. Continue rotation, Infuriate whenever, and Fell Cleave whenever. Berserk when able to do the most amount of Fell Cleaves in a row. Refresh Storm’s Eye whenever.

Level 70

For optimal enmity generation, do the Level 60 enmity generation combo. Weave in Onslaught whenever to gain more enmity. Ideally Fell Cleave combo whenever there is at least 15 seconds left in Storm’s Eye to be able to refresh Storm’s Eye right as its about to end.

For high enmity, medium damage, start in Defiance. Unchained and Tomahawk, using Infuriate quickly. Weave in Onslaught, Thrill of Battle, Equilibrium for more enmity. Storm’s Eye combo then enmity combo, change into Deliverance and Fell Cleave combo. Weave in Onslaught and Upheaval during Inner Release. Continue rotation as level 60 damage rotation.

For medium enmity, high damage, start as above until Storm’s Eye combo. Change to Deliverance and begin Fell Cleave combo. Weave in Onslaught and Upheaval during Inner Release. Continue rotation as level 60 damage rotation.

For optimal damage, remain in Deliverance, start with Tomahawk as you approach. Storm’s Eye and go into Fell Cleave combo. Thrill of Battle before Upheaval for more damage during Inner Release, and weave in Onslaught within.

Things to note:

• Warrior benefits greatly from using Fell Cleave as often as possible to reduce the Infuriate timer at level 70. Instead of using the enmity combo (which has the greater damage), the Storm’s Eye combo is done to gain gauge quicker, do Fell Cleaves faster, and gain Infuriate faster. Ideally save off on using gauge for only Fell Cleave since it deals the most damage in Deliverance.
• Although Upheaval in Defiance can potentially deal more damage than Fell Cleave, it is highly unlikely to land a direct hit and crit hit with it. If used at the very beginning of an Inner Release, you’ll time to do one of the Fell Cleaves, which can harm DPS overall, since Infuriate timer also doesn’t go down. Very tricky to perform to begin with, and the payoff isn’t necessarily worth it.
• Warrior’s Unchained allows it to be a great MT candidate out of all the other tanks because you can continue dealing most of the damage while in your defensive stance. They can also generate enmity very quickly with all of their OGCDs, and they can go right into the Fell Cleave combo, which gains good enmity simply by how strong it is.
• Although I do not main Warrior, I have been experimenting with it enough to feel confident in my approach of it. Again, any feedback from long-time Warrior veterans is very much appreciated as long as there is a good reasoning behind it.

Dark Knight

->->

Enmity Combo Total Potency: 670

->->

Damage Combo Total Potency: 700

OGCDs (Off Global Cooldowns)

• Blood Weapon: Reduces weaponskill cast time and recast time, spell cast time and recast time, and auto-attack delay by 10% and converts physical damage dealt into MP, while reducing weaponskill TP cost by 20%. Lasts 15 seconds and cannot be used if Grit is active. Will be turned off if Grit is activated. At level 66, increases Blood Gauge by 3 each time a physical attack lands.
• Blood Price: Restores MP when damage is received for 15 seconds. At Level 66, Increases Blood Gauge by 1 every time damage is received and by 4 over time while in battle.
• Dark Arts: Powers up or adds an effect to other abilities. Effect fades when ability that can use Dark Art’s buff is used.
• Salted Earth: Creates an area that deals 75 damage to enemies within the area. Lasts 21 seconds. Every tick increases the Blood Gauge by 1.
• Plunge: Potency of 200 and charges at the enemy.
• Carve and Spit: Potency of 100 and recovers MP if not in Dark Arts. 450 if in Dark Arts, making this the attack that gains the most potency when in Dark Arts.
• Delirium: Restores MP. Extends the duration of Blood Weapon and Blood Price by 8 seconds and 16 seconds respectively. Costs 50 Blood Gauge.
• Bloodspiller: Potency of 400, Dark Arts Potency of 540. Grit Potency of 475, Grit Dark Arts Potency of 650

Level 50

For optimal enmity generation, start in Grit and Unmend in. Do Enmity Combo, while using Dark Arts right before the last hit in the combo to increase enmity generation even further. Blood Price while taking damage to keep a constant amount of MP being recovered. If MP is necessary, do damage combo to restore some.

For high enmity and medium damage, start the same as above. After doing two enmity combos with Dark Arts, turn off Grit and use Blood Weapon whenever possible to restore MP and increase damage output. Dark Arts right before Souleater, and if there is any extra MP, Dark Arts right before Syphon Strike as well to get a little bit of extra damage in. Prioritize Souleater for Dark Arts first, however, as it does more damage.

For medium enmity and high damage, start the same as above. Only do one enmity combo with Dark Arts, then turn off Grit and continue rotation as normal.

For optimal damage, make sure Grit is turned off and do damage rotation as normal.

Level 60

For optimal enmity generation, do the Level 50 enmity rotation, while also making use of Dark Arts for Carve and Spit, and using other cooldowns as they become available.

For high enmity and medium damage, do the same as high enmity, medium damage level 50 while prioritizing Dark Arts for Carve and Spit first, then Souleater. Use other cooldowns as they become available.

For medium enmity and high damage, start the same above, but only one enmity combo with Dark Arts. Turn off Grit, then continue damage rotation as normal.

For optimal damage, make sure Grit is turned off and do damage rotation as normal.

Level 70

For optimal enmity generation, do the Level 60 enmity rotation while adding in Bloodspiller whenever possible. If low on MP, make sure to use Delirium while Blood Price is active to increase the timer by 16 seconds. Still prioritize Carve and Spit for Dark Arts, followed by Souleater, then Bloodspiller, as Souleater has more potency gain than Bloodspiller from Dark Arts.

For high enmity, medium damage, do the same as high enmity, medium damage level 60 while adding in Bloodspiller whenever possible. If low on MP, make sure to use Delirium while Blood Weapon is active to increase the timer by 8 seconds.

For medium enmity and high damage, start the same as above, but only one enmity combo with Dark Arts. Turn off Grit, then continue damage rotation as normal.

For optimal damage, make sure Grit is turned off and do damage rotation as normal.

Things to note:

• It is assumed that Darkside is on at all times. There is no reason not to have it on, and it gives you the ability to use Dark Arts, which is very important. The only drawback is you cannot regen MP normally, and no one can give you MP, so Syphon Strike and other self-restore MP moves are important to manage it. If in the middle of a phase change that could take long, you can turn it off to benefit from the MP regen. However, if this period of time is quick, you can lose more MP by turning it off then on.
• Although Dark Passenger is an OGCD, the MP usage can be used for other abilities that can get you more damage. Only use Dark Passenger when there are a big group of enemies to benefit from. Otherwise, you’re better off using Dark Arts to power off another move instead.
• If there are adds in the fight, make sure to use Sole Survivor to get a nice MP bonus from it. Unfortunately, it’s only good if there are adds in a fight, or else nothing happens if the enemy doesn’t die in the time frame for Sole Survivor.
• Dark Knights rely heavily on how their MP is managed, which makes their basic rotation much easier than the other tanks, but their OGCD game much more important. Being able to use as many attacks during Blood Weapon is important for that extra MP, since it is easy to lose MP as the fight goes on for long.
• Although I have used Dark Knight and studied it, it is still my least experienced tank, so any further advice would be encouraged. I gather my data from personal experience as well as looking at top parses for this current patch from the top Dark Knight players worldwide and understanding the pattern behind it.

Conclusion

Hopefully this guide has successfully covered the basics of tanking and can help further your knowledge as a tank. I decided to go over enmity in great detail since it seems to be the concept that most players are 100% familiar with, even if they’ve had some experience with. Another thing is that you should go for a defensive approach if you’re just starting to learn tanking. As you grow more comfortable with it, switch to a more offensive stance and use your defensive cooldowns more effectively to improve. Personally, I am all for high damage whenever possible, but it’s more important to keep the team alive and perform your role. It’s better to do 1 damage than 0, so get comfortable first with the basics, then bit by bit try and get more involved in higher damage. If you’re simply interested in the casual aspect, then just doing your job should be good enough. If you’re interested in end-game raiding, then it will be good to get comfortable out of your defensive stance, just keep that in mind.