Aleczan's New Diary (FFXIV: ARR)

[Self note: short link to this entry is http://wp.me/p3QlNa-nh]

To the Summoner person using Ifrit in Ifrit (Hard),
(Time of incident = December 15, 2015, 4:35 AM on UTC+7, which equals December 14, 1:35 PM on PST.)
As my friend was unable to construct an English response to you when you belittled the tanks in Ifrit (Hard), I am now trying to reach out to you in her stead.

Please note that I wrote this entry for 2 reasons:
– My friend was extremely frustrated because she was unable to convey her feelings or to explain herself and the situation to you.
– I’m hoping that upon hearing us out, you will now understand the basic reasons for 1) why the party should let the tanks pull first, not the DPS and 2) why people (and their pet/summon) should not stand in front of the enemy except when they are the tanks.

I did not write this to upset you, or anyone. It is simply to express the feelings and reasons from a tank’s (my friend) and a healer’s (me) point of view as well as to correct any misconception you might have had about pulling and aggro.

 

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Short version:

• 1) You asked “Why my ifrit was tanking?”

Answer: Because you pulled first, before the tank.

• 2) You asked “Tanks can’t even hold the aggro?”

Answer: No, the tanks gained back the aggro and was holding it (they were competing each other for aggro, in order to put situation back to normal). Your Ifrit-Egi died because it stayed in front of Ifrit and took damage from frontal AoE attacks.

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Full version:

I will write with so much detail here, because you might not have meant to be rude, but only lack the knowledge on how the battle really works. In this entry, I offer you the explanation of the situation in question.

• 1) You asked “Why my ifrit was tanking?”

Answer: It is simple, because you ordered your Ifrit-Egi to attack before tanks did any action on the enemy. As everyone knows, the first person or NPC who lands the attack on an enemy (or uses any action when detected by an enemy, or uses any action/spell on the person who is detected by the enemy) will always receive the initial enmity (first aggro) and sometimes also receive the first one or first two attacks. It is common for a DPS to receive damage from the enemy’s first blow, if the DPS did not allow time for tanks to be the one to start the battle.

An attack or two on a DPS could easily kill a DPS, or at least cause some trouble. Therefore, in usual circumstance, it is a widely accepted practice for the DPS players to wait patiently until any of the tanks attacks or uses a skill first. This is to ensure that no one else gets whacked in the face before tank could secure the aggro. Moreover, as you may already know, Ifrit-Egi is a melee type, so the range between Ifrit-Egi and the Ifrit was very close, therefore the tank didn’t have a chance to divert the aggro before your Ifrit-Egi received damage.

Let me elaborate further, usually, as a WHM myself, I would stand a distance away from the tank AND the enemies. If, under unfortunate circumstance, I ever draw enough enmity for the monster to target me, while the monster is running from the battle front line to me (in the back line), the tank would have about a second to spend Provoke, for example, on the monster to call it back to front line.

In your case, as Ifrit-Egi is a close-range attacker, and because you ordered your Ifrit-Egi to stand in the tank spot instead of moving away, it is inevitable that the Ifrit-Egi would receive a blow (or many) from Ifrit.

• 2) You asked “Tanks can’t even hold the aggro?”

Answer: To elaborate from the point 1) above, for the sake of team work, most DPS prefer to let a tank attack first instead of rushing in to steal enmity and complaining about it later when they get their face kicked by the enemy. Enmity (aggro) control is easier when the party allows tank to land the first attack/skill on the enemy.

Also, as you might not realize it, even after the tanks win back the aggro, if you or your Ifrit-Egi keep standing in the tank’s spot, of course all of the frontal AoE will also inflict damage on you or your Ifrit-Egi.

Ifrit has a front swipe (claw) attack that hits EVERYONE in a cone area in front of it. There is also a flame breath attack, called Incinerate, which will damage everyone in front of Ifrit. Therefore, although your Ifrit-Egi didn’t have the aggro, and the monster was already attacking the tanks because they gained back the aggro, your Ifrit-Egi still took damage, and died.

• 3) The other person commented “too much deeps” and “so stronk [sic]”

Answer: Incorrect. Gaining initial aggro because you jumped your attack button doesn’t indicate that you have too much DPS and are too strong for the tanks to handle. Just because your summon died from that AND also from staying in the wrong spot doesn’t mean your summon had the aggro all the time. Please look at the Target Bar more carefully and read whom the enemy was attacking, because I’m so sure that the two tanks were competing aggro against each other and wouldn’t let the aggro stay on your Ifrit-Egi for too long.

Moreover, from what my friend told me, Ifrit-Egi died when the enmity was on my friend, meaning she had the red aggro indicator, not your Ifrit-Egi. This is also why I concluded that your Ifrit-Egi died from eating AoE from Ifrit, not by holding aggro.

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Also, I’d like to tell you that it is very unkind and is NOT OK to ignore the party role and mess things up, and then be mean about it, mocking the tank. It is a disruptive behavior and seems rude to me. It is also selfishly discouraging to talk down other person, especially when the problem was caused by the fact that you did things that a DPS shouldn’t do, and then let your summon die by leaving it in the tank’s spot. You blamed the tanks for your errors in using preemptive pull and then letting Ifrit-Egi stay in the wrong and dangerous spot. (DPS should avoid standing in the tank’s spot, because many enemies, especially Primals, have frontal Area attacks that don’t even have AoE indicator on the floor to notify you.)

The hidden paragraphs below (in white text) are quite judgmental on my part and may contain assumption about you, your action and your statement. What I said in the next 2 paragraphs could be a little offensive to you, so please feel free to skip it if you do not wish to see the message.

(Hidden text begins)

I felt like you did it on purpose, because for a summoner who’s already level 60, it seems impossible to me for someone to not understand the concept of aggro and first aggro, as well as frontal AoE attacks. If you really intentionally did that, please, I beg you to stop. It if not nice to others. It is also bad for the learning and practicing for the tank, because pulling by tank’s surprise messes up the battle rhythm and the team work. When a DPS pulls before a tank does, it takes experienced or quick-reacting tanks to correct the situation and put things back in control. It is fine if someone accidentally pulled before a tanks and then allowed the tank to take control of the situation without insulting the tank. It is NOT OK to do it intentionally only to mock the tanks or brag about your almighty DPS rate or strength.

Please be a team player and stop bullying the tanks. Tanks are rare nowadays and it is so difficult to get into a Duty Finder party because we don’t have enough tanks to fill up the DF. Playing tank is hard and stressful enough, they don’t need more discouragement, poor treatments, mockery and insults from you or anyone. Please be kind and be considerate. Other players behind the characters you see in the game are actual people, are real flesh, and they have feelings. They aren’t just pixels on your screen.

(Hidden text ends)

Please also feel free to leave a comment if you would like to explain your actions or if we’ve misunderstood you in any way.