A random conglomeration of thoughts on Dynamis.

I have been putting some thought into how to improve Dynamis for myself and others, and I have come to a few fundamental ideas that I think if they were adhered to would improved runs for everyone. Now I have not tanked a Dynamis, and until I level PLD probably never will, but I do think that as a responsible member of a very good Dynamis LS I can make some suggestions on how I would slightly adjust our tanks for certain runs. Yesterday for example, we had Beaucidine and, not to fault anyone in particular, it was a mess. I believe part of the issue was the fact that we had many newer PLD's as alliance main tanks. Now I can understand the need to train new PLD's to be able to handle places like Beaucidine, but in this case it was detrimental to the run as a whole. Training is best saved for places like starter cities, as the ability to get AF in outlands is larger based on how many mobs you kill and thusly how quickly you can kill them. So, even when it is time to move up a less seasoned PLD to start tanking an outlands area it is better to do so in a small and controlled manner, perhaps first by back-up tanking for a more veteran tank, or to only have one new tank and the others being veteran tanks. I know this is a long and tedious process for people, but honestly, efficiency is the only way to maximize AF2 collection in outlands and even that isn't a complete prerequisite. Throwing several relatively untrained PLD's into outlands as main tanks only works to decrease efficiency. Of course I understand this all has to be balanced out, but balance is something that was much in need yesterday, and was sorely lacking.

So, now that I have complained, do I get off scott-free? No, as a responsible person I will suggest how I would tank in Dynamis to help improve efficiency and thus AF2 drops. :) The most important thing is to realize that Dynamis is not regular tanking - This should be obvious but often times is the most difficult thing to comprehend. Gear choices are likely different for Dynamis, as are even fundamental things like macros. For example, I make no claims as to how others make their macros but for myself, I would likely have the following macro for picking a mob:

/l Pulling {t} Please assist.
/ja Provoke {t}
/wait 1
/attack {t}
*Please ignore the improper brackets as they are HTML symbols and I dont know how to have them appear as they should.

This macro appears to me to be the fastest way to indicate a mob then allow the melee to /assist in mass, which is ultimately the most important thing for a tank to do in Dynamis. If I were tanking I would also likely have another macro I would use prior to that depending on the situation and the amount of lag in the zone, and that would just be a simple /target macro, so that I would be able to quickly cycle through the mobs, then use my "picking" macro to allow everyone to engage. For everyone that is just standing around and mashing their /assist macro, picking a mob AND engaging that mob is the most important thing that a tank can do. Lag may force people to use shorter macros, but the most important thing to remember is to get engaged on a mob as fast as possible.

Another important part of realizing that tanking in Dynamis is different than normal tanking is the balance of the activity at PLD has during a fight. As several different PLD's have told me, it is not so much that you are even tanking in Dynamis but more importantly that you are a puller in heavy armor. What is likely to happen after engaging is that a tank will provoke, flash and perhaps get a cure off before some heavy hitting DD rips hate off of you with some big WS, and usually the mob will be dead shortly after. Of course the job of the PLD is to try to maintain hate but wasting MP on a Flash or using a Provoke on a mob that is already below 40% of its health will likely just be a waste of time when that MP or ability could be used on the next mob, thus speeding the process of killing mobs. Of course some mobs like NM's and others may take a bit longer to kill, and I am not trying to introduce some kind of Iron (Will) Law on how a PLD should and should not tank, but perhaps trying to interject some ideas as to improve the efficiency for some PLDs.

All of this is, of course, predicated on the idea that DD's are doing their job and properly assisting the their tanks, if they are not, then no matter how efficient a tank is their efforts will be wasted. But tanking is definitely a much more complicated issue than just mashing an /assist macro. While speed is a necessity for tanks, patience is a virtue for the DD. If everyone does their job properly there should be more and more AF for everyone.

Before yesterday's run, I finally decided to dump my 7 merits into Overwhelm, and I noticed the difference immidiately, as did the mobs... Doing 1k+ Tachi: Gekkos usually draws some attention from Dynamis mob and that attention was usually enough to kill me pretty quickly. LOL As for yesterday's Dynamis-Beaucidine, we managed to get only two AF drops, but they were good ones, WAR legs and PLD legs. The PLD legs went to Vangie making her 5/5 on the set! Dynamis-Beaucidine wouldn't be so bad if the drop rates were better, but its always a full run with something like 2-3 AF drops. Usually if something doesn't drop by the first Yagudo NM's then nothing is going to drop for a long time and the run is just going to suck. Ah well, that is Dynamis.

After Dynamis, Bubbly asked if we could go and get him a Bard Testimony so he could try fighting Maat again. Of course I said no problem and we were off to Castle Oztroja. Interestingly enough I ran into one of those random and generally worthless NM's that make people wonder why SE even added them to the game. A Frost Robe dropped and then I promptly forgot about it and who it went to. LOL Oh, well, so we farmed for a while, and we managed to get every single testimony for the mobs in the area (MNK, BLM and NIN) multiple times before we saw a BRD Testimony. I even got a key and a coffer and a wonderful Safeguard Ring... orz... But finally the BRD testimony dropped and Bubbly had his fight with Maat, and I wish him good luck. :)