Janeth's Guide to BLU Tanking

Introduction
We all know that BLU is a multifaceted, adaptable job. This guide is about an underutilized aspect of that job: tanking. If you're one of the BLUs who chose the job expecting to put all your spells to use and be called upon for something different every party, then this guide is for you, whether you're level 10 or level 75.

Note: This guide assumes you have at least one job at level 30 and are familiar with basic game mechanics.

FAQ
Q. Why should I tank on BLU?

A. As blue mages, we're capable of switching roles at the last minute. It's a good idea to be familiar with more than one role for the situations where it's needed. Sometimes a tank (or healer) leaves a party and you're unable to find another one. Sometimes one dies mid-fight and you can take over and save the party. It's also a good example to set for newer BLUs. Finally, many people find it fun to play a different role sometimes. BLU tanking is a way to do that without having to go back to level 1.

Q. Do you think every BLU should tank?

A. I think every BLU should do the things they find fun. If you're unsure, I say try it!

Q. Do you think BLUs should always be tanking?

A. No, I think BLU is about choosing a role based on the needs of the party. Its strength is its flexibility. If all we did was tank, I'd be spreading awareness of BLU's DD or healing capabilities!

Q. Do you tank on BLU? Does this really work?

A. Yes, I've tanked EXP parties at every level range and am currently my endgame linkshell's main tank. I'd say about half of the events I do on my BLU are as a tank. I've received compliments about BLU tanking from healers, DDs and even non-BLU co-tanks--often the same people who were initially skeptical.

Q. Is it true that a BLU tank is hard to gear?

A. A BLU prepared to play multiple roles will need more gear than a BLU prepared to play only one, but not as much gear as someone prepared to play two different jobs. Expensive or endgame gear is not a requirement to tank.

Q. Is BLU a better tank than NIN or PLD?

A. It's not better or worse, just different. Just like PLD and NIN, there are situations where a BLU tank shines and situations where a different tank would be better. In general, a linkshell with PLDs and NINs will benefit more from inviting a BLU tank than another traditional tank, because it gives the linkshell more flexibility.

Q. Okay, but if some people in my linkshell can come as a BLU tank and some can come as a traditional tank job, should I pick the BLUs?

A. Endgame tanking works on the same basic principles regardless of job. Barring fights that require a specific tanking strategy, the people with the most tanking experience and the best tanking gear will perform the best.

Q. Does a BLU tank in an EXP party require a THF, or any specific type of support?

A. A BLU tank does not require a THF. Like a PLD (or the healers, for that matter) a BLU benefits greatly from Refresh but can function without it if the party is willing to work around it.

Q. Does a BLU tank in endgame require a specific type of co-tank or support?

A. No. A BLU tank in endgame uses both CE and VE and can easily adapt to a co-tank's style of tanking, as long as the BLU is willing to cooperate rather than compete. A BLU tank requires no more support than a PLD.

Warrior
/WAR will be your bread and butter for much of the leveling process. At low levels, nothing compares to Provoke and MP conservation is important. At high levels, you'll need all the hate tools you can get! /WAR offers Provoke (10), Berserk (30), Defender (50), Double Attack (50), and Warcry (70).

Dancer
/DNC comes into play once you get Animated Flourish at 40 and really takes off once you get Jettatura at 48 (don't skip that, seriously). Through the 40s and 50s, you'll have more and more sources of MP, which means more cures, more damage and more hate. However, as DDs get more powerful Weapon Skills in the 50s and 60s, a BLU/DNC will struggle to hold hate. /DNC offers Drain Samba (10), Curing Waltz (30), Quickstep (40), Animated Flourish (40), Aspir Samba (50), Curing Waltz II (60), Drain Samba II (70), and Healing Waltz (70).

Ninja
/NIN is virtually a requirement for endgame tanking, but it won't do much for you until you get Utsusemi: Ni and Actinic Burst (Flash) at 74. The closest thing to tanking a mid-level BLU will use /NIN for is being a "first voke," either to prepare for SATA or to get a mob off the puller in a tankless party. Jettatura, Actinic Burst or spike damage are ideal for this purpose. /NIN offers Dual Wield (20), Utsusemi: Ichi (24) and Utsusemi: Ni (74).

Thief
/THF isn't my first choice as a tank, but sometimes you get into situations in which you don't have the opportunity or it isn't worth the effort to switch to a tanking sub, like when your tank leaves and someone else wants "just three more mobs..." A BLU/THF can have someone else "first voke" like you would for SATA and then SACA Mandibular Bite or Death Scissors to solidify hate. /THF offers Sneak Attack (30).

Tanking 101
Think of tanking as a continuum, like this:


 * Hate control ' - - - - - ' - - - - - '  Damage mitigation

When a tank makes a choice about gear, subjob, food or the like, or even when a leader chooses what job to invite as a tank, they're choosing to sacrifice one for the other, and thus affect their position on the scale. By default, PLDs tend to be on the left of this scale and NINs on the right, but both of those jobs have lots of room to move. A PLD, for example, might sub WAR for more hate control, NIN for more damage mitigation, or DNC or RDM for something in between. BLUs tend to be on the left by default, but BLU has just as much, if not more, room to move. This is the perspective from which we'll look at the mechanics of BLU tanking.

Strengths and Weaknesses of BLU Tanking
A BLU tank's biggest strengths:
 * Hate control. BLU has several equivalents to a PLD's flash, enough spells to spam tank like a NIN/DRK, and damage spikes to rival the DDs' that can be saved for when they're needed.
 * Managing casting enemies. Not only does BLU have several forms of stun, it has self-target only MDB spells and can set Magic Defense Bonus.
 * Adaptability. A BLU can tank radically different fights (such as tanking Byakko, then holding hate while farming diorite) or even switch roles within an event without a trip back to town. A BLU's hate tools are not dependent on a specific subjob.

A BLU tank's biggest weaknesses:
 * Spell range. A BLU can't kite or otherwise tank at a range.
 * MP. A BLU tank will struggle in a party that doesn't have the means to regenerate it.

Tanking EXP Parties
A tank in an EXP party should have just enough hate control to stay above the DDs most of the time and then focus on damage mitigation and/or dealing damage. (Yes, damage is damage, whether it comes from the tank or the DDs.) Gear, food, subjob and MP are all things that can be allocated towards one or more of these objectives. Some things serve multiple purposes--damage and healing are both excellent sources of hate. This is where adapting to your party comes in. Take a few fights to gauge the party and determine the party's needs.

If you don't keep hate, a DD is tanking. If you don't mitigate damage, a DD is tanking.

Some good sources of hate (from your main job): Jettatura (go get it), Actinic Burst, healing and damage.

Some good sources of damage mitigation (from your main job): Cocoon, Head Butt, Zephyr Mantle, healing, drains. Note that not all these sources require you to have hate, but it's still using MP and time for the purpose of damage mitigation.

You can wear attack, accuracy, haste and enmity gear to improve hate control, and VIT and -physical damage taken to improve damage mitigation. Don't worry about defense from gear; defense has diminishing returns and ceases to be effective after a certain point. Unless you're tanking naked, Cocoon and Protect will ensure you're at that point. Whether you're wearing VIT or attack gear, always macro gear in for spells: STR and accuracy for physical spells, MND for cures, etc.

"Tanking" Tankless Parties
Many high-level parties would rather dispense with the concept of a tank than have a BLU tank. Most merit parties won't invite any kind of tank at all, preferring PLDs and NINs to gear entirely for DD. In such a party, all the DDs sub NIN and bounce hate around using damage. While a single person blink tanking isn't practical before Ni, several melees with /NIN can bounce hate and take almost no damage. A BLU in such a party shouldn't be wearing tank gear and shouldn't use hate tools when no shadows are available or otherwise unbalance hate.

That said, there is an important place for a tanking mindset in a TP burn. A BLU can use a spell like Jettatura, Actinic Burst or a damaging spell to stabilize hate until the DDs can do some damage. The faster you take the mob off the puller, the faster the puller can pull another one. A BLU can also deliberately pull hate when the BLU has shadows and the mob's current target doesn't.

Tanking HNMs
For this purpose, "HNMs" is anything big and scary that linkshells form to fight. RotZ, CoP and ToAU kings, sky and sea gods, Omega and Ultima, upper-tier ZNMs, you name it. If subbing NIN is a necessity rather than a convenience, it's probably an HNM.

Endgame is kind of like Valkurm Dunes. Expect to die a lot, see stupid shout wars, and never quite be done with it for good.

HNM tanking is relatively independent of job--not all jobs can do it, but those that can do it more or less the same way. As an endgame tank, you'll almost always have 1-2 co-tanks. Most endgame tanks are PLD/NINs, but your co-tank may be a NIN/DRK, a RDM/NIN, or even another BLU. BLU uses both CE and VE and can comfortably co-tank with anyone who can keep their hate level higher than the mages. If you're having trouble balancing hate (either keeping up or holding back) give yourself some time to get used to your co-tank's style.

Holding back for your co-tank is very important. Ideally, one tank's hate level should be right behind the other, because when you take damage, your enmity goes down--if the tanks' hate is properly balanced, when one tank takes damage, the other will get hate. Not only does this mean the mages don't have hate, it means the damaged tank no longer has hate, giving the healers time to heal him. Sometimes one tank will have hate most of the fight with the others right behind her; sometimes hate will switch between the tanks. As a BLU, it's not hard to get hate if you want it, but if another tank has more experience or better gear, it won't hurt to let that tank have hate most of the time.

As a non-traditional tank job with the tools to do so, there'll always be that temptation to have the most hate and prove yourself as a tank, but take it from me: nothing makes a tank look bad like dying because you couldn't hold back for your co-tank.

Some good sources of hate: Actinic Burst, Temporal Shift, Jettatura, Exuviation, healing

Some good sources of damage mitigation: Shadows, Cocoon, healing

If you find yourself way behind on hate, such as after unweakening in the middle of the fight, here's your ace in the hole: Diffusion + Exuviation. If it hits three people, you get three times the hate of a normal Exuviation.

An HNM tank should gear for haste, enmity, HP, -physical damage taken and Fast Cast where you can get it. If you're at this point, you'd better know how to macro gear. Don't compare yourself to PLDs here: BLU has lower natural HP and a much harder time getting +enmity from gear, but it makes up for it in sheer number of hate tools. In terms of hate tools, being a BLU tank is like being a PLD and a NIN/DRK at the same time.

Links
Kyte's Guide to Blue Mage. General guide to BLU with some information on tanking.

BLU enmity table from Kanican's enmity testing.

How to Maintain Consistent Hate from Akirus's PLD guide.

Thycian's guide to endgame tanking for PLD/NINs.