How To Tank In Frontline Video
Overview
Welcome to our How To Tank In Frontline guide put together in partnership with the “Revival” FFXIV PVP Community Discord.
What Do Tanks Do In Frontline?
A common question asked by players unfamiliar with Frontline is what do tanks do?
Your number one role is to lead the charge for the rest of your team.
As a Tank you want to absorb damage for your team while guiding them to the next position as you have the highest HP of all roles, defensive cooldowns and an innate mitigation bonus.
By having people attack you, this allows your DPS and Healers to go in without being targeted. In doing this you guide your team in both focus and objectives.
A rule of thumb is to always target the top team.
You want to win for the rewards as second place will not reward you with anything special.
Crowd Control
All Tanks have access to abilities that allow them to isolate and kill single targets.
All Tanks
Full Swing deals damage and knocks a target back for 15 yalms
Low Blow deals damage and stuns a target for 2s to prevent them from moving and healing
Weapon Throw allows you to pull someone close for 10 yalms into a deadly position
Job Specific
GNB has the AoE Bind 
Bow Shock which is very powerful for team pushing
WAR has 
Holmgang to hold a target in place
Use these tools to help setup kills for your team.
Support
All tanks can support their team with their tools so be sure to use them often.
Single Target
DRK has 
The Blackest Night which applies a 3,000 potency shield to a target party member for s6s- GNB has
Aurora which heals a target party member for 3,000 potency and applies a 600 potency Regen for 15s 
PLD has 
Intervention which reduces a target party member’s damage taken by 20%, or 30% if used when under the 
Rampart status- WAR has
Nascent Flash which restores HP to a target party member equaling that recovered by the Warrior’s Nascent Flash and reduces their damage taken by 10%
Party Wide
- DRK has
Dark Missionary which reduces damage taken by self and nearby party members and increases incoming healing by 10% - PLD has
Tetsudo which applies a 3,000 potency shield to all in the party in a 15 yalm radius for 10s - WAR has
Shake It Off which applies a 2,000 potency shield to all in the party in a 15 yalm radius for 10s, or 4,000 potency when consuming an active Rampart status
Tank Adrenaline Rush 
Aegis Boon
All Tanks have access to the strongest party mitigation tool with their Limit Break.
It reduces incoming damage by 25% for yourself and your party around you in a 30 yalm radius for 10s.
Each player in PVP has their own individual Adrenaline Rush so make sure to use yours often in order to push your team forward or to help retreat from the enemy teams.
Killing And Pressure
Tanks are capable of dealing big damage in PVP.
Of course damage dealers SHOULD be out killing and damaging you, but with enough practice, you can become the highest killer or damage dealer in all of the alliances.
Tips
To engage successfully, use a defensive cooldown, look at the map and make sure your team is not being flanked or fighting another team. Do not sacrifice yourself. You want to go in, take hits and get out without dying.
Judge how many people are on the enemy side and how many are on your team. If it looks unwinnable do not push too hard. Looking at Battle Highs is also helpful. If your team has more Battle High and has experienced players you can potentially turn and win an 8 v 16 situation.
When initiating, use AoE tools as 
Holy Circle, 
Stalwart Soul, 
Fated Circle and Nascent Flash with 
Decimate in order to deal damage and heal up.
You should also be looking at HP bars If you see someone with low HP you can switch targets to them to finish them off.
Another strong damage ability for tanks is the additional skill Nascent Flash synergises with 
Retaliation which allows you to deal damage to players who hit you. Combine this with doing AoE damage and you could potentially push numbers similar to a DPS depending on how much Battle High you have. However, keep in mind that Retaliation does not reflect nor mitigate any damage. Use it in combination with defensive cooldowns.
Finally, the last tactic is killing players from fall damage with knock backs. This is mostly viable on the Secure Frontline map.
If you run the Full Swing ability you can 100% confirm a kill on someone by using Stun into Full Swing to knock someone off a ledge. Make sure to be careful because if you are doing this you are susceptible for someone to return the favor and do the same to you.
You can also find positions in maps where Weapon Throw will do the same to pull someone in to fall to their death.
Which Tank To Play?
Play what you enjoy. Frontline is a casual mode for entertainment and all Tanks are viable for different reasons:
- DRK is great at getting kill shots due to having oGCD burst with
Edge of Shadow in addition to the highest tank mobility thanks to Plunge resetting anytime you get a kill or assist - GNB has the AoE bind Bow Shock which is extremely powerful for pushing
- PLD has
Hallowed Ground which is great for absorbing damage and stopping objectives - WAR is a powerhouse due to Holmgang and the way Nascent Flash synergises with Retaliation
Change Log
- 06/07/2021: Release of this page