I know this is a stupid newbie question, but what do battlers mean when they call pets tanks, cannons, etc.?

Basically, the terms refer to what the pet does in battle, so we'll go over it:

Tank:
Not oriented towards attack, but rather to be able to take hits for the team (or dodge them.) They're put in party slot 1, as that's where the opponents aim the most.

Generally they're Water, Shadow, and Earth elements.

Their proficiencies are generally Agi (for dodging and defences), HP (to be able to take more hits), and Attack (in Shadow and Earth tanks, this boosts the return they get on the enemy-hp-draining debuffs they inflict. In Water, it increases their damage absorbtion buffs power)

They are generally given Illusionist (Int/Agi) or Assassin (Str/Agi) gear, depending on element of the pet.

(Glass) Cannon : (aka. 'Squishy Wizard', but that's not really the terminology used here)
Focused on dealing damage only, at the expense of defences. They can't take hits well, but their damage output can be staggering. They're put in party slot 3 or 2

The two Cannon elements are Fire and Air.

Proficiencies go best in Attack and Dex (the debuffs of these elements require critical hits to be inflicted)

Equipment is Myrmidon (Str/Dex) or Evoker (Int/Dex)

Healer:
Focuses on team healing.

Light is the Team Healer element- while both Shadow and Earth can heal themselves, they can't heal other pets. Water pets over level 30 can technically, but need to use Ice barrier (lv30 finisher) to do so (or level 70 finisher Ice sphere), but they aren't designed to support the whole team with Healing.

Profs and equips are a bit up in the air with light pets, but I think most people lean toward Attack/Dex with them because, like with Shadow and Earth, the greater the damage the greater the HP return.


Generally teams have Tank/Healer/Attacker, but it all just depends on the person.

Okay! Thanks!