[GUIDE] Warrior: Skill Intensive Tanking

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Originally Posted by Giantbane

Remember, when you are playing OT to a PLD MT, it's not just your DPS you're bringing to the raid. You're also boosting the PLD damage (and threat) by 11% from the storm's eye debuff (provided you keep it up near 100%).

And you are much less *squishy* than other DPS since you've got extra HP, better base defense, and access to better defensive moves (than a DPS class), so that's less to worry about for your healers.

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Exactly, and a very good point. You're a self-healing monster that can take a ton of hits and be left unattended compared to the glass cannons that die in a single weight of the land or tumult by the 5th phase- ANY DPS at this point is a blessing, and one a warrior easily provides in lieu of our STR and DPS raising stats that benefit the raid as a whole rather than simple matters of raw DPS alone.

Fracture and if you're main tanking Vengeance are important to keep up as much as possible (for vengeance as soon as it becomes available unless you're using it to quickly clutch a Wrath V for DPS/healing purposes) as they further increase your damage and therefore enmity.

Just because the attack doesn't do a large amount instantly do NOT overlook the benefits of a damage tick every second/boss attack in favor of a "main" enmity combo.

Mantra is a useful ability, yes, and one that can definitely help the raid in clutch AOE healing fights like just about every hard mode and beyond boss fight. Just remember that it doesn't stack with any other bonus to group healing.

A question, I'm a noob MRD (just hit 25 last night). I've found some good success when tanking multiple mobs by using Maim > Bloodbath and then tabbing through the pack of mobs and Fracturing each one before using a few Overpowers as a self heal technique if I'm taking a lot of dmg on a pull. Will this strategy continue to be effective as I level up and progress through WAR? Or should I skip the Fracturing and just go straight into Overpower spam?

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Originally Posted by Hagbard

Will this strategy continue to be effective as I level up and progress through WAR? Or should I skip the Fracturing and just go straight into Overpower spam?

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A good question, when you hit 30- in order to unlock your warrior crystal you have to level paladin to 15. Now the cool thing is when you hit 12 on the paladin you get a nice cross-class ability called "flash." What's so cool about it is it does all the threat of an overpower without requiring *any* TP. This makes it your go-to "fluff" enmity for group pulls as the DPS will get to the point of not being able to swap much off the group's main target for the fracture spam. An excellent use of the skill, make no mistake and I'm glad you've come around to using it as such- but after you hit 30 and 15 on gladiator you can accomplish the same effect enmity wise with a single flash.

What about haymaker? It seems that would go nicely with featherfoot. And it hits for a ton.

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Originally Posted by curespoge

What about haymaker? It seems that would go nicely with featherfoot. And it hits for a ton.

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While the additional DPS is always a nice thought, what cross class skill would you give up for it? Inner release raises your already nice crit rate, provoke will instantly put you at the top of the aggro should MT go down/someone pull unintended, Second Wind is that clutch self-heal, Flash is the AOE that uses MP to let you build up TP during longer fights, and Featherfoot increases the dodge rate. You can custom build a more DPS warrior, but it's important to remember that at the end of the day you're a tank and your DPS will not be as high as legitimate DPS classes.

As it's been kicked around some more allow me to elaborate on your stat choice: Stack VIT or stack STR?

Simply put, stacking VIT will gimp your enmity gain and damage for the lower levels, as well as during your initial 50s from Titan and AK on down. The Titan fight is the first real DPS check of the game and therefore the ideal is to be STR heavy going into it.

The REAL stat argument is after this point, during the 3rd and 4th turn of the Coils where every stat matters in regard to your tanking damage. Keep this in mind as you level as stat reallocation is simple.

In case it isn't apparent many are questioning why I don't "just write that in the guide" when I'm answering questions or during discussions over mechanics. Simply put: this is a guide, and nothing more.

Most players starting their journey with a game, particularly an MMO, see what everyone else is doing and tend to apply that to what they're doing whenever they realize they're not doing something correctly. This is merely a starting point for them to safely expand off of- not copy my gear, stats, and rotations expecting to clear Turn 4 and attempt the 5th consistently as that deprives them the value of "experience" in favor of forever being "carried."

Given the recent instability with a lot of FCs due to the free server transfers (available until Tuesday!) it's a common question on how a warrior can work on their timing when it comes to their Wrath V stacks and expected heals when they either PUG frequently or their group is too small to produce consistent DPS for percentage based attacks (like Ifrit's 75,50,25 "tank smack combo") or responding to timed abilities (Titan's Mountainbuster).

My advice is to start with a single healer and learn their healing rotations. Simply knowing what ability should come and timing a simple inner beast/infuriate/inner beast will sync the both of you and make those pesky "I take too much damage" moments a thing of the past.