Constructive opinion on Paladin and Warrior

So I have both my paladin and my warrior to about the same level. (Lvl 46 ATM) I have looked around Google and forums to see what's better for parties and what's good for end-game tanking but for the most part it's all pre 2.1. I'm not trying to find a way to start a fanboy argument between paladin and warriors. Just want to get an idea of why a party might pick one tank over another and what you would prefer when entering end-game primal fights and dungeons or raids.

In the end you're just helping this indecisive crazy help make up his mind on which tank to main. I appreciate all your opinions and hope this thread can help some other that are on the fence like myself. Thanks in advance!

As much as it doesn't help your situation, the tank you want depends on the fight.

Each tank has things it does somewhat better. In situations where there is large spike damage every 20-30 sec or so (mountain buster, death sentence), WAR is going to shine. On the other hand, if there is sustained damage or damage from multiple sources (caduceus, turn 4 adds) PLD is the star of the show.

This is not to say that the two can't trade positions successfully, it just means that WAR and PLD are actually fairly well balanced. As a result, for 2 tank scenarios it is best to bring both.

My opinion, be a tank: not a warrior, not a paladin, a tank. This means you main both.

I started out playing as a WAR. Leveled PLD just to know what it's like, I'm glad I did because it made my WAR tanking better and vice versa (playing healer and dps would help also, but let's not go crazy here xD).

I came to learn that the current content does not favor a tank in general. There are of course opinions such as WAR is a better MT on Twintania 'cause of inner beast, PLD's do better in T4 'cause of hollowed ground etc.. These are all true, the abilities for the particular encounter does help. Is it mandatory? Oh hells no.. I detest the opinions put up by the community, so please know that either tank can tank everything just fine. It's often a matter of taste as well.

Having both just gives you way more options. As for gearing: you'll have to decide on which one you'll spend your myths first. If luck is on your side, you'll have some Allagan drops which are interchangeable. I would not worry about BiS stuff too much, that's something for later. Just get as much i90 as you can and try to figure out what to go with first if you have a solid t1-4 going on.

As already stated both have moments where they shine, each fight is situational. Now I started to play paladin as my 1st tank option it is alright, but with the 2.1 buff to warrior I like warrior more, however it just depends on playstyle and what you feel more comfortable with. Both are nice and most parties will just take any tank since they are in a shorter supply.

Here's a pretty simple breakdown:

Paladin Advantages:
- Can mitigate bursts of high damage over a long period of time. An easy example is Ifrit EX, where every time he breathes on you he'll add a debuff stack which increases his damage dealt, which will get worse and worse as he constantly breathes down your neck. Paladin can pop a cooldown which lasts x seconds, then another that lasts x seconds. Paladin's are kings in this situation.
- Access to Hallowed Ground. Become completely invincible to (most) damage for 10s. Healers basically don't have to touch you for 10s, which is a godsend in Coil.
- Useful utility! Particularly Stoneskin, Silence, GCD stun, Cover, and a STR down debuff from RoH.

Warrior Advantages:
- Has a 6s 20% damage reduction ability that is available every (maximum) 23s. This, along with the constant 10% damage reduction debuff from Storm's Path, allows for really solid mitigation for bosses that hit really hard once ever x seconds. Examples would be Titan HM/EX and Twintania, which really suite the Warrior's toolkit for MTing.
- More damage while tanking! With access to Berserk, Unchained and Internal Release you'll be able to boost a solid amount of DPS for someone with a 20% DR from their tanking stance. It's not massively more than a Paladin, but it's a nice solid chunk.
- Different Utility! Storm's Eye and Storm's Path are both amazingly useful, especially as an off tank where you'll be able to keep both up 100% of the time.

The best 8 man party has a PLD and a WAR as they both bring different things to the party. Any 4 man content can be done with either - WAR has a slight advantage in that it can keep AOE aggro like it's nothing, but that's about it. Whichever seems more fun, play that. I have both at 50 and both can do T5, but I never play PLD simply because it's not as fun as WAR to me (and my co-tank is a PLD so that helps~). If you want to get both to 50, though, you should - they both share Darklight and Allagan armor, so you basically gear them up at the same time and use whichever one your group needs.

Since you already have your CNJ at 15, start with Paladin. Also, not sure if you're wondering or not, but I'd rank tanks this way in pvp:

MRD>PLD>WAR>GLD (this could change with future arenas/objectives).

Man you guys are awesome! Your comments have been SOOOO helpful. I appreciate it! Have a great community like this is double bonus lol. I don't always say thanks but when I do, I don't. Stay frosty my friends. Haha jk. In all seriousness thank you!

i have both at 50 and both used for engame tanking (cleared everything with both except for t5).. paladin is better than warriors in almost every aspect except aoe threat generation

I have both a WAR and a PLD in full ilvl 90 gear. I've been killing Twintania long before 2.1 came out so I have a decent amount of experience as a tank.

Even after the WAR buffs, PLD still mitigates damage better. They're better as endurance tanks and they're better at preventing large burst damage. To top it all off they have hallowed ground as their ultimate "Oh crap" move. Even though it's on a longer CD than Holmgang, it's still way more powerful.

WAR can definitely tank all end game content. PLD will be used mainly for progression groups and to make hard hitting bosses significantly easier. For mass pull speed runs in lower level dungeons, PLD will still be preferred due to the mitigation. Also, the large amounts of AOE threat WAR can produce is meaningless as long as PLD can hold AOE threat fine (which they can).

Everything I've said so far has made WAR sound inferior but that's far from the truth. If more bosses are introduced that circumvent parry/block (ADS and Ultima come to mind) the PLD advantage will take a dump in terms of mitigation. I doubt this will be the case for the most important fights but it seems like it might be the case for a few lower tier fights (we'll have to see).

WAR simply surpasses PLD as an off tank in almost all situations (except for maybe Titan because Hallowed Ground and Tempered Will + Sentinel are completely over powered for adds). WAR utility makes them extremely viable off tanks (Storm's Path is a huge help in a lot of fights, especially TT). WAR also does a LOT more damage than PLD. In the current content, WAR can get away with using DPS jewellery as an OT since nothing that has to be OT'd warrants a full tank set. Even if you have a PLD do the same, WAR does a lot more burst damage than PLD. So it's more ideal for mechanics like conflags and Dreadknights on TT. Some people will argue that a PLD OT is better for Dreadknights because of the longer stun, but once your group is comfortable with the fight, Dreadknights will drop almost right after they spawn, so they extra stunning is pointless. You'd rather have the extra burst damage from WAR to waste less time on DKs and kill TT faster.

WAR is a very powerful OT and completely capable of MT'ing all the current end game content. PLD will just be preferred for progression groups and groups that need the little extra mitigation PLD provides for end game encounters like TT. Aside from that, I find WAR to be a lot more engaging to play. You'd probably have more fun on a WAR unless you're a mitigation freak like me, in which case you'd prefer PLD.

The FF14 team has done a great job balancing the two tank classes, making them both viable. You should just keep in mind that if you decide to go WAR, due to popular community opinion you will be side lined as MT for PLD, and be slotted into the OT role in most groups.