Tank suggestions?

Howdy folks I'm a new player coming from playing Rift as my main mmo and I'm wondering which of the three options I'd enjoy most. In rift I had raiding experience on three different tanks that I'll rank in order of preference so anyone familiar with the game may be able to help out with possible comparisons.

1. Riftstalker the rogue tank. Highest health pool, very mobile, ridiculously easy to get and keep aggro but relatively low damage. Decent cooldowns for when things go wrong.

2. Arbiter the mage tank. Average health but very powerful cooldowns and damage mitigation. High dps and good aoe capabilities.

3. Justicar the cleric tank. Average in hp and dps but lots of utility in the form of self and raid heals in addition to a combat rez. Has good ranged options and can easily get aggro of a large group of enemies.

So that's that, any information you guys have would be most helpful!

1 - Marauder -> Warrior has high HP and easiest to keep aggro, also high damage too. The high HP comes from their tank stances which work differently than the other two tanks: increases HP and healings received instead of raw damage taken reduction.

2 - Dark Knight has plenty of off-global cooldown attacks and AoE capabilites. DK works differently than the other two tanks by the way they use MP more often than TP so you'll need to know some MP managements when playing this job.
Dark Knight can only be accessed after clearing ARR main storyline, and your account must have the current expansion purchased and automatically starts at level 30.

3 - Gladiator -> Paladin is the most basic tank class among the tanks. DPS is okay, but the expansion added a few utilities that allow a Paladin to shield and heal party members (although not as effective as healers themselves) and a few attack skills. The only downside for the class is that most of their attacks are mostly single target (the lv50 Circle of Scorn is the only damage AoE skill they have).

You can start by using Gladiator since it's the easiest tank class to get used to the tanking role but you can also play all 3 to see which one fits your style. However, regardless of which tank you choose in this game, you will still need at least a Gladiator level 22 for raids and party in general due to the skill "Provoke".

Also a Warrior requires a level 30 Marauder and level 15 Gladiator to unlock. Paladin requires level 30 Gladiator and 15 for Conjurer. Dark Knight as mentioned : requires Heavensward expansions and complete ARR storyline to unlock.

Long post but I hope it helps.

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Originally Posted by LyonsPride

Howdy folks!

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Hiya. I haven't played Rift, but based on your descriptions I think I can help you out a bit. Gonna speak a bit blunt since you've tanked before so you probably know most of the terms for tank things.

First off, all tanks have what is essentially the same amount of HP. Paladin and Dark Knight both have tank stances which reduce damage received by 20%, whereas Warrior has a tank stance that increases it's max HP by 25% and healing received by 20% while active. This translates to the same amount of damage taken before hitting 0 and roughly the same amount of healing (there are some distinct differences for WAR, mainly that the healing bonus from it's tank stance doesn't work on healing abilities - only spells, however it also has the highest amount of self healing and other important stuff that evens that out).

In terms of cooldowns, WAR has short CDs and lots of self healing, PLD specializes in dealing with physical damage due to it's shield, and DRK specializes in dealing with magic damage due to it having a CD that reduces magic damage by 30% on a 60s CD timer. All that said, any of the 3 tanks are currently able to do all content so I wouldn't worry too much about who has the most CDs.

DPS-wise WAR is ahead of the pack, followed by DRK and PLD who are fairly close (DRK a bit ahead).

Aggro might as well not even exist in this game, all tanks have infinite aggro generation after they get their tank stance and at 60 you will rarely even use your tank stance once you get good enough.

In terms of AOE damage, WAR and DRK both have a lot of it (DRK has more sustain, WAR has more burst) whereas PLD has... an AOE DoT on a 25s CD timer... and that's about it. PLD is the worst of the 3 for 4man dungeons, however they're still entirely doable.

There's tons of other little things that seperate the 3 tanks, and a lot of important ones. I can tell you that if you pick WAR then you've got a guaranteed spot in any 8man group due to providing a debuff that lowers the target's damage dealt by a flat 10% and can be applied whenever. DRK and PLD have to fight for the other spot, though either one fills it well.

Experiment with all 3 and see what one you like most. If you plan on being a tank it's a good idea to have different options at end game for your tanking needs anyway.

Here's a list of abilities for the 3 tanks:

DRK
PLD
WAR

Hopefully that'll help you out.

Welcome to FFIV !! There is going to be a whooole lot of things you will miss from Rift. Just the AH alone will be so basic in comparison. But to the point I think this is a great thread if you have not already read it.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...sfying-to-Play

Good luck, hope you have fun and again welcome to FFIV

Warrior: Huge HP pool. Damage mitigation is a lot harder for WAR than for DRK or PLD, since their mitigation requires more planning. (Storm's Path debuff and Inner Beast, not to mention the lack of built-in damage reduction from their tank stance). Their invulnerability move (Holmgang) is only 6 seconds (it's not THAT great, but top-tier players often abuse this move by using it to completely ignore a tank buster while they DPS) but it does have a lower cooldown than DRK or PLD's invuln. It also roots them in place. WAR has huge DPS capabilities though. WAR can apply a slash debuff (Storm's Eye) which decreases an enemy's slash resistance by 10%, and they can also apply another debuff (Storm's Path) that decreases an enemy's damage by 10%). WAR is a staple in most raid groups because they can dish out lots of damage while also being able to debuff the boss with those valuable debuffs. WARs often fill the offtank role, where the main tank tries to hold the boss as long as possible to increase a WAR's DPS uptime.

Dark Knight: Less HP than WAR. Same HP as PLD. Mitigation is pretty easy. Just pop a cooldown or more if it's up. They're good against magic damage since they can apply a debuff that decreases an enemy's intelligence (magic damage dealt) and they have Dark Mind -- a defensive cooldown which can negate up to 30% of incoming magic damage to the DRK which is HUGE. Their invulnerability move (Living Dead) for simplicity's sake forces the healer to spam focus heal the DRK or else he dies, though Living Dead does technically give the DRK a 10 second invulnerability. Slightly higher damage capability than PLD, but is still outshined by WAR. DRK fills the main tank role, but can still dish out a decent amount of damage compared to PLD. DRK also has the move Plunge, which allows the DRK to jump to an enemy. DRKs have to manage their MP, as they are a mana-based class.

Paladin: Same HP as DRK. Tanky as all hell due to their shield's block potential. Their invulnerability is straight up 10 seconds of no damage, whereas DRK's invuln gives healers a heart attack if the healers aren't raid-level. This allows PLD to cheese certain mechanics and spoil the offtank rotten. Damage is less than that of DRK. Paladins have the spell Clemency, which is a nuke heal, and they also have Divine Veil, which shields the party for 10% of the PLD's max HP.