New Player, seeking advice on job choice

When playing MMOs, my favorite role to play is usually that of a tank. Historically it's also a role in fairly high demand, so what I want to know is two things.

1. What job is best for tanking, Paladin or Warrior? (being easy to level with little support would be a plus)

2. Are tanks in a high demand? If so, which class is in the most demand?

Any advice would be very helpful, I just started on the Famfrit server, and am starting off as a Paladin, though it wouldn't be hard to switch to a warrior at this early point.

Tanks and healers are both in high demand... Paladin is great for holding agro with a lot of enemies where warrior is a bit harder... Don't misinterpret that both are fairly easy to get agro it's just one is better than the other from what I have noticed... As for the which one is in more demand, there is really no answer because no one cares either way as long as you hold agro.... Hope that helps

Oh my yes tanks and healers are always in demand.
The 2 classes of tanking is a toss up as PLD used to be easier to use and such but SE were supposed to tune Warrior.
I always looked at it like this, PLD can take more dmg while Warrior can but is more of a harder hitter.
DPS, well unless you are in a FC or linshell wait times are very long on duty finder usually

Yes. Either way, you will want to level both gladiator and marauder if you are serious about tanking at endgame. Try them out and see which suits you better.

As stated above, PLD and MRD are both in high demand. Most players will not care what specific class is tanking at this point (although PLD used to be more popular and viable for endgame, pre-2.1). Warriors have seen a tremendous buff in the recent content update. The result is that PLD is preferred for certain bosses that deal steady constant damage, whereas WAR is preferred for bosses that deal large spikes of damage. To be safe, consider leveling both. There is no huge difference, although some static groups and strategies specify either warrior or paladin explicitly (e.g. one Twintania fireball strat requires a warrior and scholar combination. a paladin will literally die if he attempts it.).

That said, PLD is considered the easier tank to use, while WAR requires some more practice to do well. Paladin btw relies more on damage mitigation and positioning than warrior, and some will find the rotation of cooldown skills boring compared to the warrior's more tactical use of wrath and stormseye. Obviously, each class suits to different playstyles, so try both out and see which you prefer. The community in general will not care so long as you can keep the monster's attention.

As for advice, it will take some time to get used to tanking. Enmity is closer to the old EQ system where it takes a while for tanks to build enough so dps don't steal it right away. The recent patches have made your aoe enmity abilities better, but your single enmity is still the same. Just be aware of this slight quirk to the system if you are used to WoW and similar aggro systems.

Also, I do suggest leveling both gladiator and marauder up. They provide useful cross-class abilities that are almost mandatory at top-tier end-game. At high-level endgame, you will have leveled up most of your cross-classes to level 20-35 for utility abilities that are almost mandatory (CNJ stoneskin and GLD provoke). So any levels you put in trying out those classes is not a waste.

WAR is stronger at damage and holding aggro with multiple enemies. Very fun to play. Requires some practice to be very good.
PLD is more durable easier to play on single targets.... that is all.

Hi there. Nooby here.

I have levelled my gladiator up to level 20 and marauder to level 29. I have to say that Marauder is my second favorite class at the moment just right after archer. And yes, tanks are in demand. With a tank you choose a duty and you are usually in it at the second, with my archer I need to wait epical times of thirty minutes to one hour.

I'll tell you the main differences I saw in GLA and MDR, at least first levels and what I see they may be in future... Marauder is better making aggro than the Gladiator, in low levels you have a skill that in my opinion is better than Gladiator's flash. This skill is overpower, is an AoE that generates aggro, and much more than flash, because flash doesn't deal damage. Normally in a dungeon with two overpower per mob you totally ensure the healer and DPS, you can even do a third one in middle of the fight, it's worth of it snce deals a good damage to all mobs.

The Marauder is more or less like a fuse of two roles, whenever I play it I enjoy it because I don't have to be just a Tank (If it isn't tiring enough...) but also a DPS. More or less a Marauder deals the same damage than a DPS class or, sometimes, even much more. Almost all the skills of the marauder are focused in increasing attack, absorbing HP with the attacks, etc...

Gladiator is more 'easy' in the sense that your life bar does not drop so dramatically like it does with marauder (Giving the healers more than one surprise if they are not focused enough). With the Gladiator you will resist better the damage but also deal much less damage than the Marauder. Flash is a good skill that, unlike Overpower, has a 360 º radius but lacks of enough power for holding aggro too much. (But I have to say, it's easier to aim the flash than Overpower... But if you know how to use overpower well, you can see how USELESS flash is.)

I have to say... With my gladiator I... I get totally bored, to be honest. Everything seems to be use shield lob in the mob I mark first, flash, and then riot blade for recovering MP. You don't have to really care about the damage you deal... While with the marauder I need for example to hold straigth shot (Cross skill) for having critical, fused with malm for dealing more damage, combine it with berserk sometimes, and many other things. (When you activate Raging Strikes + Internal Release + Straight Shot + Berserk + Malm... And you spam overpower in a lot of groups... You'll find it so nice that you won't feel like coming back to gladiator again. Bad thing is the TP... But Invigorate solves it all.)

In short.
Gladiator = Classical tank, you only have to focus exactly on that. You are good resisting the damage and the healer don't need to suffer very much healing you at all. Dungeons are usually slower with this tank.
Marauder = DPS wanna be tank. Aside of tanking you have to ensure dealing always all the brutal damage you can, finish fast at least one or two enemies for avoiding your life to drop so badly that healer's heart explodes. Dungeons are usually faster with this tank. (If there's no good coordination healer-tanker against a boss you'll have a trouble.)

This is only my appreciation, I have not played endgame and my experience is only made up to level 29 more or less. But I hope this could help ^^.

Most of what you asked has been said, but there will be some confusion.
Starting out, which one is easier to play, can varry.

For example, a MRD can hold hate easier with AoEs, than a GLA, solely with the extra threat on their AoE. But some people find it harder, because you need to aim the conal attack, rather than GLAs circular AoE.

But a GLA can hold better hate at Lv25, till Lv30, because they get a single target threat move, that MRD doesnt get till Lv30.

Then at Lv30, WAR is better at holding threat, both in single target, and AoE.

Then at Lv50, WAR can hold more threat, BUT takes 1 more GCD longer to generate the threat for AoE. (PLD has good snap aggro, but WAR generates more over all.)
Also a WAR has to sacrifice survival slightly, to get the higher threat, and once they slap in their survival, they actually generate less threat.

As for survival, its easier as GLA till the 30s, when its debatable if WAR or PLD are easier for survival, but usually PLD is easier, even at 50.

WARs cooldowns are shorter in duration, but can be used more often, so they require good timing. But can be more reliable when u need it.

PLDs cool downs last longer, but are usually only used once in a fight. Better for longer sustained dmg. (Rather than burst dmg)

WARs work in 3 combos, and some extra wrath based abilities.

PLDs usually just do 1 combo, and use 2 off the GCD attacks. BUT 1 of them is a silence, that may be needed in fights where u need 2 ppl to rotate silence in.



SO, to wrap up, MRD/WAR is (imo) usually easier to level up than GLA/PLD. But a Lv50 PLD is far easier than a Lv50 WAR to play.
I suggest you level both, and start new content as PLD, to get used to it, then go in as WAR, when you;re confident enough to do it.

Thanks for the advice, it's good (I think) to know that tanks are still in short supply. I'll probably stick with the paladin for now at least, since it appeals to my traditional sword and board aesthetics. Now I just have to figure out what crafting job is good for tanks, and if its even worth trying to level at this point.

Warrior :D

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Originally Posted by Full-Paragon

Now I just have to figure out what crafting job is good for tanks, and if its even worth trying to level at this point.

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Armorsmith and Blacksmith. A strong Armorsmith can get you some very strong DL (possibly CT) grade armors (melded) at 50 and gear you all the way through. Blacksmith works hand-in-hand with Armorsmith and can be used to craft/materia your pre-relic sword. This is normally pretty cheap on the AH anyway, but worth noting. Good luck :)

Pre-empting the next question... plus DOL jobs have a neat 'stealth' ability... let's you get past a lot of things.

Mining. And a wee bit of Botany.

Armorsmith will provide you access to most heavy armor (pants may require weaving). You will also use some leather (leatherworker) and precious metal (goldsmith) in some crafts, but can easily purchase the quantity of materials you need for that. Blacksmithing will make most of your weapons although some GLD can also be made with Carpenter. You will want a lv.50 blacksmith on hand to meld materia for your relic, although you could probably get a friend or fc-mate to meld it for you at this point. Keep in mind materia is the most expensive part of the relic quest, so have some gil saved up for it or convert lv 45+ tank equipment for your 2 "battledance iii" materia.

Also, if you are serious about crafting, consider leveling culinarian, carpenter, goldsmith, and alchemist to at least lv.15. These will provide crossclass skills that make it much easier for you to reliably high-quality an item. HQ items have better stats, give 3x the xp for a successful craft, give 2x the reward from leves, and spiritbind faster. This is extremely useful if you are leveling the craft, using the items, or turning the items in to materia to sell for gil.

Also, to supply your crafts, you will want to specialize mostly in mining to have ready access to ore. Botany is required to some extent for wood and cloth, but you may find it more time-efficient to buy most of those materials on the marketboard. The remaining horns and raw leather can be hunted by killing monsters and dungeons or the marketboard.

If you like playing as a Tank, level a Tank.
Consider both the PLD and WAR jobs as tools in your belt.

As at least one person has correctly mentioned above, at endgame the main difference between PLD and WAR is that WAR is better at handling regular short spikes of extreme damage and PLD is better at handling constant levels of high damage. This is mainly because WAR has an ability called "Inner Beast" that reduces incoming damage for a short time and can be used fairly regularly... whereas PLD has several abilities that reduce incoming damage for longer periods of time, but which take longer to recharge (as well as a chance to block physical damage with a shield).

There are a few other more minor differences, such as a Warrior's ability to grab AoE hate a lot quicker than a Paladin (though the Paladin can usually keep generating AoE hate after the Warrior has run out of steam) and the ability of a Paladin to completely avoid certain debuffs via "Hallowed Ground" or cleanse them via "Tempered Will". WAR has two debuffs (Strorm's Eye and Storm's Path) that stacks with PLD, and PLD has one debuff (Rage of Halone) that stacks with WAR.

WAR tends to be seen as needing more skill to play well - you need to save up buff stacks to react ahead of time, so it helps to learn the fights in order to play effectively. Paladin is seen as a bit "simpler" since their buffs are more straightforward and they only really have one attack combo to worry about (WAR has three)... but they also have a wider range of utility skills (PLD's Stun, Silence, Pacify, Blind and "Stoneskin" to WAR's Stun and Slow). There is a little bit of difference in DPS (in favour of the WAR, mainly due to one of their debuffs) but it's not enough to justify playing one over the other; and whenever both tanks are hitting the same target at the same time their DPS is extremely similar.

Generally speaking, for endgame raids an 8-man group will want to be bringing both a Warrior and a Paladin rather than two of the same class.

For leveling your first character, I'd choose PLD over WAR simply because PLD needs very very little in the way of cross class skills to play effectively.
A WAR will need at least Provoke and probably Flash; and will be gimping themselves without Convalescence and Featherfoot.
A PLD's best cross class ability is Stoneskin, which it doesn't really need until level 50 (and even then, you can get by without it...)

Aside from PLD easier to use i think it is because Warrior only really gets it's better abilities at a much higher level then that of Glad/PLD.
honestly i have played in dungeons with both classes and if the player is good it make s no difference.

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Originally Posted by Full-Paragon

1. What job is best for tanking, Paladin or Warrior? (being easy to level with little support would be a plus)

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to answer this question specifically, it is HARDER to level Paladin through dungeons then it is to level Warrior at low levels. The reason being, is Paladins get Shield oath @Lv40 (which is a long time). Please keep in mind, I am only talking about leveling pre level 40, especially if you are a new player. You might que for a dungeon, and that full HQ geared bard in your party will really make you work for your money. I bring this all up, because you added the comment "with little support."

Now I'm not trying to dissuade you from leveling a gladiator, nor am I trying to make a comparison on which is better. All I'm trying to point out, is I highly recommend that you make sure you always keep your weapon up to date, giving you the best possible chances of holding agro if you choose the Paladin as your Main Class.

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Originally Posted by Full-Paragon

1. What job is best for tanking, Paladin or Warrior? (being easy to level with little support would be a plus)

2. Are tanks in a high demand? If so, which class is in the most demand?

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I think Warrior is easier to level, but Paladins/Gladiators have better overall defense and can take hits better whereas Warriors tend to go for higher HP and attack. Not only that, Paladins have Flash and Shield Lob, which are both incredibly useful Tanking skills that the Warrior doesn't get in their skill tree. (Although Flash is cross class.)

I will say that, as a healer, it's easier to heal Paladins than it is to heal Warriors. Paladins just have much better DEF, which means that they take a lot less damage and so the healer doesn't have to worry as much about using high potency cure spells.

Tanks are also always in high demand. They offer EXP and Gil bonuses to Tanks in the Duty Roulette (Random Dungeon Finder) literally all the time.

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Originally Posted by ColorOfSakura

I think Warrior is easier to level, but Paladins have Flash and Shield Lob, which are both incredibly useful Tanking skills that the Warrior doesn't get in their skill tree. (Although Flash is cross class.)

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FYI, Warriors get Tomahawk (basically Shield lob) and Overpower (AoE Cone +Enmity) plus Steel Cyclone (PBAoE +Enmity) plus the cross-class Flash. They're actually technically better at grabbing AoE hate than Paladins.

Both Tanks can equip the same armor and essentially have exactly the same Defence stats and effective HP from their tanking stances (Warriors getting access to Defiance at level 30 whereas Paladins have to wait until level 40 for Shield Oath). The only real difference at endgame is that Paladins are better at mitigating ongoing heavy damage over time (Shield blocks and cooldown durations) and Warriors are better at mitigating short spikes of extreme damage providing that they know that it's coming and have time to prepare (Inner Beast).

I personally prefer playing as a PLD, and find PLD generally more straightforward to heal when I'm playing a healing class. But that doesn't mean that they survive any longer than a Warrior, just that their health bar tends not to fluctuate quite as much - particularly whenever they don't know the fight.

You can focus on playing Paladin and switch to play Warrior (Marauder) to change the mood sometimes.
I suggest you to play both tank so you can notice the different in playstyle and strong point of both job then you'll find which is suited you more (and it will be your "better" tank job)
If I must say different between PLD and WAR,
Paladin is fortress with high defense and have more utilities.
Warrior can burst more damage and temporary flexing your muscle to endure incoming big hit.

For crafting,
Armorsmith will help you by making your own gears (but you can just exchange them from npc) and reduce repairing expense.
Blacksmith is rather making just weapons and tools for other classes.

hope this help :)