Why are Paladins usually on stun duty? I'm confused.

I levelled a paladin to 50 during open beta and into launch and one thing that's always annoyed me - the stun in on the global cooldown. It's always been an annoyance and something I just reluctantly accepted. I did the HM primals as the paladin stun tank and I had no issue with it since I hadn't done them before so a stun tank was a nice first try to see the encounter with out wiping the group.

So I got my relic zenith and basically abandoned my paladin job because it was really boring and other issues that I wont go into. Recently in the last few weeks I decided to level a marauder since I have Monk, Bard and also WHM to 50. The first thing I noticed is that marauders have a stun and it's even better it's off the global cooldown. Now on my paladin if I want to stun any ability just to stop the adds/trash I have to wait until the global is done and with tight casts I miss it. On my marauder it matters not one bit since it's off the cooldown and I use it often, even for extra damage to save TP.

I don't understand why paladins are asked to stun considering warriors have a far more useful stun that's off the global cooldown. No need to wait for the spell to cast just smash things and then stun when it's time. This is one of the best thing I like about warriors but at heart I'm a shield kind of guy.

I did a quick search and it's been unsurprisingly been brought up before that the paladin stun should be off the global cooldown, why not. I'm never for homogenisation of classes but it's such a large quality of life improvement and an off GCD.

So all that and I ask why a paladin, with an inferior stun, is usually on stun duty. I'm confused and seek your wisdom oh wise forum posters. :p

While Brutal Swing is oGCD, it's on a 20 second cooldown. You'd barely be hitting things you need to stun, like let's say Dreadknights in T5 or Eruptions in Ifrit HM or even the one add in Levi Ex. Because PLD's stun is on the GCD, it's actually the superior of the stuns because in those fights where you need to chain stun something, that 2.5 GCD makes a huge difference. If shield bash were to be taken off the GCD, it'd probably have the same cooldown as Brutal Swing, which means you'd be in the same situation as a WAR would in T5, Ifrit HM, Levi Ex, any Chimera, etc

WAR can't chain stun in certain fights without the help of another Melee basically

It's for that exact reason PLD stun is on the GCD war stun has a 30 sec recast time. So for situations where mobs need to be stun locked PLD is by far more reliable. I have war and PLD at 50 have done all content but second coil on both things like the wave tooth on Levi ex or the dread knights on t5 having a PLD to stun lock it is very useful/needed can guarantee you if war was the stun tank for them ppl will die a 30 sec cd on dreadknights and the stunned player who is it's target will be one shotted, on Levi ex ppl will be running amok due to hysteria it just makes more sense to have PLD OT if stunlocking is needed

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Originally Posted by NintenPyjak64

While Brutal Swing is oGCD, it's on a 20 second cooldown. You'd barely be hitting things you need to stun, like let's say Dreadknights in T5 or Eruptions in Ifrit HM or even the one add in Levi Ex. Because PLD's stun is on the GCD, it's actually the superior of the stuns.

WAR can't chain stun in certain fights without the help of another Melee basically

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So it is. been so long since I've paid attention to my pally abilities. I've never found the 20 sec cooldown to be an issue for levelling. I'd like parity with the stuns though, seems like a wasted role for a tank.

It's because it's on the GCD that PLD is normally asked to stun. Let's compare the two;
Brutal Swing off gcd 20 sec recast, 5 sec initial stun, 100 potency.
Shield Bash on GCD invokes the GCD (2.5sec), 6 sec initial stun, 110 potency.

The bold and underlined part is the major factor, Shield Bash is simply up faster and generally if they are on stun duty they are off tanking anyway so as long as there are no adds it's just a small loss of dps to wait for a move you know is coming.

Just try running 2 warriors for turn 5 or leviathan. Fun times.

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Originally Posted by OPneedNerfs

Just try running 2 warriors for turn 5 or leviathan. Fun times.

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Beaten t5 with warrior solo tank. It's not that bad.

Probably because it has no cooldown and it requires a bit of foresight to actually 1 tank Ifrit/Chimera and get all of the stuns. Even though Brutal Swing is off GCD, casts like Eruption are still fairly quick and if you use an ability just as something like Voice of the Ram activates, you won't be able to interrupt it in time due to animation lock.

For some people it's just easier to have a stunbot if a tank has not familiarized themselves with the patterns and timings of a boss' behaviors.

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Originally Posted by Alistaire

Beaten t5 with warrior solo tank. It's not that bad.

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Solo tank = 5 dps = u suck if dreads don't die fast.

Note I specifically said 2 warriors.

Then again, with echo and better gear available, even 4 dps without an OT would be fine.

I prefer Brutal Swing over Shield Bash since because most abilites that require actual stunning are being casted in a pattern that usually takes longer than 20 seconds to be reused.
Shield Bash is okay for quick chain interruption, but could leave you with your pants down when using that too often in short time due to immunity.

Gotta pick your moments when you need to stun.

On ifrit hm warrior can solo stun while tanking the eruptions are time in a way that if you do not hit a plume by mistake you can stun every eruptions but you will get a resist on the 4th i believe the one right before the nails, I have done it in duty when the tank is just on "MUST DPS" fog of war it isn't to bad as you have all the time in the world to stun as long as your not in the BB animation lock that prevents brutal from going off. If you look across the map out door mobs, fates, dungeons the timer for brutal fits the time table for the moves (For specific mobs the stun is in time with stoneskin not other aoes such as snurble boss fates or the sahagian fate near the levi crystal). But for stun locking war can not lower his brutal cd in anyway so it isn't possible with war.

Pretty much the only downside of PLD stun is that because it is on the GCD, it might be unavailable if you've recently use Savage Blade or something. Also kills combos. Other than that, it's pretty much a staple for stuns as far as I'm concerned.

I actually prefer having a role besides spamming Halone combos in boss fights. Keeps me on my toes, and makes the job more fun. Siren and Chimera are good for that since you can alternate between Spirits Within and Shield Bash to silence/stun their more annoying skills. Who needs a bard? :D

@Arrius, I think they talking about the stun lock situation where you have to stun mob back to back (T5 Dread and Levi Ex caster add. for example )

worth noting that brutal swing can cancel other attack animations so animation lock shouldnt be a problem.

properly timed chain stuns can last as long as 10 seconds. Thats where PLD's shield bash becomes important when in a fight it's absolutely important to stop something from doing stuff. ie: Super sahagin in Levi EX, dreadknights in T5 or even PVP..etc

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Originally Posted by Zoeila

worth noting that brutal swing can cancel other attack animations so animation lock shouldnt be a problem.

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While this is true it doesn't work on butcher's block at the beginning of the animation, but butcher's can cut through brutals animation.