Of all the 4 tanks right now, how would you stack them against each other?

I'm curious to hear the opinions. In the current build of FF14, I'd like to know what you guys think about the current Tank balance. Which Tank is best? Which is the worst? Strengths? Weaknesses?

I only have personal experience on WAR so far. High end PLD of friend is really liking PLD, and he's been leveling up GNB and seems to think it will be pretty good too.

Personal rough assessment:

1) PLD
2) GNB/WAR
3) DRK

PLD seems to have a really nice rotational flow, and early indications would suggest it's as strong as it looks. It seems to be missing 1 personal defensive CD compared to the other tanks, but since gauge isn't used for anything other than defense you have access to a lot of Sheltron, and natural passive blocking anyways.

WAR I feel is really solid defensively. It took a bit to get used to not having a second set of CDs for big pulls in dungeons, but once you unlock Nascent Flash it really fills in the gaps for dungeon survivability. Ex trials haven't demanded much CD usage so we'll see how it plays out in savage raids, but it's solid as far as I can tell. One thing I miss the most is those oh sh!t moments (like when both healers die to something at the same time) where you could swap to defiance and spam IB for healing. That aspect of WAR survivability is completely gone, and will be missed. Stacking Infuriate is the biggest change I think the job has going for it, since it adds a bit of depth to what would otherwise just be more unga bunga.

GNB, from what I hear, is pretty solid so far in dungeons and has a decently high burst for DPS. I can't say too much about it though since I don't have one myself nor do I have any close friends that have it maxed yet.

DRK.. I won't comment on DRK other than to say, if I did play it, I probably wouldn't like it too much. I spent some time arranging a new hotbar and messing around with on the dummy, but imo I'm just going to stay away from it.

Personal Assessment including DPS.


1. PLD
2. DRK/WAR
3. GNB

Only reason GNB is last is because their wasted def cooldown that increases parry by 50% when parry in the game isnt the best mitigation.

DRK is just a bad WAR clone with Delirium . PLD just feels really good and has really good DPS at least until they nerf it.

LD is still the worst but Superbolide angers healers especially when the tank has a high ping and the healer benediction's them before they cast it.

I never mained PLD but just looking at it I can tell it's the most "understood" of the tanks.

PLD
WAR
GNB
DRK

Atm I feel PLD is a good equilibrium of tanking and dps. WAR being it's followup as a more dps oriented role, GNB following up for the same reason, and DRK being last because it's in such an odd spot right now.

People talk about DPS but they forget these are tanks, you need to consider their defensive tools as well.

1# PLD
2# DRK
3# GNB
4# WAR

PLD right now has 0 weaknesses and it's the top DPS of all tanks, they are uncontestedly the King of the Hill.
DRK identity as the King of self mitigation increased even more, not only Dark Arts spam is gone, they got an AoE mitigation and TBN got stronger on allies.
GNB not only has really good DPS, but also really good assistance tools, Aurora is a strong oGCD regen, Heart of Light/Stone are solid buffs and they can cheese anything PLD's Hallowed Ground could with Superbolide.
WAR unlike other tanks, barely evolved. They got nerfed in the mitigation department, having to choose between self healing and Raw Intuition on top of Holmgang getting slightly nerfed. They are still very viable, but at this point I have no idea why someone who can play all tanks would choose a WAR over a DRK or even GNB for another reason than flavor.

The best combinations of tanks are definitely PLD+DRK or DRK+GNB, with slashing debuff out of the way WAR isn't locked anymore, tank choices are going to be made based on DPS and utility, since all tanks have very similar DPS outputs, utility becomes the tiebreaker. DRK's TBN doesn't have a mitigation fall off for being a shield, making it the strongest self mitigation in the game outside of invulnerability moves. DRK+WAR also works well, but GNB gets an edge for being able to use Aurora, a more realiable heal than Nascent Glint. Any combination that doesn't have a DRK is subpar.

GBR
GBR
GBR
PLD

My static is going double gunbreaker btw

I'm a simple guy. I judge Jobs based on the fun factor. I'd still play the worst Job in the entire game, as long as it felt fun to play.

So my list would be:

• GNB
• PAL/WAR

...

• DRK

War
War


Only leveling war atm. :)

Go Dark or go home, IMHO.
But all is fun.

I need lvl 80 on all of them to make such brave statement.

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Originally Posted by whiskeybravo

DRK.. I won't comment on DRK other than to say, if I did play it, I probably wouldn't like it too much. I spent some time arranging a new hotbar and messing around with on the dummy, but imo I'm just going to stay away from it.

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Play it, you may find yourself surprised. This is coming from the fact I've seen more than a few people disliking how it looks, only to play it and enjoy it.

In terms of playstyle

GNB
PLD
WAR
DRK

In 2.0 i main PLD because rage of halone was so cool at that time i decided to drop SCH/MNK to tank for the first time in a MMO. Then 3.0 hit and i've been a DRK/PLD so total i have about 6 years worth of tanking experience. Tanks should and always be Emnity generation and defensive ability first before DPS. So by going from the definition

PLD is still supreme in MT or ST/OT role. Warrior is still warrior, big numbers coming from fell cleave what not to like?. GNB i am having tons of fun with this new tank as it requires the player to be constantly on his/her toes hitting every button you possibly can either to DPS or mitigate. This is the kind of playstyle i wanted in DRK but oh well.

DRK i have leveled to 80 and it's soooo boring to me now it's like such a braindead job. For DRK if i get to pick i rather go back to 4.X DRK playstyle instead. I rather be spamming dark arts than this boring playstyle.

From what i have seen so far i would go something like that:

PAL
WAR
GNB
DRK

I have only played WAR so far, started leveling PAL, feels nice, dmg should be amazing at 80. Gunbreaker and Darkknights seems weaker to me, mostly because of there strange cooldowns.

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Originally Posted by Dalmacus

DRK i have leveled to 80 and it's soooo boring to me now it's like such a braindead job. For DRK if i get to pick i rather go back to 4.X DRK playstyle instead. I rather be spamming dark arts than this boring playstyle.

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How is it braindead exactly? You have bloodgauge to watch, mp, hp, defensive cd's, and split, plunge, abyssal drain, salted earth, blood weapon, living shadow, and dark missionary.

That doesn't include also watching out for mechanics. I get if you don't find it fun but saying braindead is hyperbolic.

PLD, GNB DRK WAR

War has a stronger enmity generation than gunbreaker but it suffers some drawbacks such as feeling unweildy.

Gunbreaker is fun and fast it suffers from having three physical defensive CD (Always have rampart on my bars) but only 1 Magical defensive CD Personally I'd make the longer colddown both magical and physical but drop the mitigation to 25% for the same amount of time.

PLD really is tops in everything aside from the weird combo setup now.

and DRK is always fun to play almost as much as GNB is

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Originally Posted by NealSnow

How is it braindead exactly? You have bloodgauge to watch, mp, hp, defensive cd's, and split, plunge, abyssal drain, salted earth, blood weapon, living shadow, and dark missionary.

That doesn't include also watching out for mechanics. I get if you don't find it fun but saying braindead is hyperbolic.

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I don't want to assume but I think he might mean is that it's brainless relative to its past iterations, which is completely true. I've spent a good amount of time with this new DRK and it's clear that you just don't have as many tools/options as you used to. The class just feels very, very scripted now, which I personally find extremely boring and unsatisfying. Objectively speaking though, its performance isn't too bad, and The Blackest Night is still a great move. But, I just think that they really went overboard when they tried to make DRK more "accessible", it feels absolutely nothing like DRK anymore.

But that's just my 2¢ anyway.

Not sure why people keep rating WAR above DRK when WAR is quiet literally just DRK but with less to pay attention to and do. I get that not everyone likes the change, but that doesn't make WAR any less boring.

It's pretty clear PLD is hands down the best tank, considering it has both the most utility and the most damage like if a RDM arbitrarily did more damage than a BLM.
And its pretty funny to me that, as boring as it is, people are defining DRK more on Delirium than in TBN. That thing is HUGE

Wow, I'm surprised so many people rated PLD as #1. I haven't touched it since the beginning of 4.0: Inner Realease is too damn fun. After looking at PLD skills on the job guide, makes me want to pick up the sword and board and try it out.

^just remember than when people said #1 for PLD is that PLD has the best overall tank quality. if you are looking for pure damage i think WAR GNB and DRK still doing better, though i dont know which one is better from those three.

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Originally Posted by gumas

^just remember than when people said #1 for PLD is that PLD has the best overall tank quality. if you are looking for pure damage i think WAR GNB and DRK still doing better, though i dont know which one is better from those three.

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It's GNB, then PLD. But considering PLD kit, yeah PLD #1. DPS is 200-300 between tanks at high level right now.

Havent played all of them but...

1) WAR
But im biased cause its my first 80 and its my main so..
2)PLD
Prolly the 3rd tank i level, but their kit was always fun in SB and now that its got actual aoe damage im lookin forward to leveling it
3)GNB
Only got them at 60, but the rotation is already evident and its plenty fun to manage. Gonna level em next
4) DRK
I only picked up drk in SB, but they were plenty fun despite me not knowing the optimal rotation. Now, I dont even see a rotation other than "use everything, wait 90 seconds and do it again." The only tank im not looking forward to level.

(I get that war is similar but i come to drk for a different playstyle than war)

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Originally Posted by Dio_Tiferet

GBR
GBR
GBR
PLD

My static is going double gunbreaker btw

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Im gonna stop you all here and use my powers of divination, and past trends, to tell you the true order, coming around 5.1 when balance changes hit.

Ahem.

1. War
2. War
3. War
4. War
5. DRK
6. GBR
7. PLD

Just following what happened the last two expansions. :D

You are all welcome!

.........lulz

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Originally Posted by Drayce1

Im gonna stop you all here and use my powers of divination, and past trends, to tell you the true order, coming around 5.1 when balance changes hit.

Ahem.

1. War
2. War
3. War
4. War
5. DRK
6. GBR
7. PLD

Just following what happened the last two expansions. :D

You are all welcome!

.........lulz

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You do know that PLD was the dominant force on SB right? DRK and WAR were both horrible on release then they overhauled WAR with the simple Inner release.

Then it took them atleast 6 months to finally buff DRK even though it still fell behind WAR and PLD

HW had a Broken WAR a strong and best version of DRK and PLD was pretty much removed from the game at that point.

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Originally Posted by Dio_Tiferet

You do know that PLD was the dominant force on SB right? DRK and WAR were both horrible on release then they overhauled WAR with the simple Inner release.

Then it took them atleast 6 months to finally buff DRK even though it still fell behind WAR and PLD

HW had a Broken WAR a strong and best version of DRK and PLD was pretty much removed from the game at that point.

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Read my post again.

Anyway, War will be the absolute, must have, Meta come balancing changes, like usual.

Purely from a gameplay perspective (i.e. IDGAF about minor DPS differences on a TANK) from what I have played so far:

#1 DRK has a good flow with plenty (but not too much) to do most of the time and TBN is hands down the best and most satisfying / impactful of the frequent mitigation abilities. Not every ability feels great though; Salted Earth is clunky and weak, Abyssal Drain cooldown is too long, and Living Dead can still be a pain for healers.

#2 PLD has a diverse toolkit with something for any situation. It's all kind of middle of the road though (except maybe Hallowed Ground), so while PLD has no weaknesses it rarely feels impactful either. Oh, and the Block nerf sucks.

#3 WAR is basically the same as it was in SB; I-Win every 90s and 80s of 1-2-3 zzzzz. Ok it's not that bad, but it still feels like everything revolves around Inner Release / Infuriate with nothing really earned; i.e. there is no preparation, or well managed resources, it's just press a button and Hulk, Smash.

#4 GNB has too many buttons that all do the same thing (i.e. GCD damage) and a (seemingly; haven’t fully tested it) weak mitigation kit; it feels the most like a DPS with extra HP and I'm not a fan of it at all.

I would probably rank GNB last cause its defensive CD is on a weaker side.

I would say.

PLD
WAR
GNB
DRK

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Originally Posted by Acidblood

Purely from a gameplay perspective (i.e. IDGAF about minor DPS differences on a TANK) from what I have played so far:

#1 DRK has a good flow with plenty (but not too much) to do most of the time and TBN is hands down the best and most satisfying / impactful of the frequent mitigation abilities. Not every ability feels great though; Salted Earth is clunky and weak, Abyssal Drain cooldown is too long, and Living Dead can still be a pain for healers.

#2 PLD has a diverse toolkit with something for any situation. It's all kind of middle of the road though (except maybe Hallowed Ground), so while PLD has no weaknesses it rarely feels impactful either. Oh, and the Block nerf sucks.

#3 WAR is basically the same as it was in SB; I-Win every 90s and 80s of 1-2-3 zzzzz. Ok it's not that bad, but it still feels like everything revolves around Inner Release / Infuriate with nothing really earned; i.e. there is no preparation, or well managed resources, it's just press a button and Hulk, Smash.

#4 GNB has too many buttons that all do the same thing (i.e. GCD damage) and a (seemingly; haven’t fully tested it) weak mitigation kit; it feels the most like a DPS with extra HP and I'm not a fan of it at all.

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I've said it many times, and i'll say this for as long as GNB is a tank. Point #4 is exactly what happens when you shoehorn a job which has DPS aesthetics into a TANK job. Not a fan of it too.

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Originally Posted by Derio

Personal Assessment including DPS.


1. PLD
2. DRK/WAR
3. GNB

Only reason GNB is last is because their wasted def cooldown that increases parry by 50% when parry in the game isnt the best mitigation.

DRK is just a bad WAR clone with Delirium . PLD just feels really good and has really good DPS at least until they nerf it.

LD is still the worst but Superbolide angers healers especially when the tank has a high ping and the healer benediction's them before they cast it.

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Camouflage also gives a flat 10% reduction. Not to mention having Rampart, Nebula, Heart of Stone and group magic mitigation with Heart of Light.

Bonus of Aurora and Heart of Stone being able to be cast on others.

I've only played two tanks (GNB n WAR)since expansion so i'll comment on those. I leveled GNB to 73. Love the look, hate the gameplay. Its just not fun. You have ONE main combo with not even a minor deviation(like WARs Eye or Path combo ender). You get another combo like every 30sec. And it feels like everything that should NOT be on GCD is. So not much weaving and that bursty feeling. Its mitigation feels stronger than WAR tho. My hp dropped alot slower on GNB in dungeon pulls compared to WAR. So after gettin GNB to 73 i left it and leveled my WAR to 73. It feels like night and day. WAR just feels so much fun. Ive played the other tanks before expac and nothing still feels as good as IR and FC. Plus the decimate spams just melt things. It feels more rewarding playing WAR and just flat out fun IMO. From word of mouth, sounds like PLD is op this expac and DRK is a mess

People say DRK is braindead because it is. You literally just use every non-defensive off-GCD on cooldown, hit Edge of darkness every time you have over 6k MP, Use blood immediately when you get it. That's basically it.

Oh right, and hit 1 2 3 over and over.

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Originally Posted by SakiKojiro

People say DRK is braindead because it is. You literally just use every non-defensive off-GCD on cooldown, hit Edge of darkness every time you have over 6k MP, Use blood immediately when you get it. That's basically it.

Oh right, and hit 1 2 3 over and over.

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WAR doesn't even use mp. uses beast gauge when ever possible. has less ogcd.
on top it's gap closer uses ressources when all other tanks don't do so.
it's 2nd combo finisher is only used once in a while. it's damage buff can't be applied natively during aoe.

ya, war is much better /s

I think gameplay wise Paladin and Warrior are fine both solid and easy tanks slow and perfect for beginners.

But then we have the reworked DRK which went from fast space action extensive resource management large skillset and a shitload of ways to minmax your dps into a Pseudo WAR clone with little creativity.
The blood and mp resource system has become so over simplified and easy to manage it may aswell just be there for the aesthetics. Not mention whatever is left of our old skillset is now locked behind 60 to 90 second cooldowns.

GBR is personally the only tank i now enjoy after the butchering of DRK because it has the most speed and depth in its gameplay something they ruined for old DRK mains.

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Originally Posted by Starkbeaumont

WAR doesn't even use mp. uses beast gauge when ever possible. has less ogcd.
on top it's gap closer uses ressources when all other tanks don't do so.
it's 2nd combo finisher is only used once in a while. it's damage buff can't be applied natively during aoe.

ya, war is much better /s

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both DRK and WAR use the job gauge at the same rate more or less, both use inner delirium at the same rate too, WAR have less oGCD ps and have one combo more, DRK use more oGCD, but just a bit more, and have only 1 combo, the MP managment is so redundant at this point is mostly act as a CD timer of you oGCD like the charged infuriate.

if we compared HW to current WAR are like fire and ice, nothing like the other, current DRK and WAR are like 2 kinds of water since both looks so similar in many things now.

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Originally Posted by kidalutz

PLD, GNB DRK WAR

War has a stronger enmity generation than gunbreaker but it suffers some drawbacks such as feeling unweildy.

Gunbreaker is fun and fast it suffers from having three physical defensive CD (Always have rampart on my bars) but only 1 Magical defensive CD Personally I'd make the longer colddown both magical and physical but drop the mitigation to 25% for the same amount of time.

PLD really is tops in everything aside from the weird combo setup now.

and DRK is always fun to play almost as much as GNB is

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You do realize rampart, nebula, and heart of stone reduce damage from both types right? Unless it stipulates magic or physical it works for both.

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Originally Posted by Conando

You do realize rampart, nebula, and heart of stone reduce damage from both types right? Unless it stipulates magic or physical it works for both.

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They're talking mostly about Camouflage and heart of stone, i'd imagine. Rampart and nebula are two base cooldowns for tanks - all other tanks have rampart and all other tanks have 30% reductions on 2 minute cooldowns that last 10 seconds. We have to compare the tanks based on their other defensive cooldowns in this case. And in this case, Camouflage and heart of stone are super weaksauce when you look at all the other tank skills, especially TBN and sheltron.

Huh, ppl still can't let go of war considering it is the weakest overall in 5.0

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Originally Posted by Calcilis

Huh, ppl still can't let go of war considering it is the weakest overall in 5.0

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Which tbh feels really odd. Why are PLD and GNB, the two tanks with the most utility, also doing the most damage? That feels like an oversight by the devs, they should be doing less damage with all that utility.

GNB feels like in need to have 1 defensive skill that can be spam somewhat, like DRK TBN or PLD shelltron (cant say war, i dont play war iam sorry)