Warrior Tanks: Maximizing DPS Output

[Gamemako]

What is more valuable: 20% extra damage or that extra 25 VIT? I use i70 in this fight as MT, but I rarely ever MT it.

Damage, by far, considering the VIT is basically all waste.

YThe best opening enmity generator that I've seen (and what I use) is BB combo>SE combo(Vengeance)>HS(Unchained)>SS(Berserk)>BB>BB combo>BB combo and then swap over to SP>BB or SP>SE>BB.

If the enemy isn't a loser like Garuda or Titan who run away after 15 seconds, then I use BBc -> SPc -> BBc -> Bloodbath -> HS -> Unchained -> M -> Berserk -> SE -> BBc -> IB -> Infuriate -> BBc -> IB. Pretty much only ever time to do that on a few lame BC enemies like Caduceus, though. (Requires the skill speed to get 9 attacks in Berserk, and the finish with Inner Beast that lands with full damage since it bypasses Defiance after Unchained has expired.)

//EDIT: Oh, I also tend to start the fight with Featherfoot.

[Kitru]

(Requires the skill speed to get 9 attacks in Berserk, and the finish with Inner Beast that lands with full damage since it bypasses Defiance after Unchained has expired.)

I tend to use IB right as Unchained fades (which, with the 0 speed from gear that I've got, happens after the second BB following Berserk use finishes) for the same reason: you get a Berserk (and IR, which I forgot to include; I use it on the second GCD after Berserk, which is a Heavy Swing, which ensures that there are 2 BB combos and the end IB getting the benefit of the +crit) buffed IB without wasting any Unchained benefits. I acknowledge that the opening attack string I mention there wastes a few generated Wrath stacks, but the goal was to maximize enmity and an extra Unchained BB beats out pretty much anything else.

//EDIT: Oh, I also tend to start the fight with Featherfoot.

I start the fight off with Vengeance for a couple reasons: it gives the 5th Wrath stack so that you can go into the Unchained/Berserked BB combos right away, but it also provides a bigger enmity cushion because you're getting the 50 potency hits that also benefit from Unchained and Berserk.

I start blowing Foresight/Featherfoot when Vengeance or the Pacification on Berserk Fade (since that's right around when the IB buff fades).

Assuming, one NPC attack per GCD, the rotation I use manages (each parenthesis represents a GCD)...

BB combo: (83.33 + 150) + (83.33 + 200 * 3) + (83.33 + 280 * 5) +
SE combo(Vengeance): (83.33 + 150) + (83.33 + 190) + ((83.33 + 270) * 1.2) +
HS(Unchained)>SS(Berserk)>BB: ((83.33 + 150 + 50) * 1.2 / .9) + ((83.33 + 200 * 3 + 50) * 1.2 / .9 / .75) + ((83.33 + 280 * 5 + 50) * 1.2 / .9 / .75 * 1.4) +
BB combo(Vengeance and SE debuff fade at the end): ((83.33 + 150 + 50) * 1.2 / .9 / .75 * 1.4) + ((83.33 + 200 * 3 + 50) * 1.2 / .9 / .75 * 1.4) + ((83.33 + 280 * 5 + 50) * 1.2 / .9 / .75 * 1.4) +
BB combo (Unchained fades at the end): ((83.33 + 150) * 1.2 / .75 * 1.4) + ((83.33 + 200 * 3) * 1.2 / .75 * 1.4) + ((83.33 + 280 * 5) * 1.2 / .75 * 1.4) +
Inner Beast (Berserk and Maim fade after): (83.33 + 300 / .75) * 1.2 * 1.4) =

2400.00 + 930.66 + 5497.76 + 6346.64 + 5375.98 + 811.99 = 21363.03 enmity over 16 GCDs = 1335.19 ePot/GCD (if you want to factor in the Pacification, it comes down to 1193.78 since you're adding 83.33 * .75 * 2 and dividing by 18 instead of 16)

The highest enmity rotation (SE>BB>BB>BB) generates 638.16 ePot/GCD with Wrath factored in (850.88 * .75), which means that you're generating more than double what you'd be able to generate otherwise in that opening volley. If you assume the SP>SE>BB as the standard (594.66 * .75 = 446.00), you'd be generating 3 times as much as you would generate normally.

To assuage my own curiosity and for comparison's sake (and since the damage/enmity maths I have in my sig are for 2.0), using a normalization multiplier (.8 / .75) for Shield Oath compared to Defiance, a PLD w/ RoH spam would generate 871.11 ePot/GCD (((83.33 + 25 + 25) * 3 + 150 + 200 * 3 + 260 * 5) * (.8 / .75) / 3) normally (this doesn't factor in FoF, which is, on its own, is actually slightly stronger than Unchained and Berserk combined; IR + Wrath provide the *slightest* buff that brings the two constructs to roughly parity) and 1149.77 ePot/GCD (((83.33 * 3 + 150 + 200 * 3 + 260 * 5) * 4 + (250) + (250 * 2)) * (.8 / . 75) * 1.3 / 12) in its opening volley. Damage would be 305.77 pot/GCD ((83.33 + (150 + 200 + 260) / 3) * (.8 /.75) on average.

In an easier to read form...

Opening Enmity
PLD: 1149.77
WAR: 1335.19 (1193.78)

Average Enmity
PLD: 871.11
WAR (max enmity): 850.88
WAR (best standard): 594.66

Average Damage
PLD: 305.77
WAR (max enmity): 362.94
WAR (best standard): 369.48

(keep in mind, this is in WAR equivalences and assuming that the mean contributions of the WAR and PLD CD suites are equal)

There's a few things I ignored (Brutal Swing is minor, but using Steel Cyclone at every opportunity gives WAR a huge increase to enmity/GCD since it's basically an extra combo'd BB every 20 seconds or so), but it's close enough to get an accurate gauge. This largely groks with my own experiences and observations: a properly played PLD generates a stupidly huge amount of enmity just spamming their stuff (2.4-46.5% more than WAR) but WAR does a lot more damage (~20% more than PLD; when tanking alongside a WAR, it's only ~10% difference since PLD benefits from SE as well).

Anyways, that second half was a bit of a diversion from the original conversation. Let us continue to discuss maximizing WAR deeps.