Defensive cooldowns

[Morningstar1337]

I see, so macro it is then (those rare occasions). But I'm curious. Are there specific fights that need specific buffs?

[SeraviEdalborez]

I see, so macro it is then (those rare occasions). But I'm curious. Are there specific fights that need specific buffs?

Some cooldowns aren't going to do anything in certain fights. Foresight and Bulwark for example have no effect on ADS in Turn 1/2, or Leviathan's head. Because they both only use magic attacks.

Aside from that, not really. Paladin's "big" regular-use cooldowns are just Rampart and Sentinel. Usually if your entire defensive cooldown "rotation" is just being used for big moves (Mountain Buster, Death Sentence, Ravensbeak) and not much else, you would use multiple weaker cooldowns* when one of your big 2 is not up. For example I will usually pair Bulwark with Foresight, just because Foresight on its own isn't that impressive. Or in the case of Titan EX when you are holding it for a long time or solo tanking, pop progressively stronger cooldowns (Foresight on 2nd or 3rd, Rampart on 3rd or 4th, Sentinel, Hallowed if needed).

*Disclaimer: Not saying Bulwark or Convalescence are weak, just that they aren't 100% reliable (former) and don't directly mitigate a large hit (latter).

[Tyrial]

I see, so macro it is then (those rare occasions). But I'm curious. Are there specific fights that need specific buffs?

Not so much specific buffs, but being able to know when a big hit is coming and softening the blow. Some fights it's not really a big deal, others it is. There's lots of patterns to learn for tanking if you want to do more than just stand there and have your face punched in repeatedly. Use the actual Titan rotation as an example. By knowing what move is coming next you can have a CD up and ready for that hit, same with Twintania and Turn 9 among others.

[Ashkendor]

I see, so macro it is then (those rare occasions). But I'm curious. Are there specific fights that need specific buffs?

Honestly, the only macro I use is Fight or Flight + Bloodbath. I don't think macroing your defensive cd's together is a good idea myself. I prefer to manually decide which one I should be using for a given situation.