Newbie doubt: PLD or WAR? How did you choose your main tank?

[Thistledown]

I myself levelled GLD to 22 because I always wanted to be a sword-and-board class. But I found its skill actions to be far too bland. Now I'm levelling MRD and Iove how every hit it lands feels so powerful.

[JonBigwood]

I started as PLD, and once level 50 I leveled the Marauder until I got Mercy Stroke. I chose to level other classes such as WHM (once I leveled for Stoneskin, just a bit more), then BLM for swiftcast, and thought that with one tank class I didn't need another. Also it seemed to me that once used to tank as a PLD it might be confusing to use the WAR.

Recently I have leveled the WAR to 50 and I like it and don't find it's confusing to change from one tank to another (well, sometimes you forget what class you are if you have just played the other), WAR has his own way to play and getting out of trouble and is fun. I still need more practice as WAR, but I like it and it's great to have all the PLD gear available once you arrive to 50.

I found while leveling the WAR that the attacks are slower, but you have also more combo possibilities to choose and more abilities, so you may need that time to think and decide (a bit like BLM, casts are long but you may need that time to take decisions, it does not have to be wasted time.)

I think eventually you'll level and enjoy both. PLD looks easier to play, but life is in fact quite easier as a low level WAR or Marauder compared to a PLD or gladiator. You get aggro easier, don't lose it easily, and have more possibilities to recover health in emergency moments.

[LukeyP666]

Haha, had not known anyone who entered "tank world" unintentionally. Cool you enjoyed it!

I did and I definitely don't regret it at all. I love tanking and the responsibility that it brings with it. I've levelled every Job to 50 now (except Rogue/Ninja) and the only other Job that I enjoy anywhere near as much as Warrior is Monk, which is a different kettle of fish all together...

[Ehayte]

People are selling the PLD job short a little bit here. It can be a bit more complicated to play than people are letting on.

A lot has been said on the playstyle of the classes so I'm not going to over-explain. I will say that if you intend to be casual it might be best to go WAR because one of PLD's top 5 skills is the cross-classed stone-skin from WHM, which is a level 34 skill.

[ZodiacSoldier]

I play both, but Paladin is my main. The sword and board knight class archetype has always been my main in all the MMORPGs I played. Played Paladin in XI, Wow, was Templar in Aion, Guardian in GW2, Lancer (not exactly sword user, but most similar to PLD) in Tera.

Paladin have alot more Cooldowns than Warrior, but if I remember correctly the Paladin damage reduction from Shield Oath and the Warrior extra HP/Healing from Defiance comes out to be about the same. But Paladin have the extra shield for more damage reduction. I wouldn't say Warrior is harder to play (at least not anymore, they were crap when ARR first came out compared to PLD though). I say they are pretty equal now. Originally Warrior had ALOT better AOE enmity, but with the 2.4 enmity buff to Flash and Circle of Scorn, they are probably about even, although Warrior will kill them faster since Overpower actually does damage.

[Herrored]

I played the main story as DRG, but wanted to pick up a tank. I picked WAR because my bf mains PLD and we try not to overlap too much on classes we level. I've done a little bit of leveling on GLA to get some of the skills, and honestly I can't stand it in comparison to WAR, at least early on. The reliance on Flash feels unnatural to me, especially compared to Overpower - I feel like I can't even tell how much hate Flash is gathering while Overpower actually feels like a physical hate builder. When I try to use GLA I feel like I can't control mobs at all.

And honestly, seeing your health pass 10k for the first time is a great feeling - I know PLDs can get there with good level armor, but WAR hits it at lower levels with Defiance and Echo.

[DSaint]

I share the same opinion of some people there towards paladins. Sword and shield gives you that feeling of honor, duty and "to protect and serve". Protect your friends with holy shield and armor... That is an awesome sensation.
On the other hand, standing there holding a big axe with nothing more to protect yourself (except your own vitality/life), makes me feel like a beast, an indomitable protector. And that's why I'm sticking with warrior!
Plus, can't wait to try butchers block and defiance mode.

Again, thanks everyone! You guys helped me to decide!
If someone else wants to share your story of decision and motivation to use your main tank, feel free to share with us!

[Cold_Raven]

I faced that decision when I started.

Paladin has all the classic atmosphere. Heavy armor, sword and shield. You just don't get closer to that good ol' medieval feel than that.

Warrior has the new-hotness about him. The Warrior is Will Smith to the Paladin's Tommy Lee Jones.

As for which one is "best in the game"... the two are close enough to be good for everything. One is better than the other for different fights... but even that evens out because it's not always the same one being best.

Which leaves... choose the one that feels more fun to you. If you can't choose... take both!

I went with Warrior. I wanted to deal with wrath stacks and all the choices and decisions that come with that in the middle of battle. The warrior doesn't need heavy armor! Mine wears a simple coliseum galerus, it allows for better movement. Need to be able to swing that axe!

I've also started to level Paladin, though. They have their own way of doing things, and for certain fights, it's just plain better.

Just remember... if you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong!

[Lemage]

Got them both to 30. Realized I prefered the damage mitigation over the easy threat/self heals.
Got them both to 50. same realization.
I play Paladin main, but i try keep warrior up. I prefer Paladin. Cover, hallowed, rampart, bulwark, sentinel, flash (a seperate resource MP), and Circle of scorn sold it for me.

[Ditto]

In a tanking aspect (Here comes the legion of butt hurt warriors)

Paladin puts Warrior to shame. Why?

1. The HP difference isn't even an advantage to a Warrior anymore. All that extra HP you have means nothing when you have little to no mitigation.

2. I play both Paladin and Warrior, Paladins cooldowns put Warriors cooldowns to shame. I often find myself scrambling my hotbar for a cooldown that doesn't exist when switching from Paladin to Warrior, and then realizing "Oh, I have nothing.". The only CD I actually really like that a Warrior has, is Vengeance (The only real CD a Warrior has IMO). 30% reduced damage for 30 seconds is nice, and when combined with Bloodbath on mass pulls, the amount you can self heal is insane. But that's about it. Not even Thrill of Battle is appealing anymore, as I often find myself looking to use it as an "Oh crap" heal than anything else. Perhaps it's better with Convalescence, but that's pairing up CD's again, leaving you with no cooldowns the next time around.

3. Paladin has the Enhanced Convalescence trait. A trait that SHOULD have been a Warrior trait/skill instead. Or they at least should have had their own alternative to it. (And no, Defiance is not an alternative. Raw 20% damage mitigation from Shield Oath trumps the enhanced recovery from Defiance completely) Wait why is Convalescence even a Gladiator base skill to begin with?

4. Believe it or not, a Paladin can do as much damage as a Warrior can do. It's been parsed so many times, and if not as much or more than the warrior, ridiculously close. Close enough to make the whole "Warriors are built to be doing a ton of damage" thing invalid. Sure a good warrior can pull ahead with Unchained, but as a tank, it's often not a good idea to be blowing your Wrath stacks on Unchained instead of inner beast. Unless you're Off tanking and are just smacking things with your axe for a while, in which case, Paladin has Sword Oath, and a ridiculously fast AA speed. Not to mention, they can stance dance much easier than a Warrior can drop and reapply defiance. (You actually lose HP if you go out of defiance and then back into it, because it doesn't heal up whatever the HP growth was. On top of that, you lose your wrath stacks) Personally, I think removing the pacification on berserk should be the first step to fixing this, but I doubt that would happen.

5. The classic Holmgang vs. Hollowed Ground. I've brought this up a ton of times, but if Holmgang is suppose to be a Warriors biggest 'oh s**t' skill, AKA a Warriors Hollowed Ground, it's failing beyond horribly at it. The skill itself is a gamble to use, as if you don't hit 1hp, using it was pointless. On top of that, it only lasts for 6 seconds, so that's a second or 2 chopped off simply waiting for the incoming attack to hit, and potentially drop you to 1 hp. Some may not suffer from this due to good timing, but Holmgang has a long animation time just like Hollowed Ground does, I've been killed so many times before the buff even went up, and left with it on cooldown while dead on the floor. There are so many points I can make on why Holmgang is just a failure of a skill, such as the root it has, (may as well get smacked by all the AOE's, or NEEDING a target close by to even use it), but they've probably been brought up already all over the place, so I'll keep them out.

6. Storms Path is a beautiful skill, but that's just more damage mitigation for the Paladin who is probably main tanking.

7. Sometimes I forget Foresight is even a thing.

8. Steel Cyclone is a beautiful skill, and I really hope in Heavensward it'll turn into Steel Tempest where it pulls enemies in with chains, roots them, then smacks them all the same way, but I guess we'll see. The skill itself though does nothing for single target, which is the bulk of main tanking, so that's 1 extra thing that pushes Warriors into that Offtank meta people seem to have, and the game only encourages it. Like why does Warrior have to rely so heavily on provoke, a cross class skill from Gladiator? They should have their own unique alternative, even if it does the same damn thing, having them rely so much on Gladiator skills just makes them seem like really half fast tanks. (Convalescence is in the same boat). As if Warriors should be thankful to Paladins for sharing their skills and allowing them to be somewhat viable for tanking. That feeling it give off just should not exist between separate tanking classes.

9. A lot of people still say that Warriors are better for tanking multiple mobs at once than a Paladin. Thats not true, and it never was true. Anyone saying that clearly doesn't know how to AOE tank as a paladin. Fast Blade -> Riot Blade -> Flash, rinse and repeat as many times as you'd like. Or simply use flash like 5 times and you wont lose aggro for a while.

And then much more, but I cant think of it all off of the top of my head right now.

However what it ultimately comes down to, is what you enjoy more. Both can do almost everything, just Paladins have a much, much, much, much easier time doing it, and many healers will probably prefer paladins due to Warriors being healer MP sponges. You can take your eyes off of a Paladin for a bit as a healer, and they'll be fine. Take your eyes off of a Warrior however and they'll probably be either dead, or hanging onto their life by a few hp.

I know even with all of this, I still prefer playing Warrior, I just prefer larger weapons and their wild style to the classic sword and board justice style.