DRK an easier tank?

[AI_wass]

If all you want to do is hold aggro and let mobs beat on you, sure. But then, every tank is easy if all you care about is holding aggro.

[Seku]

OP

PLD and DRK play the same at lower levels. Just that Flash doesn't do damage. And yes, you should be spamming flash(about 3 times, more if you're out geared severely by your other PT members) then rotating through the mobs and hitting them with your enmity combo, more so the ones your DPS are focusing down. The only time this is difference is pre Rage of Halone, in which case spam flash and spam the Riot blade combo to get MP back ( it also does most damage until RoH). Level 50 is when DRK branches off and you need to start to worry about MP management.

And PLD is easier in terms of staying alive and doing large pulls. But is harder in terms of keeping hate.

[AnimaS]

Warrior is easier to cheese through. Overpower spam then a couple flashes, then do nothing and wait for TP to regen for next pack.

this is the most absurd thing I've seen all day when we talk raids warrior is the most complex job it's sophisticated and used as such for multitasking dps and tanking and eating tank busters. There are 3 combos, there is proper Holmgang usage, there is yes, steel cyclone but to properly do all of this while effectively doing damage (700) in a raid is another story.. edit; now with decimate try a2 savage without a warrior dancing through stances not even mentioning fell cleave

[Chiramu]

Also, specifically to your thread title, yeah, I think DRK is the easiest of the three tanks.

PLD actually would be the easiest because you don't have to manage your MP on PLD to maintain enmity.

[Phoenicia]

PLD actually would be the easiest because you don't have to manage your MP on PLD to maintain enmity.

You don't have to manage your MP on DRK either. Power Slash is by far the most potent enmity combo out of the three tanks and it costs no MP. So even without Darkside, DRK would probably hold more enmity than PLD.

Both PLD and DRK need to "manage" their MP for AoE enmity.

But tanking difficulty isn't about holding hate. Since holding hate is the easiest thing in this game.

[Drtoxicmedica]

snip

Granted you don't have to manage your mp to hold threat you do have to use it to put out good dps. While a pld simply stops using halone and instead uses authority. Neither pld or dark have an excuse to run out of mp on aoe. The have tools to make that a none issue. Pld is just by far the easiest in all aspects. You have flash for aoe and your combos for ST. Dark has constant mp drain as well as more options to burn resources for more damage. Both are easy but you can't even try to argue pld is even remotely complicated or requires nearly the forsight both dark and warrior require comparitively.

[elemental10]

I feel like DRK has the easiest time when it comes to managing agro.

Unleash is like Flash but with magical damage attached to it. So it's better than Flash. Not to mention, when on Darkside in Grit, you are dealing 15% more damage than the other tanks and that adds to the enmity as well.

But DRK has more MP management and TP problems as well, not to mention you have less CD than a PLD and several oGCD abilities more than either, and I feel like I drop HP way too fast compared to PLD or WAR.

[Galgarion]

I feel like DRK has the easiest time when it comes to managing agro.

Unleash is like Flash but with magical damage attached to it. So it's better than Flash. Not to mention, when on Darkside in Grit, you are dealing 15% more damage than the other tanks and that adds to the enmity as well.

But DRK has more MP management and TP problems as well, not to mention you have less CD than a PLD and several oGCD abilities more than either, and I feel like I drop HP way too fast compared to PLD or WAR.

I noticed today that my mana issues pretty much vanished once I got a few decent upgrades and didn't have to AOE as much. Just using my delirium combo with the occasional C&S was enough to keep me at a healthy rate of mana regen. I also have to say that the changes to blood weapon were immediately noticeable during an A4 normal I pugged. Off tanking is a lot more fun when you don't have to keep begging for goads.

[kensatsu]

Ok i played the 3 tanks so.
For the pack War is the easier, then dark.pld (it's true in war you can even full domination in berserk and go AFK till mobs is dead...)
To Main Tanking Pld is the easier, and when you OT dps rotation is very simple, Dark play a lot like the pld, but he have a lot of offense CD, you still have to think to your def CD also.
If you want to output the best dps you can with your dark you have to manage your MP and let enough mp if you need them for your defense CD as well.
Realy i think it's harder than the pld.
Main Tanking with the war, it's not hard, just you have migitate sometimes with a GCD instead of only CD, it mean you have to be ready for tank buster pattern and not play only by reflex.
instead of that when you are used to your rotation, Stance swapping ect... it's easy.
Conclusion : Dark ask to player to play faster than with a War and a Pld

[Brian_]

AoE tanking on PLD is significantly harder than DRK and WAR if you are trying to play your class right. You need to be very aware of general enmity because you only want to spam flash as much as needed. The rest of your GCDs go into GB upkeep on multiple mobs which generates no bonus enmity. It's the same as in ST situations where you only RoH enough to hold hate and RA otherwise. As a result, while the PLD has no real mana management in AoE situations since they will naturally regen enough through GB upkeep and Sheltron, they're like a SMN without bane when it comes to damage output.