Pld Oath's on GCD

[Marxam]

I think people don't seem to understand that Defiance doesn't give any damage reduction. If a 10k tank buster hit a warrior in defiance with 10k hp, he will die instantly while a PLD or DRK with 10k hp will only get hit for 8k in their respective tank stances and if a warrior switched from Deliverance to Defiance he would still be sitting at 8k hp which would still kill him. This is without taking into account and defensive cool downs. This a point right here validates why warrior's tank stance is more flexible as this one simple act of pro and con necessitates why it needs to be ogcd.

Here's and old post that I feel best explains why warriors have their stances off gcd.

Producer and director Yoshi-P here.

I understand that all our warriors out there are eager to know what patch 2.1 has in store for them. While we’re still in the testing stages, I’d like to give you a preview of what we have planned. Please keep in mind that warrior is still being tested in all encounters available in 2.1, and the following information is subject to change.

Marauder Changes

• Brutal Swing

  - Recast time will be reduced from 30 to 20 seconds, increasing the frequency with which players can stun foes.

• Overpower

  - Enmity generated by this skill has been increased.

• Storm's Eye

  - TP cost will be reduced from 70 to 60.

• Storm's Path

  - TP cost will be reduced from 90 to 60.
  - This skill will also reduce damage dealt by enemies for a period of time.

• Holmgang

  - Range will be increased from 3 yalms to 6, to make the skill more effective.
  - This skill will now pull enemies toward your character. *As of 3.38 this is still not working as intended, specifically in pvp.
  - When using this skill, a player's HP cannot be reduced lower than 1.
  - The animation for this skill will be revised. (See screenshot above)

• Vengeance

  - This skill will also reduce damage taken by 30%.

• Mercy Stroke

  - Recast time will be reduced from 60 to 40 seconds, improving ease of use.

• Thrill of Battle

  - Effect duration will be extended from 10 to 20 seconds.

Warrior Changes

• Defiance

  - Enmity generated by this skill will be increased.
  - This skill will also increase HP recovery via curing magic by 20%.

• Wrath

  - The improved healing effect granted by Wrath will be removed. Instead, the improved healing effect will be granted by Defiance.

• Inner Beast

  - Due to overall balance changes, HP absorbed by damage dealt will be reduced from 300% to 100%
  - Damage taken will be reduced by 20% for 6 seconds.

• Steel Cyclone

  - This skill will generate increased enmity.

• Unchained

  - Recast time will be reduced from 180 to 120 seconds, improving ease of use.

The main focus of these changes—as the seasoned warriors among you have already observed— was Inner Beast and its HP absorption effect. With these changes, warriors will no longer be dependent on a single skill to recover HP, and have overall improved defense.

To put it simply, we want to ensure the role of warriors as durable tanks. This is why we've also adjusted the effects of Wrath and Defiance. As currently implemented, warriors are forced to lose their healing bonus when using certain skills. However, these changes will allow players to use their warrior skills without sacrificing improved healing, and also maintain the critical hit bonus of Wrath.

Although warrior will no longer recover immense amounts of HP in a single use of Inner Beast, these changes should improve the overall defensive capability of warriors and the ability to heal them using a support class or job.

Patch 2.1 may seem a long way off, but please understand that we have to test these balance changes not only in encounters to be introduced in the upcoming patch, but all existing encounters as well.
(Please refer to a previous post for details on why we cannot break up patch 2.1)
While I regret having to keep you waiting, I am confident these changes, along with the numerous additions we have planned for patch 2.1, will be well worth your patience.

[Lyth]

snip

I don't think that the post that you linked explains why WAR's stances are oGCD. It's referencing the fact that, prior to 2.1, Wrath stacks granted a bonus to healing rather than crit. Inner Beast represented a trade-off: either hold on to your stacks to keep up your bonus to self healing, or expend them for a 300% self-heal. 2.1 changed the self-healing bonus to be an intrinsic part of Defiance, and made Wrath give a bonus to crit. This in turn was later changed into a parry bonus with 3.0 due to the introduction of Deliverance.

You are correct to point out that WAR does not gain an instantaneous bonus in eHP on switching stance. The flip-side to this is that the cost of stance dancing is usually paid by your healer. Also, even in the event that you don't correctly plan your stance dancing in advance, you do have the largest and most powerful collection of instantaneous self-heals at your disposal out of any tank.

The biggest cost to stance-dancing on WAR used to be the fact that it cost you your stacks prior to 3.0, which could be considered analogous to the MP costs on PLD/DRK. This was removed with the introduction of Deliverance, because it allowed you to keep your stacks.

These numbers don't make sense. In this case, all 3 tanks would be @ 8k HP out of tank stance, and WAR would be at 10,000 in Defiance. WAR would get hit for 10k and get deleted, PLD/DRK would get hit for 8k (10k - 20%) and get deleted.

While you're right to point out that the numbers for Defiance look off, I think that the example was designed to illustrate that WAR doesn't get an instantaneous eHP benefit from stance dancing.

The tankbuster in the example hits for 10k after considering gear but before considering damage reduction buffs. If you swap into Grit/Shield Oath during the cast, the effect is instantaneous and you take 8k damage. If you swap into Defiance during the cast, you are still sitting at 10k HP, but your max HP is now 12.5 k. If you don't get topped off during this interval (either by yourself or the healer), you take 10k and die. This usually isn't an issue though.