Going to main a tank job for SB need some advice

[Surake]

Hello everyone!

I am planning to main a tank job for Stormblood and I need help deciding. I tanked off and on in World of Warcraft on my Warrior and Paladin so I get the gist of what tanking is, but I've not really done it in FFXIV despite having a 50 WAR (played solo tank and did story dungeons as DPS).

But for Stormblood I really want to tank, just everything about tanking appeals to me and I'm going for it. But I don't know what job to do, Paladin, Dark Knight, or Warrior. For a newer player to FFXIV group content with some tank exp what would you recommend? I'd like something not insanely complicated and I don't plan on doing savages or anything, just your normal duty finder and things like that.

Thank you all for your time!
-Surake

[Venjenz]

SB answer at launch seems to be PLD, especially if you are new and want to jump in and actually tank according to standard MMO tank meta. All 3 are perfectly viable for 99.9% of the content that is not MT on Savage raids with an FC who follows the Elitist Jerk meta formula, so none of the three will be a bad choice.

Personally, I think it boils down to which weapon you think is cooler - big giant axe, big giant sword, or sword/board.

[Kaedan]

In WoW I only ever played a Paladin, and I have to say that of the tanks available in FF14, Paladin or Dark Knight is the closest to it...

That being said, they aren't really at all similar gameplay wise other than they can mitigate damage and have some healing ability.

In FF14, as Venjenz mentions above, it's mainly an aesthetic choice: Axe, Greatsword or S&B. But there are some gameplay aspects that may affect your decision.

PLD is all about mitigation, healing and covering allies. They are the proverbial "shield wall", and while SB adds some AoE options, they are more single target focused.
WAR is more about tanking through massive amounts of HP, but they do have mitigation. They are also more damage focused and many WARs "stance dance" between DPS and Tank "modes"... though that seems to be nerfed somewhat for SB. More AoEs than PLD.
DRK is built around MP management. They are kind of a middle ground between PLD and WAR, with not as much pure mitigation as PLD, but with higher damage and a lot more AoE. They are stylistically the "magic" tanks, IMO.


If you like to be busy, DRK or WAR is the way to go. If you like to be a little more relaxed, PLD is a little less busy than the other two. Then it really comes down to which style you prefer. I personally prefer DRK. I mained PLD until Heavensward and had started to get bored with it, but I have never gotten bored of DRK.

[Surake]

"Stance Dancing" scares the crap out of me because I hated it in WoW on my warrior. So PLD might be for me, I also like the class look. The more straightforward and relaxed the better for me. Thanks for the input, I\\\\'ll check into them more.

[Drudwyn]

I would recommend trying them all in SB and find the one that feels most fun. I know that's what I'm going to do.

[Claire_Pendragon]

EDIT: I was wrong about DRK single target
You may be scared of stance dancing but honestly, that's getting ahead of yourself a bit.

Lump all tanks as follows;

(1) Run to enemies (if you're PLD you have shield lob since its not an issue to use. WAR tomahawk is TP costly, and better spent on overpower imo. Similar for DRK, but it's pretty easy to get back though.)
(2) AoE for x6 threat on multiple mobs (unless you're DRK, then you get sh*t threat on unleash come 4.0, and will want to use abyssal drain for x5 threat)
(3) single target Threat combo for threat. (you can use this to save on AoEs if you feel u need it)
(4) single target DPS combo. (dont practice these unless you're DRK, as u need the MP badly on DRK. But when you're ready, start to get a feel for how much you can DPS before you lose threat, and need a threat combo again)
(5) Strong mitigation CDs for tank busters, weak CDs for general mitigation. (sometimes u only have strong ones for low levels, or the enemies dont have tank busters, so its ok to waste em on trash pulls)

Just focus on starting with a CD, spam AoE.
then focus on using your DPS combo once u have enough threat on a boss.

once you feel comfortable with that, then you can experiment with dropping tank stance 50% into a boss fight.

once u feel comfortable with that, you can slowly edge yourself closer and closer to the point of almost losing threat.

But dont worry about being like that right away.

When groups ticked me off in 3.0, I would go DRK in all VIT gear (back when VIT was just HP) ONLY use grit (not dark side) and ONLY spam flash.
This was to do the LEAST amount of dmg possible, but make sure I held hate.
I also didnt use CDs.

I honestly got more coms this way, than I ever did pushing DPS, and mitigating as much dmg as possible. (I even had a healer say they only healed me 3 times in a run as my WAR, and they hated me more than any other tank, because it was boring.)

It's not worth stressing over, just test ur limits at ur pace.
(EDIT: id say PLD has the least mechanics to worry about, but in 4.0 I'd say DRK will have the least to worry about, as PLD has to play the oldschool DRK playstyle of watching their MP not drop below 80%, except when they know they can get it back up quickly. DRK will also have the most threat problems, having the lowest threat in trash pulls, again, a switch from what is PLD now.)

EDIT: DRK does need to make sure it has MP saved for Carve and Spit, or Dark Passenger. (picking Carve and Spit before Dark Passenger if limited on MP)

Aside when you have slashing debuff

EDIT: lol. Technically if you have a WAR, NIN, or SAM, then dark passenger has a power priority in use than your GCDs.

[Kaedan]

There's really no evidence or reason to claim that DRK is going to have lowest threat in trash pulls. Even if Unleash remains at 50 potency, that has nothing to do with threat. Flash is an enmity generating skill and it doesn't even do damage. So it's quite clear that they can adjust the level of enmity a skill does regardless of whether or not it even does damage.

So while losing 50 potency would reduce the amount of enmity generated, it's perfectly possible that they increased the base amount of enmity the skill generates to compensate.

And all that being said, even if you completely ignore Unleash, DRKs still have Abyssal Drain.

DRKs will still be the easiest tanks for trash pulls and large group pulling.

[Surake]

So I played around some last night in POTD on a paladin, and while I know POTD isn't the best for actual senarios it was pretty fun. I am very grateful for all the feedback and discussion in this thread for sure. Right now I'm still bouncing around the 3 trying to choose.

PLD seems fun and the most straightforward
WAR seems like it could be easy to start but would have a high skill ceiling meaning I would probably always be lower than optimal
DRK is the biggest unknown as it seems like it would be good for AOE, but also has the most to manage with TP and MP management.

Honestly I want to focus on the tanking aspect and would like to play without having to be constantly watching my gauges and taking away attention from keeping aggro. Still kind of PLD 40% WAR 30% DRK 30%.

What would you say is the best "all a rounder"?

[konpachizaraki]

if things keep going like this PLD is going to be the best tank in 4.0 by considerable distance so that's the answer about what tank you should choose
WAR got 3 useless skills and lost their utilities and to lesser extent DRK got the same blow
i am a war main from 2.0 to this day but will definitely switch to PLD in 4.0

[gumas]

Paladin seems to be getting the most love out of all tank class in SB so yeah i say go with PLD