There's not much unique-ness when it comes to tank jobs, are there?

[EpicOverlord85]

Maybe it's only while levelling, but dungeon pulls on WAR just don't flow well... AoE combo (which requires a target and has a directional component) to get aggro, single-target combo for 3 GCDs to get Storm's Eye, finally back to AoE combo / special AoE; and since Storm's Eye only lasts up to 30s it usually falls off before the next pack.

DRK, PLD and GNB are all infinitely smoother in comparison with circular AoEs (that don't require a target), an oGCD AoE (very useful for staggered packs), and freely applicable damage buffs.

Edit:
Not that I want WAR to be yet another PLD clone; however, I do draw a distinction between 'unique' abilities that truly separate classes and abilities that are just worse versions of the 'standard' (with nothing to compensate).

For example:
- Way back when PLD had only Flash (and Circle of Scorn), Overpower was still finicky to use but at least it had the advantage of doing damage... now Overpower is just a flat out worse version of the AoE that all the other Tanks have (even in potency compared to DRK and GNB).
- Similarly for Onslaught, which technically has the advantage of longer range and being available more often, but at 20 gauge cost, a 10s hard cooldown, and half the potency; ouch!
- Storm's Eye is a bit different (being 100% uptime and having no resource cost), but there is no denying that it is more annoying to apply and maintain than Darkside.
- And it is not just WAR; PLD Divine Veil for example is long past due to lose its requirement of needing a heal to proc it (since it is no longer the only Tank party mitigation ability).



In comparison to 4.X DRK, yes, but I wasn't really a fan of the Dark Arts spam style of 4.X DRK (though I know many were, so I would not begrudge its return) ... in either case it's faster than WAR.

Instead of spamming Dark Arts we instead now just spam Edge/Flood :/

[Acidblood]

Instead of spamming Dark Arts we instead now just spam Edge/Flood :/

At least Edge / Shadow do damage directly instead of just buffing potencies, which IMO has a much better gameplay feel (i.e. you can see the results without staring at numbers / a parser). Maybe I missed some hidden depth in 4.X DRK (as I said I didn't really like it) but to me 4.X Dark Arts didn't feel like a 'bonus', or a 'reward', or even a well-designed class mechanic, it just felt like a bunch of busy work, a button you had to press so your abilities would do their 'real' damage.

Which is not to say 5.X DRK is a shining example of class design, it definitely has its issues, and feels like it is missing a few things, but IMO it's s solid base on which a solid class can be built (hopefully before 6.0).