Which is now the easiest Tank, WAR or PLD?

[Renathras]

As it says in the title. I'm kind of curious. (EDIT: I should also preface this that I don't consider "easiest" to be negative, as many people ask the question when trying to find a recommendation for picking a role up for the first time.)

For filler, PLD has a 1-2-3-4-4-4 where a -5 can be used anywhere between a given 3 and the next 3 (anytime from right after Royal Authority, through the Atonements, Fast Blade, all the way to after the following Riot Blade). WAR, by contrast, has a 1-2-3 that repeats, with a -4 that has a "flexible" 30 sec timer (e.g. you can refresh it anywhere from 30 to ~1 sec remaining on the prior one), and a gauge with a "don't overcap" -5 in Fell Cleave, as well as not overcapping on Infuriate.

PLD has two 30 sec oGCDs and a 2 charge gap closer, WAR has one 30 sec oGCD (an AOE and single-target version but they share a CD) and 3 charges of gap closer; both gap closers regenerate one charge per 30 sec.

In terms of burst, both are on a rigid 1 min timer, with PLD's opening with Fight or Flight and Requiescat, and containing an independent GCD (Goring Blade) and 4 presses of your Confetior button, as well as attempting to fit in both 30 sec oGCDs and both charges of gap closer, and a Holy Might empowered Holy Spirit. WAR's opens with Inner Release and has one independent GCD (Primal Rend), and 5x total Fell Cleaves between the 3 free from IR and 2 more from a full gauge...and two more from Infuriate, as well as fitting in its attack oGCD Upheaval, the Infuriates, and gap closer...but with the caveat that it ideally wants 3 of those for the 2 min burst, so odd minutes will only use 1 so the WAR can save three before the 2 min burst.

In terms of damage rotation, these seem...comparable...to me. WAR's has a little more thinking in terms of 1 min vs 2 min burst that PLD's does not, as well as gauge management, but PLD's base filler rotation has slightly more going on, though without having to track an upkeep buff of any kind. Their bursts also seem roughly comparable, with WAR's again involving a bit more in terms of gauge and CD management vs PLD's involving more different buttons.

Their defensive kits are largely comparable in terms of what they have, with PLD's being EVER so slightly more cumbersome (Passage having to be aimed, Shelltron/Intervene having a gauge cost), but still pretty straightforward.

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WAR has long been considered the easiest Tank, but I'm curious if that still seems true?

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EDIT2: I suppose standard "it's ultimately subjective" applies. More just wondering various people's thoughts on it. Personally, I find PLD easier now, but I'm sure not everyone does.

[LilimoLimomo]

I think this at least partially depends on the context in which we're talking about easiest, and what in particular easiest means.

For example, at level 90, I think DRK has the least going on. Not many buttons to press, not many mechanics to track, so there's less to learn and manage. And from that perspective, I think it's probably the easiest tank to play.

But I certainly wouldn't say it's the easiest tank to learn from the beginning, as it isn't until much later in the game that DRK gets their non-lengthy-cooldown mitigation skills, which at least in my opinion are an important aspect of playing a tank, one that shouldn't be delayed until the end of Stormblood. So if easy includes that, DRK wouldn't get my vote. I'd probably vote for WAR in this scenario, as you can play it from the very beginning and it's less fiddly than PLD.

There's also the question of how easy a tank is to optimize in hardcore content, and frankly I have no idea if that correlates to how easy they are to pick up for a new player; it could be like Othello, where what's easiest to learn is the most challenging to master.

[Oizen]

Its WAR by a mile, its even joked about in the community how low the level of execution is for WAR, and I think it really just comes down to how much the job gets for free compared to the others.

Its a very forgiving job, no other tank has a tool as powerful as Equilibrium at undoing self mistakes, and if that's not enough Bloodwhetting is literally free and can do that for you as well, and if thats not enough then you have a pretty sizable heal for you and your whole party with Shake it off, plus a shield, plus a regen, and if THATS not enough its invuln is on the shortest cooldown thus making it the strongest one.

In terms of keeping damage up, all you really have to do with WAR is keep your Fell Cleave and Fell Cleave accessories within the burst window and you'll do alright.
You can pile your gap closers if you want but its such a small amount of damage that you're only doing this if you really want to minmax.

I don't think any of the tanks are particularly hard, but the general consensus seems to be:
GNB > DRK > PLD >>> WAR

[GoatOfWar]

In my personal experience it goes from difficult to easiest
Gnb>Drk/Pld>War

I don't find myself lining up as many resources for the 2 minute window as War, mitigation is the easiest and a lot of it is reactive as War.
Mitigating as Drk involves weaving it into a burst often times, and it's proactive. I need to memorise what does physical or magical damage so i can mitigate accordingly, same with Gnb to a lesser extent. Whereas with the other tanks i don't really have to plan my mitigations as much. Drk also is the only tank that gets punished for others stacking mitigation on top of yours through a damage loss.
I ranked Pld and Drk as equal, i guess partly because of it having the hardest damage rotation pre rework and i haven't played it enough post rework to make a fair judgement.
Gnb arguably has the most rigid, prone to drifting kit in the game. And you still need to weave in your mits very often.

[Amenara]

I have been playing PLD a lot recently and it's really not too bad to play. That being said I still think warrior is the easiest but that may just be years of playing it and it all just being muscle memory.

[Zeastria]

I dont rly tank much..But i found DRK the easier one to play/learn.
( easier than WAR and PLD) x.x

[Absurdity]

If we're talking about dummy rotation then DrK is about as easy as WAR, you just need to delay your 1-minute Blood Weapon once and everything lines up automatically afterwards. But Dark Knight gets some difficulty simply from the amount of damage oGCDs it needs to fit into burst windows, Warrior has a whopping 3 of them which not only makes your burst windows incredibly simple but at the same time gives you a lot of weave slots for defensives, making that part simple as well.

It's slightly harder to say which one is easier between Paladin and Warrior however. Paladin only has 1 more oGCD per burst window and everything automatically lines up every 60 seconds so you don't even have to think about slightly drifting cooldowns like Infuriate.

[Rithy255]

Dark knight is easier then both.

Warrior is easier though... all tanks are really easy anyway.

[BRVV]

WAR is easier then PLD imho because PLD's weird magic phase

[Emitans]

WAR is easier then PLD imho because PLD's weird magic phase

Weird magic phase? You basically just press Magic Fell Cleave 4 times and then Holy Spirit, Atonement, or Royal Authority.