PLD going WAR instead

[Akuha]

I've been working on a PLD for a while and got mine up to about 34, but I've been thinking about dropping that and starting on a MRD/WAR instead. Can someone give me a breakdown on the differences between the two, both in purpose and how they're supposed to be played?

[SpookyGhost]

Paladin = Purely mitigation. Rotates cooldowns to keep damage to a minimum.
Warrior = Self healing. Takes the big damage with a huge HP pool and heals a good amount of it back by him/herself.

Paladin (as of 2.0) is the superior tank in Coil. But don't let that scare you away from Warrior, as not only are they getting buffed in 2.1 they're also really good in all content currently in the game (including Coil!). I'd recommend leveling Marauder to 30 and see how you feel about them from there. Warrior is a lot of fun, but Paladin is always effective. It just comes down to personal taste and what you feel suits you best.

The reason why Warrior struggles in Coil is simply because that description I gave of the class isn't entirely accurate. Sometimes WAR will heal a good amount back... but only sometimes. Other times you'll be struggling to keep your healers from having panic attacks. It can get quite hectic but it'll teach you a lot about tanking in FF14. PLD honestly feels like I'm AFK after leveling WAR. But some people like that... and I love it for WP/AK runs. :P

[Zakalwe]

My goodness, so many guides out there on this exact topic. I Googled 'ffxiv paladin vs warrior' and came up with:
https://www.google.com/search?source....0.UiYIvbedeDw

I looked at many of these same guides when I was trying to decide which one to level up first. Went with PLD, but now working on my WAR. Also, there are lots of these same discussions on this board. Basically, Warriors are a little more challenging to play but can tank all content up to the hardest end game stuff just fine, though they sometimes give healers not used to them some heart palpitations as they see their HPs bounce around. While I am not in Coil yet, I understand that some of that content is more difficult for a Warrior, at least as main tank. To address the issue, SE plans some possibly significant buffs for the Warrior with Update 2.1 planned for sometime next month.

[Purplecannon]

Until 2.1 comes out you should just stick to PLD. There is no telling how big the warrior changes are going to be and majority of endgame content requires at least 1 PLD (easiest with 2).

[Akuha]

My goodness, so many guides out there on this exact topic. I Googled 'ffxiv paladin vs warrior' and came up with:
https://www.google.com/search?source....0.UiYIvbedeDw

I looked at many of these same guides when I was trying to decide which one to level up first. Went with PLD, but now working on my WAR. Also, there are lots of these same discussions on this board. Basically, Warriors are a little more challenging to play but can tank all content up to the hardest end game stuff just fine, though they sometimes give healers not used to them some heart palpitations as they see their HPs bounce around. While I am not in Coil yet, I understand that some of that content is more difficult for a Warrior, at least as main tank. To address the issue, SE plans some possibly significant buffs for the Warrior with Update 2.1 planned for sometime next month.

Thanks for the clarification, and especially the link, that cleared a lot up for me.

Until 2.1 comes out you should just stick to PLD. There is no telling how big the warrior changes are going to be and majority of endgame content requires at least 1 PLD (easiest with 2).

I wasn't going to go WAR because of the 2.1 patch, I was going to switch because PLD is so boring I was literally falling asleep during raids.

[Phreak]

I wasn't going to go WAR because of the 2.1 patch, I was going to switch because PLD is so boring I was literally falling asleep during raids.

What raids are you doing at level 34? If PLD is 'boring' then you're not playing it to it's fullest, there's plenty more to do than just pressing 1-2-3. If that is the reason for your boredom then WAR won't be any different they just press 1-2-3 x2 then 1-4-5 you can keep up fracture if you wanna feel special but that's no different than rolling say the blind debuff and timing the dimishing return or weaving Circle of Scorn/Spirits Within during your combos. If you're really bored on the PLD try walking the line of mantaining threat and juggling shield bashes through a group of mobs or pacification swipes.

Like I said before if all you're doing is spamming flash and doing your combo you're going to be bored regardless of the class you play.

[Yunnie]

If your bored playing paly @34, then your going to be bored playing warrior at 34 because both jobs are bearly getting their abilities at that level... Paly gets fun after you finish your relic reborn quest... Because that's when you literally start using every skill you accumulated at lvl50.

I don't have a warrior but I assume they are the same way. Once the game becomes a fight for your life- that's when a tank becomes fun. Your currently not having fun because your not being challenged... And there's nothing challenging about low level dungeons because they are all ment to be tutorials

[Grembo]

If your bored playing paly @34, then your going to be bored playing warrior at 34 because both jobs are bearly getting their abilities at that level... Paly gets fun after you finish your relic reborn quest... Because that's when you literally start using every skill you accumulated at lvl50.

You have access to all your skills at lv 50, why would you only start using them all after you get your relic weapon :/

[Garnatian]

Differences between them don't amount to much.

The "biggest" difference in how you play is that WAR has 2 combos, while PLD has 1 (Riot combo doesn't get much use outside special circumstance and can easily be replace by a BRD using Ballad for the WHM).

So while a PLD pressing buttons looks something like this:

1-2-3, 1-2-3.

a WAR looks like this:

1-2-3, 1-4-5, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-4-5.

Both are dull and slow.

If you're thinking of levelling a WAR because PLD is boring, then there's a good chance you'll think exactly the same about WAR. One of the only potentially interesting things about WAR is Wrath stacks, but they in no way capitalise on this as using Wrath sucks outside of Infuriate being off-CD is generally stupid.

[Snorgrind]

Differences between them don't amount to much.

yea but when you are trying to join party it looks like this

PLD = Indestructible tanking god
WAR = paper tank crying in the corner