Teach me how to WAR!

[Richiealvian]

Thanks! With that, I think I've assembled my gear lineup.


At the moment, I'm wearing:
Dual Haken 31STR/35VIT/26PARRY/37ACC
Hoplite helm 10STR/11VIT/11PARRY/15ACC
Hoplite armor 16STR/18VIT/17SKILLSPEED/24ACC
Warrior's Gauntlets 18STR/20VIT/15PARRY/21ACC
Hoplite Belt 8STR/8VIT/11PARRY/8ACC
Hoplite Breeches 16STR/18VIT/24PARRY/17CRIT
Warrior's Jackboots 18STR/20VIT/15PARRY/21ACC
Gryphonskin Choker 9STR/9DEX/9ACC/8DET (Meld 10VIT/12PARRY/3ACC)
Gryphonskin Wristbands 9STR/9DEX/12ACC/6DET (Meld 10VIT/12PARRY/2DET)
Hoplite Earrings 8VIT/8PARRY/11ACC
Gryphonskin Ring x2 9STR/9DEX/12ACC/9SKILLSPEED (Meld 10VIT/9PARRY/8DET)

I plan to change:
my head to Warrior's Burgeonet (18STR/20VIT/15SKILLSPEED/15DET)
my belt to Allagan Plate Belt (13STR/15VIT/16ACC/8DET)
my shoes to Heavy Allagan Flanchard (18STR/20VIT/21PARRY/11DET)
my armor to Warrior's Cuirass (29STR/33VIT/24ACC/34PARRY)
my pants to Warrior's Breeches (29STR/33VIT/24PARRY/24DET)
and lastly my earrings to Allagan Earrings of Fending (15VIT/11ACC/16PARRY)

I counted (if i'm not mistaken) that I hit 405 str with this setup, which i heard from you guys earlier is the "sweet spot".

Should this be good enough? Will I be too squishy? And I believe I have a bit too much accuracy as well, but I've plans to replace the stuff that I can replace (except for the +3 acc meld on one accessory, dumb move I should probably put in +9 Skillspeed or +9 crit there or even 3 parry)

Is there a sweet spot for dex or parry rate?
Thanks for all the replies! Much appreciated!

On another note, as an OT do I turn off defiance and turn it on when adds come? I'm still learning, I did WP earlier but I wiped twice on the 2nd room :P Bit messy when we tried to lock the adds outside and healer got targeted (I did holmgang! He just wouldn't move away >_<) I also did praetorium earlier yesterday and I kept pulling hate from the main tank (without defiance). Sorry :X

And when trying to maximize damage, is it always going to be unchained->maim->storm's eye->berserk->butcher's block? Any other combinations?
I ask so many questions, but just one more.. when aoe-ing in WP, do you use overpower a lot? or build stacks and do steel cyclone? Should I pop all my defensive CDs while mobbing as well? I usually alternate them and almost never have more than one on at a single time.

[Electrowitch]

Yes sorry sorry sorry for the huge mistake on my side. I wanted to write 11-13%. sorry

[Kelberos]

Crit isn't that good for WAR since we naturally get a crit chance buff from Defiance. You want to meld for VIT, parry, and (if it's not already at cap) determination. If DET is at cap, go for crit. 10vit/12parry/x is best.

What? Theres a det cap??? What was it again?

[SpookyGhost]

What? Theres a det cap??? What was it again?

Well, cap on each piece since all the gryphonskin stuff already comes with Determination, except for the ring. Not really sure how much you can get out of the Wrists/Earrings/Necklace unless it's default capped is what I mean. There's no actual cap on your DET though, afaik.

On another note, *insert words here*

If you're off tanking, yeah, you want Defiance off. Your OT rotation is basically SP combo -> SE combo, then if your MT is far enough ahead in aggro weave in BB combos. If you want to maximize damage, pop Berserk before Unchained since it's active for longer and will give you more out of your Unchained buff. You'll also want Internal Release because (although it's worse now) it's still an increase in crit rate which you won't be getting naturally since you're going to be out of Defiance.

If you're locking adds out of the Slime boss room, you'll want to stand at the entrance (inside the boss room) and have someone else pull the Slime to you, then Provoke, then raw BB/Tomahawk depending on range. Holmgang won't help you there.

For AOE, OP and Flash are the way to go. Berserk + Bloodbath + Overpower is an insane amount of hate and some nice self healing. If you have 5 Wrath left over from your previous trash pull you can initiate with Tomahawk -> SS -> OP, etc., but that's about the only time you'll be using it.

[Gandora]

Also Gandora, its probably best to specify that str is increasing the Parry % dmg reduction and not % of the parry rate. Ppl might mistake that.
Other then that your post was very good and very informative.

Thanks, I am also French speaker natively so when I say things it might not come as clear as it should... I post here to have more interaction with English people thank you very much for your feedback however.

Yes sorry sorry sorry for the huge mistake on my side. I wanted to write 11-13%. sorry

If you want to go that way >.>; its even more since Maim is part of the combo (increase damage by 20%.)

I counted (if i'm not mistaken) that I hit 405 str with this setup, which i heard from you guys earlier is the "sweet spot".

I think I saw that its every 40 STR point, you may want to check on BG as they are very good when it come to maths & stuff.

On another note, as an OT do I turn off defiance and turn it on when adds come? I'm still learning, I did WP earlier but I wiped twice on the 2nd room :P Bit messy when we tried to lock the adds outside and healer got targeted (I did holmgang! He just wouldn't move away >_<) I also did praetorium earlier yesterday and I kept pulling hate from the main tank (without defiance). Sorry :X

This depend of your role, example CT at Atomos.
most of the time 1 PLD is enough to take the adds poped from atomos, at this point you can go on Atomos with Defiance OFF & you alternate Storm Eye & Butcher Block combo, Maim will also give you 20% more damage on top of the -10% slashing resistance debuff, BB for more damages.

And when trying to maximize damage, is it always going to be unchained->maim->storm's eye->berserk->butcher's block? Any other combinations?
I ask so many questions, but just one more.. when aoe-ing in WP, do you use overpower a lot? or build stacks and do steel cyclone? Should I pop all my defensive CDs while mobbing as well? I usually alternate them and almost never have more than one on at a single time.

As unchained and berserk last only 20 sec i'd review the order, place it after Storm's Eye combo and before Berserk, that way you're not affected by Pacification when berserk goes off. But that's me ^^ and people might disagree with my playstile.

[BuddRoyce]

There's a lot of valid tactics in this thread for WAR. I love the class for it's versatility and it's pretty much the only thing I play. The only things I can recommend are:

Defiance: On or Off for me depends on how good the healer is and if I can keep enough hate. Additionally, during BC Turn 2 or Ultima HM where I need to swap with another tank, I turn on Defiance when I'm tanking and then off when the other guy is about to take over to make it easier for him. That's not to say you can't do a full dungeon with Defiance off. I've done WP and AK that way.

Holmgang: Useful when you think you're about to die since your HP can't drop below 1 or need to hold something in place. Keep it handy.

Aside from that, learn to use your self-heals, you can figure out what tactics work best.