Thread: "Advice needed" PLD vs WAR going forword of 2.1

For many many fights where bosses follow patterns, Inner Beast can arguably be as good or better than PLD cooldowns as it's on a much shorter CD and basically available on-demand.

But please, do not waste time with nonsensical "x is better than y". Just play what you like the most and have fun, they're both just as good and able to clear any content.

WAR + PLD will beat WAR + WAR or PLD + PLD due to the way their debuffs stack (PLD and WAR both get damage debuffs, and WAR gets a resistance debuff that PLD can make use of too).
The Limit Building mechanics also changed slightly recently, so that parties with duplicate classes don't build up as fast as those with more varied classes.

In terms of mitigation, it depends entirely on what you're tanking.

If an enemy has a short period of heavy spike damage every ~25 to ~45 seconds, or if the damage type can't be blocked, then WAR is better.
If an enemy has prolonged periods of heavy damage lasting longer than ~5-10 seconds, then PLD is better.

A PLD can handle longer periods of heavy incoming damage better than a WAR (and can survive a lot more punishment for a very short period of time), but it will run out of cooldowns if it needs to mitigate a Heavy damage spike more often than once every ~45 seconds or so. WAR doesn't have that problem because of the shorter time between Inner Beast uses (just over every ~20 secs). This is why WAR is the preferred MT for things with regular predictable "spike" hits such as Turn 5's "Death Sentences". WAR can also grab solid AoE hate a LOT faster than PLD, although holding it over time is a little bit trickier since they'll gradually run out of TP/MP.

Personally, I've geared up my PLD (currently i89, will use Myth to replace i80 hands this week for full i90) and the WAR (currently i84, with standard Relic Axe and a Hoplight Circlet!) has benefited from the PLD's hand-me-downs, currently several i90 accessories and a few Coil and CT Armor drops. I main PLD, but am happy to swap to the WAR for certain content.

Originally Posted by Fraxx

We actually have 2 Bards, blm and Monk/DRG. So silence should not be an issue.
Also can you explain what you mean with LB penalty ?

Somebody mentioned it already, but not as an answer to this question. If in a party there are two members of the same job, the limit break builds more slowly. If you have 2 Bards in your group this is already happening even if you don't have 2 PLD.

I think this is such a subjective question. I understand that you didn't want to turn it into a Mine's better than yours kind of topic but thats what your asking for.

You have to ask yourself what you're trying to accomplish.

1. In terms of pure mitigation ability then going with the PLD is the right choice.
2. If your other tank is already a PLD and you want group diversity then Warrior.
3. Warriors are still more gear dependant. Even though i75 isn't bad....it's also not good so you'll put more of a strain on healers as a warrior at that gear lvl then your pld will.
4. What do you prefer to play?

There are pro's and con's to both. Ultimately since there really is no glaring correct choice now, it should fall to what you want to play the most.

I come from the same background as Nabian. I'd follow his advice. Its very nice to have one of each tanking class.

I'll take my PLD out if i need to MT. But otherwise i'll use my WAR 90% of the time as the debuffs that the WARs contribute are quite considerable and they also do a great job at DPSing - more so than my PLD. (Oh and they're also a lot more engaging for me).