Warrior in Frontlines

[Timboslice]

Hi I usally play blm or whm in front lines andI enjoy it a lot. Today I was thinking about gearing up and jumping as my Warrior that has been collecting dust for months. How do you guys like playing warrior in front lines? Do you have any pointers?

[Koltik]

Tip #1: Play Marauder, not Warrior.

[Timboslice]

Why Marauder?

[Phenidate]

The only thing you gain from going WAR are tank related skills.

Defiance drops your damage by 25%, raises HP and gives you extra healing received, but the smart player doesn't focus a tank down first. The two weapon skills are nice, but hardly make up for your general rotation attack skills doing 75% dmg. Yes I know about Unchained. You can only pop it 7-8 times in a match for 140 to 160 seconds of true DPS. About 70-80 attacks with mostly MRD only dps CDs.

As a MRD, you would be an effective burst DPS however. They lose out on some bonus stats but gain a great deal of DPS and utility CDs.

I prefer:
Internal Release, Raging Strikes, Featherfoot, Invigorate, Stoneskin, Eye for Eye, Awareness, Convalescence, Mantra

You gain several skills you can throw on your healer, something WAR doesn't add.

Pop CDs, Holmgang a healer to your team, stun and end them.

[Phenidate]

Ran out of post space.
In comparison, PLDs are very useful to their team. They can shield bash people repeatedly, going around interrupting casters and dps alike. Healer being focused? Tetsudo is great! Cover is great! Your mana pool lets you Stoneskin your healers repeatedly, giving them breathing room to cast, same with Cover.
Need to deal extra damage? Pop Sword Oath and Fight or Flight. Being focused? Shield Oath and whatever tank CDs you feel like. They lose nothing for using their oaths and swapping as needed.

Tempered will gives you a mini purify against binds and gravity effects, plus knockback skills (incredible for leading the charge up the ramp on mid!)
Flash also blinds when used by a paladin, exceptional against people focusing your healers down.

I love both MRD and PLD - and pick whichever is best suited for my team.

[Alexander_Dragonfang]

Defiance is only a DPS drop in the description of the skill. In reallity Defiance at worst, leaves your DPS the same, most cases, increases it. Inner Beast is a good burst skill with Infuriate, Internal Release and Berserk on. Will smash most fragile DPS and will force a healer into "oh shi-" status. The damage overall stays and you win survivality, lots of it. Which is really useful because staying alive inside the banners is what matters here. A WAR which is alive and is annoying everything and everyone and you can`t get him off the banner is much more annoying than below average burst MRD which doesn`t do half the damage a MNK or DRG do which is already half what BRDs do...

[Phenidate]

Last I looked, 25% is not chump change for damage reductions. We make up for lack of crit from wrath with internal release. We get full effect from maim and path. 20% off raging strikes. We lose out on our 300 potency attack every 5 wrath stacks - but we make up for it with our Butchers Block (still a 280 potency) and Skull Sunder hitting way harder.

We definitely don't do less damage.

This also ignores the fact that MRD can pull better healer defense than a WAR. Keeping your healer alive and pumping out medicas or fairy heals is better for survival than being the last man standing on flag.

[Divinemight]

Last I looked, 25% is not chump change for damage reductions.

Passive percentage of damage reduction is always the key in PvP. This is not Wolf's Den where Marauder will shine because of its unique circumstance. This is Frontline where you will receives damage from all directions.

[Phenidate]

If you're getting focused down early in the fight either the enemy teams an idiot or you're not with your party.

[Alexander_Dragonfang]

Last I looked, 25% is not chump change for damage reductions. We make up for lack of crit from wrath with internal release. We get full effect from maim and path. 20% off raging strikes. We lose out on our 300 potency attack every 5 wrath stacks - but we make up for it with our Butchers Block (still a 280 potency) and Skull Sunder hitting way harder.

We definitely don't do less damage.

This also ignores the fact that MRD can pull better healer defense than a WAR. Keeping your healer alive and pumping out medicas or fairy heals is better for survival than being the last man standing on flag.

And 25% Defence reduction, HP reduction, Critical Hit increase (which already makes for all the 25% reduction of damage) and both skills, Inner Beast and Steel Cyclone. Frontlines is closer to PvE than Wolf`s Den. First, you are playing a tank, second an area control class, third a crowd control, last a DPS. Is about perfecting a role. Going MRD is forcing the class to make the class do what is not made for. You will reduce your party area control, you will your own survivality and i bet (because already happens in PvE) you will also reduce your own DPS.