Pros and Cons of the Tank jobs

[Sekundessounet]

Hi !

I'm currently thinking to up a Tank job at 60, but I'm kind of interested in the 3. All of them feels good to play as much as I've played them.

So I would like some advice from some lvl 60 tanks if possible.

Thanks !

[Misha_Tameshigiri]

Level PLD to 22 for provoke.
If PLD is too boring for you, level WAR to 50.
If WAR is too boring for you, level DRK to 60.

Generally speaking, PLD is the simplest to play tank. It's also the king of sustained physical mitigation. Back when content had physical tank busters it was the MT of choice and will be again if the next stage of Alexander includes physical tank busters.
The downside is PLD is boring as hell.
WAR is a step more complicated than PLD. It has a slightly steeper learning curve, and a much higher skill ceiling. (Timing Inner Beast and/or Fell Cleaves) It has the highest OT DPS of all 3 tanks and is arguably the best at dealing with physical tank busters.
DRK has the steepest learning curve, but a lower skill ceiling compared to WAR. Its defensive cooldowns work just like PLDs, however you have to manage your MP to make the most of your DPS. It's the king of magical mitigation, and the MT of choice for current endgame content (Alexander). It has the highest DPS of all 3 in its tank stance.

[Brannigan]

Paladin
+Passive physical edge (-10% str on Rage of Halone, 5% average mitigation from shields)
+Hallowed Ground
+Rapid active physical mitigation (Sheltron blocks next attack, 30s cd)
+Utility has more variety than the other tanks (heals, shields)
+Good at tanking crowds (Bulwark)
+Looks best
-Many skills have limited use (Tempered Will, Cover)
-Utility is better on paper than in practice
-Cooldowns on magic mitigation are long
-TP problems

Warrior
+High DPS
+Easy stance changes
+Rapid mitigation for every form of damage (Inner Beast, Vengeance)
+Nearly every ability works on every fight in the game.
+Can use mitigation skills to increase DPS as OT, but still a great MT
+Infinite TP
+/-Enmity combo is also highest DPS combo
-Holmgang could be better
-If you go back in time you'll be a 2.0 warrior again

Dark Knight
+Same basic cooldown structure as paladin (Dark Rampart, Dark Sentinel)
+Rapid and strong magic mitigation (Dark Mind, 1m cooldown)
+Reprisal stacks with Storm's Path, INT down. Can be very powerful against magic AOEs.
+Good DPS
+Has a cool gap closer
+/-Lots of button presses, many off GCDs
-Stance switching requires more forethought because of MP
-Enmity combo is really bad, but don't have to use it often
-May have to use Living Dead to mitigate physical tank busters if we ever see them again
-Dark Dance could be better
-Can't prevent knockback
-Some superfluous skills (Abyssal Drain, etc)
-TP problems

[Galgarion]

Pro: Quick queues for the duty finder.

Con: Having to play with groups in the duty finder.

Pro: Easy to gear up fast.

Con: Duty finder groups.

Pro: Learning to tank is fun.

Con: Learning with Duty finder groups is not.

Pro: Each of the different tank jobs is uniquely fun.

Con: Duty finder groups.

Hmmm, it's a tough call.

[Brian_]

Level WAR. It's the only well designed tank and it's by far the strongest and most desired tank. Go back and try out DRK and PLD after SE fixes those classes.

[AriaEnia]

PLD is very hard to play on early levels, I suggest play WAR or DRK for facerolling tanking in early dungeons.

[Bman10119]

im currently leveling warrior. its amazing. at 54 you unlock fell cleave which is basically a nuke of doom. amazing. just such a great ability. those numbers. mmmmm. took paladin to 22 for provoke, found it very boring. will need to pick it up again for awareness. Dark knight, i hate it. only because of how much of a pain the quest to get darkside was XD

[PogueX]

i found playing the DRK boring , the most fun is WAR but you really have to know what you are doing cause it's a complex tanking job. Much more then 1....2....3 of paladin and SPAM UNLEASH SPAM UNLEASH of the DRK

[Misha_Tameshigiri]

In trash pulls, all tanks can be boiled down to "SPAM AOE AGGRO GRAB, PRAY TO RNGESUS". That's not even close to a valid criticism.

[Freyyy]

BIG POST INCOMING.

I play and got raiding experience with all 3 of them. WAR was my main for a long time but I'm now raiding as DRK. I'm gonna cover them in that order : Paladin, Warrior, then Dark Knight.

Paladin :

Pros :

- Easiest to learn, easiest to master. The simplicity of this job is one of its strengths. If you're new to tanking it's probably the best one to pick to learn the mechanics of the role. The gameplay may be boring for an experienced tank, but it's still pretty smooth and enjoyable to play. Otherwise nobody would have it as its main job.
- The shield. It's only useful against physical damage but it makes quite a difference in damage from auto-attacks and mostly physical-hitting bosses. Against magic bosses tho (like A4), it's completely useless. Still a nice bonus the other tanks don't have.
- The defensive cooldowns. PLDs got a lot of them, and they are all pretty straight forward. You basically just hit a button to get a buff that makes you take X% less damage. Simple, efficient.
- Hallowed Ground. You're invincible for 10 seconds (but 7min CD). Again, very straight forward, simple, efficient. While the other 2 tanks have also an "invulnerability button", this one is the safest. WAR's Holmgang has only 3min CD but requires an enemy target, lasts only 6sec and is quite risky to use if it's not a planned usage and if healers are not fully aware of it and preparing for it. DRK's Living Dead is middle ground. 5min CD, can potentially last longer than Hallowed Ground, but needs even more the healer's attention than Holmgang because in order to not die, you must be healed for a high amount of HP (equal to your max HP) and not just enough to survive the next hit. Tho if the usage of it is planned, can give healers a 15+ seconds break from healing you.
- The ability to protect your allies with Cover, Divine Veil, Clemency and Stoneskin. Only tank to have that kind of party support.
- Great overall physical damage mitigation : the shield mentionned earlier, plus the Halone STR down debuff, Sheltron and Bulwark.
- Convalescence and Awareness are better on PLD because they have a trait for them.

Cons :

- Once you're experienced at tanking, this job might become really boring to you.
- Lowest single target DPS in both tank and DPS stance.
- No AoE DPS. Your only AoE move on the GCD is flash, and it does no damage. Circle of Scorn is only 250 potency every 25sec.
- You feel like a piece of shit when fighting a magic damage based boss. Only Rempart and Sentinel are reducing magic damage.
- Lowest threat generation for both AoE and single target. The two other tanks threat combo finishers are both a 5.5x multiplier and both have a higher potency (Butcher's Block is 280 potency, Power Slash is 300 potency, Rage of Halone is 260 potency with only a 5x threat multiplier). Flash + Circle of Scorn are absolutely no match against Overpower + Steel Cyclone or Abyssal Drain spam + Salted Earth + DA Dark Passenger.
- Currently the worst tank for Savage raiding because of both the incredible amount of magic damage/tank busters and the DPS checks that require every single player in the party to deal a lot of damage. If you want to actually tank Savage raids, you should definitely look at WAR or DRK.


Overall, PLD is a pretty solid tank, and the easiest to play. But it does the less damage, and it also can become really boring. Used to be the most popular MT. Now is almost considered trash-tier for Savage raiding. Could change with the next sets of raids depending on how are built the new boss fights.


Warrior :

Pros :

- Awesome gameplay. It's impossible to find this job boring.
- Awesome DPS. You have a freaking big axe and it's actually quite noticeable. Unless you're playing like garbage.
- Manliest of them all. If you want to show the world who's the real MAN, it's THE job.
- Inner Beast. This is what makes WAR the best tank for dealing with tank busters. It's also what makes the WAR an active mitigation based tank. You have to actually hit your target with this ability to gain a damage reduction buff (while healing for the amount of damage you dealt). It feels awesome and hits pretty hard while ignoring the tank stance's damage penalty.
- Damage mitigation uptime. Your biggest defensive cooldowns are Vengeance and ToB + Convalescence. They have only 2min CD. Which is pretty short if you ask me. Add to that Inner Beast which is basically on-demand mitigation, as a WAR you get mitigation everytime and everywhere you need it.
- Vengeance. Best tank CD in the game. 30% damage mitigation + 50 potency counter attack effect on every physical hit you receive while the buff is active. Also gives you a stack of Wrath/Abandon. With only 2min CD. For me it just crushes Sentinel and makes Shadow Wall feel like garbage.
- Holmgang. Cannot die. 3min CD only. Feels good to activate it and survive shit with 1HP like a MAN. This is a pro but also a con. Developping why in the cons section.
- Stances off-GCD and Wrath/Abandon stacks converting to eachother while changing stance. It makes stance-dancing feel really fucking good with this tank.
- Fell Cleave. FELL FUCKING CLEAVE. 500 potency. Fucking badass animation. Feels good. Such damage. Much wow. Nothing else to say.
- DECIMATE. THIS SKILL'S NAME FITS IT PERFECTLY. IT'S AN AOE COMBO'D BUTCHER'S BLOCK. IN DPS STANCE.
- Self-heals. Often overlooked, but hell, WAR self-healing is no joke. An Inner Beast crit can heal you for 4k+. An Equilibrium crit with Berserk active can heal you for 11k+. And Bloodbath is amazing with all that damage, especially in AoE situations. You're a fucking vampire.
- Best raid utility. Storm's Eye, Storm's Path. The best debuffs in the game.
- Awesome mitigation regardless of the damage type (physical or magical). It's all neutral mitigation, self heals and HP inflating (Thrill of Battle).
- UNLIMITED TP

Cons :

This job has no cons. No just kidding, I can actually think of 2 :
- Holmgang is tricky to use and can sometimes drive you to your death instead of saving your life. When you activate it, you can't move for the duration. If you're standing in a shit spot when you're activating it, it can be reaaaaaaally bad sometimes. It takes some time to get used to it and to master how and when you should use it if you plan on relying on it for certain mechanics.
- Highest skill ceiling. Takes quite some time to fully master the art of playing Warrior at its fullest. But when you do, you're a damn awesome tank.


As you can see I have a lot of love for WAR. I'm a fan of this job since I levelled it in 2.1. It feels freaking good in every situation you can be as a tank. The gameplay is very active, pre-calculating the usage of your stacks, your Berserk timing for pacification and all that stuff. It's currently the best tank because of its utility while maintaining high DPS in both tank and DPS stance. It also has for me the best mitigation because you don't care if the enemy is dealing magical or physical damage. And the uptime is just delicious. You can mitigate all the time if you need it. Tho it's true that DRK is a bit better at handling magic damage. And that's why the current optimal composition is having a DRK MT and a WAR OT.


Dark Knight :

Pros :

- The gameplay is awesome too. It's pretty similar to PLD but with more complexity. It's like PLD hard mode.
- High DPS too. Highest DPS when tanking in tank stance out of the 3 tanks. Not as high as WAR as OT but not that far below, they're pretty even when both are in DPS mode.
- Dark Mind. It's what makes DRK so good at magic mitigation.
- High self-healing. Not as impressive as WAR, but not that far below too. Souleater while in tank stance is basically healing you like an Inner Beast would but it's a combo finisher. Bloodbath is quite good too on DRK when single-targetting because you hit pretty hard. Tho not as good as on WAR because of the lower duration. Sole Survivor is quite useful in most fights too, because there is always adds to use it on.
- Plunge. A gap closer on a tank is just perfect.
- Lots of oGCDs including one which can reset its cooldown, that + blood weapon make the DRK's gameplay feel fast compared to the other tanks. You basically hit more buttons per minutes. Some may not like it, but others may love it. I personally love it. Coming from Tera where I tanked as Warrior there, I wanted a fast-paced tank. DRK feels actually pretty fast-paced compared to the other jobs. You almost don't feel the long GCD.
- Delirium. In an optimal group composition there will be no MNK. Delirium replaces the Dragon Kick INT down debuff.
- Reprisal, while not completely reliable, stacks with Storm's Path. Great MT tool and can compensate for the low physical mitigation you get while MTing.
- CD structure pretty similar to PLD.
- Awesome AoE gameplay. Blood Price is UNLIMITED POWER. And you actually are the tank that has the most buttons to hit in AoE situations. You have Unleash, Abyssal Drain (spam this, not unleash), Salted Earth, Dark Arts, Dark Passenger, and all of your other offensive single target oGCDs. Feels good.
- Best animations. Can feel a bit sluggish sometimes but overall you always look badass swinging your giant sword and shooting darkness everywhere. Too bad you don't use that fancy Power Slash that often.
- Best look. Look at that AF2. LOOK. AT. THAT. AF2. LOOK AT THAT DEATHBRINGER. i110 PvP set is also awesome.
- Currently the best MT for Savage raiding for 2 reasons : Highest damage output while in tanking stance, and highest magic damage mitigation. Considering that all tank busters in Savage are magical and that the last fight (AS4) is ALL MAGIC except for the adds, DRK is basically optimal.

Cons :

- Has a lot of self-conflicting abilities. For a lot of DRK mechanics you benefit in being hit or parrying hits (Blood Price, Reprisal, Low Blows), but you still get the possibility to get evasion buffs (Dark Arts + Dark Dance and Dark Arts + Dark Passenger). When you dodge, you don't benefit from those mechanics. It's also self-conflicting that DRK is that good in mitigating magic damage but actually requires to parry physical attacks to activate certain things. If they wanted DRK to be the magic tank, why does he cannot use its full potential when he's facing an only-magic enemy like A4 or Ramuh ? This whole thing needs to be fixed. And I hope SE will.
- Dark Dance is quite bad. It has a really good uptime but come on... It's parry rate... It's just shitty RNG. And its Dark Arts effect is not even worth the MP. This skill needs a buff.
- Blood Price on single targets is quite bad except if it's a fast-hitting boss. (Living Liquid is actually pretty fast for example so you actually gain some good MP with Blood Price against him).
- Reprisal, while stacking with Storm's Path, requires a parry to be used, thus is completely useless when OTing. And it's also completely unreliable as parry is RNG.
- Grit MP cost.
- You won't see the super cool Power Slash animation very often in combat because you'll basically spend most of the time using either Souleater or Delirium.
- Living Dead could get some work. Can be amazingly good if well-planned, but puts some stress on the healers. Still not that bad.
- Lack of raid utility especially as OT.
- Most people will think you're an emo douchebag


Dark Knight has some flaws that I hope will be fixed in future patches. We can see it's still a brand new job by its self-conflicting abilities and its lack of raid utility. Tho it's still a great tank that fulfills its job and acts as a good middle-ground between the other two. More complex than the PLD, but the skill-ceiling is not as high as WAR. More agressive-feeling than PLD, but not as much as WAR. It's currently the best MT for Savage raids because it perfectly fits the current meta. It could change with the next sets of raids or with job changes in future patches.
I personally love this job. I don't feel like I'm having sex with my weapon as I would as a WAR, but it's not that far behind if you ask me. Dark Knight feels unique while having its similarities with PLD.



So yeah after all of that, I would personally tell you to go Warrior.
But, if you plan on being MT on raids, go Dark Knight.
If you're really new to tanking in this game and still not totally comfortable with the mechanics, PLD might be the safest choice. But it currently is in a bad spot compared to the other two, keep that in mind. Great for learning, but not that great for end-game raiding.

Hope my giant post helped.