Sigh ... You need to go back and read where this conversation started, because I was not originally discussing this topic with you, and you've clearly forgotten the suggestion that I was originally posting against.
When I said that War might as well be the only viable option in this game, I was addressing (and opposing) Nessa's suggestion of nerfing Pld stuns. I stand by that. If you take away Pld's stun potential, then, no matter how good their defensive CDs are, War would be the only viable tank in PvP. Period. As things are now, however, both Pld and War are viable; though, War is easier to use and requires far less party proficiency to use ... Drk's, on the other hand, can just go sit in a corner until SE figures out how to change something meaningful to that job.
That's cute, but no.
burst damage is exactly how it sounds: it's a burst in damage. Any increase over the average threshold is a bust, no matter how small. There is not magical damage threshold that needs to be met for it to be considered a burst. It just has to be a sudden increase. If this weren't the case, then certain jobs wouldn't even be considered to have a burst at all (Pld, for example ... and before you ask, yes they do. They just don't use it). Fell Cleave is a sudden increase in dps at a potency of 500 every 12-ish seconds. Considering that a single Fell Cleave can Crit for higher dmg then a full Storm's Eye combo, then yes. It is a burst, a small burst, sure, but it is still a burst.
That burst is also pretty damn fast if done correctly. Firstly, two of those Fell Cleaves are back to back, every time, without exception. Infuriate guarantees that. Secondly, if you know how to use your CD's effectively, then the third Fell Cleave is only delayed by roughly 5 seconds behind or in advance of your double burst. That means that, at best, a Pld can only mitigate ONE out of three Fell Cleaves, even with spot on timing. Most War's prefer to stack their double Fell Cleave at the end of the combo for this exact reason, so to ensure that they kill faster than the dmg can be healed. This isn't exactly a trade secret of the job. There's a couple of different ways to go about it as well, including pre-prepping your first burst with an early burn of Infuriate to reduce the total duration.
It took me a minute to figure out what you were confused about, but I think you're misunderstanding what I was getting at based on my wording. So, that's my mistake. It would probably make more sense to you if I said you get 15 Fell Cleaves in the cool down period, while you're waiting for the 120s cooldown to come back around. Even then, I might be being a bit too generous considering the average War Skill Speed is typically slower than Pld.
Regardless, finishing a full burst (triple Fell Cleave), a war can continue building stacks using regular combos. Sticking with they overly slow 2.5 second GCD, War's would build 5 stacks in about 16 seconds (that's overkill, but whatever). It takes 60s for Infuriate to come back around on CD. During that time, they can output ~4 Fell Cleaves. Then they get a double Fell Cleave which puts them plus 1. Berserk is only on a 30s CD, so a good War can typically push this to +2 Fell Cleaves in this time, where the final 2 are buffed. That's 5-6 Fell Cleaves within one Infuriate CD timer. It takes another 60 second for both Infuriate and Raw Intuition (Berserk will also prep halfway through). Without any bonus stacks in that time, you're looking at another ~4 Fell Cleaves, where the fourth is leading into another double. At the slowest possible skill speed for a Tank at lvl 60, that's a minimum of 12 Fell Cleaves during the full CD timer of War's longest wrath/abandon granting cooldown.
Sorry about that, though. Looking back at it, I can see why my wording would have made that very misleading. It probably sounded as though I was saying they'd get 15 Fell Cleaves within their actual burst window, which is only about 20s long. Not what I intended.
Not always, no. Majority of the time, a Pld will only use their full stun rotation on a healer, because it maximizes the Dps uptime. However, it can be used to completely nullify a dps burst window or prevent a target from fleeing in the event they are being pressured. To use their stuns to their maximum effect, Plds have to remain as mobile as possible.
I have to admit, it makes me warm and fuzzy inside when I see a healer like yourself stand close to me when I've executed Cover. In a perfect world, all players (dps included) would act in a similar fashion ... Unfortunately (and I think you can see where I'm gonna go with this) it's not a perfect world. Most teammates run around like mindless chickens when under Cover, often going straight to the healer, as if proximity somehow effects heal potency ... I have spent a lot of time chasing my teammates around the map (healers included) trying to save them from their own stupidity.
Further, Pld's dps may be for support, but it's still has value. The amount they provide is tiny compared to dps, but that tiny increase can make or break a kill. Not having it makes a surprising difference to the end game results, especially if the dps are lacking just a little bit. You should also keep in mind that a Pld's personal Dps, interruptions and damage intake contributes to their Adrenaline Bar. Meaning they can actively restrict their party defense by disengaging from the enemy.
We definitely disagree here.
The only time playing defensively is the viable choice over playing offensively is if you're already ahead in points. If both teams have an equal score, then the most a Pld can do by playing defensively is put off the inevitable loss, or, maybe, push the match to a draw. The reason for this is that, regardless of how good Pld's defensive CD's are, no Pld can keep up the party defense for the entire match. The long CD timers ensure that there are always gaps. Playing defense might make killing your team harder, but, eventually, the enemy will exploit one of those gaps and score a kill, especially if the healer isn't on the ball or simply starts to drain mp.
I don't know about you, but I want to win my matches. Winning requires killing. Pld's entire kit is designed to facilitate those kills. It can be used for pure defense, but using it defensively is a waste unless you are already in the lead. Once you're in the lead, however, you can feel free to fall back and wait it out ... though that's still a gamble, as more limit breaks become available the longer the match goes on, and Pld's cannot possibly cover all of them.