My apologies, just one last question in regards to the tanks.

[Renryuu]

Hello, I greatly apologize for being such a bother on the boards but I have one last question that (well it's less of a question and more of a request on advice) has to do with the 3 tanks in general. Currently, I have 55 Drk, 42 Pld, and 16 Mrd. Honestly I don't really see myself ever doing Mrd/War since I'm a bigger fan of swords and I'd rather not level up yet another class from such a low level.

Logic dictates that I should just level Drk to 60 and use it, but I can't help but have a nagging feeling that if I want to be a proper tank, I should go Pld. I just want to be a tank that can best help a group as a whole and could even eventually get into non savage raiding once I get things sorted out. So I wanna ask those that have much better experiences than I do, of Drk and Pld, which would be the most beneficial to a group in non-savage levels of content?

[Kitfox]

DRK is by far the better tank for casual content along with WAR. PLD is absolutely terrible for any dungeon or AoE situation since Flash doesn't do damage. All tanks are proper tanks. DRK is in no way less of a tank than PLD is.

[Malicewolf]

That would be DRK in terms of how you phrased your question. PLD is a better pick for learning parties maybe since it's support utility allows it to save people from their own mistakes (but a good healer will be able to as well). But DPS is the name of the game now-a-days when it comes to end game content and with that, DRK is a better choice by the numbers simply put. WAR even more so, but you've already decided against that route.

PLD is simple in terms of end game. You'll often find you are automatically placed as MT simply because of being one. Most of the time, this isn't a big deal as MT usually actually dodges less. But it's actually a bit more of a hassle as you NEED to know the mechanics as you'll likely be the reason for wiping a party otherwise. Now, being a DRK doesn't mean you won't be MT'ing by any means. Just that PLD kinda gets stuck with it 90% of the time (so just a heads up).

If you are looking for a more fun and interactive time, go DRK. If you would rather have a simplistic rotation that you don't really have to think about so you can focus more on watching mechanics and your surroundings, go PLD.

Also, you can level both eventually. I leveled my PLD originally, then got my WAR up a few months later. I love doing both. Still working on DRK and the few times I've played it, it's been fun. But different. So choose one and try another later after you've gotten the hang of things ^^

[Renryuu]

Oh I do plan to eventually level all the tanks since it would be the best thing to do, I'm just wanting to get one at least to max and geared up so I can start doing stuff and get into the real meat of tanking so I can see how I do at it in general before I end up investing even more to tanking in general and leveling up Pld and eventually War. Would War really be a better choice than Drk? I mean, if it would provide far better overall usefulness, I could force myself to level it up and try to find an ax that I could enjoy seeing for long periods of time.

[Zari]

Its not that WAR provide more usefulness, it is just a bit better in the terms that it can do absolutely everything well, but the other two are still great in their own ways. Think of WAR as more the all-rounder

WAR has great aoe for dungeons, a good WAR can MT beautifully, and they have great damage and utility as OT.

DRK has amazing aoe and enmity for dungeons, it is great as MT (especially when the boss has magic damage) while also having possibly the highest MT dps, and does good damage as OT but lacks much OT utility.

PLD doesn't have great aoe for dungeons but can keep enmity fine, is a very good MT for physical bosses, and has more utility as OT than DRK but less damage.

To be honest I would go with either WAR or DRK first then the other one as your second tank

[Renryuu]

Alrighty, I'll stick with Drk since it's closest to 60 and go from there. I greatly thank you all for the responses and it has greatly help to set me at ease and be less indecisive at least until I get all 3 tanks to 60 lol.

[GeekMatt]

PLD is slower but can do more for the party when things go sideways, however in most instances where a PLD is "helping" he's actually just further slowing things down. Unless you have a solid grasp on the other roles, I'd stick to DRK to best benefit your party

[ChameleonMS]

PLD is slower but can do more for the party when things go sideways

I love being the PLD that prevents a wipe in the Expert roulette when healer buys it and the boss still has like 40% life left. CDs and Clemency FTW. Outside of this situation, ya, WAR is better all around.

[Rongway]

PLD is absolutely terrible for any dungeon or AoE situation since Flash doesn't do damage.

An invincible PLD spamming Flash with a healer spamming Holy/Gravity will out damage a DRK/WAR spamming AoE moves with a healer spamming Cure.

A good DRK/WAR can be an exception, but even a terrible PLD is still easier to heal than a mid tier DRK/WAR.

[Anienai]

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WARRIOR

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