How do I play Warrior?

[Lyraele]

Omg, that is a fantastic read! Thanks very much for posting all that (how on earth did you defeat the 1000 character post limit?!?). Going to be coming back to that once I get PLD to 60 and start working WAR!

[VermilionHaru]

Hi I haven't finished reading your guide (it's nearly 5 AM in CH).
What exactly is a "tank buster" that you mentioned.

[SpookyGhost]

Hi I haven't finished reading your guide (it's nearly 5 AM in CH).
What exactly is a "tank buster" that you mentioned.

High damage ability on the tank, requires a CD.

[Sounsyy]

(how on earth did you defeat the 1000 character post limit?!?)

Editing a post doesn't restrict your word count, so type everything up, cut everything but the first sentence/paragraph, edit, paste it all back in and save. ^^

What exactly is a "tank buster" that you mentioned.

Tank Busters (TBs) are heavy hitting abilities used by bosses that can demolish most of your HP or even one-shot-kill you without mitigation in some cases. Most if not all 8 and 24-man content bosses have some sort of TB. Usually, they are used as part of a fixed rotation which makes them predictable. Sometimes tank busters have a cast bar, other times they have no cast indicator and you just have to know it's coming by paying attention to the boss.

[Hierro]

WAR Rotations
Note: I don't claim these to be the "best" rotations, but this is what I use and it serves me quite well. I don't make use of Fracture, usually.

I don't feel these rotations are recommendable. Why are there two MT openers, with the second one accounting for two stacks? What an odd choice. Infuriate-unchained-SE-berserk-BB-fracture-FC- SE works for any MT situation. Your OT triple FC rotation double weaves awareness into raw intuition, but if you're not tanking, why worry about getting hit? Double weaves are always risky, and while fracture may not always be everyone's cup of tea, it is a good idea to use it if fully buffed. Using BB combo during a berserk results in SE falling off, which you do address, but that is a dps loss for the next GCDs until SE is applied again. Simply put, maim isn't deployed soon enough and SE falls too often in your rotations.

[Hrimfaxi]

is it recommended to switch from defiance to deliverance while MT?
If it is possible, in what kind of situation can you change to deliverance from defiance and when do you change back to defiance?
Does it cause you to reduce your enemity?
There are some dungeons which require tank swapping. Mind giving a tip on what should i do?

[lulunami]

is it recommended to switch from defiance to deliverance while MT?

Yes you can switch to Deliverance from Defiance as the main tank.

If it is possible, in what kind of situation can you change to deliverance from defiance and when do you change back to defiance?

For main tanking:

You want to switch to Deliverance once you know you have a solid enmity lead over the rest of your team, and it is safe to do more damage in Deliverance. Deliverance lets you do strong attacks such as Fell Cleave, Decimate, and also lets you use TP restoring version of Equilibrium.

You switch back to Defiance to either get more enmity or to be more tanky. Defiance gives you Inner Beast, HP restoring version of Equilibrium, increases the effectiveness of HP restoring spells, and more total HP. You also get a cool ability called Unchained that lets you do a lot of damage in tank stance and generates a whole lot of enmity.

Once you and your team know the encounter very well and you get more gear, you can switch over to Deliverance a lot more often. If you can survive with slightly less HP and slightly less healing received, Deliverance is a good option for more DPS. Typically you try to smooth out the damage your receive in Deliverance by using cooldowns such as Thrill of Battle, Vengeance, Convalescence, Foresight, and Bloodbath. With regard to Bloodbath, doing more damage means more self-healing. Holmgang can be an option as well to tank in Deliverance (for a few seconds at least).

For off tanking (a.k.a. DPS-mode time):

Stay in Deliverance at all times.

Does it cause you to reduce your enemity?

You generate less enmity in Deliverance compared to Defiance.

There are some dungeons which require tank swapping. Mind giving a tip on what should i do?

When you want to switch from off-tank to main-tank on mobs, there are generally two ways. Switch to Defiance. One way is Heavy Swing > Skull Sunder > Provoke > Butcher's Block. The other way is Heavy Swing > Provoke > Skull Sunder > Butcher's Block. Butcher's Block has an animation lag, so some players prefer one method over the other.

When you are trying to switch from main-tank back to off-tank, do not use Butcher's Block combo. Just do Storm's Eye combo or Storm's Path combo. When it is apparent that you are now the off-tank, switch back to Deliverance. Put in a Fracture to be nice to your other tank while they are trying to establish an enmity lead. Generally speaking for off-tanking, resort to Storm's Eye combo > Storm's Eye combo or Storm's Eye combo > Storm's Path combo. You could do Storm's Eye combo > Butcher's Block combo, but if your other tank is out of tank stance, you may eventually overtake them in enmity.


Basically, the higher DPS Warriors try to optimize how often they can stay in Deliverance instead of Defiance. There may be times where it just better to turtle up and be in Defiance, however.

[VermilionHaru]

<PACIFICATION> 5s

What is the meaning of pacification followed by the time?

[SpookyGhost]

What is the meaning of pacification followed by the time?

Berserk "pacifies" you (5 second debuff that means you cant use weapon skills), I assume this is from a macro for Berserk which I personally recommend not using.

[Apoptomon]

Wow, just wanted to jump in and say as another novice WAR thanks for all the comprehensive answers (and to Vermilion for asking).

What is the meaning of pacification followed by the time?

Berserk's tradeoff for boosting attack power for 30s is that when it wears off you have "pacification" debuff for 5 seconds - this means no weaponskills for a short amount of time. Spells and abilities are available however (e.g flash, stun). Some people like to make healers/bards aware so they can remove the debuff, while others just wait out the 5 seconds.

I have a question of my own actually: I haven't honestly put much thought into a proper rotation (seeing so many variations, some outdated, so again thanks to replies above for some inspiration), but I kinda feel overwhelmed when trying them for myself (not that i do cutteng-edge stuff anyway). Is something like e.g. ... Tomahawk -> Overpower x2 -> BB-Combo -> Maim (IR) -> Eye -> (Deliverance) -> Berserk -> FC -> BB Combo -> Eye Combo -> Vengeance - > FC -> Pacification ... okay for like basic stuff up to DR:Ex?

Speaking of DR:Ex, since people there love "pull everything"... Are there any recommended multi-target rotations? Right now I'm just doing the standard (e.g above) but doing Heavy / Skull / Butcher and Heavy / Maim / Storm on cycled targets.