Vet gamer returning and would like some insight please

[Vicus]

Left the game about a year ago. I played a bard prior to the expansion and then played a bard up till level 54 where we got cast times. Just ruined the class for me and I didn't really have the motivation to level up another class.

But I am back with some motivation but I am the type that can't level more then once or I burn out. I am leaning on going tank because that is what I have spent most of my MMO career as but id like to know the main difference between warrior and paladin in current endgame content, not just raids. I keep seeing warrior being suggested because what it brings to the table and I am curious is that because they help clear dungeons/challenges/ect faster or because they bring more to raids? I have a 50 paladin and know what it brings to the table, gets the job down, but if they are slower/not wanted as much in the majority of content compared to a warrior then id rather take the time and get a warrior up then continue with my pally. (continue to reply)

[Vicus]

The main reason I want to play a tank is because I DO not like cast times...being rooted in place just ruins the flow/feel of any MMO not just this one and not a fan that all the other melee you have to swap positions non-stop like you are playing musical chairs. I fully understand moving around for mechanics/getting out of damage but I prefer to observe the raid and enjoy the fights instead of having to play tunneled to make sure my rotation is perfect. (If that makes sense).

Lastly, is there a class that plays like the above that isnt a tank at endgame that I am unaware of? Bard use to be amazing because you could move freely, observe the raid and provide support while the downside was little lower DPS..but I'm a fan of playstyle>DPS meters. With the changes I want to make sure I am devoting myself to a class that is more "me". Also..open to Dark knight but not sure I wanna have to stare at my mana bar non-stop (not sure if thats an issue still).

Any advice would be great.

[Martin_Arcainess]

So the main differen in PLD and WAR is that WAR can deal more DPS and can inflict Slash Res down on targets and WAR makes a great OT.

PLD on the other deals less damage but not that much less damage. PLD is more a bulky physical deffence tank thanks to it's STR down, shield, and shelltron.
Not to mention it has some nice party support like divine Veil, stone skin and protect.

BUT bear in mind both tanks can easily clear any current content out there some will have there advantages over the other but nothing too big.
It's balanced really well.

So it all falls down to what you prefer to play.

[Kitfox]

PLD and WAR (and DRK) are equally useful in boss fights and raids. However WAR(and DRK) is by far more useful in dungeons and aoe grinding trash mobs because PLD's aoe damage is seriously lacking.

[Hierro]

I find myself staring at my hotkeys a lot when I play DRK. The mana thing isn't such a big deal when you're tanking gritless, so it's not as big a thing. It's the procs and oGCDs that distract you. You can clump some of them in groups to lessen the degree you need to keep track of them, but it definitely makes DRK the most prone to distraction.

WAR is very straight forward with very few oGCDs to worry about, only have to really keep track of berserk use, cause with it, that's when you start popping a bit more oGCDs and get active in your rotation.

[Vicus]

Thanks, very helpful. My wife plays a scholar main and whitemage as her offspec. As a paladin I wouldnt benefit as much from stoneskin and protect. Is there a tank that meshes better with scholar then others at 60? I am leaning toward warrior atm. Thinking I will like situations where I get to offtank so I can not always be locked into tanking the boss 24/7 and get to roam around a bit.

[Synestra]

Thanks, very helpful. My wife plays a scholar main and whitemage as her offspec. As a paladin I wouldnt benefit as much from stoneskin and protect. Is there a tank that meshes better with scholar then others at 60? I am leaning toward warrior atm. Thinking I will like situations where I get to offtank so I can not always be locked into tanking the boss 24/7 and get to roam around a bit.

Even if lustrates wont get benefit from Defiance i would still say go for WAR as its propably most well done job in game besides SCH, there is always room for WAR no matter what content you are planning to do and its gameplay is smoothest of all tanks. If you want to get quick look for all 3 tanks then do some palace of dead so you can "beta test" some lvl60 skills w/o actually leveling up to 60.

[aleph_null]

If you plan to only have one tank leveled up to 60, I recommend war or drk. They're better than pld for dungeons due to pld's lack of aoe dmg, and has higher single target dps as well (war wins among the 3 tanks, since drk won't have storm's eye in 1 tank dungeons). War and drk are also much better when you do unsync lower lv dungeons with your wife as a healer (sometimes you have to do lv 50 contents and many of them can be done with 2 geared lv 60s so you don't have to wait for duty finder).

For raiding, nearly every single group out there has a war due to how powerful it is in terms of dps and utilities (and how bad a pld/drk composition is compared to pld/war or drk/war). While pld and drk are also desired for raids, you might be expected to be able to switch around between the two depending on the raid, pld excels in physical dmg heavy fights, while drk excels in magic dmg heavy fights, and the other tank slot is almost always reserved for war. This will become less relevant due to overgearing though.

However since you mentioned that you don't like the complexity of rotations of melee dps jobs, you probably want to know that drk has more off-gcd skills that are weaved between gcd skills, as well as resource (mp) management, making it more complex than war/pld (pld is the simplest tank, rotation wise).

[Martin_Arcainess]

Thanks, very helpful. My wife plays a scholar main and whitemage as her offspec. As a paladin I wouldnt benefit as much from stoneskin and protect. Is there a tank that meshes better with scholar then others at 60? I am leaning toward warrior atm. Thinking I will like situations where I get to offtank so I can not always be locked into tanking the boss 24/7 and get to roam around a bit.

Dungeons yeah WHM or SCH would cover that nicely but when it comes to Raiding it helps save MP for them,

[Rivxkobe]

WAR as its propably most well done job in game besides SCH

Hahahahahahahaha! Oh my god!

Haha... Oh wait. You are serious...

Umm. Well besides the fact that WAR is borderline, if not completely, overpowered SCH itself was a terrible idea and a game's balance nightmare. If you truly think they are the most well done jobs in the game I can't help but think you are clueless to how a game's actual balance works and re blind to how much problems both jobs have caused with their screwy kits and power. Being overpowered is NOT the same as being well designed.

This is coming from someone who mained SCH.