WAR raid "UTILITY" (Tank Balanced achieved?)

[Aana]

Thanks for reminding me Chrono, I do wish more people understood what TBN being a DPS loss really means. Most just parrot "ITS A DPS LOSS" like its the end of the world. As you state, it is -6 potency per use. Considering 15 sec is roughly 1600 potency (6 gcds, avg 266ish) then you loose 6 out of 1600 potency if you use TBN on cooldown. That is 0.389%. A fraction of 1%. Another way, if you do 3000 DPS during a fight, use TBN out of grit EVERY 15 sec for the ENTIRE fight, your DPS would drop by a whopping 11.6. 11 dps per 3 THOUSAND. Technically it is a DPS loss in the most literal terms. But dear god it doesn't have any practical meaning. THIS IS NOT WHY DRK HAS PROBLEMS. Jesus. Its completely inconsequential to balance.

While were at it, lets clear up some other common misconceptions.

* "War does more damage and has best mitigation of all tanks" Sorta-ish. This takes a slightly more nuanced view.

* War does the most damage if all tanks live in tank stance.
* War does the most damage if all tanks are NOT in tank stance.
* War has the most mitigation in tank stance (though hinging on pld passive shield procs Pld could be here. Either way higher than Drk)
* War is the SQUISHIEST tank NOT in tank stance by a HUUUGE margin.

The 4th point is the often overlooked part. In this current meta it is a very important thing to keep in mind.

War has 1 more CD than Drk without an equivalent (ToB). Pld does too (only if you use passage as a personal mitigation tool instead of raid mitigation which is debatable itself. I don't see it used that way.) So yes, in tank stance, war has the most personal mitigation CDs and is the toughest to kill between that bonus, equilibrium, and IB generally being a smidge better than both TBN/Shelltron for mitigation while doing excellent tank stance damage (upheaval, IB ignoring penalty, Unchained+zerk etc). However, the point is generally to AVOID tank stance in the current meta so being the best tank in tank stance isn't all its cracked up to be.

Similarly, war does the most damage in OT position. (Theres a reason war is always the OT, this is half of it). Great. Whoo. However it is also monstrously squishy in deliverance. Which is the other half.

Pld/Drk retain their entire defensive kits outside of tank stance. War (with its 1 extra CD while in defiance) looses IB, the single best, most frequent CD in the game. Drk/Pld retain shelltron and TBN. Imagine tanking outside grit WITHOUT TBN. It would be shit. Just like war without IB. I would trade my 'extra' CD every day of the week to maintain access to IB outside tank stance (and it would be more than a 6 potency loss mind you). Pld is even better off as they have a shield that randomly reduces damage on top of their entire kit in either stance.

This is why I don't see any great imbalance. On paper War is the end all tank. Most mitigation in tank stance. Most damage in tank stance. Most damage out of stance with the minor trade off of being squishy as shit in deliverance. But the way this game is played that is a SIGNIFICANT detractor.

This is why war is the 'OT' all the time. Because we cant MT in DPS stance nearly as well as either pld or drk. Please remember these points before parroting out for the millionth time that "War has the best mitigation so drk needs buffs" as justification. The way the game is played war has the least mitigation. Who the hell sits in tank stance for fights? The entire goal of the last few years of tank meta has been to get OUT of tank stance. I'm not trying to 'woe is us wars' or anything. But I do want people to at least see the whole picture. Deliverance tanking is REALLY painful, yet there is a persistent idea that war has all this mitigation, but its completely locked behind defiance. War deliverance tanking is a serious liability to the group pld/drk do not share.