Not sure whether to level Paladin or Warrior first

[Cythil]

I really like the fact that the Paladin has a support tank kind of thing going on (having things like Cover, Divine Veil, Intervention, and Passage of arms) while still being a good tank in it's own right. Plus I like Sword/Shield better than Battleaxe aesthetic wise. So continuing with Glad/Pal makes sense.

However, I think Warrior's gauge seems more interesting, being filled by attacking and being purely offensive in nature compared to Paladin's filling through auto attacks (aka passively) and being used defensively. Being reliant on auto attacks to be able to use some defensive abilities just seems a bit weird to me.

[BarretOblivion]

I really like the fact that the Paladin has a support tank kind of thing going on (having things like Cover, Divine Veil, Intervention, and Passage of arms) while still being a good tank in it's own right. Plus I like Sword/Shield better than Battleaxe aesthetic wise. So continuing with Glad/Pal makes sense.

However, I think Warrior's gauge seems more interesting, being filled by attacking and being purely offensive in nature compared to Paladin's filling through auto attacks (aka passively) and being used defensively. Being reliant on auto attacks to be able to use some defensive abilities just seems a bit weird to me.

Yeaaaah....
you do 2 things with that guage.
Fell Cleave and Upheavel. If like a good amount of Actions Per Minute (APM) stay FAAAAR away from WAR as it has the lowest APM/OGCDs of all classes when it comes to offensive choices. I say stick to PLD... as much as it pains me to admit it PLD just feels better than WAR atm.

[Makeda]

WAR got shoved out of the meta this expac. And 5.0.5 didn’t fix that. Who knows maybe the next patch will... but I believe their priority right now is NJN -> SAM -> SMN and they don’t see other major issues.

PLD is in the meta, but has been slotted to OT - meaning that in 99% of 2-tank content you only exist in case the GNB dc’s or refuses a rez.
Still, level it to 60 and then get GNB, unless you have a static that is doing savage or harder only.

[whiskeybravo]

Warrior's gauge probably is more interesting than Paladin's, but that's not really saying much. Though the Oath Gauge may seem like a relatively passive feature, you also have to consider that PLD has some MP resource management later on, too. So they'll be working on balancing 2 resource gauges instead of 1.

[Nedkel]

It might be not popular opinion, but i honestly think PLD is pretty boring.

I dont like its magic damage rotation at all, dont like casting times on these spells, it feels weird and counterintuitive on a tank. On one hand you have to stand still for 10 second to do damage, but on the other you have to be flexible in your rotation and adjust to the boss and enemies behaviour.
Standing still to cast something just does not feel well on a tank and i often end up eating several aoes by doing so...

[shao32]

Any spell becomes instant during requiem Cast with the new trait at lvl 78, makes PLD much more smoother now.

[Nedkel]

Any spell becomes instant during requiem Cast with the new trait at lvl 78, makes PLD much more smoother now.

You brought my will back to lvl up PLD. xD

[shao32]

You brought my will back to lvl up PLD. xD

it's annoying until that, i share you sentiment of the cast bars, but when you get it you will say "oh my god yes" so enjoy it ^^

[Gou_B]

Being main tank through all expansions and leveling every single tank class first, my opinion would be to go with whatever feels best for you personally. In this case I can kind of pick up that you will be much more pleased leveling PLD over WAR. with that being said I can give a few additional points on each class:

PLD: Dungeon runs from Daily Roulette are are pretty smooth and you have your AOE combo from Lv 40 and onward. It's pretty straight forward rotation wise as there is a physical damage rotation and a magical damage rotation, you'll just need to go from one to the other in linear pattern with little to no deviation. The Gauge is quite boring though you'll have sheltron to use often which is good for mitigation. FATE grinding, especially for the new FATE rewards, is lax as well. The Rotation gets boring after a while, but your survivability is excellent due to Clemency.

WAR: I've experienced faster dungeon runs with WAR (Inner Release + Decimate) and are pretty smooth as well plus you also have your AOE combo from Lv 40 and onward. Rotation is pretty easy but can be boring on its own as well. You basically want Eye up as soon as possible for max damage. Because of Inner Release and its auto Crit D.hits, the burst damage is insane, for adds decimate to melt, single target Fell Cleave. The Gauge is what keeps the job interesting, making sure not to cap, Upheaval, Fell Cleave Decimate, Infuriate, all tools that will keep the math running in your head. FATE grinding is nice and the burst damage will pretty much take out any single target in seconds, much faster than PLD that's for sure. Although, you have to be a lot more strategical with healing as you have one Thrill of Battle then it goes on CD, one Equilibrium, and you can't really use Nascent Flash for healing unless you have another live player in your party. Unfortunately it does't work on Chocos.