Rookie Tank Questions

[Lennya]

I've dabbled in every tank class and yet I wonder to the Tank Mains out there, what are the actual pros and cons to each tank? I know the lines are blending for now but what keeps them apart? What makes each tank playable and fun to you?

[Undeadfire]

Pld is the worst main tank but remains a meta tank for it's utility, AKA Cover, Veil, plus 2nd for overall tank DPS and it's cooldowns are very open to any raid/ex trial. - Pld for simple game plan it's the easiest to play.

Drk is the best main tank with Warrior, however it isn't a meta tank and it's horrible for certain current Savage raids. - Fun cheesing mechanics with TBN.

War has a lot of self healing and Holmgang which makes it a solid main tank, but it's DPS falls too behind the other 3 tanks. It's a rocket that burns fuel quickly DPS wise. - Fell Cleaves for big number damage.

Gnb requires a straight up un-interrupted GCD burst window or it loses a pack of DPS, however it's the meta main tank and currently does the best DPS out of all tanks. - Solid animation and a lot of cooldowns.

[shao32]

Aesthetics and dps rotations despite being similar in many aspects and sharing literally the same mechanics most of them.

PLD: have a rigid rotation, pretty unique until you hit requiem cast, have 1 cd less and some niche skills like passage of arms and clemency that tend to collet dust on your skill bar.

GNB: the most unique tank in terms of dps have a rigid rotation too, all his skills are useful on every situation probably bcs is the new guy on the town more than anything else, is the only tank without an inner release window thank God.

WAR: a pretty simple and straight forward tank have some unique perks like nascent flash self-healing but is the slowest tank since almost everything is GCD based, still his mechanics works pretty well between each other, just have inner release which is like requiem cast.

DRK: it's just a simplified WAR on every aspect without the unique perks the other have, the only thing that have compared to WAR is a window of throw all your oGCD during 10s and then is just 50s of slow simplified WAR gameplay, his most distinctive aspect is how strong TBN is and that's all and don't fool yourself about the MP management it doesn't have any, the moment you learn how it actually works is theoment you know you don't actually manage anything, delirium is just inner release.

Of all tanks I barely only enjoy GNB bcs is the only one that is not a WAR copy somehow, anyway just level all of them, make some research about how to properly play them which it's not hard considering how easy are all of them right now and stay with the one you like more.

[ItMe]

PLD is the most versatile tank out there.
It does the most to help sustain itself and the party, the only one with a ranged burst window, and is the only one with a true invuln.
Has a simple, but solid combo.
Currently considered one of the two best tanks, not that that means much as they're all on pretty equal footing.
This tank is playable and fun for me because it's ranged burst window is fun to whip out when the boss thinks it's gonna make me disengage. Also, it has the most proactive gameplay as far as supporting the party is concerned and I find that engaging too.


DRK is super tanky.
Its basic combo restores it's own HP, it has The Blackest Night (amazing mitigation on a short cooldown), and a little extra mitigation up its sleeve in the form of Dark Mind. All this tankiness is offset by having the most unreliable invuln (one that can actually kill its user).
Has a 1, 2, 3 main combo and the rest is just managing a pile of oGCDs.
DRK is playable and fun because it's super selfish lol.


WAR is like DRK but not as busy.
Pick this if you like classes that perform a low amount of actions per minute. It's very reliable.
This tank is playable and fun for me because no only does it bounce back from mistakes very nicely, but because it's played at a slower pace I can better watch what the boss is doing. Plus, it and PLD are the best at being clutch~


GNB basically plays like blue DPS.
Not that it has big DPS, but that it's got a busy and rigid rotation.
It's also got a busy and rigid rotation in its oGCDs too, which can get in the way of needing to push your tank buttons.
Hardest to play, but currently considered one of the two best tanks, though again, they're all good.
I don't have fun with this tank.

[Recon1o6]

Pld pros: Can solo more content than any other job in the game, lots of defensive utility, best invul, can do physical and magic damage, can pick it up from level 1
pld cons: rotation is a bit finicky on controller, gap closer is very late, only two defensive cooldowns, story is uninteresting, animations are very bright and obscuring at certain zooms

War pros: amazing weapon glamour choices, lots of crits, gauge is introduced early, easy to learn and can teach you 3 of the 4 tanks, most hp in the game by a long shot
War cons: Everything is on the gcd, very little mechanical depth, gap closer costs gauge, conal aoe, it has an aura that some like and others dislike

Drk pros: Best mitigation ability in the game, best job story in the game, some cool weapons
Drk cons: Terrible rotation of 1-2-3, no mp management/recovery, little hp recovery, plays like warrior with better mitigation and an ogcd, aoe step 2 and aoe mitigate come VERY late, worst invulnerability skill that can kill you

Gnb pros: Unique rotation, good damage output especially when synced, good levelling kit, meta tank if you care, decent self sustain
Gnb cons: Little in the way of good looking weapons, defences are squishy, mitigation is meh at best, you require a mod in order to avoid the uncanny sound of a club instead of a sword

[SiriusSaltstice]

All the tanks are 123 when you think about it

[Hierro]

Both WAR and DRK have extremely similar play styles in raid-- a 10 second burst window on 90 second cooldown, and the rest of the downtime is pretty uneventful. However, DRK is a heck of a lot busier during those big windows, while WAR is very low-apm. The only difference is DRK is a lot tankier to tank busters while WAR does better sustain due to self heals.

in dungeons, again, both are similar except that DRK keeps alive by spamming TBN whenever possible, while WAR has to put in a little more thought with their nascent flash and timing it with chaotic cyclone and decimate to get the most out of their healing.

You'll hear often that GNB DPS is the best, but really, all the tanks have very similar DPS. It's like calling GNB the tallest toddler.

[Absurdity]

You'll hear often that GNB DPS is the best, but really, all the tanks have very similar DPS. It's like calling GNB the tallest toddler.

I think when people talk about GNB dps being the best it is for two reasons, it naturally aligns with raid buffs since it's big burst is every 60 seconds, unlike WAR and DRK, and it simply feels satisfying to execute due to the high apm and a bit of setup required, instead of just pressing 1 oGCD and spamming the same skill 5 times.
If we simply look at their personal dps then all the tanks are indeed extremely close to each other.

[Hierro]

I think when people talk about GNB dps being the best it is for two reasons, it naturally aligns with raid buffs since it's big burst is every 60 seconds, unlike WAR and DRK, and it simply feels satisfying to execute due to the high apm and a bit of setup required, instead of just pressing 1 oGCD and spamming the same skill 5 times.
If we simply look at their personal dps then all the tanks are indeed extremely close to each other.

Even when you account for whatever amount of synergy you get out of a 60 second CD buff, you still don't get a significant difference in DPS.

I'll compare GNB to WAR, as the latter's been frequently called the lowest in DPS. For example, when you look at aDPS (this means your DPS including raid buffs for the uninitiated), the MAX achieved on a fight like e11s for GNB and WAR is 15.8k and 15.4k respectively. I don't know about you, but I'm not going to be ranting or raving about an extra 400 dps when everyone's in the ballpark of 15k.

Personal or accounting for buffs or synergy, they're practically the same.

[Lynesse]

I think Clemency is a little underrated. It really does save runs in DF. I've soloed my share of dungeon bosses and have prevented wipes in trials when the healers have died. Just recently, I basically soloed tiles in E9S with it.

Fight or Flight and Requiescat being on 60 second cooldowns means its QoL in dungeons is also very high.

Between that, Hallowed Ground, and how fast PLD can restore its own MP, it just takes the cake. It's sometimes frustrating how good it is.