How would you rate Tank DPS rotations/abilities?

[Renathras]

I was curious what other people's answers would be. But now that I've seen how everyone is rating them, it's got me wondering how I would...

PLD - I liked old PLD okay, and I like new PLD. I really like how flexible the rotation feels, mostly. I can move Atonements and Holy Spirit around, and it doesn't have that weird Atonement drop thing that always felt odd to me. On the other hand, FoF and Requiescat being separate abilities just makes no sense at this point, and Goring seems...vestigial. Like they didn't want to just out and remove the button/animation, but it brings nothing useful to the table other than being an easy tuning knob if they want PLD's burst damage to go up or down some (it's a consistent thing, since it will basically always be used in burst unlike 1-2-3-4-4-4-5 which players can move around more and might have reasons to do so, especially Royal/Atonement), and it's not as big a hit as Confet/Swords. But outside of "we wanted to keep the animation", it seems there's little reason for it, and "easier tuning" doesn't sound great as a reason, not to mention PLD's overall button bloat as it is. While the rotation IS simple, it's also got room for moving things around, which I really do think is a plus, even if that mostly comes down to using HS for either 3-4 sec disengages or ensuring you get at least one in FoF windows. And, at least for my part, the big attacks are pretty satisfying. And as much as I think Goring is kind of just...there...I still love the animation for it (I feel like they should just have Royal upgrade to Goring just because the animation is so much better...) 6.5/10? Nothing super amazing to write home about, but gets the job done, but also has a bit more clunk and weirdness that prevents it being a 7.

WAR - I really am not sure about WAR. In theory, there's some optimization with Infuriate and it being a moving target based on how many Fell Cleaves you use, but in practice, this is just going to be normalized since you should always generate the same amount of gauge in general over time, and spend it to prevent overcapping. So in practice, it's just as if Infuriate had a shorter CD in general as opposed to some big brain "moving CD" that you would adapt to on the fly or have meaningful gameplay around. Prevent it from overcapping. That's basically the gameplay. Use it when there's 5-10 seconds left on the second charge coming off CD unless you're right on top of a burst window and Inner Release coming off CD. And, of course, you just dump everything into the burst phase and then move on with life. It has a -4 combo ender, and that stacks to 60 seconds making it flexible as to when you reapply it, so I guess there's some play there, though it isn't really...advanced. It's not terrible, just very utilitarian overall. Though I DO like that the core rotation is established by level 50 (meaning syncing keeps most of the feel and cadence of the level cap gameplay, NOT something true of all the Tanks...). I dunno, 5-6/10? Does what it needs to do, isn't terrible, but doesn't go out of its way to do more.

DRK - I can't really say since I've only leveled it to 80 for quests, and that just recently. It seems like...a more clunky WAR, though. So if I gave WAR a 5-6/10, then I suppose DRK would be 4-5/10. I like some of the animations, but the play seems to take the more boring parts of WAR and combine them with some clunk which defeats the purpose of having a simple and utilitarian rotation to begin with. I'm not even sure why DRK is trying to be a WAR clone in the first place...

GNB - On the one hand, sometimes it feels a little clunky, and I'm not sure why we bothered to get another powder gauge charge if there's no case you ever do 3x 1 charge abilities. You use two on DD then you get in a Gnashing and Burst, but that's all that fits in No Mercy. It seems we could still just have two and have Double Down only cost 1. The rotation would be identical. Or give us 3 and have DD cost only 1, which would actually mean more Burst Strikes. But...we don't have that. Continuation, though, feels really good in general, and it's nice we have one for Burst Strike now, too, even if it can make defensive weaves a bit tighter. It's also nice that it has something to do at the 30 sec marks which other Tanks do not. While the other Tanks generally have a oGCD (or two) to use then, GNB actually gets a mini-burst with an extra side-combo. It'd be like if PLD's Goring and Confetior had 30 sec CDs (but you only got Swords when using Confetior WHILE under FoF/Req), or if WAR got a Primal Rend every 30 sec. It gives something that breaks up the combo nicely from the filler. And I don't know about others, but the 1/2/3 charge gauge feels better to me than all those Jobs that have 0-100 gauges where EVERYTHING USING THEM uses exactly 50, making it a 2 charge gauge with extra steps to fill in weird increments. GNB's, on the other hand, is both easy to track and easy to understand, while giving the player that side thing to juggle, ensuring you have a charge every 30 sec for Gnashing, 3 at 1 min marks for Gnashing+DD, but also is easy to see when you're about to finish a 1-2-3 combo and overcap so you can blow a Burst Strike before finishing the combo. And Bloodfest, despite basically being a 2 min CD now, at least makes sense with the rotation and burst, what it's supposed to do, and how to use it, and the extra Burst Strikes + Continuation feel pretty nice to press. Double Down, for my issues with it (there's also that crit variance thing), just FEELS good; they nailed the VFX on it, imo. It just feels really good in general to execute. It's not quite a 10/10 because there's still a little weirdness and clunk, and I still have no idea why Sonic Break even exists other than, like Gnashing, I suspect as a tuning knob. But it generally feels good, it changes up enough to be interesting, and the gauge is simultaneously easier to manage and has more going on with it to make it interesting. I'd give it a 8-9/10.

I am with Espon in that I do like simple things. Though oddly, I find PLD easier than WAR. Not having to even think about the upkeep buff and just making my rotation 3-1-2-4/5-4/5-4/5-4/5-3 means I don't have to really think too much and have a HS at my fingertips basically any time I need one, and PLD and WAR both have a 1 min burst to track, and PLD's seems easier to me to execute, not to mention how much of it can be done at range even for bosses that have a lot of movement or disengages at 2 min marks to screw with other Melee/Tank Jobs, PLD can just go "lol, magic swords go brr" and carry on like it's nothing or with VERY minor modifications. If I extend this to include the defensive/Tank abilities, PLD just feels really good overall, and has the most party utility.

...but I also think GNB feels pretty good to play and execute.

WAR I think is Shrodinger's Easy Job, as it both has more going on than it seems, but it's also irrelevant and so not any harder to play/execute at the same time. It's...odd. But while bare bones, it's also very utilitarian, having everything it needs. WAR is the Archon Loaf of the Tanks, so to speak.

And DRK...is probably the Tank Job most in need of SOME kind of rework. "WAR but clunkier" isn't a great identity.