Lots Of <3 For Warrior Tanks~

Since we took up a lot of the BST's thread...

Figured we should start on for WARs

on the BST Thread, somebody said WAR/BLU with coccon and the ability to heal himself was a good tank

But compared to PLD.....lol I doubt 130-150 MP standard for sub will do much, plus the lack of Sentinal really hurts a WAR/BLU tank.

WAR/DNC on the other hand, with retaliation and joy-shield combo = <3. I have done campaigns where I was the main tank holding hate from 4 mobs (or 1 NM) just by spaming curing waltz and retaliation.

Seeing that in a merit party setup thats not burn, yeah, won't work. WAR/DNC loses all the ability to do any damage. Still spams out a lot of self-cures, but not much else. About as much damage as a PLD, but at least the PLD can WS.

What do you guys think?

WAR/NIN with brd's double march and a SCH spamming Stoneskin, Aquavial, and of corse cures. Helpful with a RDM using Phalanx II as well. Not to mention the WAR will have to be rocking some sweet armor for haste and of corse defender.

WAR imo just isn't a good tank compared to even SAM or MNK.

I don't see Retaliation working on mobs that are really high. I can see campaign working well since those mobs are generally weakened for there actual level.

WAR in meripo is second to none when it comes down to your average WAR.

WARx2 COR/WHM BRD/WHM BRD/NIN Meripo FTW (only birds)

think he means WARx3?

I wouldn't use tanking in campaign as a good example. I can tank mobs as Whm/Nin in camps, lol.

Just 5 ><;

Another big reason that people don't often take WAR tanks seriously is because pretty much no one gears them to tank, or uses tank food with them. I'm not saying that they could be better than a PLD or NIN in a given situation, but just looking at their Job Traits and Abilities, in addition to their AF, it lets you know that Tank was one of the roles that SE intended for the job.

Pretty much anything that a PLD can wear, a WAR can also wear, and some things like Unicorn stuff just scream "tank" to me, even if not everyone sees it that way.

As far as Meripo tanking, 2 WAR/NIN works great.

One of the most fun Meripo I had (albeit not the most amazing EXP, but still good( was at Mamool South camp, 2x WAR/NIN, SAM/WAR, SAM/DNC, RDM/WHM, and BRD/WHM.

A lot of people question SAM/DNC in meripo also, but like so many other things (ahem... WAR tanks), it can be done well or done poorly. In the end, it depends mostly on the skill/gear/play-style of the person controlling it, and the setup of the party.

For example, I love to merit SAM/DNC, but usually only with people I know because they trust me to be productive on it. It gives the other DDs a little bit more freedom to go nuts, and I still get more than my fair share of the damage in there. It has the same base damage and attack as /NIN, gives me Accuracy Bonus (and evasion bonus), and I can pretty much take care of myself. I prefer /WAR, but not when I have to gimp it down because the party can't handle it.

WAR tanks work great when the people know how to be productive with it, but it sucks horribly when you get people that can't count shadows, trade hate, or be un-stupid. So don't be afraid of WAR tanks, but don't expect every one of them to work out well either.

Yeah, but can you take on 4 mobs at once (can't use sleep on them, that would be cheating since WARs can't sleep them)?.

Merit parties aside, the previous thread was talking about pre-74 WAR tanking (post 25 WAR tanking also).

SE did want WARs to tank, as a last resort, since WARs can't cure themselves. But just 1 WAR tanking pre-Ni post-Island just does not work. You have to have 2 WAR/NINs in any given situation and/or a very good outside healer if level is low enough.

~just my 2 cents.~

I wouldn't put the cutoff at the Island, and put on your open mind hat here...

I contend to this very day that the BEST tank for Jungle parties that fight Mandragora is WAR/MNK with defensive gear and food, using a Great Axe. If you pull a goblin, sure, they will get beat the heck up, but for Mandragora, there is no better tank at that level. Ninja are just plain awful for them, and Paladins have a very hard time casting. The WAR/MNK can pull extra hate with Boost when needed (it's noticeable), and having Double Attack and Counter on a 2-hander is also huge for damage and hate.

Admittedly this is a special case for a special mob, but I have used WAR/MNK tanks there many times, usually to the surprise of the person who had been seeking /NIN, and it's definitely the way to go for 25-31 or so on those mobs.

never tried that, but then again, my MNK is only 15 atm

It's an absolutely horrible tank compared to monk, as war if you get caught with hate and shadows down with no :NI recast ready your basically ***. MNK can more often than not get :Ichi up with C-stance up with minimal problem, i've tanked charbydis as mnk/nin as ninja's co-tank, as war/nin i got raped on the same mob. Monk tanks very well with shadows, hell i take less damage than a lot of ninjas in merits, counterstance + blinking is a ton of dmg mitigation.

I really really wish monk had voke it might be a more desirable job for burn PT's then, it's a very well built job for tanking sadly as /nin there isn't any real hate spikes DoT hate which monk is master of... requires mobs to live for more than 30 secs lol =(

Honestly the only thing war has on monk for a merit party slot is provoke. Unless of course you mean an uber geared war but 99% of them you will find seeking do not fit this category.

IMO WAR is ***, it's a job that really kicks major *** if geared right but it's also the same job that most are never geared right, the majority of wars i see are noobs, not to be stereotypical but its a very fast melee job to take 1-75 and i guess thats why many people could care less how they play/gear it mid ranges and some all the way up to 75.

I have WAR and i have MNK and i can honestly say, i have not touched my war in over a year it's completely gimped when it takes hate for too long, other wars don't tend to grab hate when needed and honestly i'd rather punch things, do back flips and know that if i take hate its cool, i can handle it and i wont have to depends on some dumbass to voke off of me if i get hit. I wont have to depend on anything but my mage to haste me, I wont have to do anything like main provoke even though i have far less HP than that galka war but he's a little slow in the head so its ok we'll sacrifice the taru cuz he knows how to *** provoke and use utsusemi. ^.^

I guess it also has something to do with the fact that 22-25% haste is so goddamn easy to achieve as monk and i'm a haste junkie.

SAM.. meh, mines like 40, i tanked as it and it works well, i just lack the time to level all the jobs i want to, plus i have every other trendy job already anyway

Yo, dude talking about the jungle: using mandy parties as some kind of tanking ability example is way off though dude, a rdm/war or even whm/war can tank those things, i've seen it.

Sorry if this came off as a rant, but "WAR = bad tank MNK = good tank"is something i get all excited about, it really boils down to the player though, i can and i have seen many wars tank just fine in merits but it's such an overly abused, horribly played, cheaply geared job by so many people, it sickens me.

P.S. Merit parties don't reallly need provoke anyway, some of the best ones ive been in were 3x sam's so invite more monks and sams guys, i will give u a free cookie, thanks have a nice day.

As someone who tanks on WAR quite a lot, and takes it seriously, I'll say that WAR can be a very acceptable tank for a lot of "easier" things.

I tank Limbus zones and all of Salvage, including bosses, on WAR/NIN. I've also tanked plenty of NMs and crap like that on it, but since the person above me mentioned Charby, obviously I would never try to tank him on WAR.

For the most part, if I can damage it well and I don't need to EVA tank it, I'll bring WAR. NIN I'll come to EVA tank if needed, and PLD or NIN/DRK for serious tanking.

It's really not hard to tank on WAR, you just need to have good support, the ability to count to 3, defensive gear swaps, and be able to do enough damage to keep hate.

As for XP, I leveled WAR a couple years ago and I was the main or only tank for a lot of XP PTs, from 40-75. The only thing I would insist on was targeting T and VT mobs. Sure I would liked to have a NIN or PLD so I could just zone out and hit a WS macro every now and then, but it was often hard to find one so I just stepped up and did it.

I think the biggest hurdle WAR faces as a tank is two things, both equally damaging to the reputation.

1. When most people hear that WAR sucks at tanking, they are reluctant to ever have a WAR tank, or give them the proper support.

2. The average WAR seems to not take tanking seriously, they don't focus on shadow timing or have any gear except TP and WS sets, so of course they're going to suck at it.

I love tanking on WAR, for me it's great to be able to go all out DD and still tank, and my ability to soak up damage (physical or magic) is just a macro away.

I have too much crap already for WAR that I can't place any tanking gear there.

I also have too much crap for BLM also, but thats besides the point.

Most WARs aren't going to go to a party (merit or otherwise) with tanking gear with them. They are wastes of space that could be used to store BS/KS/Crystals/Various other junk that could be NPCable for a small profit.

I bet you that most of the WARs out there don't even have sword/shield leveled (sword usually if they have joy-ridill already).

Besides, I tank with my GA, it parries more often ;p

War/Whm tiamat onry

you shouldn't knock something u never evan tryed, with war/blu have 200+ mp just with osode and few other basic items on add to that ethereal earring to gain back mp not mention sanction and sig refresh also can toss in jelly ring and herc ring if u really want. Then on top that add the war earring that gives +20% def on low hp among other various thing. Oh dont let forget all the fun spells u get let me tank perfectly well in campain and solo mobs with ga or shield and this without evan useing food.

Oh and btw good work for taking credit for starting a separate thread for this war stuff that was suggested in the bst thread to be done.

oh also know a galka war/mnk who tanked all the way thrugh 75 pre toah he evan use tank in dynamis.

yah this works pretty decent actually, or at least it did way back when AA order and pld/war was cool. It was very comparable.

Heim, you being cranky again?!? Anyway you actually make some decent points, they can be a good tank in a fix with right sub/food/gear (which goes for any tank job) but as we all know will never replace Pld or Nin.

bah ya guess i am , just get anoyed people shoot stuuf down without ever actualy tryign it. Ya id still take a pld over war as option for a tank. Though you got to amit my war/blu has kept your *** alive a few times in campain lol. Also with that setup i can use GA and do big dmg hold hate and not die.

lol cmon now, if you really want a war to tank ***the right way now. war/mnk for obvious reasons. first of all a warrior doesnt need /pld for "sentinel". sentinel is ur last ditch effort to A hold hate or B not get smooshed. war/mnk first of all gets a ton of HP to make up for the lack of sentinel and mp to heal themselves. they also get boost, chakra to heal themselves, thus gaining hate. they have dodge, heck u never know if u need that little boost. they have retaliation, which is if u have lvld war to 75, u know how godly that is to hold hate. throw that in with the earlier post of a joytoy + shield, that is just wrong hate and isnt fair to anybody else tryin to get hate. they also have acess to the almost the same gear that plds get, along with enmity gear. wWar and pld can both use hercules ring, they dont need the refresh but the enmity and regen is sweet. but hey there r multiple other subs for a war to tank with, but /mnk is the old way, but still the new way if any warrior is ballsy enough to tank end game. and i give them even more props if they pull it off. but dont forget about war/nin, that will still come in handy for certain situations such as kiting or somethin that can hit for too much damage. but otherwise a war tank should focus on as much vit and hp as possible to make up for the lack there of other buffs a pld or ninja would gain. and i dont know about you, but a war/mnk with a joytoy and retaliation could easily procc a 1k spirits within at 300tp and fully healed. and they could spam that with the tp gain with that. excuse the bad grammar and the uncapitalizations before anybody complains to me about that.

yup I'll agree, but you also kept me alive as mnk/dnc, Whm/sch etc etc (list to long) Blu sub w/cocoon is argument enough to help a war tank and with your setup it would be pretty good. Lets Just say a lot of ppl made some good points tho, so WAR / blu or mnk or dnc can effectively tank, just depends if you wanna gear it and use it that way.



To be fair what meritpo arent burns? or has a tank? And if it was a more traditional Merit pty with a tank/whm/blm or whatever config you want to put there. The only tank where the WS is actually needed to hold hate is for nin, PLD has way better hate holding tools, their WS is more of an afterthought imo.

I love WAR's versatility when it comes down to tanking "easier" targets well. I personally lug my tanking gear along with me wherever I go. I don't get that much use of it but it is great to have for merit pt's when your caught with shadows down^^

Some of the more naughtier monsters i had the chance to keep at bay; Nyzul specific NM's, Nyzul bosses, as well as bouncing a Genbu between a NIN and I. Once got the KO on a cereberus via Retaliation - made me lol. I don't have much tanking experience but i relish any chance i get to hold hate and take any opportunity i can.

Darkmoose mentioned that almost any gear a PLD can wear a WAR can as well, not to mention some great WAR specific stuff like AF or Relic gear with a healthy dose of emnity+ on most pieces. Haste/Shadow and/or straight up "blood tanking" there is a lot of gear options and possibilities.

edit: ooh he did mention the af's^^ i missed it :P

I remember someone mentioning a War/Blu with Protect 4, Stoneskin and Cocoon having better defens than a PLD in full Valor gear. Maybe its true (cant check stats current;y) but the hate and survivalbility issue would come into play. The PLDs Defense would be constant. The War/Blu's would change after a few hits, not to mention the casting time on the spells.

As for War itself, I love the versatality. Pull Tank, DD /joy.

War/Dnc I can see doing well.

Its been a long time since a I played and things may have changed but I used to rock as war tank. I even tanked charbydis one time along with nin. The nin got killed twice and so I did most of the tanking. Granted I did need alot of curing I still had the defense to stay alive and managed to keep my shadows up enough that we one the fight. In most fights I would try to cast ichi just before I lost my last shadow on ni. After those 3 were gone I'd take 1-2 hits and have ni back and repeat. Keep in mind its been a long time since I played and it may not have been as easy as I remember lol

constant 617 def war/blu in campain right now no food or protect or earing bonus

Well, when i did have a successful split tanked charby with a ninja as war, i turned and lost the aggro, war has evasion like a brick wall even with mambo's and i would rather lose the hate than die trying to hold it lol.

I guess if you're fully haste built and double marched, haste spell and double mambo'd tanking it with elegy and slow II on it, it'd be much different but the setups i had didn't have all that support.

It's not a hard mob either for any /nin job to tank with right support but point i was trying to make (pardon me for sounding like an *** in that post lol) is that the support isnt always available for war to excel at some mobs, this is why i would call it a sub-par tank for many mobs, it can do it yes but it requires such picky setups that it's more time consuming than just finding a more adequate job for it.... and as for parties most wars i've been unfortunate enough to party with recently, just honestly don't try to do well.

When a taru war blows more well built for melee races off the parser constantly with just basic gears at that (my war is far from pimped out) a lot of people just arent even trying to play it well or take it seriously.

My biggest peeve though in exp with many wars i've seen is for instance @ mamool ja staging point, i'm in this double-bard party and i'm the puller. In a 2x bard party. In that zone in a 2x bard party, i go nuts and there is no reason i should have to hold back!

I pull anywhere from 2-5 mobs to my camp, sleep everything and when they run low on mobs (slept) i pull more, this makes for crazy good exp in that zone... this particular party had 2 wars and even when there was one mob being fought and one slept, If i ran off to pull more the mobs would often wake up and chase me...

Now, being that wars only real advantage over any other melee in a merit party is the fact that they can provoke i get pretty pissed at guys like this who wont voke the mob they are fighting, much less voke a mob thats slept so i dont get multiple mob aggro while pulling and die...

Imagine that, this last war burn party i had, had not just one but two shitty wars in it, and is it any wonder i have animosity for people who disgrace the job?

This will help WAR tank a bit

http://www.ffxiah.com/item/28667/matamata-shield

You had to necro something 4 years old to tell us that. When there are SO GOD DAMN many other pdt/dt pieces out there >_>...

War tank is so 2007

haha so true, rather tank with relic GA. but then again, everyone has known that for 4 years :P

Sod that, break out the Earth Staff!