Tanks

Loony BoB · 08-31-2009, 11:52 AM

What are the better tanks for the higher levels? I've got a L19 MNK and a L33 WAR so if neither of those will be any use then obviously I need to look to one of the new jobs available to me...

Levian · 08-31-2009, 12:37 PM

While WAR is no longer the best tank, it's still a good DD! but if you want to be the tank then maybe PLD is the way for you to go.

Loony BoB · 08-31-2009, 12:39 PM

I suppose I could always be a backup tank. I just figured that since WAR has Provoke, it's a good thing to have as a sub so you can tank effectively. I don't mind being a DD either, really, but I like to have the ability to tank if required because with Danielle being a healer and me being a tank, it makes organising parties really easy. xD

Having said that, I don't know how long Danielle will stay a healer as I understand they use RDM as healer in the later levels. o_x

Del Murder · 08-31-2009, 07:17 PM

White mage is still the standard healer. People use RDM for healer in the later levels because they have virtually unlimited MP regeneration and the party takes steps to minimize damage taken by using ninja shadows.

Paladin is the standard tank, and the best tank in most situations. People use NIN tank when leveling because ninjas don't take a lot of damage and therefore don't need to be healed.

WAR and MNK can probably tank well enough but it requires some skill and knowledge of the job, and I don't know much about those jobs. A second voke is always good for emergencies and setting up SATA, I do know that.

Eleni and I leveled WHM and PLD to 75 our first time around and it was easy to make our own parties. I definitely recommend it!

Dante WolfWood · 09:03 PM

MNKs make horrible tanks, at least they did to me. the only two valuable tanks at that time Were PLD and NIN, IMO playing as a healer (RDM). They made my job a whole lot easier. it could have changed by now though.

I don't see why WAR wouldn't work, seeing as it was the first tank, but it does require alot of skill from the whole party. a Good PLD could survive with a mediocre party but if your a WAR, and your healer sucks....good night.

Miriel · 08-31-2009, 08:25 PM

Yeah, maybe it was because we made our own parties a lot of the times, but I never had an issue with people wanting a RDM over a WHM. I mean, I always hear about people demanding RDMs but I've never felt unwanted as a WHM. The opposite actually.

Mirage · 08:47 PM

war/nin is probably about about as good as nin/war whenever the two have access to the same utsusemi spells. This means from war24 to war36, and at war 74/75. War doesn't have as good natural evasion as ninja, but they have more HP and a but more defence. They can also wear more defence gear than ninja and use defender. However, war/nin tanks in exp/merit parties usually just gear for damage dealing and rely solely on utsusemi.

When a warrior doesn't have both utsusemi spells, another viable option is dualtanking, where one war/nin grabs hate whenever the other war/nin is out of shadows. This requires the two to have good knowledge about how much hate they're generating, so that they can easily bounce hate between them with a simple provoke.

If you enjoy tanking, then PLD is probably a good job for you. They will take considerably less damage than war, and will be able to block with their shields far more often than warrior can. They also get cure spells that will increase their survivability at the same time as they increase hate on you. You also get other spells that increase hate, such as Flash.

WAR subjob is probably the most used subjob for PLD in exp parties, so your WAR33 won't be wasted.

PLD/DNC can also be fun for soloing certain monsters that most other melee jobs can't solo. It won't be fast, but you can get the job done :p.

I've also seen some PLDs sub NIN at higher levels, geared for damage dealing. If you can still keep hate, it's probably not a too bad idea. It should let you increase your damage output more than you decrease your tanking capabilities.

The reason monks aren't too good as tanks is that while they have lots of HP, they also have low defence. This means more damage taken, which means more healing required. They could sub nin like war does, but they won't get a provoke ability like war/nin gets, meaning they'll have a harder time keeping hate.

Del Murder · 08-31-2009, 10:26 PM

Yeah dual war/nin works pretty well since each can act as tank and effective DD. As long as you work fluidly together it should make for a pretty solid setup.

WHM will always be in demand because Cure V and Raise III are pretty awesome spells. It's new abilities make it a lot better too. WHM probably got the best update that any job has gotten in the last couple years (besides maybe SAM with the 2h update).

Loony BoB Administrator Chocobo Location: Edinbugger	#1 Tanks What are the better tanks for the higher levels? I've got a L19 MNK and a L33 WAR so if neither of those will be any use then obviously I need to look to one of the new jobs available to me...
08-31-2009, 11:52 AM

Levian Cid's Knight En mann med hatt Location: Donut Plains	#2 (permalink) While WAR is no longer the best tank, it's still a good DD! but if you want to be the tank then maybe PLD is the way for you to go.
08-31-2009, 12:37 PM

Miriel Former Staff permanently mitten Location: San Francisco	#6 (permalink) Yeah, maybe it was because we made our own parties a lot of the times, but I never had an issue with people wanting a RDM over a WHM. I mean, I always hear about people demanding RDMs but I've never felt unwanted as a WHM. The opposite actually.
08-31-2009, 08:25 PM