There’s a total of four Tank jobs to pick in Final Fantasy XIV, each one catering to a specific playstyle while still maintaining the base concept and mechanical foundation of being a Tank. As a beginner it might be difficult to decide which job best suits you, and even though they’re all equally viable, the learning curve might be a bit daunting for certain jobs over their counterparts.

This tier list is designed to cover what Tanking jobs might be easier to get accustomed to, which in turn will give you the experience you need to conquer each of the four jobs the game has to offer! Please keep in mind this list is subjective and might not be relevant to your specific playstyle and needs!

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Article by: Amokeus Rotasch

It’s not difficult to perform adequate as a Warrior even with zero experience, which makes it a personal favourite for many people that don’t tend to play a lot of Tanking yet decide to pick up the class occasionally.

The core mechanic of a Warrior is their Surging Tempest buff, a 10% damage buff that can be extended up to 60 seconds each and only requires the use of a skill to do so. The gauge of the Warrior is the Beast Gauge, which allows them to perform their most damaging abilities whenever they would like if they have the resources.

The most beginner-friendly part of being a Warrior is the sheer amounts of self-sustain, a skill called Raw Intuition that later gets upgraded into Bloodwhetting. This skill allows you to apply damage mitigation to yourself and heal for each weapon skill delivered, which when used in tandem with your Beast Gauge abilities can easily heal you up completely several times over the course of its duration. Add to that the fact it lasts for 8 seconds and has a measly cooldown of 25 seconds, and you quickly begin to realize how self-sufficient a Warrior truly is.

No difficult combos or weaving, with enough self-healing to put most healers to shame.

Although comparatively like Warrior, a Paladin has slightly less self-healing but comes with the ease of use of having their damage buff skill tied to a simple button press that provides a 25% damage buff through Fight or Flight for 20 seconds before going on a minute-long cooldown. This effectively means you only use your most damaging abilities every minute, excluding a couple that will go off cooldown before the skill is ready to use again.

There’s a pretty rigid combo to follow as a Paladin, one that might take a bit of learning to adjust to but once mastered will hardly ever change which makes the job easy to get into and do well. The Shield Gauge is your resource as a Paladin, which is only used to either activate a temporary damage mitigation buff for yourself or to redirect someone’s damage to you for a couple of seconds. Since it fills just from auto-attacking, you don’t even need to actively try to fill it up yourself.

Combine that with an invulnerability skill that makes you take zero damage, and it makes sense that most people feel comfortable tanking unknown content as a Paladin.

Dark Knight is the first of the two button-heavy Tank jobs, utilizing a lot of weaving and a very intense initial opener in endgame content that has two resources that need to be tracked and made sure not to waste by letting them overflow. It’s also terrible at healing itself, only having a SINGLE skill (Abyssal Drain) that it can use to heal itself, but this skill is also shared with one of your more damaging abilities (Carve and Spit) that will mostly take priority unless in add pulls or
emergencies.

Its’ defensive capabilities come in the shape of a personal shield (The Blackest Night / TBN) that can also be applied to others, which actively rewards you with a free cast of a different ability if the shield gets used up completely before it runs out. There is a distinct learning curve to master with knowing when to apply your shield, since it’s effectively wasted mana if you don’t get it to shatter.

You also need to watch your Darkside buff, which is your 10% damage buff and can only be refreshed by using skills that cost 3000 mana each (TBN will
provide a free cast if the shield breaks, therefore making it a skill that must be mastered!). There’s also the Blood gauge, allowing you to perform massive damage and summon a shade of yourself, which you must take care not to let overflow or waste since the shade must ALWAYS be summoned off-cooldown for maximum effect.

Keeping at least 3000 mana and your blood gauge at 50 without letting either overflow is extra stress alongside your general Tanking experience as a Dark Knight and takes some getting used to.

Imagine Dark Knight, but your damage buff is now a skill, but you need to fit about 17+ button presses into the time window of about 20 seconds. Now you’re a Gunbreaker!

Despite the improved self-healing and survivability, the sheer number of buttons you’ll be pressing while you’re also busy Tanking whatever you’re facing, makes it incredibly easy to perform sub-optimal. It’s a job that takes dedication to master, and its damage output can severely change depending on your input lag or nimbleness of fingers. You also need to deal with your Powder Gauge, taking care not to let it overflow but keeping cartridges ready for your burst window
which makes it stressful to handle alongside everything else.

While it’s true that in the Gunbreaker’s down-time it’s not much that they’re doing, the fact they need to focus intensely every minute when their damage window activates makes them a difficult choice for beginners. It’s not an easy concept when you’re still getting used to playing Final Fantasy XIV, especially not if it’s the first tank Job you decide to pick up.

The burst phase of your No Mercy can distract you from mechanics, potentially causing wipes or heavy damage as you’re trying to fit all those buttons into your rotation while also dealing with the boss on top of that.

It takes dedication to master any of the Tank jobs in Final Fantasy XIV, but perhaps jumping straight into the more difficult ones can be an off-putting experience for people that aren’t very familiar with the game or its core mechanics. There’s a distinct playstyle each one offers and it’s up to you to decide which kind you enjoy the best, but it’s always worth keeping in mind that there’s a learning curve that’s different for each one. Jobs like Warrior and Paladin will allow you to learn the game easier since they’re not as intensive to focus on, while Dark Knight and Gunbreaker might pull your attention away from what’s happening on the battlefield during your learning experience. With that said, each role can be played optimally as long as you remain determined and learn!