You're ignoring Overpower and AoE, which puts WAR significantly ahead in terms of tank damage utility.
PLD is built as a main tank, WAR is built as an off tank. Pick the one that fits your playstyle.
You're ignoring Overpower and AoE, which puts WAR significantly ahead in terms of tank damage utility.
PLD is built as a main tank, WAR is built as an off tank. Pick the one that fits your playstyle.
Can anyone point me in the direction of the best wiki/resource? I haven't purchased the game yet but I would be interested in learning more before I do. Also, how "complete" is the game feeling right now? Does it still feel like it's in it's early stages? Coming from starting ffxi around NA release I really enjoyed coming into a game that was still being figured out and not endgame only. I think if it's like ffxi has been the passed few years it would not be nearly as fun starting out as ffxi was for me those many years ago.
for items xivdb.com
For Wiki itself? you don't need it, game holds you by the hand till you finish the story
But what about researching jobs? Traits and Abilities, etc. so that I can get a feel for what job will best fit my playstyle? Is there a good resource for that?
Xivdb.com
Most jobs aren't "complete" until early 40s or 50. Until that point you only have so many tools available to you so the most optimal is usually obvious. Once you're at 50 there are a lot of guides out there, and most jobs have a discussion thread on the forums here in general or over in advanced.
Except for quest-locked abilities (15, 30 x2, 35 40 45 50) you can see every ability and trait while on the class, as well as over on xivdb like Rata said.
Quick rundown of jobs if you wanted something on playstyle:
TANKS
Paladin: Usually designated main tank. Lots of mitigation. Easy to play but kind of boring.
Warrior: Usually designated off tank. Better at AoE threat. Less cooldowns and one has short duration so requires a little timing.
HEALERS
White Mage: Has several AoE heal options and is good on single-target heals too. Party staple. Has more difficulty with MP management compared to SCH
Scholar: Pet healer. Best single-target heals (has on-demand burst heals), weaker AoE healing. Some of their heals have short-duration "shield" effect so it's a pre-mitigator too. Gets 20% MP back every minute so rarely has MP management issues. Shares levels with Summoner (the DPS pet class).
DPS
Summoner: Ranged, DoTs + pet damage. Considered highest DPS. Not difficult to play, parts of their rotation are filler spells so fights with movement don't hurt them as badly as Black Mage. Only job other than healers that can resurrect mid-fight.
Monk: Melee, most attacks require proper positioning to hit at full power so you move back and forth between side and rear a lot. Has a "attack speed up" mechanic the more they hit stuff (up to 3 stacks); this can be annoying on fights where bosses "force" you to stop DPS. Uninterrupted, they are considered one of the best DPS.
Dragoon: Melee, only 2 attacks in their rotation need proper positioning and they have less "acceleration" time than Monk but have slightly lower DPS to compensate. Has negative stigma due to a lot of bad players playing the job.
Black Mage: Ranged, blow dudes up with fire. Rotates between damage mode (Fire spells, no MP regen) and recovery mode (Ice spells, massive MP regen) so has stable but mercurial damage output. Mechanics that force BLMs to move reduce their DPS by a lot compared to other jobs. "Easy" to play, a little harder to master.
Bard: Ranged. Occasional support with songs (some lower your own damage), has lowest DPS but is usually a party staple anyways. Movement mechanics don't affect them at all; can shoot while moving at any range. Easy to play.
http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/ isn't bad either. I use it together with xivdb.
Thanks for the input.
Talking about the healing classes... SCH feels faster and more responsive. WHM has more healing power. WHM definitely wins on the AoE front but SCH has an AOE heal which has a shield and one of the SCH pets has an AOE regen. I was a career WHM in FFXI but have dumped WHM in favour of SCH in XIV (even though I have both). I just enjoy it more and it feels busier. Whilst levelling, WHM has it easier with access to certain spells earlier than SCH but at endgame you need both. I absolutely love how SCH and WHM complement each other so well.
If you're interested in SMN and/or SCH then be aware that the base class Arcanist is based on INT but at 30 you have to make a choice. If it's important to you to specialise then you'll want to choose which job to assign your stat points too. Essentially so far, SCH is Mind based and SMN is intelligence. If it's important to you to be the best in something you'll end up assigning 30 points into one stat. If you're not so worried, you'll end up splitting them. Whilst you can play both, you can't be the best SCH AND the best SMN on the same character.
I've ended up levelling BLM so I have another option for caster DPS. It's a shame because I really like SMN but being 30 points of INT down at endgame is a headache.