The core of a FFXIV party, the tank is what aggros the boss and mobs to ensure the squishy healer and dps classes aren’t battered into paste. In Dawntrail, not a lot has been added to what we’ve come to expect from the Blue heroes. The big changes come in the form of added defensive abilities and extensions of some combos. There have been adjusted potencies, but unless mentioned (because they’re a big jump), most remain roughly around the same.
This article is based on play of an in-development build of FINAL FANTASY XIV: Dawntrail and content in the final version is subject to change.
Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker Tank Impressions
The poster child for Endwalker, Paladin hasn’t received monumental changes. The vast majority of it remains the same, with your rotation likely not being modified all that much. For starters, Requiescat has been removed as a dedicated ability in favor of Imperator, which also triggers the Confiteor combo. The difference is that Imperator changes into an OGCD skill that lasts thirty seconds after finishing the combo, unleashing a final blow.
To reduce some button bloat, Goring Blade is no longer a dedicated button but is only activated after using Flight or Flight. This tightens up the rotation to ensure Goring Blade will be within your Fight or Flight window, although the former has thirty seconds to use, while the buff lasts for only twenty.
Atonement no longer has three charges, but instead changes to Supplication and Sepulcher which come with newer animations. This no doubt makes the rotation more interesting compared to just spamming the same skill three times. Finally, Sentinel has been upgraded to Guardian to enhance Paladin’s defensive abilities every two minutes. Really, not a whole lot has changed; just a lot of names have been altered with some additional animations.
Similar to Paladin, not a whole lot has changed with Warrior, with some minor additions to your rotation and added defensive attributes. Warrior has always been a pretty straightforward job, with the main attraction being able to Unga Bunga your way through fights. Big flashy hits while soaking as much damage as possible, and in Dawntrail, that will continue to be the case.
Fell Cleave remains as satisfying as always, but the upgraded Inner Chaos triggered by Infuriate has a new animation that feels a lot more impactful. At the end of your Inner Release combo, the Inner Release button will transform into an OGCD Primal Wrath which slams your axe into the ground, dealing extra damage.
Additionally, there’s a follow-up GCD to Primal Rend called Primal Ruination, which can be triggered up to thirty seconds after Primal Rend. Vengeance has been transformed into Damnation, which basically offers the same effects with an added HP regen added, as well. It’s not like Warrior was in need of more healing capabilities, but more is always better.
Warrior never felt like it needed much change to its formula as it had its defensive and healing abilities along with a simple, but gratifying skillset. Dawntrail lightly enhances this while not messing with what fans have come to love with it. Because of this, though, there’s not a lot to talk about with Warrior.
Dark Knight
The ever brooding Dark Knight has picked up a couple of changes, but like the other two tanks, it remains mostly the same. The “biggest” change is to Delirium where you’ll no longer just be spamming BloodSpiller. Instead, this has gotten a similar treatment to Paladin’s Atonement treatment, as all of the attacks in a Delirium burst is turned into unique attacks: Scalret Delirium, Comeuppance, and to finish it off, Torcleaver. There’s also the added Impalement AOE version. The best quality-of-life change, though, is Blood Weapon being removed and implemented directly into Delirium. In the end, while this won’t change the rotation, as it’s still hitting the same button three times in a row, it does significantly more damage and has more animations added.
Disesteem is the level 100 skill, and is a straight line attack dealing 800 damage to an enemy, and 50% less to all remaining enemies. This can only be activated while Living Shadow is active. Shadow Wall has been upgraded to Shadowed Vigil, and outside the increase in damage reduction, it will also heal the player after 20 seconds or if their HP drops below 50%.
Plunge has been removed entirely in favor of Shadowstride, a movement skill not too dissimilar to Monk’s Thunderclap, but solely to an opponent. This is a strange decision considering neither Paladin nor Warrior’s gap closers changed to remove damage from their gap closers, whereas the animation and effects of Shadowstride just don’t feel as satisfying as Plunge.
Gunbreaker
Of all the Tanks in Dawntrail, Gunbreaker feels like it received the most attention, but maybe not in the best way.
Bloodfest not only grants three cartridges, but activates and transforms the ability into the new level 100 skill, Reign of Beasts, which is a three-hit combo that deals an immense amount of damage. On top of that, Sonic Break has been condensed into No Mercy, ensuring it doesn’t slip from the burst window. The major issue we have with this is just how messy the burst becomes. Gunbreaker already has a very busy burst in Endwalker, but this just adds three more skills to fit into the 20-second window. You also can’t swap between combos; so if you start your Gnashing Fang combo or Reign of Beasts, you have to finish it otherwise it’ll be interrupted.
Outside of this, Gunbreaker receives the same 120-second mitigation enhancement as the rest of the tanks, with Nebula turning into Great Nebula. This not only adds an extra 10% damage reduction, but also increases and restores Gunbreaker’s HP by 20% for 15 seconds.
Like Dark Knight’s Plunge, Gunbreaker’s Rough Divide has been swapped out for Trajectory, a two-charged non-damage gap closer. It’s just a quick slide to the enemy, which once more isn’t as appealing as Rough Divide’s quick jump in slash. It does ensure you won’t be spamming it during bursts, which, considering the messy state of Gunbreaker, is a good thing.
