Tanks are an essential part of any team in FFXIV, from dungeon clearing to high-end and ultimate raid clearing. This is because a Tank's main role in FFXIV is to gain aggro from all enemies and focus the enemies' main attacks on the Tanks, whether it's an auto-attack or a powerful attack, which is also referred to as 'Tankbusters'.
By gaining the aggroes of the enemies, the rest of the party will take less damage, allowing them to live longer and deal damage to the enemies, eventually killing them. It will also allow the healers to concentrate their efforts on the Tanks. Patch 6.3 has been released for Final Fantasy XIV, and it brings some changes to all of the tanks in the game.
Players are grinding hard in order to prepare for the newest, hardest content in FFXIV, especially with the new Omega ultimate raid coming soon. As a result, this article will create a tier list to rank all four Tanks in FFXIV from best to poor.
It should be noted that all Tanks are doable, unique, and enjoyable in their own right. The main reason for creating this tier list is not to prevent players from playing a specific Tank battle job, but to rank out a Tank's survivability and abilities when faced against various types of content, particularly high-end content.
Because there are only four tanks in FFXIV right now, the tier list will only be divided into two tiers, the S Tier and the A Tier, with two tanks in each. The reason for only two tier lists and not more is that the differences between Tanks in FFXIV are not from high in the sky to rock bottom, but rather minor advantages from one over the other. With that said, let's get started on this article's first tier!
S Tier
In this article, S Tier is the first and highest tier that can be granted to tanks in FFXIV. Tanks with the S Tier rank are the best Tanks you can bring to any type of content in FFXIV. To begin with, the Tanks on this list have a very high survivability rate, which means they can survive longer on the battlefield while shielding their allies from the brunt of the boss's attacks.
Furthermore, these Tanks have a high DPS output, which means that in addition to shielding, they can also help the team by dealing a lot of damage to the enemies.
Gunbreaker: 98/100
Dark Knight: 96/100
A Tier
A Tier is the second highest tier and the final tier in this article. Tanks ranked below the S Tier rank have a lower advantage over Tanks ranked above the S Tier rank. While they still have high survivability and DPS, some of the Tanks in this tier may have less mitigation to help shield themselves from damage or deal less damage than Tanks in the S Tier ranks.
However, both Tanks in the A Tier are very good support Tanks, which means that in addition to doing their main job, they can also be a very good sub-Tank or ST position, as well as provide good party utility.
Warrior: 92/100
Paladin: 90/100
1. Gunbreaker ( S - Tier )
Gunbreaker is a very fun Tank with… well, guns!
Gunbreaker is the first Tank introduced in this article, as well as the most recent Tank added to the game via the Shadowbringers expansion.
Gunbreaker is a very good Tank with a lot of mitigation experience. Mitigations are important for Tanks because these are the main abilities that they must manage properly in order to survive while constantly taking damage from enemies or bosses. Gunbreaker is also known as one of the most powerful Tanks in the game.
Gunbreaker is a S - Tier tank for the following reasons:
- Because Tanks' survivability is obvious to players, we must first discuss their DPS output before discussing Gunbreaker's mitigations. Why, specifically, is Tank DPS output so important in end-game raids, given that their main job is to take enemies' aggroes and keep the rest of the party alive?
- The main reason why a Tank's DPS is important is that Tanks can deal a significant amount of DPS in FFXIV. In fact, a very good Gunbreaker player with BiS gear can even deal more damage than some mediocre DPS players with less BiS gear.
- As a result, a Gunbreaker's DPS can be very useful in a fight, especially in endgame content fights where a DPS check is required to clear the fight. Gunbreaker will be able to significantly assist the group by dealing significantly more damage and allowing the DPS check to be passed more successfully.
- Aside from DPS, Gunbreaker has excellent mitigations that can help him stay alive on the battlefield. To begin, they have the 'Nebula' ability, which reduces damage taken by 30% for 15 seconds.
- They can also help heal themselves by using the ability 'Aurora,' which grants them a regen with a cure potency of 200 for 18 seconds. Even better, Gunbreakers can use this ability on other party members, allowing them to heal not only themselves but also a dying party member.
- Gunbreaker has additional abilities that can be used on other members of their party. One of these abilities is 'Heart of Light,' which reduces magic damage taken by yourself and nearby party members by 10% for 15 seconds. This allows a Gunbreaker to help their teammates even more by shielding them from taking too much damage for a short period of time.
2. Dark Knight ( S - Tier )
Dark Knight is your ultimate battle job with emo skills and animations!
The second Tank introduced in this article is Dark Knight. Dark Knights are introduced in the Heavensward expansion, the game's first expansion following the release of A Realm Reborn.
Dark Knights are regarded as the tank with the most powerful burst in the game. In terms of DPS output, they are comparable in Gunbreaker, especially with the arrival of FFXIV patch 6.3.
Dark Knight is a S - Tier tank for the following reasons:
- Dark Knight's DPS is very good even as a Tank, comparable to Gunbreaker, putting them in the same league as Gunbreaker as the best Tanks in the game. Dark Knight's high DPS output is visible in a variety of skills and abilities that can help them improve their DPS output in the game.
- The Dark Knight can use Flood of Shadow and Edge of Shadow to gain the 'Darkside' buff, which increases the Dark Knight's damage dealt by 10% for 30 seconds. Furthermore, the Dark Knight can use this skill indefinitely to keep the buff active as long as they have MP, implying that the Dark Knight will have a consistent damage up buff throughout the fight.
- Aside from DPS, Dark Knights now have a lot of good mitigation to help them survive. The change to Dark Knight's invulnerability skill, Living Dead, is one of the most noticeable changes. Previously, using Living Dead and hitting 1 HP while under the condition of Living Dead required the Dark Knight to be healed to full by healers, or they would die. This can be a pain, especially for teams lacking a White Mage with the Benediction ability.
- However, the Living Dead ability now has an additional effect that heals the Dark Knight immediately after hitting 1 HP while under the Living Dead condition. Dark Knights can now restore their HP with a whopping 1500 cure potency for each weapon skill they successfully execute while under the effect, allowing them to self-heal from the damage and removing the burden from healers to heal them to full HP.
- Dark Knights also have a plethora of mitigations that can assist them in surviving normal tank busters. The Blackest Night is the best shield in the game, and it can be granted to the Dark Knight or any party member, allowing the Dark Knight to serve a party utility purpose as well. The shield can absorb up to 25% of the target's maximum HP.
- They can also help their teammates even more by gaining the ability Oblation, which reduces damage taken by 10% for the party member who receives it. Dark Missionary is yet another utility shield that reduces all magic damage taken by all party members by 10% for 15 seconds.
3. Warrior ( A - Tier )
Warrior is a very unga-bunga Tank that will decimate everything on their paths!
Warrior is the third Tank introduced in this article and one of the two original Tanks added to the game since the beginning of A Realm Reborn.
Warriors are also regarded as one of the more 'beginner-friendly' Tanks, owing to their simple rotation, high restoration capabilities, and low ping. Warrior has become the top choice for players who are new to Tanking or have a poor latency or internet connection for these reasons.
Warrior is an A-tier tank for the following reasons:
- To begin with, Warrior has the best recovery capabilities of any Tank. This is due to Warriors' plethora of abilities, which not only protect them from taking too much damage, but also allow them to recover their lost HP after taking said damage, which is unavoidable for any Tank.
- This recovery ability is demonstrated by their ability 'Bloodwhetting,' which allows a Warrior to easily recover their HP with 400 cure potency for every weaponskill they perform while under the effect of Bloodwhetting. Furthermore, Bloodwhetting will create a barrier around them that will absorb damage and heal them up to 400 potency.
- Best of all, the cooldown for Bloodwhetting is incredibly short at 25 seconds, allowing them to use it repeatedly throughout the fight.
- Warriors also have an ability called 'Nascent Flash' that shares a cooldown with Bloodwhetting. Nascent Flash is essentially a version of Bloodwhetting that Warrior can grant to another party member rather than themselves, implying that Warrior can not only heal themselves, but also help heal their teammates through this ability. This is a very useful ability, especially if the Warrior is not the raid's main tank.
- Warrior provides even more party utility with their party-wide ability 'Shake it Off,' which creates a barrier around the Warrior and all party members nearby that absorbs damage up to 15% of their maximum HP. Not only that, but this ability gradually restores the HP of allies.
4. Paladin ( A - Tier )
Paladin is your classic Tank complete with their own sword and shield combo!
Paladin is the final Tank introduced in this article, completing a full loop that introduced all of the available Tank battle jobs in FFXIV.
The Paladin has long been known as the 'top off-tank' role, and for good reason. Paladin's abilities help shield their allies more than themselves, which means they have less mitigation to shield themselves than other Tanks like Gunbreaker and Dark Knight.
Why is Paladin an A - Tier Tank?
- Paladin is the best off-tank due to the amount of party utility they can provide as a Tank. The first is evident in their ability Divine Veil, which was recently updated and tweaked. Divine Veil will form a barrier around all party members, absorbing damage equal to the Paladin's maximum HP by 10%. It will also restore the party members' HP with a cure potency of 400. This allows a Paladin to significantly assist their teammates by shielding and healing them.
- Furthermore, Paladins have Passage of Arms, a very powerful AoE shield that will block all incoming attacks for all party members behind the Paladin's wings and reduce damage taken by 15%.
- Paladin can also use Intervention on a selected party member, which reduces damage taken by up to 20% while also granting Knight's Benediction, which heals their HP with a 250 cure potency for 12 seconds. This allows a Paladin to assist their Main Tank or a dying party member by shielding and healing them.
- Hallowed Ground is also the strongest invulnerability ability available to Tanks so far, with the disadvantage of having the longest cooldown of any of the four available in the game. This is due to the fact that using Hallowed Ground allows Paladin to be literally invulnerable and not take a single damage while this ability is active, whereas other Tanks' invulnerability abilities mostly help them avoid dying but still take damage.
- Finally, Paladin can use the ability Cover on a party member in an emergency or to avoid Tank swapping. This is due to the fact that executing Cover on a party member allows the Paladin to take all damage meant for another party member, allowing the party member to escape unscathed and untouched. This is a very useful ability for keeping dying teammates alive.
