war/nin is THE tank from 24-75*
*under the condition that you have another war/nin to level with an additional 4 people who know how to work around the limitations of a war/nin, plus the necessary gear to make a war/nin work to its highest possible potential at that time, which is, admittedly, still under that of war/mnk or war/thf for tanking/DDing purposes respectively.
seriously tho, if you get a group of competent folks together, war/nin can work from 24 onwards. it can WORK. whether or not its truly best really is a matter of opinion, and my opinion is that you can sub something better pre-48. the only time war/nin outclasses war/thf or war/mnk pre-48 is in the role of trick partner. no class trick partners as well as a war/nin, being able to dodge a guaranteed 6 hits with utsusemi, plus providing strong backup tanking power and strong DDing power. a nin/war/thf combo is a perfect situation, allowing for a minimal amount of damage to be taken, while providing ample hate control with the SA/TA of the thf and the backup provided by a warrior who is free to let the berserk flow.
but thats an isolated scenario, and hardly not a reason to hold war/nin above war/mnk as a tank.
i firmly believe that, from, 1-50, war/mnk is a superior tank to war/nin in the vast majority of situations. for your average warrior, who enjoys kicking *** and taking names (while, as a happy side effect, also tanking), nothing is quite as solid as war/mnk. a plethora of wonderful hate-holding JA, loads of extra vit, a nice str and dex boost.../mnk brings it all.
but, for whatever reason, theres this....aura....about war/nin that has a lot of people fooled. war/nin is godly at 74, and friggin strong starting at 55. its a respectable DD in its own right as soon as 48 rolls around, giving your average war/nin a full time +30 acc bonus. aggressor can tack on another 20 to that number, and with dual wield 2 at 50, and AF boots at 52 enhancing double attack, war/nin can quickly become a TP machine, and this machine becomes very deadly once rampage is learned.
yet, despite the fact that i, and pretty much every other warrior i know, try to encourage war/mnk and war/thf use pre-50, *SO* many people fall in love with the dual wielding that they just cant help themselves. a number of my friends who had hardly touched war could be seen leveling it, as a war/nin, starting at 20, just because the two axes thing was that cool. it only gets worse when they hit 25, because now they become addicted to getting a tri- or (god forbid) quad-attack. its like a gambling addiction, and every time 3+ hits land on the monster, some neural pathway is stimulated that makes these people giggle in glee.
but really, its just a game....i mean, when you get right down to it, war/nin may not be as good a tank as war/mnk in those levels, but at least a war/nin at 24 isnt a war/whm. in other words, it could be FAR worse.
the hype still gets me tho. warrior, as a job, used to be shat on quite a lot, and for no reason other than way too many people had read that damn brady guide and actually believed its incessant drivel. ignorance was the main criminal here, ignorance and misinformation. and over the months, people worked to rectify this situation, and eventually the reputation of warrior as a job was raised to the level its at now. and somewhere along the line, old faithful was forgotten....back in the day, it was expected that a warrior would sub mnk once they hit 18. it was THE sub. great for tanking, and the best DD sub you could get for those w/o any but the initial 6 jobs available. but that all fell away, and people now use the ironic excuse of wanting to be "different" when they say they refuse to level as a war/mnk, and instead go for war/nin. go figure.
regardless, from one berserker to another, keep it up war/mnks. youre good and you know it; one day, everyone else will learn. just keep splitting skulls and makin stuff your b*tch. oh, and carry a parser with you wherever you go....its nice to be able to prove you did damage almost on par with the blm and rng while at the same time tanking well enough to last for a number of chain 5's.
