Can a Tarutaru succeed as a Warrior?

[OnionWarrior]

I was wondering whether or not a Tarutaru can succeed as a Warrior in FFXI. And by "succeed" I mean be an efficent and helpful member of a PT. I have a good knowledge of Taru melees in general, especially theives (which I played to level 40 in the beta) but Warriors are different. As a Warrior your role in the PT is to provoke and take dammage, which a Taru cannot do so well. However, as I think I could overcome the HP and Strength gimp with good equipment and lots of wepon skill leveling, I was still wondering aboiut getting PT invites. From what I gather, Taru Monks are the worst Taru melees, and have the hardest time finding a PT. Is it the same for Taru Warriors as well? What would my role be in the party if I were to get an invite? Would I be expected to provoke and take dammage as a main tank, or act as a back up tank? The main issue here for me is mainly about PTs. I don't want to be someone who tags along in a PT and doesn't help at all. So what can I do, if a Taru Warrior is viable, to help out my PT? I consider myself a pretty compotent player, but is that really enough? Should I get as much stat boosting equipment as possible? Or what...?
THANK-YOU FOR ANY INPUT!!! I really appreciate it.

[Korendil]

At Dunes/Korroloka Tunnel levels (which don't really mean much), as a TaruTaru warrior I'm having some success with Great Axe + Meat Mithkabob + Berserk. I cannot tank at all, like I sort of could as a paladin, but I'm a competitive damage dealer. Absolutely not the best, but... very cutaru all the same.

The viability of this combo may change at higher levels as stat differences become more distinct. =(

On a side note, how did Taru Thief work out for you? I'm at 30 and it's still viable... will it continue being playable, do you think?

[Rico]

The only person I know thats taken Warrior far as a Taru is Russta from ffxionline.com maybe he'll post his inputs.

[Cali]

MY LS friend took PLD as her 1st job as a taru...

It doesn't matter if your race is weaker, I would rather have a taru WAR who can tank than a galka WAR who can't tank... You can play any job with any race... or else, taru will be really limited

[Shann_Phoenix]

Taru war is viable for a dmg dealer, but past 30 i think you might have some trouble since war are picked in group about 50% of time as main tank. You'll only play dmg dealer post 30 if you have a pld (or another war or nin) in group and sometimes it's impossible to find one.

Taru war is probably the worst choice for tanking, your low hp and vit play againts you especially if you get a unlucky streak like crit - special - crit. Even as a mithra war i got killed twice today cause i got from 300 hp to 0 in 5 sec. Fly in CN double attack then cursed and attack, i'm down to 50, whm start casting cure3, i'm dead.

Below 30 there is usually a lot of war hanging around so finding a main tank isn't usually a problem, i think you'll manage as a dmg dealer/emergency tank war fine.

[RiceCooker]

i had the same problem as you. i lvled a taru blm to 30 then went to lvl up war as a sub for drg later on. i was doing really poor dmg at lvl 8 i couldnt even solo a decent chellange properly i was using a great axe -_-; got sick of it so yeah change to Galka

tarus are all nice and cute with tons of funny animations but they dish out poor melee ... yeah u could throw on afew +STR rings here and there but then u leave no room for +dex rings or necklaces etc... i rather be a galka with the STR/HP and have slots to put DEX rings i dunno i like them big arm dudes anyway

i have a taru ang a galka i just switch between both from time to time taru are fun no doubt so are galkas

[Frarinalga]

As a taru war, you won't be tanking. You'll be focusing on damage. Why not pick drk? They don't tank, they focus on damage, and they have some magic (which is a taru's forte)

[ichnob]

Just don't use Defender when trying to be a tank, you won't hold hate for jack.

[Rico]

Originally posted by ichnob
Just don't use Defender when trying to be a tank, you won't hold hate for jack.

The point is to have a thief into the party and do trick+sneak to you, you as a thief should know.

[RiceCooker]

Originally posted by Frarinalga
As a taru war, you won't be tanking. You'll be focusing on damage. Why not pick drk? They don't tank, they focus on damage, and they have some magic (which is a taru's forte)

who does more melee dmg galka DRK or Taru DRK? just asking coz drk does use some magic

[Ghostraven]

Two words. Set PT.
don't expect to get fast invites unless you have a set PT or a shortage of war or PLD on your server. bring Defense and attack foods to be prepared for whichever role you are gonna play, and have str,attk,hp gear.

[Frarinalga]

Originally posted by RiceCooker


who does more melee dmg galka DRK or Taru DRK? just asking coz drk does use some magic

A galka war and taru war of similar skill, galka will do more. If galka is a piece of shit with bad equipment and taru has great equipment, taru will do more.

[Synbios]

Originally posted by Ghostraven
Two words. Set PT.
don't expect to get fast invites unless you have a set PT or a shortage of war or PLD on your server. bring Defense and attack foods to be prepared for whichever role you are gonna play, and have str,attk,hp gear.

Set PT is the best choice for making "unique" job/race combo that people won't usually pick. I'm making a set for my WAR with my LS, all Taru set party. XD

6 Tarus running around with the same linkpearl and owning things.

[ichnob]

To Rico:
Yes, I used my SA+TA each time at the begining of the battle. But using defender really lowers your attack by a lot. Multiple mages and other damage dealers gaining more hate and coupled with the fact that some warriors don't provoke all the time makes for difficult hate control at times. No, I'm not best thief. Some people even think that an Elvaan thief is moreso gimped than other races. I have been decent at my hate-controlling though, and I'm only pointing out what I've noticed.

To OnionWarrior, as a better explanation why:
Many warriors that I've partied with already stated that using sentinel sucks a lot. They can't keep hate as well when they have it on. Sure you'll take less damage for the time it's activated, but is it really worth it for a monster to go after the mages while you're taking less damage? If you want to be better at tanking, eat fish mithkabobs; they give more vit and last longer than defender would. Plus, you still retain your high attack with great axes or whatever weapon you choose to wield.

When I played as my warrior, I hated using sentinel so much that I took it off my macro list. To me, it wasn't worth the less damage taken by me if I'd lose the aggro too early before provoke came back. For you, as a Taru, you'll be wanting to keep that aggro as best as possible if there isn't another warrior or paladin around. Chain provoke, dex/accuracy gear, attack-up gear, high defense, food, leadership, trust--all parts of a versatile warrior. Learn your tactics while leveling; know your weaknesses while playing your strengths. As a taru warrior, it's hard to play your strengths when your class benefits more on the magic user side, but it's not impossible. Good luck to you.

[Shann_Phoenix]

Usually i tank with def food and i don't use defender cause i really have a hard time keeping hate on me cause i do very low dmg. If i tank with my ninja sub, i won't use it unless fight is getting too harst or we're fighting something special.

In a 44-45 CN group we killed a few exorays with my war/nin as main tank, well i used defender simply to make it easier to whm and rdm to keep me above 600hp in case they used dark spore. Defender would cut about 10-15 dmg per hit on these.