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Final Fantasy 14’s PvP overhaul made some jobs completely different from their PvE counterparts. While the Warrior is no different, the heart of the job remains strong: a simple-to-play powerhouse with incredible self-healing.
RELATED:Final Fantasy 14: Crystalline Conflict PvP Guide
Aggressive and fast-paced, the Warrior plays like a mix of both a rush-down character and a grappler from any fighting game. You have several great gap-closers and strong burst damage via your Limit Break, but you also have powerful crowd-control abilities to complement your difficult-to-kill nature. The Warrior is a perfect mix of unstoppable force and immovable object, and here’s how to play them.
Overview
The warrior shines when it perfectly balancesrushing down vulnerable targetsandcontributing to team fights. You have the capability to make any ranged DPS or healer’s life absolutely miserable, butyou should act as the vanguard for your team.
Your abilities let you dealconsiderable burst damage, but your kit is primarily based on two functions:kill securing and self-sustain.
Warriors are incredibly hard to run away from;you havetwo gap-closing abilitiesand aleashthatcan slow your foes or tear them out of position for your team.
The warrior can break off from a team fight to pummel the back line at a moment’s notice, then return to the fray just as quickly.
As a Tank, you’re a team player who canboost your team’s damage while lowering your enemies’. You’re ashield for your team first and foremost, even if you can tear into vulnerable foes at the drop of an axe.
Job Action Breakdown
Your toolkit in PvP is very straightforward. The Warrior’s Storm’s Path combo, like many PvP combos, is rolled into one button.
This combo should be cycled through as much as possiblein drag-out fights. This is because the combo’s finisher,Storm’s Path,alsogrants you a5,000 potency heal –the more you use it, the more damage you can take.
Your other abilities, such asOnslaught, Primal Rend,andOrogeny,all have fairlyshort recast times.They should be used liberally and often.
Otherwise,Bloodwhetting is the source of your self-healingand should be usedon cooldown.
2.4s
Weaponskill
A melee attack that deals 3,000 potency in damage.
Part one of the Storm’s Path combo; turns into Maim when used.
A melee attack that deals 5,000 in damage.
Part two of the Storm’s Path combo, turns into Storm’s Path when used.
A melee attack that deals 5,000 potency in damage, and heals you for 100% of the damage dealt.
Part three of the Storm’s Path combo; turns into Heavy Swing when used.
A melee attack that deals 12,000 potency in damage. However, this can only be used when under Inner Release, a buff granted by the Warrior’s limit break.
20s
Ability
A 5-yalm radius Area of Effect attack that scales with your HP, with a minimum potency of 1,000 and a maximum potency of 10,000. Reduces your HP by 10% when used.
Anyone hit by Orogeny has their damage dealt reduced by 10% for 10s.
Grants three buffs: Bloodwhetting, Stem the Tide, and Nascent Chaos for 10s.
Bloodwhetting makes all your weaponskill abilities heal you, Stem the Tide creates a 10% HP barrier around you, and Nascent Chaos changes Bloodwhetting into Chaotic Cyclone.
A 5-yalm radius Area of Effect attack that hits all enemies for 8,000 potency. This increases to 16,000 potency under the effect of Inner Release, a buff granted by the Warrior’s limit break.
10s
A charge with a 20-yalm range. Damage scales with HP, with a minimum potency of 500 and a maximum potency of 5,000. Reduces HP by 10% when used.
15s
Leaps to the target, smashing them and everyone around them for 8,000 potency in damage. This increases to 16,000 under the effect of Inner Release, a buff granted by the Warrior’s limit break.
Stuns all enemies damaged for 2s. It can’t be used while bound.
Hurls a chain at one enemy within 15 yalms and drags them towards you.
Reduces the target’s movement speed by 75% with Heavy for 3s.
Basic Teamfight Ability Priorities
All the Warrior’s abilities havevery fast recast times, which means you don’t want them to be off cooldown for too long.
While you want to use yourkill-securing abilitieslikeBlotaandPrimal Rendat the right moments, you should also make sure that you aren’t playing too conservatively.
As such, while we will suggest burst combos,it’s rare that all of your tools will be perfectly alignedfor them.
Here’s abasic priority listfor the abilities that are the most important to keep on cooldown whenever you’re in a fight.
Toolkit And Combos
Aside from being an unstoppable force in team fights, the Warrior is also equipped with anexcellent toolkit for chasing down vulnerable or priority targets.
These abilities should be used tohelp secure kills on low HP/MP foes, apply pressure on both fragile ranged jobs and healers,orhamper jobs that can give your backline trouble (Ninjas, Dragoons, Monks, and other Warriors, to name a few).
In many Crystalline Conflict maps, there will bepotions on the ground.Stealing these from your fleeing opponents is a good idea, although you can’t pick them up if your HP is full.
Warriors can steal these potions from their enemies byusing Blota to slow them down, hittingOrogeny to reduce their own HP,then sprinting over the potion. This can be a dastardly way to deny your foe a full heal even when you’re at full health.
Here are two basic combos:one for Burst Damage and one for Blota pick-offs.
Basic Burst Combo:Bloodwhetting Setup>Onslaught> Primal Rend (Orogeny) > Chaotic Cyclone (Blota) >Heavy Swing>Maim> Storm’s Path (Onslaught)
This combo opens withOnslaughtto apply aten percent damage taken debuff, then follows up withPrimal Rendto help youregain some HPbefore usingOrogeny,followed byChaotic CycloneandBlotatohurt and slow your target.
At the end of the combo, if your opponent’s still not down, you canreapply Onslaughtto continue chasing or go after someone else. Occasionally, you might even be able to squeeze in this second Onslaught before using Storm’s Path.
Blota Pick-Off Combo: Bloodwhetting Setup>Blota>Onslaught> Primal Rend (Orogeny) >Chaotic Cyclone>Heavy Swing>Maim> Storm’s Path (Onslaught)
Similar to the burst combo, we useBlotaandOnslaughtas a setup alongsideBloodwhetting,although you don’t always have the time to set up all of your abilities.
If this is the case, you candouble-weave Bloodwhetting after Primal Rend.This can ‘clip’ your global cooldown and reduces Orogeny’s damage by a small amount, but the burst damage and healing from Chaotic Cyclone are worth the price.
It can improve your burst damage towait until Storm’s Path is nextin your Storm’s Path combo before starting either of the above chains.
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Limit Break Breakdown And Combo
Your limit break isPrimal Scream, a powerful roar that leaves your opponentvulnerablewhile also making you nearlyunstoppable.
It is one of the deadliest limit breaks in the game, not just for the damage buff it gives you, but becauseit completely removes your opponent’s ability to use Guard.
What’s more,Primal Scream hits in a cone,so you’re able to makeseveral enemies unable to use their Guard at once.
This combo’s especially well with any job whose abilities can be countered by Guard, such as the Dragoon’s limit break.
Primal Scream
Instant
Roar in a 12-yalm cone, removing the enemy’s ability to Guard for 15s. Primal Scream also grants two buffs: Inner Release and Thrill of Battle.
Inner Release
Increases the potency of Primal Rend and Chaotic Cyclone, changes your Storm’s Path Combo into Fell Cleave, and boosts your movement speed by 25%, but removes your ability to Guard.
Additionally, you becomeimmune to Stun, Heavy, Bind, Silence, Half-asleep, Sleep, Deep Freeze, knockback, and draw-in effects.
30s
Boosts your maximum and current HP by 20%.
When you use Primal Scream, you won’t be able to Guard for 15 seconds.This isn’t typically a problem since you’ll have a massive shield, immunity to most crowd control, and an increased movement speed bonus.
However, this canleave you vulnerable to stage hazards, such as the whipping winds in the Crystalline Conflict map Cloud Nine.
Limit Break Usage and Combo
Primal Scream is your berserker mode. Not only does it completely remove your enemy’s ability todefend themselves, but it alsomakes you frighteningly fast, grants a huge shield, and makes you basically unstoppable.
Opening any big team fight with Primal Scream is a great way to go, especially if you can secure an Area of Effect stun with Primal Rend first.
Alternatively,you can use Primal Scream to secure kills on key targets, such as Healers or Black Mages, though this isn’t always recommended as it comes with a hefty recharge time of 90 seconds.
Primal Scream ‘snapshots’ opponents just after you cast it, so even if they move out of the cone during the animation, the ability will still connect.
It will centre on your current target, which is important to keep this mind when aiming. The cone’s 12-yalm range (displayed below) is considerable, so you don’t always have to be in your enemy’s face to use it.
Primal Scream also changes or buffs your abilities, so your burst combo will adjust:
Primal Scream Combo:Bloodwhetting Setup> Heavy Swing (Onslaught + Blota) >Primal Scream> Primal Rend (Orogeny) >Chaotic Cyclone>Fell Cleave> Fell Cleave (Onslaught) >Fell Cleave> Fell Cleave (Blota)
If you aren’t in range to start with Heavy Swing,simply opening up with Onslaught and Blota is fine. This is to both get you in range for Primal Scream and to ensure your chosen target cannot run away.
We follow up Primal Scream with our usual combo, with asecond Onslaught timed to boost the damageof your last twoFell Cleaves. If your target isn’t down, you can finish this combo with a second Blota to stop them from fleeing to safety.
Recuperate
1s
A quick-recast time heal that’s off the global cooldown. Grants a heal of 15,000 potency, and costs 2,500 MP.
Just because you already have self-sustain doesn’t mean you should neglect Recuperate.Use it liberally and oftento turn yourself into an unstoppable killing machine.
Guard
Creates a barrier around you for 30s, reducing taken by 90% from nearly all sources. You becomeimmune to knockback and draw-in effects, as well as Stun, Heavy, Bind, Silence, Half-asleep, Sleep, and Deep Freeze. Your speed is reduced by 50% for the duration.
You’ll often find yourself charging into the fray. After you’ve opened with Bloodwhetting and Orogeny, it can be a good idea to Guard just as Bloodwhetting falls off to soak up extra damage.
Purify
Removesall the followingnegative status ailments:Stun, Bind, Heavy, Silence, Sleep, Half-asleep, and Deep Freeze.
Removing any one of these ailments grants Resilience, which gives further immunity to them for 5s. This action makes you even harder to stop.
Sprint
1.50s
Boosts your movement speed by 50% until you use any other action.
In the rare cases where both Onslaught and Primal Rend are down, Sprint can help you close the gap.If you aren’t in combat, you should be sprinting.
Standard-issue Elixir
5s
Fully restores all of your HP and MP, though it has a long cast time of 4.5s. Any damage taken interrupts your Standard-issue Elixir, requiring you to either be far away from your opponents or out of their line of sight entirely.
While you can last longer than other jobs without MP, it’s still a good idea to back off when you’re running low, asRecuperate can make the difference between life and death.
RELATED:Final Fantasy 14: Guide To Playing Dragoon In PvP
General Strategy
Just like the warriors in Final Fantasy 14’s lore, you’ll constantly be fighting against your “Inner Beast.” In this case,the Inner Beast is tunnel vision.
You are fantastic atsticking to one opponentand making their life miserable, but this isn’t always worth it. You must constantlyevaluate whetherpressuring a high-value target orjoining a team fight is more important, as you excel in both areas.
Keep your basic combo rollingfor the constant self-heals,use Bloodwhetting on cooldown, and throw yourself into any fight that looks like it needs some extra chaos.
However:while you’re tough to kill, you aren’t invulnerable. Don’t enter fights where you’re completely outnumbered, as a team’s focus fire can still quickly bring you down.
Crystalline Conflict Strategy
In Crystalline Conflict, the Crystal is your friend. While you’re able to chase down priority targets through the entire map if you’d like to, you shouldn’t lose sight of the objective.
You are far tougher than your allies, soparking yourself on the Crystalis almost always the play. However, as previously mentioned,hammering down priority targets is also valuable.
Thanks to your quickly-recharging movement options, you can take a brief holiday to put the hurt on an overconfident Bard or Black Mage before zipping back to the point and returning to your tank duties.
Jobs you should be focusing on are:Any Healer, any Ranged DPS(Black Mages in particular), orany melee DPS harming your backline.
Peeling away from the fight to help out one of your squishier teammates can give them some much-needed breathing room with minimal effort. Your toolkit helps you stun and slow enemies, including those chasing your team.
In particular,keep an eye out for groups of clumped-up enemies. Primal Rend, Chaotic Cyclone, Orogeny, and Primal Scream all excel in target-rich environments and can quickly turn the tide of battle.
Keep Bloodwhetting on cooldown, stay aggressive, and you’ll be a frustrating, tanky nightmare for the enemy team.
Frontline Strategy
Frontlines require less thought on your part, thoughthe concept of not giving in to tunnel visionstill applies.
You’ll feel far more fragile when focused by ten enemies instead of five, although you can quite easily leap into the fray with Bloodwhetting feeding you HP through your Area of Effect abilities.
Blota becomes particularly deadly in frontline scenarios, and you’ll often be able to spell someone’s doom by picking them out of a crowd.
On certain maps, such as the central platform in the Borderland Ruins, you canuse Blota to pull people off ledges and send them plummeting to their death.
In general,you are there to be a problem on any objective,soaking up damage while the rest of your team blitzes your foes from afar.
If the heat rises and your health starts plummeting, use Guard and return to your team as quickly as possible. Your large health pool and defensive options will let you push your luck far more than other jobs,but try not to grow overconfident. After all, even the hardest stone cracks under enough force.
