With their mighty greataxe and excellent self-healing capabilities, the Warrior is one of the most overpowered jobs in Final Fantasy 14. From soloing parts of raids to protecting their teammates from fatal attacks, the Warrior can handle almost anything thrown their way, making them one of, if not the best Tanks in the game.
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Furthermore, the Warrior can build up and exhaust their Beast Gauge to unleash devastating attacks onto their targets, dealing excessive amounts of damage. The Warrior’s kit and unique abilities allow it to shine in practically every situation, making it an excellent choice for anyone looking to pick up a new role or job.
Updated December 17, 2024, by Seth Parmer: We haven’t touched this guide since Dawntrail was released, and a lot has changed since then, allowing us to add even more information on the much improved Warrior Job in Final Fantasy 14. You can find its new best in slot gear and Materia pairing at the tail end of the guide, along with an even more optimized rotation that will surely help you get the most out of it!
Wielding The Greataxe
While it would be excellent to be able to start off as a Warrior, you -unfortunately- have to go through a prerequisite class. However, the good news is this class is the Marauder and is one of the many starting classes available in the game, allowing you to kick your journey off in Limsa Lominsa on the path of becoming a Warrior.
Though, if you do not pick the Marauder as your starting class, you can unlock it by heading to Limsa Lominsa Upper Decks and speaking to Blauthota (X:11.0, Y:6.3) to receive the quest “Way of the Marauder” and complete it to become the class. From here, you will have to reach Level 30 to specialize into the Warrior Job.
Becoming A Warrior
After achieving Level 30 as a Marauder, you can finally become a Warrior! For this, head back to Limsa Lominsa Upper Decks and speak with Wyrnzoen (X:11, Y:6) and start the quest “Pride and Duty (Will Take You From the Mountain).“
Complete this quest to unlock the Soul of the Warrior Soul Crystal to become the job. Additionally, if you need more detail on how to unlock the job (or any of the others), please feel free to check out our complete job/class unlocking guide here!
From this point onward, you will have to reach Level 100 to get the most out of the Warrior. This can take lots of time and effort and can be tedious at times, especially if it’s an alt-job.
Rotations
Since the Warrior has the ability to dish out large amounts of damage and heal themselves with several actions, they can stand their ground in almost any situation thrown their way. Additionally, since they’re a Tank, they won’t have to line up positional attacks for optimum damage.
They will primarily stay locked in front of their target at all times. Below are the basic rotations of the Warrior that you will use quite often in every encounter. Note that these do not go over any Off-GCD Actions, as we will cover that later on in the guide!
Basic Single-Target Rotation
- Heavy Swing > Maim > Storm’s Path
- Heavy Swing > Maim > Storm’s Eye
Finishing the rotation with Storm’s Path will increase your Beast Gauge and restore some of your health. However, ending with Storm’s Eye will increase your Beast Gauge and provide extra damage.
Basic AoE Rotation
- Overpower > Mythril Tempest
Increases your Beast Gauge and damage dealt while hitting multiple targets.
Warrior Off-GCD Actions
With the Warrior’s rotations outlined, we will now cover the essential Off-GCD Actions you will use in almost every encounter. The following actions are used throughout your Opener and will help you utilize the Warrior’s kit to its fullest, allowing you to become nearly unstoppable on the battlefield if implemented correctly.
With Patch 7.0, the Warrior received new Actions along with some tweaks to previous ones, which have been included in the table below.
|
Action |
Recast Time |
Information |
|---|---|---|
|
Defiance |
2s |
Your generated enmity increases significantly. |
|
Release Defiance |
1s |
Removes the effects of Defiance. |
|
Shake It Off |
90s |
Generate a Barrier around yourself and your teammates that will absorb 15 percent of incoming damage equal to your max HP. Shake It Off also Dispels Bloodwhetting, Damnation, and Thrill of Battle. Every Action canceled by Shake It Off increases the total amount of damage absorbed by two percent. This Action lasts for 30 seconds and covers a radius of 30 yalms. Regenerate is also applied during Shake It Off, restoring HP gradually over time with a Healing Potency of 100 for 15 seconds. When targeting an ally, their Healing Potency will be 300 and will also heal them over the course of 15 seconds. |
|
Infuriate |
60s |
Your Beast Gauge increases by 50 points. Nascent Chaos is granted for 30s. Infuriate has two charges. |
|
Inner Release |
60s |
You gain three stacks of Inner Release, allowing you to perform Fell Cleave or Decimate without any cost. Fell Cleave and Decimate are guaranteed to be direct and critical hits. Inner Strength is granted for 15s. Inner Strength nullifies the effects of Bind, Heavy, Sleep, Stun, and most Draw-in and Knockback effects. Surging Tempest is also extended by 10s, maxing out at 60s. Primal Rend Ready is also granted to you for 30s. Successfully landing Fell Cleave or Decimate will now grant a stack of Burgeoning Fury, maxing out at three stacks. At max stacks, you will become Wrathful, changing this action into Primal Wrath. |
|
Upheaval |
30s |
Attack with a potency of 400. Recast timer is shared with the ability Orogeny. |
|
Onslaught |
30s |
Attack with a potency of 150 after charging your target. Onslaught has three charges but cannot be used if you’re bound. |
|
Thrill of Battle |
90s |
Your maximum HP is increased by 20 percent, and you also recover 20 percent of your health. Potency of self-healing actions are increased by 20 percent for 10s. |
|
Equilibrium |
60s |
A self-heal with a cure potency of 1,200. You will also gradually gain 200 HP back over the span of 15s. |
|
Vengeance |
120s |
Incoming damage is reduced by 30 percent, and you attack with a potency of 55 anytime you receive physical damage for 15s. |
|
Holmgang |
240s |
Prepare for incoming damage, causing most attacks to be unable to bring your HP below one for 10s, keeping you alive in crucial situations. Activating Holgang while targeting an enemy will temporarily halt their movement with chains. |
|
Rampart |
90s |
Incoming damage is reduced by 20 percent for 20s. |
|
Damnation |
120s |
Incoming damage is reduced by 40 percent, dealing an attack with the potency of 55 anytime you receive physical damage for 15s. If the effect expires or you receive damage, Primeval Impulse is granted, healing you overtime with the Cure Potency of 400 for 15s. |
|
Primal Wrath Only while under the effects of Wrathful |
1s |
Attack with a wide AoE, dealing 700 damage to the first target and 70 percent less for all remaining enemies in the area. |
Best Warrior Opener For FFXIV Dawntrail
Now that the Rotation and Off-GCD Actions are covered, it’s time we pair them together to create an optimized Opener for the Warrior.
Openers are not only excellent for dealing large bursts of damage at the start of an encounter, but they also allow you to manage your cooldowns and abilities much more efficiently.
To make things less messy, we have placed every Off-GCD Action in parentheses and bolded them to make them easier to spot amongst the other actions.
Basic Opener
-
Pre-Pull: Tomahawk
- Cast Tomahawk with a second remaining on the countdown.
- (Infuriate) > Heavy Swing > Maim (Grade 1 Gemdraught of Strength) > Storm’s Eye (Inner Release) > Inner Chaos (Upheaval + Onslaught) > Primal Rend (Onslaught) > Primal Ruination (Onslaught) > Fell Cleave > Fell Cleave > Fell Cleave (Primal Wrath + Infuriate) > Inner Chaos > Heavy Swing > Maim > Storm’s Path > Fell Cleave (Infuriate) > Inner Chaos
Burst Rotation (At Least 50 Beast Gauge)
- Maim (Inner Release) > Primal Rend (Upheaval) > Primal Ruination > Fell Cleave > Fell Cleave > Fell Cleave (Primal Wrath + Infuriate) > Inner Chaos > Storm’s Path (Infuriate) > Inner Chaos
Best Gear For Warrior In FFXIV Dawntrail
Finally, one of the most crucial aspects of getting the most out of your job is to learn how to manage your Equipment and Materia. While you can get by a large chunk of what Final Fantasy 14 has to offer with the bare minimum gear requirements, you will have to come prepared for the game’s more challenging offerings.
Below is an example of a Level 100 Warrior with the “Best In Slot” for gear and Materia pairing. If you have yet to achieve Level 100, you can still see which stats we focused on bumping up via Materia to base your build around.
|
Equipment |
Materia |
Stats |
How To Obtain |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Weapon |
Dark Horse Champion’s Labrys |
|
|
Can drop during AAC Light-heavyweight M4 (Savage) or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7, Y:13.7) for x8 AAC Illustrated: LHW Edition IV. |
|
Head |
Dark Horse Champion’s Bandana |
|
|
Can drop during AAC Light-heavyweight M3 (Savage) or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7, Y:13.7) for x4 AAC Illustrated: LHW Edition II. |
|
Body |
Augmented Quetzalli Mail of Fending |
|
|
Upgraded by giving x1 Surgelight Twine and the corresponding Quetzalli Armor to Theone in Solution Nine (X:8.5, Y:13.6). |
|
Hands |
Dark Horse Champion’s Halfgloves |
|
|
Can drop during AAC Light-heavyweight M3 (Savage) or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7, Y:13.7) for x4 AAC Illustrated: LHW Edition II. |
|
Legs |
Dark Horse Champion’s Breeches |
|
|
Can drop during AAC Light-heavyweight M3 (Savage) or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7, Y:13.7) for x4 AAC Illustrated: LHW Edition II. |
|
Feet |
Augmented Quetzalli Sollerets of Fending |
|
|
Upgraded by giving x1 Surgelight Twine and the corresponding Quetzalli Armor to Theone in Solution Nine (X:8.5, Y:13.6). |
|
Earrings |
Augmented Quetzalli Ear Cuffs of Fending |
|
|
Upgraded by giving x1 Surgelight Glaze and the corresponding Quetzalli Accessory to Theone in Solution Nine (X:8.5, Y:13.6). |
|
Necklace |
Dark Horse Champion’s Choker of Fending |
|
|
Can drop during AAC Light-heavyweight M1 (Savage) or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7, Y:13.7) for x3 AAC Illustrated: LHW Edition I. |
|
Bracelets |
Augmented Quetzalli Bracelets of Fending |
|
|
Upgraded by giving x1 Surgelight Glaze and the corresponding Quetzalli Accessory to Theone in Solution Nine (X:8.5, Y:13.6). |
|
Left Ring |
Augmented Quetzalli Ring of Fending |
|
|
Upgraded by giving x1 Surgelight Glaze and the corresponding Quetzalli Accessory to Theone in Solution Nine (X:8.5, Y:13.6). |
|
Right Ring |
Dark Horse Champion’s Ring of Fending |
|
|
Can drop during AAC Light-heavyweight M1 (Savage) or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7, Y:13.7) for x3 AAC Illustrated: LHW Edition I. |
As touched on in the Opener, consuming a Grade 1 Gemdraught of Strength at the beginning of your combo will give you a nice buff for the remainder of the Opener, allowing you to get more out of it.
Lastly, eating food before diving into an activity is an easy way to get additional juice with little to no effort. Since the Warrior is a Tank, we recommend chowing down on some Roast Chicken for the best results!
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