I’m confused? Are tactics or endgames more important?

Hello everyone I’ve been a bit confused about this recently. I’ve seen a lot of strong players say at lower levels all you need to do is get really good a tactics but, I’ve also seen a lot of people say that you should study the endgame before the opening or middlegame. My question is which answer is true so I know which one to study more.

well if you have a bad middlegame, then you wont really need to know how to play endgames lol

Yeah, pick endgame or strategy first, do openings last, and whenever you choose to focus on openings, do it properly with e.g. a repertoire book... but if you're just going to play blitz online then don't worry about openings.

Opening aren’t very important at my level I feel. I know the ones I play well enough and understand the ideas behind them which makes my middle game pretty decent. I think my tactic should be sharper though and my endgame skill is lacking.

At the 1800-2100 level endgames are much more important as lower than that, most games end in the middlegame with some blunder or checkmate. While in this rating range many last to the endgame and the winner is the one who best knows the endgame. Tactics are still important and you should still do 5-10 a day but they shouldn't be the main focus

It's all about perspective, in the beginning just do tactics and games up until like 1200 online rapid or so. Then my suggestion is getting the hang of the basic endgames like the The Lucena Position and the Kling & Horwitz defense and of course Philidor position  and many more, at the same time as the endgames start on an opening rep against all the traps and tricks in your MAIN LINES. Always play main lines not gambits in my opinion main lines will last you a life time

after a point you need to do a little of everything, not too much here, not too much there. it's all about moderation and training your specific weakness. The best way to train is to get a coach to help you understand where and what you need to work on

I feel like that is great advice  I remember learning some of the basic rook endgames like Lucena but, have forgotten then due to not practicing them. I also play semi mainlines (nothing dubious but, I do play some anti sicilians and the Tal against the caro). As for tactics mine are lacking, I need them to be sharper

Yes tactics at ALL levels are very important. Your positional game could be as good as Magnus, but if you miss a simple tactic the game is over. In between all of your studies try to do at least 30 minutes a day on tactics. 1-2 hours of tactics is best tbh

Why not study both? Chess is not a simple game. You will encounter tactical situations and you will often have to play endgames. It seems very silly to pretend that you have to choose one or the other? 

There is a ton to be said for learning the endgame first and then reverse-engineering chess in a sense. Once you grasp the endgames well (at least the theoretical endgames and basic checkmates), then you can steer the game into endgames you like from the middlegame. Eventually, you'll choose openings which steer the chess game into middlegames you are comfortable with and then steer those chess middlegames into endgames you like...but by this level, you are probably already 2000+ rating

To this end, endgames are more useful to study early on. Capablanca said something like, "Endgames teach chess."

As for tactics, I find they are useful at ALL levels and something to learn on the side more routinely as a habit like training. Tactics are NOT equal to learning middlegames; tactics can come out of any stage of the chess game. Having a better tactical ability is useful because of how many patterns there are to learn with chess and tactics are basically patterns or parts of patterns layered on top of each other. For this reasoning, tactics are important, but other elements of chess are also very important. 

To a complete beginner (or upcoming player), I'd recommend studying the basic theoretical endgames and maybe doing routine tactics on the side. Think of tactics as something to do routinely like working out in the gym. Whereas studying endgames is more something you learn once and seldom go back to it - more like riding a bicycle. Once I learn K + Q vs K checkmate, I'm not likely to forget it so easily. 

I’m planing on studying both but, wanted to know which one was worth putting more time into

I agree with almost all of what you just said. I also agree with what you said about how the opening goes into familiar endgames and of course the middle game. This is why you should play main lines as well because they have the best middle games and endgames to study

Reading the responses I suddenly realize I was doing my chess study all wrong...

I started with openings, touched endgames, and studied middlegames.

Yeah endgames I’ve been putting off

     Tarrasch and Capablanca both wrote basic manuals for beginning players and both started with endgames. ("If you can't play correctly with only a few pieces on an open board, how can you expect to handle 32 pieces on a full board?"--Capablanca) It's invaluable to know K+P endings as you will then know when to simplify or press forward in the middlegame. And rook endings are the most common type. Know what makes a winning, drawn or losing ending and that helps you formulate a good middlegame plan.

Both are important, maybe work on your weakest area, for me it is tactics. Maybe it depends a little on the time control too. Tactics seem more important at short time controls.

This is true to some extent, everyone especially beginners need to be able to do tactics! If you miss it in a game you lose, simple as that. (unless your opponent blunders back of course)

But I don't like focusing on endgame "that much" until you are around 1200 strength online rapid then do the basic endgames and then do a mix of everything. Again doing all of this with main line openings is best

If I had a chess rating point for every time I realized I was doing something wrong in chess...well, I'd probably be GM level by now or something

     It depends what you are looking for. If you just want to win a better % of your online blitz games, endgames are unimportant because these games rarely get that far. If you wish to improve your understanding of chess and become an all-around stronger players a solid foundation is required, so tactical tricks and opening traps are secondary.

     Besides, seeing the strengths and weaknesses of the different pieces in simple positions does teach tactics.