I love this job and I will continue to play it regardless of whether Aegis PLDs remain the kings. That being said there are a few things that I think would enable us to actually be able to tank vs being a support dd. First, we need a better regen. PLDs can spam cure themselves to stay up. I am not actually asking for cure, I like the regen idea but currently it just doesn't keep us up. So more passives, a higher tier, something. I know our AF helps but if we have to use the AF then we are really restricting ourselves to what we can use, thus what we can do. Sometimes we may need a -pdt helm for physical damage, or haste for holding enmity, etc...
Secondly, I think you have done a good job with the magic damage part of RUN. However, we really need some more -pdt gear, or higher evasion skill, or something that would allow us to mitigate physical damage more. When I get punched in the face it hurts... bad. I'm not advocating for heavy armor or making us another PLD. I don't want to be a PLD, but to remain true to the job we should be damn good at fencing! It seems like most of the problems occur on endgame content. It's almost like evasion and parry don't matter at that level. I assume the accuracy of the NMs is just that high. So, maybe some additional traits to help get our evasion and parry to a competitive level with the NMs acc? I don't know, it is one of those things that we are doing great one moment and then all of a sudden we get smacked once and the WHM is in freakout mode because our health just halved in one hit. I guess what I am asking for is just some type of way to better mitigate physical damage. A Greatsword that Augments Inquartata and gives us a -50 pdt? Or some more levels of Inquartata. I dont know, I just know it is not cool when the mob connects with our face.
Lastly, we need some kind of way to actually tank and hold threat. At the present time we have to have a healer to stay up if we sub something that will allow us to maintain hate. Right now I just don't see why anyone would ever say, "RUN <Can I have it?>" Not when PLDs are an option. An Aegis PLD will be used before us every time. They are more durable, they can hold threat, and if it hits the fan they can take care of themselves until the healer can get back on them. I am very excited to see the new changes. I guess the big question to ask yourself, if you want RUN to be a viable tank, is, "Why are people wanting PLDs right now instead of RUNs and what can we do to get them on the same playing field where either is viable or each is situational", "What percentage of physical damage can a PLD mitigate and is that on par with the amount of magic damage a RUN can?", and, "What percentage of magic damage can a PLD mitigate and is that on par with the amount of Physical damage a RUN can?". I think this would make each class both a situational tank and equal in their own way. Keep up the good work.
Btw, I have to ask, what is you guys' obsession with the pink armor?! Are you contracting out Victorias Secret for some of your designs? lol. At least you are going to let us lock in a different appearance because I refuse to be a big bad RUN that shows up to tank endgame in a pink matching outfit.