Isn't it strange how Ninjas are tanks?

[Lordscyon]

Whm tank ftw with a lot of mp it's possible

[Theytak]

ITT: People turn a silly thread about RPish job backgrounds into a BG community vs FFXIAH community debate about which jobs were or were not able to tank pre-abyssea.

I love you people

as to the OP, I think of it like this: Yes, ninjas specialize in stealth and misdirection, but you know what? If you've got a guy dancing around you, weaving in and out of the shadows while poking you and throwing stuff in your face, he's probably going to be a lot more annoying than the guy who's just swinging a giant metal stick at you.

Similarly, plds tank by bitchslapping the opponent, "yea, you've got other guys fighting you, but LOOK HERE! *slap*. You can't touch them til you finish me off! *gutpunch*"

Think of it like this: plds keep hate by acting like Howard Stern, while ninjas force the mob to play whack-a-mole. I mean honestly, who doesn't get pissed off playing whack-a-mole?

Alternatively: Not all ninjas are stealthy. Some are loud, obnoxious, and wear neon-orange jump suits. Believe it.

[Tamoa]

Not all ninjas are stealthy. Some are loud, obnoxious, and wear neon-orange jump suits. Believe it.

Ohmygod that made me laugh! Thanks

[Psxpert2011]

Ohmygod that made me laugh! Thanks

That had to my favorite 'Loooool moment'! XD

Believe me that even now Paladins are thee Tank in the game: Then, now and forever. Just don't remind me when I have to flash a mob just so the Ninja in the party can finally cast his/her shadows for the 5th time because one more hit from that IT mob, I would definitely be taking back the role of "Tank" and start covering other "hate-gainers".

There's good Paladins and there's not-so-good Paladins. Get the right gear, get any gear with DEF and magic DEF. They exist and Ninjas would do their part but wouldn't necessarily tank so good naked. Taking dmg is part of the claim process and then merits help with enmity and DEF. I had fun while I was a Pld cause I took dmg like no other and damn proud of it. White mages didn't need to worry about curing so much because I Did That Too! I could merit my chivalry time down some and I would never run out of magic XD. It took a lot to bring me down. Sometimes not having the right magic DEF gear would be my down-fall >.<

Yeah Ninjas, Red mages and Dancers... same story... just show-offs in my book. Just add armor to them, and you'd have a Paladin. We can now enLight,lol!

[Neisan_Quetz]

He's blending in with a crowd of Electrical workers.

Believe it.

[Sparthos]

I love how people use the "healers were crybabies" when prior to Abyssea Refresh was extremely difficult to acquire and thus the likelihood of being out of mana was high given DD took a ton of damage when you're fighting stuff like Mamool Ja that have TP moves that hurt (Rushing Drub/Slash/Firespit anyone?).

Colibri were the only mob where you could possibly hold mana and even there it could get dicey if DD couldn't drop the mobs fast enough. Nothing like Pecking Flurry hitting a zerked DD and watching as they need attention to stay alive... except you're tapped on mana because everyone is sponging.

For the average party pre Abyssea, the need for a Refresh was necessary because the average party wasn't killing fast enough to avoid TP moves.

It's funny watching some people revise history though.

[Juri_Licious]

Confirmed, FFXI Ninjas are Naruto Shinobi.

[Soranika]

For PLD to take the reigns on being THE tank job, they obviously need greater, natural physical and magical defense while giving newer mobs the the ability to eat right through shadows (Titan's Earthen Armor seems like an ability PLDs would have benefited from being a job ability or job specific white magic). And also obvious more enmity control... but to be fair, many support jobs now have abilities to mitigate and control hate so there's actually no reason PLD can't be tanks now still. But of course, people go for either raw zerg damage or play it safe with shadow tanks instead of utilizing some strategy in a well formed team of people who actually know what to do with their jobs to work together.

[FANCY60]

Are we comparing the tanking capabilities of a sam to a pld, please why argue off the point the op is making anyway. i believe that Ninja tanking was an oversight on SE part cause of utsu but after that they decided to run with it thats all. i remember when nin and sam were introduced and that was what i observed at the time. p/s yes sam would have made a better tank but it didnt pan out that way so like i said SE ran with the ninja.

its all about balance when square introduced new jobs, they wont know the effects it would have on the game until its tested by us. hence the ninja tanking issue and as someone has clearly stated above pre ToAU (remember no cor blu dnc sch) plds were sort after but now i have even been in parties in and out of abyssea that had great dnc tanks too