Isn't it strange how Ninjas are tanks?

[Juri_Licious]

I mean if you take a look at an actual Ninja they are quite the opposite and focus on the bodies weak points.

It'd make a lot more sense if Samurai was a tank class. I mean they are suited in armor.

Just thought it was rather odd.

[Frost]

Samurai is a tank class...

[Juri_Licious]

Samurai is a tank class...

And when was the last time you seen them tank?

[Frost]

And when was the last time you seen them tank?

When was the last time a Paladin tanked?

[Juri_Licious]

When was the last time a Paladin tanked?

Sometime before Abyssea.

[Neisan_Quetz]

The exact same time Sam was tanking.

[Saefinn]

Samurai would have made the more appropriate tank/dd because you think of Samurai as being people who can take damage, who can parry a weapon or even dodge an attack (hence third eye) and it would work if done right - but Samurai as a class is more appreciated for its ability to deal damage. Ninjas are assassins who lurk in the shadows to be unseen and use tools and deceive their foes in order to cast their striking blow - so it's appropriate they get Utsusemi and use Ninja tools. As Ninjas are great at not getting hit, suddenly that makes them a good tank. I suspect Ninja was instended as a DD job, but it worked out to be a pretty decent tank. Particuarly in Abyssea, it seems the emphasis is not on taking damage, but rather avoiding it and THF and NIN both do that very well. It might be why we see fewer PLD, they're fantastic tanks, but they're about absorbing damage rather than avoiding it or at least, don't avoid it as much as a NIN or THF.


Though what I find strange is that COR gets an A- parrying skill, if anything COR will be additional DD and enhancements, I don't think it's really able to handle direct confrontation like real pirates.

[Vortex]

You kidding me? back before abyssea SAM was a great tank in the right hands, because they coverd what makes a tank a tank, damage dealing. to keep the mobs attention, while providing defense moves such as /nin for shadows or trusting third eye. it worked and i have seen it. obviously there are some things SAM can't stand agaisnt to long but most stuff they could.

The primary reason PLD failed at tanking is because while they have hate enimity generating abitlies they lacked damage, you NEED damage in order to keep hate on anything, and they simply failed in that department.

example of SE giving PLD atoment, but in later updates everything either took half atonment damage or resisted it comepletly, really dumb move they did but w/e

and we come to the reason nin are great tanks, they can dish out the damage now (mainly thanks to kannagis) and they can not get hit assuming the attack isn't aoe.

[Zhronne]

The primary reason PLD failed at tanking is because while they have hate enimity generating abitlies they lacked damage, you NEED damage in order to keep hate on anything, and they simply failed in that department.

This has always troubled me with the way SE handles tanking compared to other MMORPGs.
They should just give some passive job trait to PLD (and maybe to NINs under the effect of Yonin?) that gives them a different enmity generation ratio.
There is a formula in the game that estabilishes how "damage done" converts to "enmity". They should just reduce this conversion rate for ALL jobs cept PLD and maybe something else. This would make reaching the enmity cap harder (which is kinda easy with the damage players deal nowadays... the cap was created with level 75 in mind) and tanking more meaningful.
A tank should be able to tank because of his "tanking abilities" and his enmity, not because of the damage he deals (or not only for that).
Yet that's exactely what's been happening for the majority of NMs in FFXI.
Tanks can't generate enough enmity, DDs are much better with that. Many DDs have some interesting defensive abilities... and so DDs became tanks.
Everybody always accepted that as if it was something "normal", but to me it's always been pretty retarded and the result of some huge planning mistake at the source of it all.


Anyway, talking about pre-abyssea and even now with Voidwatch, PLD makes a difference on a lot of mobs that would be otherwise kinda hard to tank on NIN, SAM, MNK, WAR etc.

[DebbieGibson]

PLD didn't, doesn't, don't, shant, shornt(?) fail at tanking. Damage sources have never been able to go all out unless they want to eat dirt. pld/nin can cap hate very fast(not abyssea DD fast, but fast).