Quote Originally Posted by Francisco View Post
You really need to think outside Abyssea for this - since this is where the game is going to be headed anyway.

Thinking "stacking -damage gear" should be the only way someone is able to tank is kind of backwards 2005 thinking.

As of right now, there's three main methods of tanking: shield/-damage (PLD), evasion/shadows (NIN, THF), counter (MNK). Outside Abyssea, MNK, NIN and THF lose a good deal of their defensive capabilites (largely from Gnarled Horn). PLD loses complete control of the fight inside Abyssea. Outside Abyssea, PLD can mitigate damage much better than a MNK, NIN or THF (especially if they have an Aegis).

Maybe inside Abyssea a DRK can freely tank due WHM having a near infinite MP pool... and most things die in under 5 minutes anyway. But take away the absurd refresh from WHM, and make it a 20-30 minute fight (like on par with Nidhogg in 2005), that DRK is going to be absolutely destroyed if he's getting hit for 300-500 per swing... compared with a PLD taking 150-200 per swing on non-shield blocks, a MNK countering ~65-75% of attacks, or a NIN blinking/evading 80-95% of attacks.
You do realize that DRK,SAM,WAR were all better tanks then PLD well before Abyssea? I've seen decked out PLDs emoquit from not being able to hold hate at Khim,Cerb,Tia etc from DDs.

Looking into the future, huge MP pools are not going away, you will see the addition of a RDM or BRD in tank ptys but, mages can get 15/mp+ tic outside with just a little more support.