Quote Originally Posted by Naix View Post
I don't know if I would say that 'we used damage to tank'; more then before it was more like 'we used damage to help supplement tanking abilities.'

You would never rely on a PLD to be the damage dealer. But the combo of cures/cure cheating/flashes/job abilities/damage dealing/damage mitigation would push a PLD to very high levels on the hate list.

Fast forward to today's FFXI and the majority of what I mentioned above no longer works, the only thing that does work is damage dealing. Every DD can do this at such a high level though and hence PLD has lost its spot.

Increasing the DD potential of a PLD might help... but if I wanted to play a DD then I would just hop on my DRK which is geared very well.
Should probably add the stipulation that all of the above that we used to rely on (cure cheats flash etc.) doesn't work inside abyssea. In there, damage dealing puts everything else on the back burner, so pushing PLD's DD potential inside abyssea would at least help it be relevant for other things besides red !!! flags.

That said, outside abyssea content (mainly VWNM's and some of the new mobs in dyna. about the only content that's not piss easy anymore) is where Flash and such are relevant again. In other words, PLD can actually tank them. But dealing dmg will still be one of the best hate tools in the game. For PLD, any damage buff is a buff that helps you hold hate over other DD's.