Is Paladin in a Bad Spot?

[Februs]

Darkside is equivalent of Maim/FoF and NOT a DPS stance. DRK has no DPS stance.

How are Darkside and FoF comparable? Darkside = flat increase in dmg by 15% FoF is 30% FoF lasts for 20 seconds. Darkside is UNLIMITED as long as you have mp. How is it NOT a dps stance? Instant increase to dmg and gives you access to Blood Weapon and Dark Arts which increases your attack speed on top of your overall dmg. I think most people would call that a dps stance, especially compared to SO.
And yes, baseline def is 0, but certain bosses can enter stances that dramatically reduce incoming dmg and SO can't cope. Obviously, +potency of 50 is an increase, but it is most certainly not comparable to other tanks, especially those with aoe capability. Sword oath is a single target move. Compared to salt of the earth, for example, raid dmg is down in add phases. My only point was that SO is not something to bank on for raid dmg increase. It's just not what it's good for.

[Freyyy]

How are Darkside and FoF comparable? Darkside = flat increase in dmg by 15% FoF is 30% FoF lasts for 20 seconds

FoF increases damage done by 30% for 30 sec (not 20) on a 90 sec CD. It's a 33% uptime, so it's like a constant +10% damage during an entire fight. Not as powerful as Darkside but you got the idea. But still Darkside is not a DPS stance. I most of the time compare Darkside to WAR's Maim.

[Februs]

FoF increases damage done by 30% for 30 sec (not 20) on a 90 sec CD.

You are correct. 30s, not 20. My mistake. However I still would not compare Darkside to maim. Maim requires a combo to use and has no additional perks. Darkside, on the other hand, similar to Sword or Shield oath, is on unless the tank drops it. The cast is instant, like an oath or stance, and does not fail unless you run out of mp, which you shouldn't.
Even the dmg increase is not comparable. DS grants access to Dark Arts and blood weapon when not in Grit. The benefits to Darkside far exceed Maim or FoF, and standard off tank practice for drk's is to drop grit and beat the crap out of the boss. I can see how you might say it's not a dps stance when used WITH Grit, but that's like saying sword oath isn't a dps stance when you're using shield oath. You're just not using it. That doesn't make it any less of a dps stance. In OT, out of Grit, it is definitely a dps stance.

[Phoenicia]

Snip.

I swear you don't read lol.

Blood Weapon has No relation what-so-ever with Darkside.

Darkside is a constant "buff" you "pay MP" to upkeep just like Maim is a constant "buff" you "pay combo" to upkeep. Out of Grit, it is simply a damage buff that is up.

Darkside is not a stance because if you pop a stance Darkside stays up. For WAR it's Deliverance vs Defiance (pick 1). For PLD it's SwO vs ShO (pick 1). For MNK it's FoF vs FoE vs FoW (pick 1). No one is calling Opo-Opo form a "stance" because it "enables" crits on Bootshine nor coeurl form a stance because it enables Snap Punch, Demolish and Rock Breaker. Darkside enables Dark Arts just like how Maim enables Wrath/Abandon. And no one is calling Sword Oath a "not a stance" because it doesn't "enable" anything. Darkside is just up at the cost of MP.

EDIT: My point in this is that DRK has the big advantage of being the only tank that "loses the least" when switching from DPS to tank stance! PLD loses the SwO bonus and suffers 20% malus. WAR loses 5% from deliverance, access to Fell Cleave/Decimate and suffers 25% malus. Of course all three tanks pay a price for swapping. (DRK pays 1.3k MP, PLD pays 630 MP twice and WAR loses access to its corner stone mitigation or most powerful attack)

Ish:

Path is a game changer because it stacks with INT/STR down.

Eye buffs tank damage and NIN damage if you have one.

Burst damage is critical and WAR is the clear winner.

WAR is an everlasting porn star with unlimited TP, unlike one pump chump DRK and his close TP starved cousin PLD. (2:20/2:50 to 0 TP respectively)

WAR can also stance dance both ways. MTing but need defiance? Swap to deliverance FCx2 then swap back. OTing and need to hold an add, swap to defiance IB, swap back and help zerg it. Rotation never gets interrupted.

I'm not arguing that WAR isn't a good OT. I'm just saying it isn't the only good OT. I am also saying it is RIGHT UP THERE when it comes to MT.

Also to add to your examples: WAR MT but needs TP? Just switch to Deliverance and pop Equilibrium, 10 seconds later switch back to Defiance. WAR is the only MT that has no TP issues too!

[Februs]

I swear you don't read lol.

I'm starting to wonder if you do lol. EVERY stance in the game trades one thing for another thing. Sword oath drop enmity for dmg. Sheild drops dmg for enmity and acc. How the heck is DS different? MP is somehow specially except? Further, how are are you not picking one. Grit basically kills the dmg buff of Ds. Max Dps, or max enmity. You can't have both. Pick one, as you say. I draw a distinction between Dark Side and Dark arts. You seem not to, which is probably why you see DS as the least fair "buff" in the entire game. I already gave my two cents on the rest what you said in another response, feel free to dig for it if you missed it, but I feel like you won't get anything out of it anyway.

[Phoenicia]

Snip.

Now you're putting words into my mouth.

When did I say Darkside = Dark Arts and that there is no distinction? How am I not drawing distinction between the two if one is required for the other?

When did I say Darkside is the "least fair buff"? 15% damage with 100% uptime at the cost of 0.5% MP/tick and needs no build-up time? (I'm looking at you Greased Lightning!) Darkside is as strong a buff as any. I never said it isn't "strong" or "fair".

Darkside provides the max DPS you can do when you are in Grit or out of Grit. It maximizes your DPS whither you are in the tank stance or aren't.

Fun fact: Grit does NOT kill the damage buff of Darkside. Without Darkside, you do 20% less damage from base. But with Darkside you 8% less damage than base. Hence "max DPS" in Grit.

Also "stances" do not "trade off". They just add. Fist of Fire is 5% damage increase. Deliverance is 5% increase and access to fell cleave. Defiance is more HP and threat at the cost of damage. The "trade off" happens when you go from one stance to another. Going from base to Shield Oath doesn't automatically make you lose the 50 potency auto-attack boost. Stance "trade-off" is the potential of additional damage vs reduced damage/increased enmity. Since you CAN have Darkside up while in Grit, you do not lose "potential" 15% damage bonus for reduced damage/increased enmity. You gain both.

Darkside is different from Grit, Shield/Sword Oath and Deliverance/Defiance in that you "pay no price" to keep a "stance" up but you pay MP for Darkside, you pay CD for Fight or Flight, you pay GCD for Maim. You can see here that Darkside is in line with FoF and Maim.

A "stance" is mutually exclusive. You cannot have it up with another stance. That is how it is defined in this game. Since Darkside can be up with Grit, one of the two isn't a stance. You pick one.