Oh god, DKs!

[Martin_Arcainess]

What? For one grit is better than defiance, defiance barely does anything unless you're topped off or actively getting healed.*Soul eater is a self heal, not mitigation. Honestly the drk op are probably going aren't poping cd's or aren't in grit or something. The class has very good defensive capabilities that the vast majority of their user base ignore.

And 2! Grit and Defiance offer the same damage reduction but Deffiance increase HP restored by 20% and boost max HP by 25%! So unless I'm missing something what dose Grit have over Defiance?

[Gorlioliolio]

Defiance doesn't reduce damage taken, that's what your missing.

[Martin_Arcainess]

ohhh I see, pretty sure it did but just checked and now it doesn't. welp you learn something new everyday.

[bounddreamer]

I came for a Bismarck complaint post and was really disappointed

[pandabearcat]

I find that I take more damage on purpose because I can stay out of grit longer.

I find this to be a fair tradeoff. The point of healers is to heal, after all. As long as I am not making the healer panic I don't feel anything is wrong with being squishy.

99% of tanking is gear as well - if you don't have the armor you're going to get hit for a lot regardless.

Even if DRK had a shield that is less than 10% mitigation vs autoattacks...not even close to noticeable. And its cooldowns are almost identical to the ones PLD has.

So I would wager its

1. Undergeared.
2. Not using grit when he should
3. Personal bias.

NOT anything to do with DRK as a class.

[GeekMatt]

The average DF DRK when levelling was undeniably squishier than the other two tanks for me after levelling PLD, then WHM and AST. They have lower physical mitigation so that's part of it I think, particularly when they try to do larger pulls they get bursted down much quicker than the other two tanks, and the only time I ever lost a tank due to my healing potencies just not being there was with a DRK in DPS accessories in The Aery on my AST, and he had only pulled 2 groups. With boss fights and such I didn't see nearly as much issue, but bossfights are usually less hectic on a healer than large trash pulls. Large pulls are the most heavy and constant physical damage.

I've said it before, watch their MP and their Darkside buff, because if they're losing those freuenty they're usually extra squishy players, which I suspect is just a sign of player ability.

[Azorius]

OP, it might be that your gear just needs a boost. What is your ilvl?

[GeekMatt]

As for keeping them alive--utilize regen. The second you see their AoE enmity builder go off, throw regen on him, don't wait for HP to start dropping. Regen will help prevent their HP from dipping and diving, and you can balance it out with Cure I, hitting Cure II only when HP is lower. On larger pulls if you can get off a Holy, I recommend doing that twice for the stun, and more for the DPS if you feel safe (If my tank is extra squishy I'll swiftcast my first Holy)

[Anubis_Nephthys]

How are you healing a monk ability?
Oh! You mean Dark Knights.
That would be DRKs...

[Culfinrandir]

There's another post about this with exactly the same issues - DRK seem incredibly squishy for no discernible reason. When the DRK is less than lvl60 this is mainly due to the gear they have to choose from but why some, and it is only some, are a HP sink at i160+ I have no idea.