A Tank Balance Megathread

[Syzygian]

To be honest, even as someone who feels that WAR is a bit too useful compared to its lineup (though by no means wanting to nerf it, only to buff DRK and especially PLD towards it), I can't help but feel like there's nothing really wrong with WAR's infinite TP. I mean, that's not going to save you from having to use Paeon if a fight actually dragged long enough for your physical dps to need it (the Bard himself, even, if all others are cross-Goading NINs...). It's a warrior, the motif of which can be construed towards being endlessly enduring in warfare. As for the Equilibrium self-heal though... that does seem a bit too strong. But at the same time, I'd really, really hate to lose it.

Equilibrium was brought down a peg, it wouldn't change the fact that WAR is well designed or an amazing tank. What does well designed even mean? If we're going off the fact that WAR is the best designed tank than what does that mean for DPS or other jobs in the game? How is a DRG or a MNK's design inherently flawed for instance? Where is the line between well-designed and excessive or broken? In my opinion, that line is crossed when it excuses a job entirely from having to worry about a major mechanic of gameplay, in this case, resource management, or even healing. It doesn't feel right to just sweep everything under the rug and give PLD and DRK infinite TP and super-powered self-heals nearly devoid of opportunity cost because then you really WOULD have the problem people yap about where DPS jobs become eclipsed by tanks.

That's just my opinion though, I want to and will edit the OP later on with quotes from the comment section.

[Shurrikhan]

Equilibrium was brought down a peg, it wouldn't change the fact that WAR is well designed or an amazing tank. What does well designed even mean? If we're going off the fact that WAR is the best designed tank than what does that mean for DPS or other jobs in the game? How is a DRG or a MNK's design inherently flawed for instance? Where is the line between well-designed and excessive or broken? In my opinion, that line is crossed when it excuses a job entirely from having to worry about a major mechanic of gameplay, in this case, resource management, or even healing. It doesn't feel right to just sweep everything under the rug and give PLD and DRK infinite TP and super-powered self-heals nearly devoid of opportunity cost because then you really WOULD have the problem people yap about where DPS jobs become eclipsed by tanks.

That's just my opinion though, I want to and will edit the OP later on with quotes from the comment section.

What makes WAR at least feel "good" or "right": Simply beautiful badassness, paired with beautiful simplicity thereof? With a side of versatility and freedom, arsenal built towards straightforward, almost universally useful results?
What makes it balanced... harder to say.

As for resource management on other tanks, I feel like PLD sustain and DRK MT sustain should be improved a bit, but just a bit (e.g. Fast Blade at 60 TP, Blood Weapon usable in Grit for minor healing [mostly for the TP cost reduction]). That being said, most of our current content kind of seems to make Paeon extinct as is, and leaves Goad for the MT or rezes only. It's getting harder and harder to call it a major mechanic of gameplay, and would be even less an issue if Skill Speed were more balanced in bonus DPS per TP against Determination and Critical Strike, such as by reducing base and bonus TP ticks by 20% but having them go off every base GCD instead (does not include effects of Fey Wind, Blood Weapon, Huton, or Greased Lightning), so that Speed builds perform almost identically in TP efficiency/longevity to non-Speed builds in average ST rotations.

[Syzygian]

As for resource management on other tanks, I feel like PLD sustain and DRK MT sustain should be improved a bit, but just a bit (e.g. Fast Blade at 60 TP, Blood Weapon usable in Grit for minor healing [mostly for the TP cost reduction]).

There are TP adjustments for PLD and DRK in the OP.

Grit and Blood Weapon are never going to be usable simultaneously. Its clear that Grit is their MT stance and Blood Weapon is their OT "stance" in the form of a buff and that's the intended design. They won't combine the two any more than they'll let you Fell Cleave in Defiance or get extra autos in ShO.

Anyhoo, lets get off the nerf WAR topic. I don't want that to be what this thread is about, and the adjustments to WAR in the OP barely qualify as nerfs and change next to nothing about the flawlessness of the job's design, IMO. I intended what adjustments I did include to make the task of "bringing PLD and DRK up to WAR's level" more realistic. There were a lot more adjustments included to PLD, and a handful to DRK.