Strength Tanks

[Februs]

You having less or the same hp as a dps is not an effective tank build because a dead tank does zero dps.

Is this even possible?

Given that literally ever single piece of Tank armour has Vit attached to it, I'm honestly curious how a Tank could even go into battle with the same or less Hp as a Dps...Maybe if you forgot to bring your pants with you?

[fm_fenrir]

All DPS gear has VIT on it too. I have 14.8k at 203 with DRG, and only 13.5k with my 196 PLD/DRK...

[Kalaskhern]

I have over 16k hp at ilvl189 as a DRK with all stats allocated to str. Maybe ur gear is trash?

[Februs]

All DPS gear has VIT on it too. I have 14.8k at 203 with DRG, and only 13.5k with my 196 PLD/DRK...

You don't suppose that might have something to do with the fact that your Drg is ilvl 203, but your tanks are only ilvl 196? I'm no math whiz or anything, but I'm kind of working under the assumption that a 7 lvl difference in gear makes a small difference of some kind...

I guess you did prove that it is possible though. I mean, a lvl 1 tank could hardly be expected to have more Hp than a lvl 50-60 Dps. So, there's that.

[Kotemon]

From what I can tell as a casual thus far, good Str tanks try to penta meld (the best available) HQ Strength accessories with +Vit. While Vit tanks penta meld HQ Vitality accessories with +Str. Assuming a person has enough gill to spend IV-materia and not enough on Tier V-materia. That is +7 str or +7 vit and that iLev150+ craft pieces can hold four Teir IV-materia with out clipping its values. That is +24 to str or vit on one piece while the base stat allocation at lv 60 is +35. With 5 quad melds its +140 to str or +140 vit on the opposing piece (fending/maiming), compared to +35 in base stats. If you're despirate to squeeze in the remaining primary stat value for the 5th slot you could get anywhere from +1 to +4 or just below the primary stat on the piece. While loosing a full Iv-materia value to anything from acc, det, crit, parry.


Although from what I've learned so far, useful tanks have full sets of both fending and maiming and adjust for the content they are in. While those who are just dedicated full Str or Full Vit wind up becoming a dedicated niche OT, or niche sponge tank (you soak up damage). Those play styles shine more in pre-constructed parties as random PUG's only tend to annoy or hold each other back. With that said, the Str vs Vit issue is all just a play style. Some healers don't like being pressured to keep tanks alive 24-7 on top of the squishy dps while others can, and make it look easy. That's just their play style, and the argument comes about when opposing styles conflict with each other. I'd prefer a tank that can strike a balance between the two and go either way with the current situation or party setup.

[fm_fenrir]

I guess you did prove that it is possible though. I mean, a lvl 1 tank could hardly be expected to have more Hp than a lvl 50-60 Dps. So, there's that.

I was hoping someone with 200 left side gear might give numbers instead of being snide.

[Kaisinel]

I'm full 210 ilevel with upgraded deathbringer and have 16800Ish HP with full str.

[Launched]

STR is the best stat and doesn't make the tank any harder to heal. Any problems are caused by the tank player or healer player, not gear (unless they're under by 20 ilevels or something).

[Jpec07]

Dead mobs also do zero DPS, which lowers HPS requirements.

No, a dead mob lowers overall damage output, not encounter DPS. You'll require less healing overall as a Str tank PERHAPS, but your healer is going to have to work a hell of a lot harder to keep you alive for that short encounter.

Under normal circumstances, and most instances in the game right now, I agree, OP. But there are a few contexts where it doesn't make sense:

• DRK Using Living Dead - In this circumstance, the healer needs to heal the full amount of the DRK's HP if they have their health hit 0 in order for them to survive. Healing 15k HP is a lot easier than healing 20k HP.
• Alexander Gordias: Savage (1-4) - You'll never, ever see a tank who is able to clear this content while it is current while wearing Vit gear. The DPS checks require tanks, healers, and everyone else to do everything they can to maximize their DPS output, and the outgoing damage specific to tanks is only marginal, and highly predictable.
• Neverreap/Fractal Continuum (once geared) - At this point, tanks won't be running these dungeons once they pass i170. But before 3.1, the outgoing damage in these dungeons did not require more than ~15k HP to be able to answer properly (with a tank's natural mitigation), and it was usually detrimental to the party to put stats into Vit instead of Str.
• Fresh 60 Tanks - Tanks who are new to level 60 ought to put their stats to Str instead of Vit, because they'll need it for the enmity generation. Being able to take a hit means nothing if you can't also force everything to hit you.
• Self-healing - Warriors are the biggest culprits here. Every tank's healing ability scales with their attack power, which scales more with Strength than anything else. And since most of Warrior mitigation comes from their self-healing, they need as much Strength as they can get.

Otherwise, I agree. A tank will be better able to serve their group and fulfill their role if they can take more damage without dying.

But I also know that a lot of people will probably reply to this and say that "killing it faster means shorter encounters and less damage" - so using damage as mitigation by proxy.

Ultimately, it's something that you should discuss with your healer(s) to see what they prefer.

[bardaboo]

Yeah. The difference in going str over vit is like 4k hp. Sooo if a i200 str tank has same hp as a fresh lvl 60 vit tank you as a healer should be prepared and able to keep him alive.