Why is DRK so squishy and how do I stop it?

[Seku]

In the end, from what I can gather, it was possibly just the facts:

1) That set of mobs hits harder than normal
2) You were using level 32 gear at a level 38 dungeon and most dungeons actually aren't as forgiving if you don't have of the level gear
3) The healer was surprised from the damage and couldn't hit you up fast enough.

It's just things that people learn along the way about the game and how their class works. Watch when you rerun this with full gear and see how silly easy it becomes. It's just adapting and seeing where needs to be improved. Good luck!

If he had grit up, mobs hitting harder in the area wouldn't really matter due to a full time -20% mitigation with similar defense cd rotations as PLD at this point. Alternatively PLD has to go through the same thing with no tank stance while DRK has it's passive -20%. Making DRK arguably better than PLD in mitigation at this particular point.

His gear is fine, assuming the truth was told. He'd be missing like 10-15 defense over all if he has full Calvary set in comparison to the gear drops from the sunken temple itself.