Tanking 4.0

[Claymore65]

I'm guessing a good number of Tanks will leave for Samurai, but I'm unsure just how many. I'm guessing it will be really bad for a while, though some might shift back after the inevitably bad queue times. I'm personally sticking with my Dark Knight, although I'm disappointed I won't get a new tank to try out. Hopefully the next expansion provides some new jobs for Tanks/Healers.

I'm very skeptical right now of the supposed class Revamps that are incoming. Throughout Heavensward, they proved incapable of making anything more than half-measures to balance the tanks. Paladins are still overly focused on Physical damage, even as they design raids to deal mostly magical damage. Abilities like Cover or Divine Veil should be useful, but are hampered by either narrow focus (physical damage only) or overly complicated implementation (requiring a healer to activate the shield). Dark Knight still has a number of abilities with anti-synergy (Dark Arts Dark Dance / Dark Passenger and Blood Price). The changes they have made thus far have only been minor half measures. Considering they're also rebalancing all the DPS classes, and adding new Jobs, I'm not confidant they'll give Tanks (as well as Healers) the amount of attention they deserve. I anticipate simpler, very small changes. Some potency increases/decreases, removal of some extraneous abilities, and that sort of thing. Which is why I'm especially disappointed with the lack of a new job.

I want to be proven wrong here, and I sincerely hope the changes and updates to Tanks (a well as Healers) are phenomenal. I hope the changes are utterly fantastic, and that we'll have a selection of balanced, fun to play Tanks for the entirety of Stormblood. However, considering we have no information on these changes, nor the depth of them, I'm going to remain very cautious. The little information we have has been focused on DPS (mentioning simplifying rotations and making buffs easier to track), so I have no idea what's coming. Once I get a better idea of what's coming, perhaps I'll be more excited for the upcoming changes. Until then though, I'd rather expect only minor changes.

The supposed Cross Class changes are very promising, however. Creating a baseline set of abilities for Tanks allows them to design encounters assuming Tanks have specific abilities (such as Provoke) without cutting into the unique, class-focused ones. It might allow Jobs to be a bit more unique, since certain functionality will be baked into the role. That said, I'll need to learn more about the extent of these changes before making a proper judgement.

I apologize for sounding especially salty and pessimistic here. I want to enjoy Stormblood to the fullest, and I want it to be the best expansion it can be. I'm just concerned the changes won't be anywhere nearly as significant as some are hoping for.