Trying to understand the complaints about DRK

[Megguido]

I must admit I have some trouble understanding all the complains.

DRK hasn't as much damage and party support than WAR and PLD, that's a fact. In return, it has a very powerful defensive kit and everyone seems to be forgetting this.

Even if it is a little bit below the 2 other tanks, it still is capable of clearing content just as fine. Even the most difficult content ever released on this game. People make it sound like you're going with a handicap if you choose a DRK instead of a WAR. Those differences are so small that you wouldn't even notice it, if the hardest content you do is dungeons and 24-players raids.

People are clearing extreme primals, savage raids, hell, even ultimate coil / ultima, and tell you that DRK is fine. Not perfect, fine. Though we still argue over 200 DPS difference and how that would fix DRK's lack of utility (Spoilers: it won't fix anything).

At this point, we would need a complete rework of the job to change its gameplay. Because it's DRK's gameplay that bothers people (DA spam ?), not viability or balance. Current DRK iteration is perfectly viable in all the content, and really close to the 2 other tanks balance-wise.

[shao32]

snip.

gameplay is what bother many people yes, but balance wise idk you but for me being the worse on everything feels bad even if is a small diference its just feels bad you dont excell on anything, not even comparable, you are literally worse, yes you can clear content, yes you can be 1º world if you want, but that never will change when you look other tanks they make they raids go much more smoother thanks to all what they have, balance dont have to mean being meta either, WAR and PLD can be perfectly the speedrun meta as are right now but if DRK just have the best dps then yeah you see you are not meta for reasons but you have a niche as a tank, something that make you feel unique.

you say a powerful defensive kit but DRK dont excell much more that the other 2 in that field either, if we put a WAR using innerbeast they mitigate more that DRK, but thats not the matter, looks like some forget mitigation in this game at certain point is meaningless, specially personal mitigation, and yeah drk can mitigate ST busters pretty well now but for what?, we dont save healers GCD for that, we have bigger cushion on magic fights but is nothing that the other 2 cant handle either for no mention we dont have any pasive mitigation-self healing outside of grit (i dont count sole survivior bcs you have little control to sinc the heal and abysall is aoe).

gameplay wise DRK is pretty funtional, most ppl like the old HW style me include but actual gameplay is not specially clunky at all compared to other jobs,i actually like it, the gameplay argument is reinforced by the balance situation, if DRK was perfect balance betwen the other 2 gameplay complains will be less severe bcs we will pass from i work a lot more harder to do less to i work harder but i get this and this and this, is not perfect but feels good and gameplay reworks can be wait for 5.0