Are Dark Knights really that bad right now?

[Aana]

I don't think anyone would deny this. PLD blocking magic damage killed DRK, well before Shake it Off change was even implemented. SiO was just the final nail in DRK's coffin.

Though, I hear WAR isn't particular great in 12s, doesn't have the Holmgang advantage or something like that. Between that and killing our 405 weapon with skill speed it does feel like a sort of ninja nerf. Not complaining, just pointing out that it doesn't take direct nerfs or buffs all the time. Balance the content better so there isn't as many clear-cut advantages by running a certain comp. It's kind of a step in the right direction.

I am a big fan of balance through content personally instead of balance through theoretical balance (theoretical max DPS, etc). As an example, starcraft used this method. If you made a map with no walls, cliffs or chokepoints Zerg would swarm every other race easily with their extremely speedy units. Similarly a highly narrow/chocked off map with bottlenecks everywhere, terrans could turtle up impenetrable defenses. Whenever 1 race started to edge to far in the win rates, the next seasons maps would be changed. Not the entire dang race's stats. If zerg were loosing they would have slightly more open maps. If terrans were struggling they would add more high ground and chokes.

The same approach can easily be taken here. As Whiskey pointed out, the gear options are going to tone war damage down relative to pld/drk a hair. Mechanics can also completely shift the balance. For example, a return to single target prey type mechanics immediately enhances drk and cuts at war/pld. AOE shields are great (and largely unneccesary with little to no effect unless your healers are sleeping), but still do not cover the power and frequency of TBN used on single targets can provide. If there are powerful prey mechanics at frequent intervals on squishy parties for an entire fight, the community will start to think "Man i wish we had a Drk for this fight". No patch notes. No job tweaks. Balance through content. I far prefer this type of balance because we will never, ever, under any circumstance obtain 'true' balance in a literal sense without homogenization. But we can get practical balance through content highlighting different qualities for success. We ahve been in a VERY heavy AOE meta for most of omega. 1hp moves, giant raid aoes, healers crying and (unsurprisingly) people have been praising the crap out of SIO and divine veil. However, if you recall in 2-3.X series there were many more prey mechanics, Earthshaker mechanics, teathers that deal damage mechanics, exploding debuff passing mechanics, and other hard hitting moves that targeted 1-2 players at a time. Drk (in its current form) would be hugely desirable in those fights via TBN.

Instead of trying to create balance through an imaginary ideal that can never be reached, SE needs to get their head back on the ground and make content that works for all tanks instead of trying to make tanks that work for all content.