What tank weapons would you like?

[Makeda]

Put me down on the hammertime list as well as many others it looks. Every since I made a Hammer Warrior in Guild Wars 2... it's been a concept I've gotten rather fond of.

I'd also be interested in a second shield option. Shield plus pretty much whatever. Might even be interesting to see a shield only concept - like Captain America and some versions of Wonder Woman.
Shield plus mace to me seems like it would be too similar to shield plus sword... but I'm not sure what other weapon would not have the same problem.

Monk is a DPS - but there are still martial artist concepts. A kickboxer of some kind. Capoeira or such in style.
(current Monk makes me think of Jeet Kune Do, at least as wikipedia covers it - fast and not flashy, offense as a defense).
Or Judo like - lots of interrupts, stuns, and short CCs that are based on tripping or otherwise throwing an opponent off balance. That's a control style, and you could 'expand it with some fantasy moves' that lead to tank-like concepts.
- Just like Mace and Shield... the real problem is making it look and feel very different from Monk. Enough so that players seeing the two would not feel like one was a clone of the other.

What I'd really like to see is the revival of two concepts from now dead MMO Wildstar: The stealth tank and the ranged tank. One is a tank that has a lot of short term vanishes and abilities that move it around the target - but this needs to be done without causing bosses to turn onto a raid right before launching a tank cleave... The other is a tank that uses a ranged weapon and has something that keeps the enemy at range. In wildstar it was done with bot-pets that held the aggro, movement CCs, and well... using the ranged weapon in melee and just ignoring that the concept wasn't really holding up...

[Kalise]

What I'd really like to see is the revival of two concepts from now dead MMO Wildstar: The stealth tank and the ranged tank. One is a tank that has a lot of short term vanishes and abilities that move it around the target - but this needs to be done without causing bosses to turn onto a raid right before launching a tank cleave...

Mmmhm... While Wildstar's stealth tank was cool, I found I much preferred Rift's variant, the er... Riftstalker.

Why walk out of AoE's like some sort of plebeian, when you could teleport out of them and then back to where you started! Was a super fun archetype, constantly teleporting about the place to maintain the buffs from having recently teleported, in addition to trying to keep the boss still, in addition to having a WoW Rogue style combo point system, in addition to being a leather wearing tank so had far less armour than other tanks so you really had to manage your buff uptimes well... Also, that and being super broken in CTF modes in PvP because you'd be a tank, so hard to kill, then would stealth in to the enemy base and pick up the flag, then teleport literally 60% the way across the map within 2 seconds because of your many different teleport skills xD

Also, if we're talking about reviving Tanks from other games... Everquest II's Swashbuckler was always neat. While not specifically billed as a tank (Also, gutted in fairly recent changes in terms of threat management) it always had a focus on fighting toe to toe with enemies, with high parry ratings and being able to use their directional skills because they'd have moves that would spin the enemy around just long enough to pop a shank into their spine or flank xD

I could see some sort of Pirate class in FFXIV, dagger in the main hand, pistol in the off hand... Would be mDPS's wet dream if they would have skills that allowed the use of directional skills irregardless of positioning temporarily, allowing them to not only use their own effects, but also alleviating mDPS's concern on those bosses they can't get behind of for whatever reason. Their defence relying on good old Pirate unfair play, kicking sand/dirt into enemies eyes to blind them, putting poison on their weapons, drinking a bunch of rum to dull the sense of pain

[Shurrikhan]

Mmmhm... While Wildstar's stealth tank was cool, I found I much preferred Rift's variant, the er... Riftstalker.

Why walk out of AoE's like some sort of plebeian, when you could teleport out of them and then back to where you started! Was a super fun archetype, constantly teleporting about the place to maintain the buffs from having recently teleported, in addition to trying to keep the boss still, in addition to having a WoW Rogue style combo point system, in addition to being a leather wearing tank so had far less armour than other tanks so you really had to manage your buff uptimes well... Also, that and being super broken in CTF modes in PvP because you'd be a tank, so hard to kill, then would stealth in to the enemy base and pick up the flag, then teleport literally 60% the way across the map within 2 seconds because of your many different teleport skills xD

Also, if we're talking about reviving Tanks from other games... Everquest II's Swashbuckler was always neat. While not specifically billed as a tank (Also, gutted in fairly recent changes in terms of threat management) it always had a focus on fighting toe to toe with enemies, with high parry ratings and being able to use their directional skills because they'd have moves that would spin the enemy around just long enough to pop a shank into their spine or flank xD

I could see some sort of Pirate class in FFXIV, dagger in the main hand, pistol in the off hand... Would be mDPS's wet dream if they would have skills that allowed the use of directional skills irregardless of positioning temporarily, allowing them to not only use their own effects, but also alleviating mDPS's concern on those bosses they can't get behind of for whatever reason. Their defence relying on good old Pirate unfair play, kicking sand/dirt into enemies eyes to blind them, putting poison on their weapons, drinking a bunch of rum to dull the sense of pain

I would love XIV's own version of a tank approaching the Riftstalker aesthetic... So long as it can be situated well.

[GammaRhea]

For a classic Final Fantasy callback and fan-nod, how about Viking with Twinshields, like the old FF3 tactic. They could reuse the paladin's shield slot or even just make the class's weapons be a pair of twin shields/greatshields that can do bashing attacks or form a wall.

[manamoppet]

I would love XIV's own version of a tank approaching the Riftstalker aesthetic... So long as it can be situated well.

Maybe if some version of FF-X2's Psychic job was added, and flavored as a tank? Though a Psychic could theoretically fill any role (personally I'd like a caster/healer type).

[Shurrikhan]

Maybe if some version of FF-X2's Psychic job was added, and flavored as a tank? Though a Psychic could theoretically fill any role (personally I'd like a caster/healer type).

I'd rather leave concepts which can be hybrids for until hybrids are possible in this game, personally, but maybe something like that?

[Kalise]

I would love XIV's own version of a tank approaching the Riftstalker aesthetic... So long as it can be situated well.

An adaptation of Nightshade could work.

Since, they use dimensional rifts and attacks that manipulate time... It wouldn't be too hard to adjust them into creating rifts that allow their teleportation, as well as using time dilation/Mist type effects to create damage mitigation effects a la Riftstalker.

Fit it into the lore based on study of Ascians and how they have their teleporty rift things and have it so that someone figured a way of doing it as a mortal.

[Shurrikhan]

An adaptation of Nightshade could work.

Since, they use dimensional rifts and attacks that manipulate time... It wouldn't be too hard to adjust them into creating rifts that allow their teleportation, as well as using time dilation/Mist type effects to create damage mitigation effects a la Riftstalker.

Fit it into the lore based on study of Ascians and how they have their teleporty rift things and have it so that someone figured a way of doing it as a mortal.

OooOoooh. Tell me more. Though, I have to wonder how XIV tanking and mobility, generally speaking, can exist simultaneously regardless of the tank concept in question.

[Kalise]

Though, I have to wonder how XIV tanking and mobility, generally speaking, can exist simultaneously regardless of the tank concept in question.

Well... Given that Nightshade manipulates time... It could be possible that you would be able to teleport around while leaving a ghost of your future self in place, then after each teleportation effect, you'd end up returning to the ghost of yourself and take the damage that was dealt to it (With some mitigation attached)

Alongside, you know, regular teleports to act as normal mobility (Such as teleporting out of a telegraphed attack) - Think teleporty versions of skills like Corps-a-Corps and Displacement.

Would also let you weave in directional skills during MT, if you could for example, teleport behind the boss to shank them in the butt, while they still focus on your copy (Instead of turning around the cleave your party in the face)

Or alternatively, since Time Manipulation, you could try and implement the same things, but with boss affecting Stop's and Slows that serve to inhibit their ability to turn around or move while you use mobility skills. It's just a matter of fine tuning the mechanics so that they can function without creating cheese strats where skills/mechanics can be avoided with such skills.

OooOoooh. Tell me more.

It was a job from Tactics A2

While it wasn't available for players, it did appear in the game and had some pretty sweet skills (Well... Not that sweet given that Illua, the girl with the job, was the main antagonist and so was using these skills AGAINST you)

[Shurrikhan]

It was a job from Tactics A2

While it wasn't available for players, it did appear in the game and had some pretty sweet skills (Well... Not that sweet given that Illua, the girl with the job, was the main antagonist and so was using these skills AGAINST you)

Many thanks. While obviously not a fan of how so many of these skills translated then to just HP/MP damage, thematically this looks pretty great. An XIV-unique job (idk, Mistling, Inkling, Clockwork Knight?) might give it a run for its money, but I'm pretty happy with the concept thus far. Assuming you couldn't use the odachi pictured here, what weapon would you think fitting?

Well... Given that Nightshade manipulates time... It could be possible that you would be able to teleport around while leaving a ghost of your future self in place, then after each teleportation effect, you'd end up returning to the ghost of yourself and take the damage that was dealt to it (With some mitigation attached)

Alongside, you know, regular teleports to act as normal mobility (Such as teleporting out of a telegraphed attack) - Think teleporty versions of skills like Corps-a-Corps and Displacement.

I'd actually hoped that DRK would be able to do as much when I first heard about Shadowskin and Dark Dance, back before DRK's full release. Sounds good.