Tanking feels unimportant

[MerlinCross]

Even I, someone that would stay in Tank stance mostly, didn’t Stance dance. I’d drop it to push damage but usually in very clear “Push damage” sections. Only WAR really benefited from Stance dancing.

[Derio]

I use to love stance dancing. Tanking now feels like its missing something. I still enjoy it, but I do think next expansion they need to make tanking and healing more innovative.

[testname]

The tanking was always

1) "hold agro"
2) pop Defensive Skill when Boss use "Tanks Buster" attack

and that is it, nothing changed for years, so i don't know why suddenly feels unimportant

same route goes for healers

and the damage is main theme for end content - and I like to fight to squeeze as much damage I can VS my Enemy

[Spartan_Aoues]

"Hold agro" ahahahahahaha u mean press 1 button

[MerlinCross]

The tanking was always

1) "hold agro"
2) pop Defensive Skill when Boss use "Tanks Buster" attack

and that is it, nothing changed for years, so i don't know why suddenly feels unimportant

same route goes for healers

and the damage is main theme for end content - and I like to fight to squeeze as much damage I can VS my Enemy

In my case it's due to the fact I always had to watch the Aggro bar. I didn't raid with people I could count on to handle aggro and randoms are just their own bundle of trust issues. As such, having to actually care about aggro and look for those brief times to stance dance for damage made the role feel more active.

Now, as I stated before, I feel like Titan Egi. Nothing's been added but given how small "Tanking" is, any shaving away of that process feels like a big change.

And cool, damage is the main theme for end game. It shouldn't be for tanks and healers is my opinion but given that it is, as I've said elsewhere, change the game to reflect it.

[BarretOblivion]

The tanking was always

1) "hold agro"
2) pop Defensive Skill when Boss use "Tanks Buster" attack

and that is it, nothing changed for years, so i don't know why suddenly feels unimportant

same route goes for healers

and the damage is main theme for end content - and I like to fight to squeeze as much damage I can VS my Enemy

With aggro management gone and the fact all tanks went downhill from complexity of rotations after Heavensward its no wonder many feel like we are degrading overtime.

[testname]

With aggro management gone and the fact all tanks went downhill from complexity of rotations after Heavensward its no wonder many feel like we are degrading overtime.

Like holding agro in SB was even complex or hard at all ... good point

[SargentToughie]

Hi, veteran tank checking in. Got pushed away from the role in Stormblood because of the bad launch changes, slowly went back over time, came back to the role in full for SHB.

Guys, was holding aggro ever really that compelling a task, like honestly? Not playing Revisionist History here, I vividly remember back even in Stormblood, you'd basically start in tank stance, do one or two enmity combos (or AoE enmity skills), and then switch over to DPS stance- and as long as you were halfway competent at your job, the DPSes could never catch up. Especially in Stormblood when they were given tools like Lucid Dreaming and Diversion.

Tanking hasn't been 'gutted' or dumbed down, if anything our kits are more complex than ever with more in-depth DPS rotations and short-duration CDs like the new Raw Intuition and Heart of Stone.

Tanking has, in my opinion, only been given a unified skill ceiling. Tanks aren't rewarded anymore for just sitting in their tank stance and mashing enmity combo, which was a playstyle I saw far too often during my time in Stormblood as a DPS main. You still have skills like budgeting your cooldowns through an encounter/dungeon, cycling through your damage, controlling your mobs, you now just have a more streamlined set of tools to do it with.

Shadowbringers tanking is the most fun I've ever had with the role, because I feel like I'm finally being rewarded for my skill at the role, rather than chewing my own arm off. It always tilted me a bit when I was cycling CDs to the best of my ability, managing pulls perfectly fine, only to be met with "stay in Defiance/Shield Oath pls T.T" when I was never in any real danger in the first place.

With aggro management gone and the fact all tanks went downhill from complexity of rotations after Heavensward its no wonder many feel like we are degrading overtime.

I'd argue rotations have gotten more complex with each expansion. Sure, WAR/PLD/DRK all have small windows where they button mash their strongest attack, but if you look at things like maintaining buffs, the various meters and gauges, special attacks, etc, tanks have gotten vastly more complex in their rotations.

PLD is the most obvious example, of course, but that feels a bit like punching down considering Heavensward PLD was a travesty.

[DRKoftheAzure]

Was it really worth a level 1 trait and tank stances to be buffed to high heaven at the cost of enmity combos, DPS stance, and Ultimatum being removed entirely? The only good change to tanks was Provoke getting a long needed buff, more PLD AoE damage, and GNB, that's it.

If I go into all of the nitty-gritty of all the tank changes, i would take multiple edits for just DRK alone...

[SargentToughie]

Was it really worth a level 1 trait and tank stances to be buffed to high heaven at the cost of enmity combos, DPS stance, and Ultimatum being removed entirely?

Yes, yes it was absolutely worth it.

We didn't only get a level 1 trait, by the way. We also got a lot more depth to our moment-to-moment gameplay with all the extra space provided by not having to do enmity combos anymore. Gunbreaker has been a blast, and I know you mentioned DRK, but I've found DRK to have a good few things to manage these days, between MP, blood, keeping your buffs cycled, etc etc. We're basically as complex as any given DPS job now, which you definitely couldn't say before.