How to make tanks more fun to play (devs please read)

[Versiroth]

What are those god-like buffs that make Warrior so much better than Paladin ? In most case, my Paladin is doing better (in damage mitigation) than my Warrior with about the same equipment. I would really like to improve my Warrior tanking and ride the flavor of the month.

I agree with you. My PLD is ilvl 80 and my Warrior ilvl 81 and I normally roll the Paladin. Honestly, I wish they'd buff warriors a little more. Maybe roll the SE effect into Butcher's block so we don't have to rotate so many combos and then make IB and Holmgang last 10 seconds. Speaking of Holmgang, I'd also like them to make it to were the damage you deal during it's duration is given back to you as 200-300% HP once the effect ends. The only Paladin buff I'd like to see is a threat modifier added to Circle of Scorn so our AOE threat is on par with warriors. As is, spamming Fast-Riot-Flash is boring as heck. Oh, and maybe add a move that combos off of Riot Blade so we have an off tank rotation other than RoH combo.

[C-croft]

I hate to say this, but a LOT of Paladin i know simply stopped playing the job after they (unjustly) gave Warrior a near-godlike buff when a slight correction would have been sufficient and gave Paladin nothing except a poop-smeared middle finger.

There's your problem why you have so few tanks now. SE made half of them stop playing.

And those tanks are just... bad. And hurt. Funny thing is, PLD is still a better tank by a slight margin....

[eagledorf]

And those tanks are just... bad. And hurt. Funny thing is, PLD is still a better tank by a slight margin....

Indeed, PLD has just as much potential to be crazy overpowered as they did pre 2.1. They gave WAR unreasonable buffs so that they're both about equally overpowered now (just different).

Anybody who thinks the WAR buffs gave PLD the middle finger has never done t2-4 through party finder where some people will only take Paladins. If I make a party finder myself for these turns and allow WAR, the tank slot(s) fill(s) almost instantly.

Simple way to look at the math for Halone is that combo Halone is as much hate as three not-combo Halone. That means that all the hate generated by Fast Blade and Savage Blade in your first two GCD are extra hate you did not get by spamming Halone.

[Blazer]

I feel like paladin and warrior ARE fun to play. Every WAR I speak to seem to really enjoy the job (if they know what they're doing). I love playing paladin.

I don't think the issue is that "boring" is the reason, but more that people just don't enjoy tanking. It happens.

[Versiroth]

Personally, I like playing a Paladin more than a Warrior. At least as a Paladin, you get to do some weaving of GCD/OGCD abilities. You can Fast Blade, Fight or Flight, Savage Blade, Spirits Within, Rage of Halone. With the Warrior, you get three different combos, but everything is linked to the GCD except for your one and only stun. So, it feels like you're just waiting for the GCD non stop most of the time.

Also, I kind of like how they've sprinkled in iconic names instead of going full bore. The game is still new and plenty more jobs/abilities will come in the future. And we'll get tons more nostalgia to go along with it I'm sure.

[Autymnfyres]

I very much appreciate the information in your post, and your suggestions. *Hats off to you. Thanks for sharing this, and here's hoping that some of your tips may be data mined by SE employees with the actual power to incorporate changes.

[DMooseJ]

I don't know. What if the special mount was a literal tank? Hell, I'll take that.

And like everybody else is saying, the problem is responsibility. None of your suggestions allay that problem. 'Fun' is an incredibly subjective thing and different roles have their own points. Some people have 'fun' with the responsibility of tanking and the challenge of coordinating pulls and boss fights, some people just have fun when they shoot stuff and see big numbers.

[ZephyrK]

I don't know. What if the special mount was a literal tank? Hell, I'll take that.

Sure you would. We all would. We would do what was needed to get the mount, then never queue as a tank.

[Ehayte]

The real problem is not the nostalgia of FF being removed from PLD. I love FF games, and I don't even notice that. BLMs get to see: "Fire III 1973!" and MNKs get to see steady streams of 795! 698! 590!, even healers get to see huge amounts of tank HP restored on critical hits. When a tank is successful in their job (mitigating dmg), it makes the fight LESS exciting!

They should figure out a way to either display damage mitigated as its happening, or add cool animations to show dmg is being mitigated by the tank. Feeling powerful in a digital world is all about seeing things happen. When I use HG on Garuda X and zero out 2 WWs, a Slipstream, and a downburst, NO ONE will notice except maybe one healer. I would love for there to be reactive lighting/plasma effects for the damage that I mitigate with abilities. Its probably a lot of designer time, but I think that is the main fun factor missing.

[Sadana]

They should figure out a way to either display damage mitigated as its happening, or add cool animations to show dmg is being mitigated by the tank...

I love this! You're right that dps get all excited at their damage numbers, healers get to be excited at their healing numbers... tanks should be able to be excited over their damage taken numbers. ^_^ Makes sense to me!
....

I was wondering, what about making hate generation easier (and yes, I fear using that word here) for tanks? Aren't tanks yelled at most often if they let a mob slip away to go nom on a dps or healer?

I will agree that targeting with a ps3 controller is awful. Why does it select a mob across the room rather than the one next to me? I get the whole character-view not camera-view thing, but still. :-/

I get the argument that it's the players not the game that makes tanking unappealing. What can the devs do to make tanking less rage inspiring?

I'm a big FF fan myself, but renaming abilities wouldn't really do much for me. :-/

(Tank alt at level 23 MRD, level 16 GLD. Afraid to go any farther.)