the need for 3rd tank class

[Valendore]

If they made a new tanking class called Soldier who wields a large Cloud-style Buster sword and gave the class all of Cloud's limit breaks as abilities....there would be an explosion of tanks in this game.

It's not the role. It's the way the player feels about the character archetype.

Paladins and Warriors just aren't very "cool" as compared to other classes like Dragoons, Summoners, and Black Mages.

I completely disagree. I don't care how cool they could make a tank class. It won't change that fact that many players do not like the responsibility, demands, or criticism that goes along with playing a tank. You must be one of those thick skinned people that are not bothered when people yell at you.

[Nyremis]

I completely disagree. I don't care how cool they could make a tank class. It won't change that fact that many players do not like the responsibility, demands, or criticism that goes along with playing a tank. You must be one of those thick skinned people that are not bothered when people yell at you.

I agree to a certain extent, but also disagree. Yeah, currently you either need thick skin or don't play the Tank role due to how disrespectful people tend to be towards that role.

To say a new tank class/job would not be incentive enough for more people to opt to play the role, I disagree with that. I personally would be more inclined to do so with a fresh, creative tank class/job, and my biggest reason for not wanting to play a Tank class/job currently is because of how other people treat you while being the Tank regardless if you do everything right or not. I enjoy tanking and all the responsibility that it entails.

[Gardes]

Speaking of feeling weak as a tank (damage dealing wise), why not have a drk tank that...steals the dps party members' attack strength (regardless of physical and magical)?

Quick example:
A party where pld has 150 dps, and 2 dps with 300dps versus (totalling 700 dps not counting healer)
With a drk tank constantly absorbing energy from other dps: drk 300 dps, the other 2 dps will have 225 dps (totalling 700 dps not counting healer)

-Drk tank gets to have big numbers and feel like a dps while still tanking
-Drk as a tank wont have to rely on enmity multiplier as much for aggro
-Actual dps members might get to get into df dungeons faster, they just have lower numbers with a drk tank around
-Total party damage capability will still be similar to a standard pld/war tanking group

Can even have an overload mechanic where the drk has to control his leeching intake or he will explode. Or find another name for it if people really dont like drk tanks.

[ExperienceLoader]

There's also plenty of space for a 3rd tanking class even if they do share some overlap. Hell WoW had 4 of em and they all managed well enough. Just looking at the game's mechanics that are already in place they could make a Tank with the Pugilist stance system. Maybe go a Samurai route that shifts between blade stances, one stance for damage, one stance for enmity, and one stance for mitigation. You can even give him a high level OH-SH!T skill that combines all three stances for a short period of time. While in theory it's that same thing that all of the other tanks do, in practice it's a faster paced play style that may attract some more people.

[Nyremis]

Also, if we are talking about design ideas for new tanks. I don't know much of what has been in Final Fantasy games previously, only what is currently present. I feel if they had a Tank class/job focused on the opposite of what a Paladin is centered around, but benefiting from doing the opposite. Like for the WAR if they choose to not mitigate damage they tend to do more dps, but at the cost of taking more damage, so what if we had a Tank class that actually benefited from not using buffs.

So, the more damage the Tank received without mitigating any of it, the more bonus DPS they would receive. The Tank class/job would have to find a balance in taking damage to boost their dps and switching to taking damage to boost their ability to mitigate damage. It sounds similar to what we have currently, but it is still different than both the WAR/PLD tanks currently.

[Nyremis]

Their main focus would be always aiming to take more damage to either benefit how much dps they put out or how much damage they can mitigate to keep from dying to certain in-game mechanics. This would be different as they wouldn't need skills that mitigate damage or increase dps, but maybe instead focus on giving them a little utility. I mean the warrior takes more damage, but has higher health to compensate for that or they can not use Defiance and dish out more dps, but with no real added bonus for doing so. Paladins can switch between Shield Oath or Sword Oath. Where as this Tank would have Stances that would put their dps higher than both current tanks, but still under DPS roles as long as they take unmitigated damage, or they can choose to not get the added bonus to their DPS and be able to mitigate damage. Just my thoughts.

[Sessurea]

hmmm I think they need to make a new tank, neither better nor worse than current tanks in dps or defence, but make it flashy as hell. Make it real eye candy, something players would feel good using simply for that cool factor. DPSers and healers can see their progress directly in their healing/damaging and lends to e-peen appeal....but yh tanks need a revolution.

The problem with FF is that tanking is too simple. In Tera, a really skilled tank could hold agro and dish out dps that wasn't very insignificant....a crappy tank would would either lose agro through not dealing enough damage, or turtle up behind a block skill far too much, and lose agro through not dealing damage at all.NOT saying we need a system like tera, but ppl enjoyed playing tanks there....the damage was nothing at all like a dps but there was satisfaction to it because tanking itself wasn't a total walk in the park.

[Ravinous]

What the main problem is, and has been since the dawn of MMO's. The main reason why there is always a shortage of Tanks, and Healers. That the majority of the player base (in any MMO) does not want the responsibility of those two roles. In any party who is the first classes to be blamed if something goes wrong. The healer, and the Tank. "OMFG HEALER L2HEAL BETTER!!!" "FFS TANK WHY CAN'T YOU KEEP THREAT GAH YOU ALL SUCK I'M OUT I HOPE YOU ALL DIE IN A FIRE!!!".

[Fiorana]

I've said this before, but the only people that will level newer tank classes are the people that play tank now, its the not the class/job so much as the baggage that comes with it that keep the majority of people from playing them.

[Heroicbandit]

This issue will never be a lack of interesting tanks to appeal to people. The issue is the responsibility of tanking that a majority of people would rather not deal with. It's much easier to do what you're told and do damage as a fun class than it is to control the pace of a dungeon, marking targets, tank swapping, kiting and any other responsibility a tank might hold. You will find this trend in every MMO, not just this one. Fun is subjective but a majority of players are DPS for these reasons. Adding a new tanking class inflates the amount initially but it's always trended back to the issue of DPS being a dime a dozen.