Quote Originally Posted by Wildsprite View Post
as for NIN being tank. they could do it easily

since you want to go on your little rants about what jobs were and werent in XI. technically RDM wasn't a healer and neither was SCH but the players used them for it. and also till they screwed with the RDM traits they could also effectivally tank.
The difference here is that the job was always intended as a DPS, and was never intended to be a tank. Take away Utsusemi and they're a squishy mess, which is why several fights actually REQUIRED a Paladin tank because the mob would strip shadows instantly. Paladin could fit in almost any situation, Ninjas were a far more situational tank.

As for Red Mages, they had native healing skill and access to cure potency gear. They were also given additional tools to bolster their role as support, meaning they could take the role as a support healer on top of their basic enfeebling talents. Ninja was never given any enmity gear aside from a handful of pieces which were multi-class, unlike the 'real' tanks, Warrior and Paladin. It wasn't until long after they'd cemented themselves as dodge tanks that SE caved in and provided a few extra bonuses on their gear.

As for the laughable idea that they could 'do it easily', no they couldn't. Until later levels they were heavily reliant on a Thief's Trick Attack ability to hold aggro or Provoke spam. They could deal decent damage, but certainly not enough to hold off a Black Mage's nukes. And considering most geared for tanking, it reduced their DPS considerably, favouring HP and evasion. Later they had more tools at their disposal, but it's still exceptionally easy to rip aggro from a Ninja moreso than a Paladin simply because they don't have the enmity addition that real tanks get.

Quote Originally Posted by Reynhart View Post
By that definition, every DPS should be tanks because damage generates enmity.
And perhaps you forgot that losing shadows actually make you lose enmity.
That addition was actually added at a later date, when they tried to discourage Ninja tanking. Before that, no enmity was lost from shadows, until something actually dealt damage to you.