Please make Samurai the next Tank class.

[DenverBroncos]

First I would like to introduce the why Samurai would be the perfect fit as the next tank class. I wont try to make this too long and if you have any suggestions or ideas please feel free to post.

Current Tanks (I won't go into too much details about the current classes as you are all probably familiar with how the two function).

Paladin - Mitigation Tank with average AoE skills and generous support skills (Cover, Tempered Will, StoneSkin (Xclass), Cure (Xclass), Protect (Xclass) etc).

Warrior - More active/micromanaged based Tank with exceptional AoE, large health pool, good damage dealing potential for a tank. Warriors can be more prone to spike damage unless you manage defensive cooldowns well and have good timing.

Looking at two current tank classes we have to think how can a third tank fill the roster without overshadowing the current tank(s) in the game? Easily, by implementing an evasion/counter-attack tank such as the Samurai.

[DenverBroncos]

Looking at two current tank classes we have to think how can a third tank fill the roster without overshadowing the current tank(s) in the game? Easily, by implementing an evasion/counter-attack tank such as the Samurai.

Kamae (構え?) is a Japanese term used in martial arts and traditional theater. It translates approximately to "posture". The Kanji of this word means "base".

Sword Oath like toggle ability for Samurai:
Jōdan-no-kamae the sword is raised above the head with the tip (kissaki) pointing back and the blade facing up, in readiness to strike.[1] It is the most aggressive stance of the five.

[DenverBroncos]

The Samurai will excel in Parry and Dodge and use counter-attacks that are proc based and it fits in on how they function per Chūdan-no-kamae (中段の構え:ちゅうだんのかまえ?), Chūdan-no-kamae translates to "middle-level posture." It provides a balance between attacking and defensive techniques.

The Samurai will have a skill called Gedan-no-kamae. Gedan-no-kamae means "lower-level posture." This position is adopted when the sword is held out in front of the body pointing at the waist in kendo, or at the knee or sometimes the ankle in kenjutsu.

It is considered a variant of chūdan-no-kamae and therefore appearing as a defensive posture, but instead it is used to deflect blows and create striking opportunities. This stance is used as a transition from chūdan-no-kamae to a tsuki (thrust). It is called the Kamae of Earth (地の構え chi-no-kamae?) in Yagyū. Once you pop this cooldown you can go "Bankai" like a boss!

[DenverBroncos]

Samurai Tank in action check it out!
Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJTD70fpsU8

[Lothar808]

Evasion tanks wont really work with how most end game mechanics work... Lets look at tank swapping, some of the most hard hitting attacks are ones that require tank swapping (eg. Titan, Ultima, Ifrit, T6)... if a tank could evade those attacks it would be pointless to ever bring a PLD or WAR into those fights. If SE made those attacks always hit then an evasion tank would have to have just as much life as a WAR and if it didn't have the life it would need just as much mitigation skills as a PLD. The other bad part about an evasion tank is RNG, if the RNG is crap (sometimes the case with WARs) then you could end up not evading a couple hits in a row and boom dead. To counter this again the evasion tank would need a large health pool to decrease the chance of RNG killing them just like WAR, or have mitigation skills just like PLD. I am really interested to see what the next tank will be, its just with the current direction of battle mechanics I don't see how an evasion tank could work.

Also, that video has exactly the issue I am talking about... oops the RNG gods didnt let you evade that attack, boom one hit KO.

[Exstal]

Full evasion is a foolish way to design tank. Partial evasion is a good way. It can be done.

FFXI Ninja - bad way to design a tank (although wasn't designed to be a tank)
Feral Druid - good way to design a tank

[Warrlordd]

I'd say the best bet on new tank would be DRK, otherwise a magic user like rune fencer or something.

If you want an example, check Gaius van Baelsar's animations. Ground aoe's, magically imbued weapons, charge-like skills, teleporting, could be fun!

[Empressia]

nope not goin to work, even in WoW, full dodge tanks rely heavily to RNGs and that if the boss only use physical non magical attacks

[DenverBroncos]

Thanks for your comments they are much appreciated. I did not intend the Samurai as a full dodge and parry tank. I stated they will excel in dodge and parry and will have higher dodge and parry than the other two tanks, but still have a good base mitigation for tanking purposes. Samurai tanks will be more proficient at dodge and parry to trigger their counter attacks, counter attacks similar to shield swipe, WoW Warrior Revenge, etc. Sorry for the confusion and thank you again for your input. Also Samurai will still have their base enmity builder and other skills. The counter attack system is just to make them unique and not feel like your playing a Warrior or Paladin re-skinned.

[Shurrikhan]

If the Samurai were to be wearing any decent amount of armor, partial evasion would seem plenty. And to be honest, I kind of wish that was already in the game. As it stands, only a tower shield can mitigate a full third of an attack (though looking like it can do quite a bit more than that) while parries and bucklers just take (though important) chips of the damage. It feels weird that dodge then jumps to a guaranteed 100% mitigation. If you sidestep such that a blade skims down your pauldron, even if technically "hit", you'd only be taking some 10% of the force of the blow. I feel like that should still be a 'dodge', more or less. Granted, the more armor you have, the harder it's going to be to fully dodge, but it's still a hell of a lot better than risking a real hit, and that could even perhaps come as a compromise somewhere along the line, and can stand as the difference between a Monk popping Featherfoot and standing without a care in sparse two-shot mechanics and a Samurai measuring out his Featherfoot CD, should he even have access to it.

The other alternative, the same one I bring up every time this comes into discussion, sadly, is to embed mechanics into the evasion types themselves, such that each (dodge, parry, and block) can wear down and recharge, can possibly have a higher chance against hits that would kill you at cost of dodge chance thereafter, and carry whatever other mechanics befit their mitigation type (parry being involved with whatever bladework you're doing, for example). I also don't feel like it should be impossible to both parry and partial dodge the same attack.

I feel like as a Paladin I'd be pacing out my dodges behind a shield of blocks, except where I need to save those for a critical period, and measuring out my attack pace where able to any mechanics that might influence parry chance. As a Warrior, that shield wall would be gone, but I could use strong attacks to affect parry, while having dodges ready to go. As Samurai, my priority would be to sort of sync up those parries to cover for or match my remaining dodge rating.