Age Old Question: VIT vs. STR

[XemnasXIII]

Hello Ksufoley!

Its good to see these type of questions being asked on the forums for I believe a lot of people, like yourself, struggle with what the 'ideal' point allotment for tanks are; perhaps I can provide some insight.

I play WAR/PLD respectably and I have cleared T9 on both classes. On my Warrior I allot 30 STR to his stats and on PLD I allot 30 VIT. Now, when it comes to tanking endgame content like coil the safest bet is to go full VIT, that way it allows you more room to make mistakes and stay alive; that being said it is important to understand what VIT and STR do respectably. VIT, as the game defines it, is solely for HP and HP only.....

[XemnasXIII]

it provides no extra defense or barrier against attacks. VIT will not boost your Defense, for that comes from your armor, nor will VIT give you any defense advantage over the boss as it is solely for how much HP your character will posses. STR on the other hand does a number of things for a tank: Not only does it allow you to hit harder and therefor hold more hate it also allows your parries and block potency to be stronger as well. In my opinion, given what I just mentioned about STR and VIT, STR offers more for your tank that VIT - A good tank can manage his HP with the sheer use of his cool downs, positioning, and armor. If you are serious about tanking and want to do so at a higher level I suggest rolling with STR +30 and allow your armor to replenish your HP. I will say, I was just like you affixing my stats to VIT because that is what the rest of the online world expects you do to because it is conceived that tanks are only good tanks if they have high HP - which is absolutely..

[XemnasXIII]

false. HP is an aesthetic, but does not mean you're going to be able to do your job effectively. If you want to ween yourself into the position of STR tank I would suggest going 15 VIT and 15 STR, and when you feel ready go with the full 30 STR. Hopefully this has provided you with some insight on how to spec your tank. Just remember, there is no wrong way to tank or gear yourself in FF14 - the game is incredibly balanced and centered around abilities more over than armor or stats, In my opinion at least.

Let me know how it works out for you!
Good luck!