Defending monks

[Leonus]

NIN, DRG and MNK was pretty equal ...

Mmm,

Well... before 2.45 drg was in mnks shadow. At the time (when I had all 3 at max) I always did more dps on my mnk than drg or nin(when equally geared), and drg at the time only had the piercing debuff. I mean, there isn't anything wrong with the order shifting between the 3 melee from expansion to expansion. All the dps are close enough that you can play what you want.

Also, not every group will have a drk. War and pld are still tanks to consider for whatever content you're taking on.