Dark Knight in all slaying accessories... please no..

[Phoenicia]

Vitality over what you need for a buster allows for more party mistakes. This is not exclusively -your- mistakes, or the healers, but the dps.

Well, no one is going to have "Just enough" to survive a tank buster with 1 HP or so where they would die to the next auto attack obviously. The point is after the tank buster, you have enough HP to survive long enough for the healer to heal you. Anything more than that is wasted stat allocation.

Currently the biggest tank busters do what, 7k damage? (not counting a not-shared Blinding Blade because that SHOULD be shared). So 13k HP should be more than enough. Maybe more if A4 tank buster did more than that, but I don't remember as I managed to MT that as DRK with around 14.5k HP when I got my kill and item and haven't been back there since.

Good CD management and self heals (while a lot of people neglect to count them while all tanks have them) lowers that HP threshold even more.

[rawker]

15k pld hp is more than enough for A4. It's a matter of when to stoneskin yourself to give the illusion of having 1 or 2 extra fending accessories. That'll give you something to ponder upon.

[Nomad-phx]

as a pld i always have and always will stack vit. the more hp you have as a pld the better your personal stoneskin/divine veil/spirits within works so thats what i feel i need and has worked wonders for everything before 3.0 and still currently works fine. granted i used 110 pentamelded for last leg of 2.xx with fending str melded but str no longer affects block/parry % so im 100% vit now

[Dante_V]

Cool down management and knowing how to play the job and tank matters more than accessories. If the person doesn't know the job then vit would be more effective but if the person understands the job and cool down rotation they will be able to go full str with no issue.

[Phoenicia]

as a pld i always have and always will stack vit. the more hp you have as a pld the better your personal stoneskin/divine veil/spirits within works so thats what i feel i need and has worked wonders for everything before 3.0 and still currently works fine. granted i used 110 pentamelded for last leg of 2.xx with fending str melded but str no longer affects block/parry % so im 100% vit now

Spirits Within is a 300 potency attack at 100% HP, doesn't matter if you have 100 HP or 22,500, it will ONLY do 300 potency. The damage will vary based on your *drum roll*.... STR!!

Other than that, it's personal preference. I personally CHOOSE the path of pushing more DPS when applicable over sitting with over 22k HP where I never drop below 50% due to meager damage and excessive overhealing.

[Lawson_Grey]

How did it cause stress to the healers? Damage in end game fights is predictable. If you have 20k and brought down to 10k, vs having 17k and brought down to 7k, you've lost the same amount of HP and need to be healed for the same amount of HP. All you're doing is leaving DPS on the floor.

Having said that, if you're DYING from mechanics then you need more VIT right side, obviously.

[Tayolynn]

http://i.imgur.com/EAMBaYh.jpg

Is it bad that this is literally what I imagine how some player's I've met are, in more situations that this? (facial expressions, insanity and everything)

[KyteStones]

http://i.imgur.com/EAMBaYh.jpg

Omg I want more of this lmfao

[GeekMatt]

Vitality over what you need for a buster allows for more party mistakes. This is not exclusively -your- mistakes, or the healers, but the dps.

Dps messes up. Healer goes to heal them--you wernt topped off, boss hits you again--now lower than what you would like to be. A healer has to decide who to heal, and might let the dps to die because you are in danger, or who knows the reason.

Keep in mind im not advocating stacking vitality, but that vitality beyond the 'amount needed to survive' only works well in statics where people seldom 'mess up'. So determine vitality based off your group performance.

^this. Man it's nice to have a buffer when healing--especially with DRKs, as-is they aren't like PLD, they get bursted down crazily fast. And they aren't like WAR, they don't quite bounce back so well/don't have the HP buffer naturally. When crap hits the fan and the healers are trying to keep everyone up and I watch you dip down to ~200 HP before the healer catches you, I'm just really greatful for those Fending pieces. On the other hand if we actually had a DPS check or you overgeared the content considerably, then DPS is boss.

But yes, tank CD usage is super important, and if you're not offering the healer a Fending-buffer through out the fight, you really better be on top of them all of the time or thank the healer for the carry. As a PLD I have natural mitigation from my shield and enough buffs to cycle them through out a run while still buffing heavily for tank busters, but I've still been down to a couple hundred HP when party mishaps happen. I have 2 sets of accessories, Fending for uncertainties and DPS for overgeared content or DPS checks--not for content where you and/or the healer is new or min ilvl.

[Viralblack]

http://i.imgur.com/EAMBaYh.jpg

This... so much this. I cant describe how this picture made my day and sums up the situation.

Vitality over what you need for a buster allows for more party mistakes. This is not exclusively -your- mistakes, or the healers, but the dps.

Dps messes up. Healer goes to heal them--you wernt topped off, boss hits you again--now lower than what you would like to be. A healer has to decide who to heal, and might let the dps to die because you are in danger, or who knows the reason.

Keep in mind im not advocating stacking vitality, but that vitality beyond the 'amount needed to survive' only works well in statics where people seldom 'mess up'. So determine vitality based off your group performance.

I think thats the part that evades them is that its a team effort, not just an imaginary tanking dps check that will wipe the raid if they dont break 400 dps.

Actually had a STR DRK yesterday trying to AoE tank in Floor 2 that was vividly pissed that I couldnt repeatedly lustrate him fast enough to keep him alive, and that failing to do so ment I was a poor healer.... thats the general attitude.