Lancer Tanks!

[Kytori]

So I know this is gonna sound insane but I actually realized this during a mishap earlier that took an interesting turn.

So I was leveling my Lancer and I was like one Dung run from 30. I think I was in Haukke if memory serves and in the last room where the bombs killed the tank. In an interesting little coinkidink, I skilled my lancer to tank to help a friend with some mob for a quest or something or another since he was a WHM and forgot to change anything back before I queued.

This is what I had on:
Flash, Convalescence, Blood Bath, Goad, and Shade Shift. I had a toss up of either Foresight or Shade and felt like Shade probably would have been a little better since i could quickly calculate the pay off since DEF is has algorithms. I also debated Goad vs Second Wind. Goad won out because we weren't bringing a DPS with us.

So what that means is I pulled from three classes, Ninja, Glad, and War in addition to Lancer already having Keen Flurry (80% parry rate after trait) and Leg Sweep, a 20 Sec recast interrupt.

Which I feel makes a pretty good all around basic tank kit. AoE enmity pull, couldn't spam it, but for the purpose that I had it, it was nice, I could have just as easily taken Savage Blade or Skull Sunder.

That kit with Lancer's allegedly highest HP count of all the DPS (I think i read this in the DRG guide forum post.) and best DEF (Same place, idk if these two things are true.) it made a pretty nice 'Oh shizz' tank.

With that said, I'm not saying they should be a tank, but I think if they made another job stone for Lancer (Like how they have SCH and SMN for Arcanist) I think making it a tank would probably turn out very well.

Thoughts on the concept of a future lancer tank job?

[Kerano]

Ive semi tanked dungeons before as a DRG, its awesome, and makes me wish DRG actually was a tank, imagine tanking with a spear now thats badass. Im just glad DRK came out so i could actually move on to a tank class for real. Always gonna be a DRG at heart, but damn DRK is awesome so far.

[fm_fenrir]

Ive semi tanked dungeons before as a DRG, its awesome, and makes me wish DRG actually was a tank, imagine tanking with a spear now thats badass. Im just glad DRK came out so i could actually move on to a tank class for real. Always gonna be a DRG at heart, but damn DRK is awesome so far.

I've tanked all three experts from 2.55 as DRG, and it works pretty well because DRG generates so much damn threat that you can establish as solid a threat lead as any real tank. Pulling heavy magic damage is rough, but you can certainly work around it with a healer who's willing to put up with your gimmick.

That said, I would love to see a proper bluebox stone for LNC so I can legitimize my gimmick of trying to tank everything in the game as DPS filth. A level 60 DRG, with base piety, has 4275MP, and nothing to spend it on...

[Jandor]

A tank job for Lancer would have been cool, they could have added one handed spears as a weapon as well so Lancers could go spear/shield or big spear. But they seem to have ditched the branching jobs idea so *shrug*.

[Kytori]

A tank job for Lancer would have been cool, they could have added one handed spears as a weapon as well so Lancers could go spear/shield or big spear. But they seem to have ditched the branching jobs idea so *shrug*.

Short spears and shields like a spartan would be a neat idea so long as the gear they got weren't capes and undies XD

That's actually not a bad idea but even if they ditched the idea, the solidarity of a tank job is there and could be coaxed into having at least one more, me thinks.

[zcrash970]

Short spears and shields like a spartan would be a neat idea so long as the gear they got weren't capes and undies XD

That's actually not a bad idea but even if they ditched the idea, the solidarity of a tank job is there and could be coaxed into having at least one more, me thinks.

You just reminded me of a game on ps3 called White Knight Chronicles. It was an online RPG where there was a couple of weapon types. The main tanking weapon was short spear and shield. When you played it, it made you feel like a spartan XD

[Kytori]

You just reminded me of a game on ps3 called White Knight Chronicles. It was an online RPG where there was a couple of weapon types. The main tanking weapon was short spear and shield. When you played it, it made you feel like a spartan XD

I had the combined version. White Knight Chronicles 2 came with the first one for free that had a lot of updated stuff, like not having to press a damn tree 80x to get all the resources lol.

Honestly. That's 13 years old now, and isn't funny anymore.

I don't even get it...

[Enkidoh]

I don't even get it...

I think she was referring to FFXI's DRG and how it was entirely dependent on it's pet (wyvern), which could only be called every two hours - if the wyvern died the DRG was... pretty powerless (Jump attacks were mostly mediocre, and apart from Penta Thrust most of it's weapon skills were too).

To make matters worse the wyvern's AI was dependent on what 'sub Job' you equipped, meaning a DRG often had to use stupid sub Job combinations to get the best benefit to their wyvern). Although Call Wyvern was later taken off the 2-hour ability meaning the wyvern could be called far sooner (every 10 minutes if I remember rightly), the damage was done and it became a bad meme about how 'useless' DRG is which has carried over into FFXIV sadly.

As for LNC/DRG tanking, I agree it is actually pretty effective in that role, as long as it's set up right (the Alpha and early Beta clearly demonstrated this). But of course people just want the 'quickest and easiest choice for the best return' and thus ignore it as such a role (another example is SMN as a healer, the later I've actually played as myself in a number of dungeons). 'Thinking outside the box' isn't sadly a universal idea here.

[Kogasan]

You just reminded me of a game on ps3 called White Knight Chronicles. It was an online RPG where there was a couple of weapon types. The main tanking weapon was short spear and shield. When you played it, it made you feel like a spartan XD

To bad the developer's of that game had to go and ruin it by taking it offline. I probably would be still playing it today had they not.

[Jandor]

With a two-handed or spear and shield option you could have had the ability to go higher damage and use parry for mitigation or lower damage but safer with block plus maybe a few job based shield skills. The arguments would have gone on forever about how to build your Lancer tank, would have been fun.

Edit: oh and a big red cape on the AF gear would have been great. Spear + shield + long flowing cape = awesome.