Quote Originally Posted by cold52 View Post
yall know tank really is the closest thing that makes sence for a red mage

a red mage is known for its ability to use both white magic and black magic while still using a melee weapon.

no other role suits that better then tank
Generally wearing light armor is a no-go as a tank, and I'd expect RDM to be sharing gear with BRD of it scales with DEX or DRG if it scales with STR (MNK aesthetic doesn't really gel with RDM). Most of the stuff that makes sense for RDM as far as defensive spells go would be more towards defensive utility. Think of Phalanx not as a spell you use on yourself, but something you can throw on the tank or a healer taking too much damage, reducing their damage taken by something like 25% for 10 seconds. Off-heals would work along similar lines, as something you'd throw around if needed while sacrificing DPS.

Sword skills and magical attacks could thus go towards dealing good DPS, leading to a DPS job that has utility while still being different from its peers. You don't need to shoehorn the job into tanking.