STR vs. VIT for leveling

[Bourne_Endeavor]

I know this is the popular topic of late, but as someone looking to level a tank class, I would appreciate some input on what my stat focus should be while leveling from baby dungeons through to 50. Seems traditional tank accessories are getting frowned on for lack of a better term. So wanted to know if I should focus on STR, VIT or hybrid the two, and which of them is most viable.

[Fevelle]

VIT. It will make things go much smoother, even with a not so good healer. Also, the synch function on low level dungeons is quite strong, so you won't have problems keeping aggro with full VIT equips.

[Dhex]

Level in VIT gear - add some STR gear if you have enmity issues (but that usually ends up being because of an underlevel weapon) put your bonus into STR; at lv60 begin to slowly swap to mostly STR as you get up towards i180+ while figuring out/meeting the threshold HP requirement for your typical healers (13.5k-16k) and you'll be golden.

[SwordCoheir]

Actually, STR is the better option pre-50. One reason is your enmity toolset is limited and some jobs get their big DPS boosts early on so enmity generated through DPS is a bit more critical, another reason is the stat differences don't stand out large enough to matter till 50 when you're ilv can jump up 80 levels instantly. Even then, unless your doing something that would be considered "end-game" for pre-Heavensward content, or you just happen to just make the minimum level for a post 50 dungeon your doing you don't really have to worry about HP too much.

[Rbstr]

Strength.
You get plenty of HP by being up on left-side stuff and the weapon. Hate is the hardest thing you have to deal with. There are a couple level ranges where it's nearly impossible against some synced players.
Anyone that gets hit with level-sync will be rocking the maximum ilevel for the dungeon. If you're in a level-appropriate dungeon it's very hard to do that yourself.

Vit is going to be most appropriate right when you hit 50 and again when you hit 60 since it's easier to hit content you're relatively undergeared for.

[Freyyy]

I levelled my tanks in full STR because I wanted to do more damage when doing stuff like quests, leves, hunting logs and FATEs, and I never felt squishy or whatever in dungeons and never got any complaint from healers. But it honestly doesn't matter at low level, the difference in HP between the two is really small. The difference in DPS is small too but more noticeable. Take whatever you're the most comfortable with.

[Atoli]

I'd say it depends on the tank job you want to level.
GLA/PLD has a lot of trouble holding hate below 50. Any little bit of STR you can get helps making it easier, and you can shield through dmg intense phases/hits with your defensive cooldowns, so having less VIT is not a problem, even with weak healers.

DRK and WAR don't suffer from the same problem, so you can smoothen things out with more VIT. I personally went full STR on both build and accessories (and even a bit on the left equipment side) and still didn't have any trouble. I even regularly asked my healers if they felt I was taking too much dmg or if healing me was stressful, but they all replied that it wasn't the case, so...VIT would have been a waste.
But if you feel uncomfortable with a smaller HP pool, it's fine to go for VIT instead
Just not as GLA..xD

[Xenosan]

The VIT and STR is less important - almost iirelevant - to low level gearing as there's a far worse problem I've seen of tanks leveling their low lvl DRK.

Scale Mail, Elmos, Sallets, Mitt Gloves.

These are not tanking gears.

Every 5 lvls tanks can upgrade between plate armors and heavy plate armors. Use that and upgrade to the next batch every 5 lvls. Doing that with all STR Accessory right side is perfectly fine. PDEF/MDEF is what matters. And that Scale armor does not have it, so tanks should consider their healers.

The Scale Mail and Elmos and such, wish they'd just make them DRG exclusive. It's not for tanking. Fate grinding, fair - because it doesn't matter. But dungeon running, be considerate and wear the right stuff.

[Freyyy]

Scale Mail, Elmos, Sallets, Mitt Gloves.

These are not tanking gears.

For lower levels (Steel Scale and Horn Scale gear, the level 32 and 38 sets), these are actually as much tank gear as heavy armor. At the level where you can equip them, they are the best tank gear option available. It starts being squishy DRG gear only with the level 41 scale set. Anything before that gives tank def/mdef values.

[Jpec07]

For accessories: Either, just not neither.

For armor: Defense and Magic Defense over both (these account for more mitigation than either STR of VIT will provide, which will make you less squishy).

For weapons: Weapon damage.

For shields*: Kite > Scutum > Hoplon
*in my experience

For sockets: Don't bother.

Rotate your cooldowns, rotate targets for enmity combo, and stay in your tank "stance" and you'll do fine.