Why is DRK so squishy and how do I stop it?

[Quor]

It wasn't you it was the Scholar! Although - I do /feel/ squishy as a DRK compared to my Warrior and I'm trying to figure out why. Maybe Warriors get better mitigation spells early but later DRK catches up. I mean inner beast is 6 seconds of -30% INC damage that can be used pretty regularly. Like - a lot. So maybe that's why? No you are perfect sweet Chandra~

You kept me up on a super super big monster pull for a LONG time, the DPS was just too slow to win the Mana vs DPS race ;c That Scholar let me die like...3 times! Maybe he was just a bad SCH?

I still feel really squishy as a DRK though. My PLD is only 24 so I can't compare to GLD really. Only WAR (60) and DRK so far. DRK feels much squishier/takes more spikes in damage than WAR. Not sure why it seems that way. Perhaps I have just forgotten the late 30's feeling on my WAR but it was the exact same?

This post isn't really bashing or blaming healers - more just wondering why I feel so "light" as a DRK compared to my WAR and how can I fix it, or is it all just mental?

I'm inclined to say it's mostly mental. I have WAR as my main, and DRK is almost 52 for me, and the two have felt about the same. I say this having used WAR both before and after the Inner Beast change. DRK is about on par with WAR post-IB, and it feels slightly tankier in terms of damage mitigation than WAR did pre-IB change, but it's been a looong time since I played WAR with the old IB, so I would take this opinion with a grain of salt.

Just make sure you take and use any and all upgrades available to you. At your level (38) the HQ heavy plate combo pieces are probably your best bets (the head/chest and legs/feet suits). At 40, drop them for the HQ Mythril plate-level stuff (I think weaver makes the legs at that level though). Company gear can also serve you well to fill in gaps.

Finally, it's easy to go from a high level tank to a low level one and feel like paper, so don't get too down on yourself. It's pretty normal for everyone, like an end-game geared BLM who roulettes into Sastasha normal, where all you have is Aetherial Fire 1.