SAMURAI SHOWDOWN

[Shippuu]

Let me put it this way; A true mage tank would get as much out of Foe's Requiem as Black Mage. Dark Knight gets very little out of Foe's Requiem.

Let me point out a scenario to you that shows exactly the kind of problems that arise when you don't think things through fully. You can theorize about a potential magic casting tank all you want, but when you don't take into consideration all the variables and scenarios, you wind up with very big problems. So here's the spiel:

Say they add a magic casting tank, who gets "as much out of Foe's Requiem as Black Mage." People play the class, then they queue up for say, Void Ark. Now they get in there, and boom, all 3 tanks are this wonderful magical casting tank who's moves do magical damage. Tell me, what happens then when they get to the second boss of Void Ark? You know, that boss where 1 of the two targets becomes immune to all magic damage? Who's supposed to tank that? The tank job that now does literally zero damage to that target?

How about Turn 4 of the Binding Coil of Bahamut, where certain adds reflect all magic damage. Those tanks now have to take extra damage while tanking these mobs over any of the other 3 tanks?

So tell me, what's the solution there? Make them deal some super special type of magic damage that goes through all that? Sure, that'll fix it, but then they aren't dealing magic damage with their magic spells. Now you've just introduced an entirely new damage type that the developers have to spend time coding, implementing, and balancing.

A casting tank is a lofty idea, but it's not one that will ever be realistic to add into this game specifically when you consider all the factors that have to be accounted for in order for such a job to work and still have any kind of balance with the existing 3 tanks.

[Nalien]

So tell me, what's the solution there? Make them deal some super special type of magic damage that goes through all that? Sure, that'll fix it, but then they aren't dealing magic damage with their magic spells. Now you've just introduced an entirely new damage type that the developers have to spend time coding, implementing, and balancing.

With Blue Mage I kinda think they'd need to do that anyway, since you'd essentially be casting things like Chocobo Kick, a physical attack. Blue Magic would have to occupy some form of hybrid magic...

As it is, this whole idea of a BLU/RDM that uses magic is already very similar to what we have. Stick them in armor and what you got is very close to a PLD, who have Clemency, Stoneskin, and could be worked to actually be able to use Raise/Cure since they have it already. Add that and all of a sudden you got 3 frontline tanks that use Magic in some form with swords.

I'd slap Blue Mage with a Mace personally, and the armor is a fairly big point... That's part of the main distinction I'd like from a mage tank. Dark Knight and Paladin wear suits of armor. Blue Mage could wear Casting set robes with a simple Clerics Stance style skill to give it the stats to tank. That makes for a very different "frontline" tank (is there any other kind?) IMO. They could do something similar with Samurai of course, because Samurai sure as hell doesn't suit Fending sets like Darklight, but it would still be a physical tank instead of a magical one.

I think it would be a real shame to just give Blue Mage a sword though... Red Mage kinda has to IMO, but you can specialize that with something like an Epee, which I'd imagine would benefit from piercing rather than slashing? Regardless of their actual roles, I'd be oddly pleased with with the three new Jobs covering the entire spectrum of physical attack types; Blue Mage, blunt. Red Mage, piercing. Samurai, slashing.