PLD highest DPS tank single target

[Sarcatica]

While proc-based defensive abilities like parry and block are "unreliable" for tankbusters, they really start to shine when you look at them across a large number of hits (i.e. autos). Remember how I said that about 40-70% of the damage in a given fight is auto-attacks? Often this represents upwards of 600k damage over the course of a ten-minute fight. Having a shield may not be of benefit on a given tankbuster, but plays a significant role in controlling the overall rate of incoming damage, allowing you to tank out of stance.

The damage you take is still fluff damage, it will take the same amount of heal to get the relative HP back up. -20%~ damage from hits is barely noticeable if you couple to the fact that no auto hits for more than 5k each (you probably just do 2-4 parry/block every min or so), the comparison tickles even more when you have 28k+ in i240. The only difference in this game vs many other games is the existence of timed and occasional tank busters. This greatly diminishes the point of blocking/parrying attacks as it's not reliable enough to stack.

PLD's main strength is in its ability to simplify fights, both for yourself and your raid group. HG is the most powerful tank cooldown in the game. In several cases, you can outright cheese mechanics with it. You can bypass tank swaps in fights like A7S by denying stacks. You can redirect stacks to yourself as OT using Cover. You can chain stun adds with the only on-demand tank stun move. You are the only tank with access to silence (wasn't DRK supposed to be the magic tank?) DV protects the raid from big AoE hits, such as every second Akh Morn in Nidhogg. It's an absolute joy to play in these fights.

You forgot to mention the PLD/MNK for str/int debuff. Also PLD for A8S, releasing healers from healing you to full (unlike DRK) for the Onslaughter's tank buster and the last Final Punch combo.

RoH is a dps loss. But it's a bigger dps loss to use RA in ShO than it is to use RoH in SwO. It's better to make a small concession than a big one. If RoH keeps you out of tank stance, use it.

No Ninja is DPS loss. RoH is only a DPS loss when your OT (WAR) keeps using BB over and over, no other classes do a shit tonnes of aggro that you need to keep RoH-ing for nuts.

Tank swaps result in dps losses. You can minimise this with good execution, but it's still a loss. This may be more a consequence of the fact that DRK/WAR tends to be less hung up on the "I'm MT" mindset, but my personal preference is to swap at natural points in the fight rather than swapping back simply to artificially preserve MT/OT designations. Cover is a niche skill which gives your raid an alternate way of working around this issue. You don't have to use it if you don't want to, but the option is there.

This is still closely related to your co-tank and your NIN. NIN giving Shades after swap is too good to miss. It's only a loss if you keep swapping for no reason, PLD being the only job that gets shafted so badly for that department.

The key difference between HG and the other cooldowns is that it prevents damage. This isn't just a clutch save issue. If damage is a requirement for a stack or debuff mechanic to activate, you break the mechanic. It's one of the most powerful abilities in the game. You generally will use it twice per fight, as most progression fights are longer than seven minutes in length, and you don't hold a cooldown for longer than its recast timer.

HG simplifies most of the mechanics on the healers when you compare to DRK since you have DRK/PLD being the current meta MT. The moment you use it, healers can focus on other matters more. Other than that, any tank can do whatever PLD can do and DRK is still favourable for the veteran raiders due to the overall higher DPS it can contribute.

DM is not reserved for tankbusters. You can mitigate any tankbuster set comfortably using level 50 PLD cooldowns or their equivalent. You have a lot of bonus cooldowns at your disposal. A cooldown should never go unused for longer than its recast time. If it does, you should burn it to allow yourself to drop stance. DADM is a bit like IB on WAR. It's convenient if you somehow mess up your cooldown rotation, but it's also a dps loss if you end up having to use it. Regular DM is extremely versatile and has some use even in predominantly physical fights, where you can always burn it on an AoE heavy segment.

This one is dependent on the fights you are in and how comfortable you are. A5S doesn't have magical tank buster. A6S technically has some, but they are quite easy to do without so you are better off using it to mitigate other damages like the green balls. A7S is the same as A5S. A8S also use it for green balls (if you are doing the running) and tanking flamethrowers (does it even reduce that damage? because I just pop it whenever I can) and also soaking mines.