Why samurai is much more possible as a dps than you think

[Norleas]

So I was thinking about what classes share a similar role, and more specifically in the dps category. Of course we have tanks and healers which generally all share gear sets, but dps usually share a set with another that's similar to their class. We have caster dps (BLM, SMN) ranged dps (BRD, MCH) light melee dps (NIN, MNK) and last but not least heavy melee dps (DRG, ???). The others got their class twin after some sort of update (except caster). Ninja was added in 2.4 and MCH was of course added in 3.0. I came to the conclusion that the next DPS had to be another heavy melee dps, and that heavy melee dps would most likely be samurai.

[basketofseals]

I think the whole idea as Samurai as a tank comes half from the joke of every sword wielder being a tank and half not knowing what other option the tank would be. It's rather unlikely that they wouldn't release a tank when releasing a whole bunch of new classes.

Honestly I don't really see a distinction between "heavy and light melee." They feel similar enough to me. I'd rather we see another caster DPS.

[CrimsonLegendSwordman]

Monk and Ninja gear doesn't share cause of their use seperate status

[Allyrion]

Monk and Ninja gear doesn't share cause of their use seperate status

^ This. Gear matching is a moot point when all the melee have separate gear sets. The only time Nin and Mnk shared gear was when Nin was released and they added sexy to some of the 50 sets. But that was a one time thing and their sets have nothing to do with each other now.

SAM might be dps because Yoshida thinks of them as such or because we don't have a real sword based dps. SAM might be tank because RDM is probably going to be a dps.

[Belhi]

The same logic would suggest a new tank class will also need to be heavy armour based since tanking itemised stuff is all heavy armour and plate stuff.

Frankly, with the existing meta, adding another tank makes more sense than adding another healer. The healer meta is already awkward with the three healer classes and unless they overhaul that meta adding a fourth healer is just going to make things more odd and wonky.

[RyuDragnier]

I think the whole idea as Samurai as a tank comes half from the joke of every sword wielder being a tank and half not knowing what other option the tank would be. It's rather unlikely that they wouldn't release a tank when releasing a whole bunch of new classes.

Honestly I don't really see a distinction between "heavy and light melee." They feel similar enough to me. I'd rather we see another caster DPS.

Most sword wielders are known for parrying, evading, and countering blows throughout history, usually with some defensive shield with them. The samurai was the Japanese equivalent of the European Knights, the difference being they tended to two-hand their sword, so there was no shield to fall back on. Plus the idea of a counter tank sounds pretty awesome.

[Chiramu]

Samurai from previous FFs, Auron and Jack off the top of my head are very strong damage dealers. It will be a shame if Samurai is a tanking class from it's previous FF history.

[CUTS3R]

I think the whole idea as Samurai as a tank comes half from the joke of every sword wielder being a tank and half not knowing what other option the tank would be. It's rather unlikely that they wouldn't release a tank when releasing a whole bunch of new classes.

Honestly I don't really see a distinction between "heavy and light melee." They feel similar enough to me. I'd rather we see another caster DPS.

But we already have 4... *runs away *

[Khalithar]

Samurai from previous FFs, Auron and Jack off the top of my head are very strong damage dealers. It will be a shame if Samurai is a tanking class from it's previous FF history.

I've posed these questions in other threads before, but the answer is more about speculation. SE said that Samurai was intended to be the tank for HW but they felt that Dark Knight was more appropriate to the setting.

Now the questions:

1. Did they take all the work done on Samurai and turn it in to Dark Knight with some changes to the animations?

-Or-

2. Did they just shelve the Samurai tank and the work done on it for later?

If the answer to question 1 is yes, that means Samurai could still end up as a DPS since Yoshida said that's what he envisioned the Job as. If the answer to 2 is what they did, then it means Samurai will just get finished and turned in to a tank as they originally intended.

[Reynhart]

I've posed these questions in other threads before, but the answer is more about speculation. SE said that Samurai was intended to be the tank for HW but they felt that Dark Knight was more appropriate to the setting.

To be precise, SAM was intended as a tank and DRK as a DPS. But Yoshi-P said that after adding NIN in 2.4 he didn't want to add another "eastern" job that soon, that DRK felt more appropriate to the mood and that they needed a tank for HW. So, they decided to swap their role.

I'm not sure if this is still true, but at the time, he clearly said that SAM would likely be a DPS in the end.