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.

[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.

[Kiteless]

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.

Except the katana, in addition to being a very poor sword in the first place, was not the primary weapon of the samurai, it was a last-resort tool when bow and spear were not available. We already have a two-handed sword tank that uses counters (Reprisal). And DRK already gets enough flack for being a gussied up PLD as it is. If SAM is indeed in 4.0, and is intended to be developed as a tank, they'd have to put a lot of work into diversifying its functionality and aesthetic from what we have already, because things are already very homogenous as it is.

[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 *

[Alistaire]

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.

Certainly has nothing to do with how SE has commented on how they'd been considering SAM as a tank.

Which in turn probably goes back to them saying in FFXI they wanted it to be a tank, despite how much that concept failed. They had also said they designed ninja for FFXI primarily as a dps, and we got that fixed for this game; I'm betting they do the same for SAM.

[Reynhart]

Which in turn probably goes back to them saying in FFXI they wanted it to be a tank, despite how much that concept failed.

Considering that to be tank in FFXI, you just needed /WAR and a slight means of mitigating incoming attacks, SAM could have been a tank.
If some people wouldn't have been ridiculously blind of how NIN would be played with a spell that completely negates one attack...

[Alistaire]

Considering that to be tank in FFXI, you just needed /WAR and a slight means of mitigating incoming attacks

PLD/NIN says hi. Hell, DRK/NIN waves hello as well. You didn't need /WAR, you needed threat generation. And considering getting hit lost you threat in that game, /WAR was often more of a detriment to tanking than provoke would cover for.

[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.