Thread: Making Jobs Rotationally Easier in 4.0

Regarding stances, the problem is quite simple.

A GCD in this game has too much value and tank stances have very little value (if any positive value at all).

As we've seen in basically all the math, a GCD of 0 potency is simply too big of a trade-off given the other penalties of tank-stance and the benefits just aren't impactful enough. Even for a job with an oGCD stance swap and 2 very strong abilities locked to their tank stance, they still avoid tank-stance like the plague.

Why? Balance. The gains you get from Deliverance dwarf the gains you get from Defiance. If the gap wasn't so titanic, tank stance would be used more.

I don't think the solution is to just remove stances altogether. That's like saying the solution to job balance is to just completely homogenize jobs. Different but equal is a hard idea to execute especially when you have a player-base with a few at the top who really analyze efficiency and create norms that others emulate but I don't think you need perfect balance in this case. Tank stance just needs something to give it value regardless of meta because enmity and eHP clearly aren't enough. Stuff like Unchained and Equilibrium are a step in the right direction and give tank stance real value when a WAR pulls but they aren't enough to keep the stance relevant outside of initial enmity. Just look at the blatant imbalance when you compare those to DPS-stance incentives like Fell Cleave, Decimate, Sword Oath, and Blood Weapon.

I also think it's a bad thing to remove stances because they give tanks a real spectrum of skill progression. Tank stance acts as training wheels for newer tanks that can't effectively snap aggro or use dCDs appropriately and SwO / Gritless / Deliverance gives tanks room to grow and an outlet for their ability to read a situation. Giving a tank everything by default just means they'll never have to really understand why they have it.