WHM getting progressively more unnecessary in content?

[Yeol]

Nope. PLD hasn't been optimal for progression since DRK was introduced in 3.0.

Absolutely DRK>>>>PLD in A12S cause it's all magic, again. Their Dark Mind cooldown cuts down on tank swaps and also brings more DPS. Despite PLD buffs, and QoL changes last cycle they are still quite a bit behind.

I know that DRK is better for A12S than PLD. But A9S-A10S-A11S PLD can do them just fine.
In our group we used PLD/WHM for progression and DRK/AST when farming.
A12S is a different story.

So PLD replaced by DRK and WHM replaced by AST.
It would have been better if we went DRK/AST from the beginning. But WHM/PLD make things easier when learning (A12S is an exception).