Quote Originally Posted by Khalithar View Post
Also that comment that it would make the tanks lose identity is absurd. Getting rid of oaths wouldn't do anything to pld's playstyle at all, the class would play exactly the same. If you got rid of grit and thereby freed up drk access to blood weapon it would be a quality of life increase.
It wouldn't get rid of any one tank's identity, but it would almost certainly change what it means to be "a" (i.e. "any") tank, which is itself a form of identity. That's probably what they're referring to.

I'm also against the idea that only Warrior should uniquely have a way of thus varying its strengths, while Paladin and Dark Knight are then forced into an uncomfortable medium that will only further niche MT and OT positions. Now, there could be other ways to give almost all that stances do, but I see it as essential that each tank should have nearly the same range of potential and simultaneous capabilities, even if in drastically different ways.

I'm personally saddened that Shield and Sword Oath gameplay aren't more differentiated, but alternatively, I kind of feel -- and this is quite a turn-around from my original thoughts -- like Dark Knight not always having access to Blood Weapon actually gives it more of a sense of being a Dark Knight, maybe not in terms of thematic arsenal, exactly, but in the mindset. Blood Weapon being inaccessible in Grit just gives that dire wish to escape protective play and blow your stuff all over that boss as quickly as possible. Now, you could say that concept, that mindset, that direction of gameplay, is better suited to a Warrior (and their respective Fell Cleave, which does a similar job), but it's something many a Dark Knight may well miss. It more or less epitomizes the best parts of risk-reward optimization of stance-dancing as it is right now. Having to blow one more cooldown pre-pull, and likely having your arsenal tuned back a bit to match, is not a quality of life change. It's a further obligatory action, rather than something to look forward to or pace oneself around. It's, essentially, bloating.