Quote Originally Posted by Reynhart View Post
Isn't that a little bland ? Considering tank gameplay is not that different between jobs, if they have roughly the same numbers, they'll only be more copies of each other.
Not really. Method is more important for determining individuality than numbers. PLDs having a "simple" stable rotation, WARs having "primal" stack generation and use that allow for big hits, and DRK buffing various abilities and attacks with Dark Arts are the primary things that distinguish the 3 tanks from each other.

Tempered Will vs Holmgang vs Plunge is a very good example of same result but different methods. All 3 actions are anti-knockback but Tempered Will prevents the forced movement, Holmgang anchors position and Plunge counters the forced movement with an instant move of its own. Hallowed Ground/Holmgang/Living Dead is another example.

Lets says SE wanted to give all 3 tanks a full party protection skill like the Paladin's Divine Veil. They could give WAR a version of PvP's Thrill of War (Increases maximum HP of self and nearby party members by 10%/20% and restores HP by 10%/20%) and DRK an ability (lets call it Soul Anchor) that prevents nearby party members from dropping below 1 HP as long as the Dark Knight is alive and they have the buff. All three do basically the same job but each does it differently.

For me, any party setup should offer the same overall DPS, to give freedom on the job choices (Excluding obvious bad choices like stacking the same jobs). Since WAR is supposed to be the top "personal tank-DPS", PLD and DRK should balance that with party utility.
WAR being the dps tank, PLD being the physical tank and DRK being the magic tank are kinda where the whole imbalance problem comes from. Because War dps > Pld/Drk dps, War + Pld/Drk ends up inherently better than Pld + Drk when dps matters. Pld and Drk have similar troubles based on whether a fight is more Physical and Magical damage heavy. This has been a regularly reoccurring problem throughout 3.X.