Blue Mage tank???

[Claire_Pendragon]

People were saying that forever with RDM (which imo, would have been the better option for.)
I do think it would be nice to alternate between "playstyles" on BLU.
instead of role, you pick which playstyle within that role you like better.
(the only example of this, would be the MT/OT, or MH/OH set ups for tanks/healers, but for DPS, you have Melee, Caster, Ranged, each with their own style. (Positionals with WS, and Goad/fient. Cast bars but no combos, and addle/manashift. lower dmg ranged, with party buffs. But the whoel MT/OT and MH/OH set up has been sorta squashed with SEs horrible attempt at balance, and refusal to add more tanks/healers to make it work better)

[Starkbeaumont]

what kind of armor Blue Mage used i the past isn't really important as SE can just make them where tank armor in 14. Even if the job gear doesn't look tanky it still can have the same defence as the pld or drk set. just look at the lv70 war set. it doesn't look sturdy at all.
Though if we look at the past BLU had access to shields as well.
I guess they would yield shamshirs. wonder if that would mean redesigning some of the PLD weapons again as they did when nin was released.
Anyway I think BLU can work as tank.

[ManuelBravo]

....

Those alone would make BLU tanky enough, and thats not including the FFTA version fo BLU, using Damage MP to be an unkillable god.

Hmmm lets look back a bit. A mage type tank. Tanks prioritize on what trait...think about it...Blu would prioritize on what trait? think about it...Even with accessories you would be unbalancing two of the main traits. It would be saying lets put Tendency based on a BLM instead of Spell speed / INT. Blue mages, based on lore depend on two factors. Learning attacks and the potency of them. Hence they would make better support than tanks. Blackest Night Migrates and still some DRK don't use it properly -.-. You would still be trowing off main the main traits for tanking or being a mage. I will admit there are some situations were BLU was a great tank on some battles, mainly in FFXI , and I loved BLU as well. However making them into a tank role would may, big maybe work on old content as a high level. Even with buffs how would you be able to incorporate their lore into FFXIV? Maybe like the battle of warriors of darkness in the alternate reality the RDM is the BLU instead. The only reason FFTA Blue seemed like an proficient tank type was do was do to poor AI even with the Law system and Jagds ( which were joke ) only made it a so so difficulty.

[ForgottenScholar]

There is definitely a chance for this and is my guess at the next tank class for this game. FFXI version definitely showed blu capability as a tank as it does this fairly well and if they adapted it for this game there is scope for this as well as it being any other role. It will get its abilities from the monsters it fights so spells and abilities for tanking, healing and dps can come from this, its just open to what the devs wish it to be. I would be kinda disappointed if they end up making it a dps as essentially thats what ffxi meta made it though it was fully customisable for any role really.

[Claire_Pendragon]

Tanks prioritize on what trait...think about it...Blu would prioritize on what trait? think about it...Even with accessories you would be unbalancing two of the main traits.

I already said that. (which is where the real issues stem from. Though I would still argue for plenty of work arounds.)
(Or did you mean "trait", in that tanks mitigate dmg, and BLUs try to survive attacks, rather than "stat", which is how Im taking it in context of the 2nd part. Which imo, is pretty much the same thing. WARs use holmgang in speed runs as if it were their only mitigation. The trick isnt to lower dmg, but to survive it. THEN lower it.)

It would be saying lets put Tendency based on a BLM instead of Spell speed / INT.

Why would anyone do that? (we know SE makes a lot of mistakes, but that seems too obvious.)

Blue mages, based on lore depend on two factors. Learning attacks and the potency of them. Hence they would make better support than tanks. Blackest Night Migrates and still some DRK don't use it properly -.-. You would still be trowing off main the main traits for tanking or being a mage. I will admit there are some situations were BLU was a great tank on some battles, mainly in FFXI , and I loved BLU as well. However making them into a tank role would may, big maybe work on old content as a high level. Even with buffs how would you be able to incorporate their lore into FFXIV? Maybe like the battle of warriors of darkness in the alternate reality the RDM is the BLU instead. The only reason FFTA Blue seemed like an proficient tank type was do was do to poor AI even with the Law system and Jagds ( which were joke ) only made it a so so difficulty.

*edit*
I dont really see any of this meaning anything to FFXIV. (or even outside of it)
Though BLU being a "support" i wouldnt fully disagree with, but with how FFXIV is set up, and since the job best suited for being a caster tank is now a DPS, BLU is the 2nd best option for being a tank.
BLU just needs a minimum of a 0.5s Cast bar, which leaves them mobile, and able to take hits w/o worry of spells being canceled constantly. It prevents them from kiting as a tank, since they would have ranged attacks.
It also prevents too much auto attack dmg, which imo is what would make their tank stance not need to lower thier base dmg as much as other tank stances. (including the rare interupt, due to perfect timing fo auto attacks and your 0.5s cast time.)

WAR used to be the "Support" tank, but now PLD and DRK have the support, with PLD having the most.

Personally want to see more party utility from BLU, similar to PLD, but with a higher skill ceiling like WAR, but more so for survival, less so dps/threat.
(Would like a AoE regen White Wind to replace the tanks typical AoE threat, as they then use cone Breath Spells as filler on trash mobs. To make up for trash mobs hitting far more often, give breath a 1.5s cast bar, a much shorter CD version of surecast, and make it only stop interruptions of normal attacks. But crits can still interrupt by 50% or higher. (making awareness work well with it) Ideally ready at the start of each pull, but not last the whole pull, so u have to go into melee attacks/melee spells.

So far every tank has their ranged pull on a 15yalm limit, with PLD having a spell cast that reaches the normal 25yalms.

I'd like to see the ranged pull on a 25yalm, but with a 0.5s cast, sol you still have to stop moving to use it, but literally only for as long as u press the button, and can pretty much move instantly right after.
I'd also make it a DoT, so it wouldnt be spammed for kiting purposes. (similar to Aero)

[ManuelBravo]

Why would anyone do that? (we know SE makes a lot of mistakes, but that seems too obvious.)

It's call sarcasm , the word Mage alone should be a hint that their traits would be either MND or INT based.

[Claire_Pendragon]

It's call sarcasm , the word Mage alone should be a hint that their traits would be either MND or INT based.

BLU historically used all stats for spells, you need a lot of HP for breath spells. some use STR, some use AGI, some your level, or enemies level.
BLU doesnt stick to just INT and MND.

[ManuelBravo]

BLU historically used all stats for spells, you need a lot of HP for breath spells. some use STR, some use AGI, some your level, or enemies level.
BLU doesnt stick to just INT and MND.

BLU prioritizes on INT and MND , other traits are enhanced based on what Blue mage magic learns and is set. The effectiveness and potency is still based on MND and INT for the majority of them. For the offensive skills they only add a buffer based on alternate modifiers such as AGI, DEX, and STR

[Claire_Pendragon]

BLU prioritizes on INT and MND , other traits are enhanced based on what Blue mage magic learns and is set. The effectiveness and potency is still based on MND and INT for the majority of them. For the offensive skills they only add a buffer based on alternate modifiers such as AGI, DEX, and STR

Thats not true. Look at Goblin punch. INT and MDN arent a factor in the equation.
Look at "LvX XXXX" spells, INT isnt a factor.

Dependent on the FF, even White Wind isnt effected by anything other than HP.
Dependent on the FF, Breath spells are only effected by your current HP. (in XI i know they were primarily HP, with INT being next, making BLUs equip tank gear, and a elemental staff, to maximize the DPS on endgame bosses.)
Using XI again, you had physical spells which NEVER touched INT or MND (no matter which part of the equation you looked at, weapon dmg/STR/attack/blue magic potency were the only stats looked at), and magical spells which commonly used either INT or MND as the main stat.

Heck in in FF5 each spell for BLU had its own formula for how to do dmg, with Aero using typical spell forumlas using the games equivalent of INT.
But some of FF5 BLU spells use only Attack power (STR) solely. (so equipping a sword is better to raise their dmg, not staves/wands)

In FF5, there are 30 BLU spells, and only 8 that use INT/MND, and 3 of them are just Aero1,2&3.
Most use HP. (aka, increase HP)

[LurcherReno]

.. But this isn't 11 so they could redesign it very easily..