In-depth idea for Rune Knight tank for 5.0

[Adarrack1252]

This is a combination of Rune Knight (FFT) and Rune Fencer (FFXI) that I was inspired to make.

Rune Knights have 2 stances
Incarnation of Fire – While in this stance the rune knight uses two hands to wield his weapon and engulfs it’s blade in searing flame, in this stance his offensive abilities will cost MP, while his defensive abilities will cost TP. His damage will increase by 20% and his damage reduction will decrease by 10%.
Incarnation of Earth – While in this stance the rune knight conjures a shield made of the most solid stone while holding his blade in his other hand, in this stance his offensive abilities will cost TP, while his defensive abilities will cost MP. His damage will decrease by 10% and his damage reduction will increase by 20%.

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The main attacks of a rune knight consist of Heavy Swing and Elemental Swing, the first is a powerful blow that helps to generate enmity and empower your runes, the second is a blow that is enhanced by the rune empowered from your heavy swing.
• Heavy swing – Deal damage with all of your strength behind the blow, 150 potency
• Elemental swing – Enhance your blade with either a harbored rune or a rune spell combo, 100 potency (150 combo), deals damage aspected to either your current harbored rune (unaspected if multiple) or to the rune spell used to combo into elemental swing.

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Rune Knights use a variety of runes to create combos, restore health, or control the flow of battle.
• Lux – Light a Defensive ability, heals yourself a good amount, 2 second cast time, 600 potency (1000 combo)
• Gelus – Ice an Offensive ability, Deals damage to your target, 2 second cast time, 100 potency (180 combo)
• Flabra – Wind a Defensive ability, knock back all enemies around you 15 yalms, instant, increase emnity
• Sulpor – Lightning an Offensive ability, deals lightning damage to all enemies around you, instant, 80 potency (120 combo)
• Tenebrae – Dark a Defensive ability, instant, deal dark damage to target, increases emnity, 50 potency (80 combo)
• Ignis – Fire an Offensive ability, generates emnity, slash through the air sending a wave of fire in the wake of your sword hitting everything in a cone, 50 potency (80 combo)
• Tellus – Earth a Defensive ability, stamp your feet sending out a shockwave dealing damage and interrupting target, 50 potency (80 combo)

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Your runes are not your only magic to help you in combat, you have a variety of enhancements as well. Using a spell or activating a rune allows you to Harbor it, this uses the gauge to show what runes you are currently harboring up to a maximum of 3
• Elemental Sforzo – A defensive ability that buffs your damage reduction for 10 seconds by 10%
• Shock Spikes – A defensive ability that strikes back at your attackers with bolts of electricity that has a chance to stun them, 30 potency, lasts 30 seconds
• Aquaveil – A defensive ability that reduces damage you take and lowers the chance that you will be interrupted when hit while casting, 5% reduction, lasts 30 seconds
• Jolt of Lightning – A defensive ability that blasts you forward in a bolt of lightning at the target, leaving them stunned for 2 seconds and dealing minor damage, 50 potency
• Rush of wind – An offensive ability, you rush forward like a storm and blast your target with a slash empowered by the element of wind, 100 potency

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• Gambit – An offensive ability, expend all harbored runes on your weapon to attack a foe, deals damage based on what runes you have harbored and increases in damage with each rune harbored, leaves the enemy with its defenses lowered, 150 potency for each rune harbored when used.
• Prolonging of the Elements –A defensive ability, your health will not go below 1 hp, this effect removes one harbored rune from you for each hit you take that would otherwise reduce your health below 1, lasts 30 seconds or until all runes are expended. Can generate runes while this ability is active. At the end of this ability you suffer damage based on the number of runes used beyond 3 (5% of your max per rune)

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There are also a few abilities that work differently based on what stance you currently using.
• Liement – A defensive and offensive ability that changes based on stance, In earth stance it creates a shield made of rock to absorb blows, 10% damage reduction and generates enmity. In fire stance it causes an explosion on your next auto attack or weapon skill, 200 potency. Consumes a single harbored rune.
• One for All – A defensive and offensive based on stance, in earth stance it gives all nearby allies a damage reduction buff of 5%, in fire stance it gives all nearby allies a damage increase buff of 5%.
• Rage of the Elements – An offensive and defensive ability based on stance, in earth stance this ability gives you a ice, earth, and light rune and decreases damage taken by 20%, in fire this ability gives a fire, lightning, and dark rune and a damage increase buff of 20%

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Rune knights are empowered by the elements, Incarnation of the Elements is the peak of their ability.
• Incarnation of the Elements – Both an offensive and defensive stance, take on all of the runes in your sword gaining the benefits of both of your incarnations and generating large amounts of hp/second, can only be used with 4 runes harbored, changes elemental swing into elemental impact, 10 second duration.
• Elemental Impact - Offensive, generates emnity, deals huge unaspected damage and restores mp, 500 potency

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Traits
• Enhanced Vitality I, II, & III respectively as a tank would normally gain them
• Harbor Rune – Allows you to maintain a rune, that has been activated, on your weapon to increase damage of auto attacks and empower abilities such as Gambit. Up to 3 runes can be harbored at any one time.
• Runic Empowerment – Allows the harboring of an extra rune and increases the damage, duration and healing of your rune abilities by a slight amount. (20 potency, 2 seconds extra duration, and 100 extra potency for Lux)

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There are obviously some balancing issues as I can only theory craft but any constructive criticism is welcomed. I also realize that there needs to be recast times on most of these abilities but haven’t gone that far as of yet. Also mp costs and tp costs would be interesting to try and figure out, but would be difficult to balance without actually testing.
Please leave your feedback below
Also if anyone can teach me to put this all in one post for future reference that would be absolutely wonderful.

[Tanathya]

FFXIV's DRK is esentially FFXI's RUN, barring the appearance, as in it was born off the very same concept of a magic oriented tank. I honestly don't know why they did that when RUN would've fit the Heavensward theme perfectly, but /shrug.