Tank Stance Redesign

[whiskeybravo]

The longer the conversation the more incoherent the arguments.

The biggest problem is that the game often actively discourages you from swapping due to resource costs (MP) or GCD losses.

Not really, it's actually the playerbase that discourages you from swapping stances - the game makes it as easy as pressing one button. The negative connotation attached to purposely reducing your damage in favor of mitigation comes from other players only.

Raw Intuition was introduced in Heavensward as a sort of physical Rampart substitute. But delicately parrying attacks with your greataxe doesn't really fit the barbarian aesthetic.

Inner Beast was War's Rampart equivalent. Raw Intuition is more like Bulwark's counterpart. Dark dance was also a thing. All tanks had a "physical" only cooldown. Whether parrying fits the "barbarian" theme or not, the game allows all jobs to randomly parry physical attacks. The concept of a tank job being able to parry on demand, or have a higher chance of parrying compared to others, is not entirely out of place.

Shake it off has been turned into WAR's answer to Divine Veil (and a better one, at that), but since when can non-spellcasters erect magical barriers to shield their teammates?

I think it's fair to argue that it was SE which took the easy way out on SiO. Players just wanted it to be a useful ability. SE clearly made this ability overpowered for no particular reason.

If you wanted to make this sort of interaction more explicit, give Inner Release some defensive properties as well. It already prevents knockback. There's no reason why you couldn't pick up some damage resistance or bonus HP to shrug off damage while enraged.

IR can already be used to pick up damage resistance and bonus HP. Only thing that prevents this is ego.

As far as DRK is concerned, it seems that our identity seems to shift constantly. We've been parry tanks, magic tanks, and now barrier tanks. It seems like every time we try to specialise in something, another tank comes along and does it better.

PLD being allowed to block magic damage was a way bigger blow to DRK's identity than anything WAR ever did. And then to top it off, SE took the only remaining party mitigation DRK had and gave it to both the other tanks.

If you want to make DRK unique, there is one thing that we absolutely have to stake a claim in. This job has 27 years worth of series lore attached to it. We're meant to be this game's lifesteal tank.

I disagree with this on the basis that 2.0 WAR being a "lifesteal" tank didn't work. Damage mitigation scales with content, lifesteal does not. In my opinion DRK needs to re-emerge as the "magic" tank. WAR would be "physical", and PLD would be the best "support" tank for both.

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Not really trying to pick on Lyth because I generally agree, but there was too much here to not comment on.