State of Dragoon?

[Grafeit]

The term "meta" means the optimal combination. Neither SAM nor DRK are part of the meta, sad to say. DRG is, and that's a big deal. Let me spell it out for you, if you're in the meta, you're more than fine, you're GREAT! There isn't any stigma surrounding DRG.

So DRK isn’t meta because it has a steep learning curve? I don’t understand, anyone I’ve talked to says that DRK is just as good as the other tanks, except that it requires more effort..As far as SAM, what makes SAM non-meta? Lack of raid buffs/utility?

[Hierro]

So DRK isn’t meta because it has a steep learning curve? I don’t understand, anyone I’ve talked to says that DRK is just as good as the other tanks, except that it requires more effort..As far as SAM, what makes SAM non-meta? Lack of raid buffs/utility?

DRK as a tank is fine. It has damage on par with everyone else and mitigation on par with everyone else, but the reason it's not part of the meta is because of how LB is gained. PLD's utility allows parties to abuse LB, and DRK can't do that. If the way LB gauge was gained got fixed, then DRK could be a viable candidate for meta. It has nothing to do with their learning curve.

SAM isn't part of the meta, because if you assume you're playing with the best players, you get more rDPS by giving them buffs and utility whereas SAM has none. That's not to say SAM doesn't have merits, such as in parties where players aren't so great. rDPS will likely be higher with a good SAM in "your average pf pug" party, than a good NIN.