after leveling Paladin ... Dark Knight just feels really squishy

[Mortex]

Yeah drk pre 70 isn’t very good in dungeons just because you miss the blood to use quintus. But the same can be said about war without inner release pulling big pulls is hard. Dungeon tank order is Drk/war/pld. But the raid order is War/Pld/Drk

[Kalise]

Well... The major difference between PLD and not PLD is that while PLD has a shield to block attacks to provide that extra layer of mitigation, DRK and WAR instead have lower CD's on their mitigation CD's allowing them to use Vengeance/Shadow Wall more often than a PLD can use Sentinel.

To say nothing of being able to use Dark Mind and Thrill of Battle which again have shorter CD's than Bulwark.

So, it's expected that PLD would have to use fewer CD's because that's how they're designed. More passive mitigation but longer CD's so they can't pop skills as frequently.

Leveling up and doing Roulettes, I don't honestly feel much difference between the tanks in terms of defence. They all feel similar, given I manage their CD's properly. That is, until level 52 PLD because then Sheltron is really, really good against bosses. Since it lets you go ham in DPS stance while still letting you block 20-30% (Depending on what ilevel sync is putting your stats at) of the major damage abilities of bosses. Which is never matched by WAR (Unless you sit in Tank stance for Inner Beasts...) and DRK only compares at level 70 with TBN.

Though, this only matters if you don't need to be in Tank stance to keep aggro because some DPS is going ham and doesn't know what Diversion does... Since if you're in Tank stance, not only do you basically not generate gauge ever (Until level 68 when you'll have Requiescat > Holy Spirit spam which generates gauge in Shield Oath) but also you then also have higher base mitigations for the tanks across the board (With Grit also giving damage reduction and self healing from Souleater and WAR having Inner Beast) so the difference between having that block and not isn't as large.

[aqskerorokero]

Exactly, that's how you should feel. Never underestimate the power of random blocks.

[Hierro]

As one of the biggest proponents for DRK, even I have to say that anything below cap is pretty bad compared to the other tanks. Still, so long as you play smart with your cross roles, DADP, and stay in grit for all trash pulls, you'll be fine.

[Izsha]

1-69 is a crapshoot for all tanks. You gain access to different parts of your kit at different levels vs other tanks. But it's over so fast I wouldnt really worry about it. All tanks will survive the road to 70 and mass pulls really depend on a very solid team to do in level capped dungeons. Tank has to be good, healer has to he good, dos have to kill things fast enough. The entire team needs to he on point for mass pulls without the ilvl advantage you suddenly get at lv 50, 60, and 70. It all self corrects kn the end.

[Lubu_Mykono]

Dark Knight really doesnt come alive until you get the Blackest Night at 70. The other Stormblood actions are just not as intuitive to use.

[Steelbreeze]

DRK really is squishier than PLD, particularly in synched content. I know drk fanboys (or girls) really really want them to be equal in mitigation but they really aren't. I learned this both while leveling drk/pld and while leveling any healer.

[shao32]

DRK really is squishier than PLD, particularly in synched content. I know drk fanboys (or girls) really really want them to be equal in mitigation but they really aren't. I learned this both while leveling drk/pld and while leveling any healer.

DRK is not more squishier that PLD, is in fact the most solid tank against magic content and it's equal on physical fights, only on leveling where DRK missed most of his primary tools it's pretty bad for the overall bad desing they give us this expansion.

[Izsha]

A few people have taken "drk is squishy' out of context. Pre 70 (the point of the thread) drk is squishy. It gets to on-demand, free spam mitigation at lv 70. At 70 it's a different story, but pre 70 drk is a little rough. But it's still functional for the hour you might be any given level.

[Daniolaut]

In light of this thread, and it’s responses, I hope everyone is looking forward to 5.0 and even more removal of abilities and further imbalance of jobs at lower levels!

My suggestion is everyone just organize their hot bars, it’s not so difficult.

This coming from a gamepad user, who uses and has every ability on their hotbar with plenty of space still!

-On topic. DRK has Soul Eater and Abyssal Drain. Though not as powerful as a shield, should always be used. Essentially I have seen DRK’s repeatedly using power slash. This is not the way to go, in fact, once you get soul eater, should never be used unless you’re losing threat.