Quote Originally Posted by Reynhart View Post
It's not because they're squishier than you that you are an actual tank. Before XIV, there was no DRK iteration than can be close to a tank. The most important part is that it never had any skill that could be related to tanking.
FF4 introduced a system where you HAD to have at LEAST 2 people take more melee dmg, and at least 2 people dealing less melee dmg, but resisting it.
Almost every character had an option for being put in the back row (with the exception of PLD Cecil)
But unlike me as a child, who put everyone in the back row, and just turtled every fight, i was forced to put people in the front row.
everyone who had means to help survive the melee attacks of the front row, also had melee options that actually did decent dmg.

In short, if it was able to go to the front row, it was a tank.
but not everything that could go to the back row was a tank.

FF5+ changed this, and the jobs that had back row options sometimes lost those options starting from this game. (While also losing some of their survival)

back on topic:
2.0 made the mistake of keeping rampart/sentinel/shield oath as -X% of an enemies dmg, rather than being like foresight, raising your own def by a %.
this caused the issue we still suffer from today, that causes tanks to be too limited in their unique mitigation options.