How fitting

[Vyrerus]

DRK in FFXI

Let me paint the whole picture for you on that one, though you probably already know/knew at some point.

DRK had abilities similar to Warrior that raised attack and lowered defense, with its class identifier skill Souleater coming in at level 30 granting +25acc and taking 10% of your total HP and converting it directly to damage dealt on both auto attacks and physical weapon skills. It basically had Blood Weapon to offset that.

Within the confines of its black magic capabilities, it excelled in Dark Magic skill, with minors in Elemental and Enfeebling skill. Dark Magic skill affected the Drain and Aspir series of spells, spells that drain HP or MP. It got earliest access to Aspir II and as far as I remember, exclusive access to Drain II and Drain III. Drain II/III allowed it to drain and add the absorbed amount to total HP, granting it temporary hit points. This looped back into making Souleater more effective.

It also had Dread Spikes, which are spikes that deal counter damage that have endrain on them, granting the DRK HP back for being attacked. Incredibly effective, but had a drained HP total effect that would cancel the buff rather shortly against anything dangerous. Damage resolution also happens first, so if the DRK takes lethal damage they don't drain it back after they are already dead, receiving the KO status.

This variation of DRK has been in FFXI online since 2002, so it's got a 19 year history, to be fair. There's people that've been playing this type of DRK for almost two decades, and for the die hards, FFXIV's is a pale imitation at best (though certainly relatively more sturdy).

But yeah, I agree, DRK overall is about lifesteal for big damage. That's why people frowned when it was introduced as a tank. The Drains and things from FFXI version were all there to augment its life steals.

Big Sadge there too, cause none of its lifesteals worked on undead monsters, and a lot of times were subject to Souleater resistance to prevent DRK based zergs cause it used to bypass all defenses.

[Shurrikhan]

Let me paint the whole picture for you on that one, though you probably already know/knew at some point.

Oh, I'm aware, even if it certainly has been a while. I've watched a friend play at endgame quite a few times more recently, though I've only hit 77 on it myself before dropping XI. I don't outright dislike the concept or anything. It's... fine, I guess? I just hate when someone insists that another game must play like their game, or decries all preferences otherwise despite showing little effort to parse out why their game's/prefererd version would actually be superior to the other apart from a vague and sometimes contradictory fixation on theme.

But yeah, I agree, DRK overall is about lifesteal for big damage. That's why people frowned when it was introduced as a tank. The Drains and things from FFXI version were all there to augment its life steals.

Mostly off-topic, but a quick note:

I'd have to argue that a tank is the role on which HP-sacrificing skills most make sense.

No, really, think about it. On any other role, there's virtually no cost, no interplay, in that sacrifice, outside of just occasionally being blocked out of it by an incoming raid AoE. It mostly just becomes rotational, whereby the WHM and AST maintain their HoTs on you, and maybe their numbers go down with further GCDs spent keeping you up while your numbers go up in turn and make you look strong and beefy despite your likely only being rDPS-neutral at best. If only one job can take on HP-sacrificing skills, in order to keep that mechanic unique and iconic, then it should be whichever role can see the most interplay. To spend it on a DPS or Healer would make a pretty pathetic showing of the concept.

Inversely, consider the tank, for whom sacrificed HP might amount, even, to gauge or MP or whatnot by which to afford even mitigation skills. With that, you still have the ability to use your own HP bar as a bank of potency by which to burstily finish off a dangerous enemy while the rest are stunned or out of range (and it'd actually be pertinent in its danger, unlike when on a DPS or Healer) or take further advantage of downtime, but you could also spend HP during damage lulls and spend the resource that HP afforded during damage spikes to smooth out damage intake. That... seems a near-perfect fit, role-wise.