Here are my thoughts on this whole PLD issue.
Having played since 2004, you tend to notice trends in this game over the years. I leveled PLD just because my previous Linkshells usually lacked PLDs that were online at the right time for events. So, I was pretty much as you would say a "backup tank." I remember the debate of who was the better tank in years past-- Ninja or Paladin. Eventually it fettered out to be based on being completely situational if you needed a blink-tank or a blood-tank depending on the xNM involved.
It was crazy seeing what were tanks in the past and how it changed over time. We went from WAR/WHM (pseudo-PLD), PLD/WAR, NIN/WAR, NIN/WHM (rarely saw this...), NIN/DRK during the CoP/ToAU days to even unconventional ones until SE "fixed them"-- RDM/NIN and BRD/NIN.
Then, SE adjusted 2-handed weapons and damage dealers are doing damage they should have been doing when the game started. Eventually we went from NMs to Zilart HNMs (Aery/BD/VoS) to CoP HNMs to ToAU HNMs/ZNMs to WotG VNMs and WoE to now Abyssea NMs (ANMs). Between each addition and update, the tanks changed hands every so often you'd think they'd be drug users sharing a needle. (I know, bad analogy.)
Then, we get to Abyssea. At first during the first 3 added areas--Tahrongi, La Theine, and Konschtat, PLD was pretty much the
de facto tank with NIN playing second fiddle. As more areas were added and newer weapons, gear and eventually job adjustments, PLD slowly went to the sidelines because it was to the players' eyes it was inefficient and slow from
how I see it now.
Players will almost always go with the shortest, most efficient route regardless if it affects a certain job(s). It's why over time you saw jobs get pushed aside like DRG pre-2H update to PUP and so on. Especially when merit burn parties were all the rage, certain jobs were just pushed aside because of players' attitudes changing everytime that something new comes along. It's also why you see players leeching their way to 90 from level 30 onward regardless if their skills (combat and magic) are subpar and gimped. Players don't want to spend too much time anymore doing anything. Plain and simple.
Honestly, it is stupid leeching your way to 90 and eventually 99 without even learning how to play your job and gear it well. But, I'll leave that discussion for another topic.
It's this attitude that ToAU merit parties created and carried over to Abyssea cruor and seal farming parties that I would say have changed many players' attitudes and honestly imbalanced the game. If we spend too much time doing anything, it's a waste of time. That's how I've observed and noticed more about these players.
My LS mate put it bluntly: "SE made everything easy except those outside Abyssea."
It's as if Abyssea is the only thing that matters to players now. It gets them what they want within a few hours or days without spending weeks or months camping an HNM outside Abyssea against a botting LS or spending millions of Gil on a Relic.
Abyssea is both a benefit and a detriment to this game just as how ToAU merit parties excluded many jobs from merit parties from BLUs to PUPs to RNGs even. Now Abyssea has excluded a lot of what a PLD is meant to do originally and that is being a primarily defensive tanking job.
SE has pretty much destroyed that concept with the addition of Abyssea. MNK and at times NIN tanking is the preferred tank now within Abyssea whether you like to admit it or not. Voidwatch was recently added and the debate continues but it seems PLD still has an edge there. But, that is probably the only area the old PLD still has some use left. Abyssea has put PLDs and even RNGs to the sideline, and at times even SAMs. And, even SCHs as my friend has noticed lately since Minikin Atma on WHM and RDM, and BLMs have shown more usefulness over SCH. The last time I saw a SCH in Abyssea was when the first three areas were added. Nowadays, I just mostly see SCHs standing in Jeuno showing off their AF3+1/+2 armors.
Isn't it sad how the game evolved? And, how players attitudes have changed?
My friend told me that SE will probably fix this eventually. Maybe some new event will event bring back PLD, RNG and SCH to the game again that doesn't relate to Abyssea.
I've seen it first hand myself. Melee jobs, primarily WAR and MNK, simply do too much damage faster than a PLD can keep up hate. I've been a PLD tank back in the HNM days and it is completely different now. With the Atmas on a MNK with their improved counter ability, they can tank any or most of the ANMs inside Abyssea with very little issue. For example, tanking Teugghia with a MNK, the MNK was the primary tank for nearly the entire time. I was there as a backup tank instead of a primary tank. Every time the MNK did a WS, he would pull hate. I would only hold hate long enough until he did another WS again. When hate was reset, I would be able to pull it away from the WHM but the MNK would get hate right back. And, between the MNK and myself on PLD, the MNK took the least amount of damage. I was more of an MP sink regardless if I had 4000 HP or a lot of gear to mitigate damage, my PLD doesn't hold a candle up to what a MNK can do. It doesn't mean I'm a bad tank but it's the sad reality of it.
And, let's not forget about the oh-so-important (*sarcasm*) weakness triggers. MNK, NIN, WAR can do the majority of the weaponskill triggers unless something rare comes up like Archery or Markmanship. THF can cover the Dagger WS if those come up. PLD has... nothing besides sword that can be covered easily by WAR. There is nothing that PLD provides that is useful in Abyssea especially when the game is nothing but Abyssea.
Solara above gave a good suggestion on fixing this issue:
Quote:
That aside, I favor raising mob defense/pdt/mdt, as well as increasing dmg dealt from mob offense. This would lower the usefulness of dd tanks because they couldn't go all out and expect to survive, but holding back wouldn't be conducive to maintaining hate. Add a decrease in the rate at which Plds lose VE and at that point dedicated tanks regain their value for pure hate control and survivability without doing anything game breaking.
Making PLDs deal more damage or higher critical damage won't do it. The problem is enmity generation by the melee jobs themselves. It's wholly lopsided and imbalanced. Until SE fixes that issue, PLD will not be the
de facto tank for the forseeable future, or until something new comes along that requires a PLD tank. MNKs generate enough enmity to hold hate just by using a WS and the damage it does. PLD only has Flash, Emblem, Sentinel, Rampart and Provoke (if subbing WAR). There isn't much in the way for PLD to get hate and keep it up consistently. The timers between job abilities pales in comparison to how many weaponskills a MNK can do before a JA is available to use.
Again, totally lopsided. Abyssea favors the easiest and fastest route out, and that's how it will be until SE fixes this.