RE: Tanking meta
I'm honestly kinda worried about what'll happen with the next patch.
My favorite thing about tanking in FFXIV is how dynamic the role is. A damage dealer wants to do maximum DPS all of the time because their role has a one-track mind. However, Tanks (and also Healers) can turn the dial between offense vs defense through their actions. That's what I love about the role.
If the situation calls for more defense, you go tank stance and pop CD's to mitigate bursts. If the situation calls for more offense, you drop tank stance and use your defensive cooldowns to make up for your lack of tankyness.
Sometimes, you're short on DPS and you need to take risks to push meet the DPS requirement. Other times, maybe the incoming damage is too intense or maybe the healers are behind/oom, and you have to adjust defensively. I don't want this aspect of tanking to be taken away.
I don't have a ton of experience with the current raid content (been level 60 for 1.5 months) but I feel that the current tanking meta requires tanks to be very offense-minded in order to optimize for Alexander Savage. DPS requirements are high, tank survivability requirements are low. I definitely spend more time tanking in Deliverance than Defiance. I've yet to equip a Fending ring (unless to cheat item level or by accident).
I've always advocated for heavy tank DPS in pre-Heavensward, but this is a bit extreme. Not a lot of people see the tanking (and healing role in this light, but that's what's required of the role. I think it's a massive barrier for a lot of groups from clearing A3 and A4. Heavy tank DPS and heavy healer DPS should be a bonus for skilled players to further optimize, but not an absolute necessity to clear the fight.
However, what I'm afraid of is S-E overcompensating for their mistakes with A3/A4 and move too far in the other direction where tanks are required to be purely defensive and are discouraged from ever tanking out of tanking stance.
Either extreme makes the tanking too one-dimensional and bland. I actually find that Final Coil had a healthy balance between offense and defense while A3-4 is too extreme on the offensive side of the spectrum.
RE: Itemization
The more I think about it, the more I believe that the correct solution is to make accessories job specific (Fending = Tank only, Slaying = MNK/DRG only, etc...) and otherwise changing nothing with stats.
Adjust the damage of tankbusters accordingly, since tanks are wearing VIT accessories.
I don't care if I can't wear STR accessories. I care more about how the class is played than I care about having bigger numbers.
RE: Parry
Remove this stat from the game. Seriously.
Some other MMOs have tanks getting pummelled by auto attacks and requiring heavy healing all of the time. Proc-based damage reduction actually makes sense in those games. In FFXIV, bosses tickle the tank with autos and unleash tank busters that are handled with defensive cooldowns. Meanwhile, there is heavy raid-damage and AoE healing. Tank damage is relatively light.
Changing boss behavior and reallocating more physical damage on the tank is one possible solution to making Parry more attractive, but I think it would be a poor solution. Tank and healer abilities are well-suited for the current climate of incoming damage. It's fine the way it is.
Parry is just completely out of place in this game. There is no point to having this stat. If you insist on having a defensive secondary stat, give us a flat DR% stat. Proc-based DR is pointless.
Job Balance
In a perfect world, there should be a compelling reason to bring any of the three possible combinations of . Ideally, all three options would have pros/cons but are all very strong.
At the very least, two of the aforementioned combinations need to be strong, that's good enough. Suppose WAR/DRK and WAR/PLD were both decent, even though WAR is OP, at least all three tanking jobs are viable.
In the current state, WAR/DRK or WAR/WAR are the optimal choices. Only one of the above combinations is viable. Bringing PLD puts your group at a disadvantage. This is a problem.
Solution: Buff PLD. The problems lie with DPS output and TP limitations. Otherwise, make other minor buffs and QoL changes to some of their abilities (Shelltron getting eaten by an auto-attack right before a tank buster is poor design.)