I never said WARs sucked, just that they were a straight average at what they do, when other more specialised jobs are better at certain individual things in a WAR's repetoire. My comment on a PLD doing the job of 2 WARs was directed entirely in the context of tanking, not doing damage. I should have made that clearer.

The reason I used THF sub for WAR up until 30 was because I happened to have it at 15 and everything else was far too boring for me to be bothered to lvl. I wanted to get it over with and get my advanced job. The extra stats from /THF just happened to help a bunch for hitting and evading and I tanked just fine, no problems at all. Rarely died and even more rarely lost a teamate. Agreed, there are better subs for tanking, but I was doing well already and my PTs were always happy about it. Good enough for me.

The reason for subbing SAM was more than just for 3rd Eye, or Store TP (which is at least 2% more per hit, I've sat there and watched it right in front of me). It was to make me ready for action at the drop of a hat. Need hard hitting damage? I have lots of extra STR, all my attacking gear from playing SAM, compatible with both that and WAR, and you can rely on me to put out a WS whenever you need me to because I get better TP. Need a tank? I have high armor and all the necessary tools, a relatively moderate HP boost, as well as a skill that will guarantee me a dodge on particularly nasty WSs by being quick on the keys. It was completely no-fuss, it got invites often, and I never had to ask what my role was or go to my mog house to switch subs for different purposes. I was ready for anything and did everything well. Bear in mind that this was at 30 I started doing this. I did try MNK and THF subs again at 30+ and always found myself lacking what only the other would provide. Maybe if I had been more resigned to specialise I could have gotten past that, but versatility without the downtime required to stop and make job switches is what ultimately offered me more opportunity for groups.

DRK=Big dmg number, spend gear on acc as you are horrible at it.
SAM=Low dmg number, but you are to juggle Skillchains.
As for that... I've sat there and counted blow for blow in PTs with both me as SAM and with a DRK in the PT and, believe it or not, I often match the DRK in damage and sometimes I do more. Unlike some players there I take the time to make sure my gear is at the top, +31 Attack and +10 Accuracy without food so far, and only getting better. If half the DRKs I've PTed with took care to do the same, then yes, they would certainly do more damage than me, but either way a well equipped SAM is definately not a low damage dealer.