New Player (ish) wanting to Tank (question)

[coloradoderek]

I tried to find this question as I'm sure its been asked but I couldn't find a direct answer so I'll ask.

I want to play a paladin, however, I also want to tank for raids and such.

From what I can read, paladins can do good in dungeon groups or other 6 man situations, but for raids or "hard" bosses, they aren't very good. Now, I also read that Velious has kinda made it so Paladins can OFF tank but do they have a chance at main tanking yet?

If not, that means warrior is the only option for me, but then that brings up the question about soloing or leveling in general. Can warriors solo decently without sitting down and resting for 80% of my game time? Or, is it easy enough to find groups still while leveling up?

I've only really played EQ back when it was new and then I was a magician or other casters.

I've played a paladin recently but it was on the new servers and not in the old 1999 version of the game.

So I'm a newbie for sure, but just in tanking in 1999 era :)

Thanks for any help.
Very sorry if this question is getting old.

Derek

[Kender]

they can tank alot of bosses in kunark but not all. some just hit too hard and need a warrior

come velious, the fights are alot longer and defensive warriors are a must to mitigate the incoming damage. Knights can off tank the adds but raid target bosses just hit too hard and too often

It wasnt until defensive AA's that knights started catching up to the pure mitigation a warrior could put on the table

[coloradoderek]

Thanks for that information. Makes me think I could probably have fun playing a paladin.

What about the solo ability of warriors? Or is there likely to be groups on this server throughout all levels?

Just dont want to be stuck with not being able to solo and no groups so have to play an alt.

I know paladins can solo undeads so shouldn't be an issue with Pally.

Derek

[Roguejm11]

Kender is totally right.

SK or Paladin's will be able to tank any non raid encounters or named mobs. But due to the defensive abilities that warriors have, they are 100% suited better for raid boss tanking.

With Velious giants and dragons, quading and rampaging, the warriors abilities trump everything we do, lifetaps wont ever be fast enough, and LoH will only keep you alive for another few seconds really.

The up side, is yes you will be asked to off tank mobs while the warrior rotation tanks the big boys.

[Roguejm11]

Thanks for that information. Makes me think I could probably have fun playing a paladin.

What about the solo ability of warriors? Or is there likely to be groups on this server throughout all levels?

Just dont want to be stuck with not being able to solo and no groups so have to play an alt.

I know paladins can solo undeads so shouldn't be an issue with Pally.

Derek

SKs and Paladins solo much better than warriors mid to late game. But once you get beyond like lvl 30, I don't think you will see a warrior ever soloing. SKs and Paladins you will.

[Jimjam]

If you get to lvl 30 I found axe of the slayers to be a decent enough solo weapon.

Soloing as an untwinked warrior is about volume; kill what you can kill quickly and repeatedly. Something where you know you will survive if you start at 50% hp so you can self heal with bandages instead of using sit regen.

But I don't think soloing is the best xp route for a warrior. Find people who make solid group mates and make sure they keep finding you!

[kaev]

Solo is crap XP for every tank class. Being good at taking a hit doesn't kill mobs.

Even the most efficient tank solo play, SK fear/snare kiting, is poor XP compared to every caster except maybe a cleric root/nuking live mobs (and I'd be tempted to put my money on the cleric).

Comments mostly apply to play at L40+.

[Freakish]

I could solo as a warrior unto my 50s but it was tedious. You do not have the heals or utility that other solo classes have. I had some of the best gear you can buy, such as fungi tunic and used consumeables like root nets very often. For a new player solo as a warrior is not recommended. Your bind wound maxes at 100 until you hit lvl 51 which is a HUGE disadvantage. Bind Wound heals 1 point for every 4 skill levels so at 100 skill you are healing for 25 damage.

Contrast this with an IKS MNK. Their iksar regen is almost like a free fungi at high levels, you can get your bind wound up to 200 by lvl 40 and if a fight is going poorly you simply feign death.

[Danth]

Short answer: If you want to be safe for the raid tanking role, make a Warrior.

Longer answer: How much tanking you do as a raiding hybrid depends a lot on your guild. A few guilds use their hybrids quite a bit, but most P1999 guilds seem to use Warriors for everything and largely ignore their hybrids. Don't expect to tank many bosses, particularly Velious raid bosses, as a hybrid. If you want to tank high-end raid bosses with any frequency, then make a Warrior. That's what they're for.

Danth