Your tank of choice?

[Breton]

Just wondering which tank class would be your tank of choice these days and why? It seems like an argument can be made for any of them but from what I've read I get that Warrior for raids, SK > Paladin for groups but both are good. Sound about right? Can warriors group tank well? Can SK or Paladins raid tank at all?

[Troxx]

Paladin unless defensive is needed; otherwise warrior.

Groups: Warriors can tank groups just fine. Knights have the snap aggro advantage. Between the two knights paladins in my opinion have the superior tool kit and utility.

Raids: Knights can tank raid trash clears well but in general only warriors will be tanking the heavy hitters.

[aaezil]

60 geared war > all but its diff at lower lvl / gear lvls

[elwing]

For regular groups I would go SK unlike what said troxx, through to be honest there's little difference between the two, sk have better dps, but it stays low anyway, sk have more pulling tools, while pali can help with the healing... So in my opinion, sk/pali mostly depends on the healers you have in group... Low healing go pal, enough healing go sk

[kjs86z]

If you have any interest in the raid scene at all, go warrior.

You'll be fine leveling.

That being said, if you want a much more FUN 1-60 experience, go SK or Paladin based on which overall style you like better (they're way more effective in large social groups). Both take damage equally, but have a different kit of doing so. Caveat would be if you ever will need to solo, go SK.

If I had to level a tank, I'd twink a warrior and just find shaman to duo with to 60.

[Raev]

Can warriors group tank well
Theoretically Knights should crush warriors here. The Paladin is the Enchanter of tanking; it's not about the heals as much as the stuns (especially on charmed pets), roots, and lulls. The SK can FD split and then pull with probes/beads while tanking, snaring and life tapping in emergencies. A good Knight should turn the strong Cleric/Enchanter duo into an absolute powerhouse, and be clearly superior to a Warrior or Monk in the same trio. And quite frankly, leveling without charm is for losers.

In practice most people play Knights like Warriors With Better Taunt Keys. Part of this is lack of mana; Knights probably miss decent FT more than any other class. Part of this is the tendency to fill groups; with 6 players usually the Paladin can convince themselves that someone else can handle rooting and stunning and the SK will let one of the 3 monks in the group pull. Part of it is the overall quality of play; the better the group the less the Knight abilities will matter. Part of it is just culture; no one expects Knights to be badass here so they aren't. Meanwhile the Warrior just keeps on chugging, bringing the most DPS and constantly popping evasive to minimize damage.

TLDR: Warriors are fine. If you roll a knight, seek out smaller groups with some mana regeneration support where you can do more than spam Flash of Light/Disease Cloud.

Can SK or Paladins raid tank at all?
Knights cannot tank raid bosses without about twice as much healing as a Warrior. In Kunark with short fights (especially considering the size of the Zealous Endgame Raiding Guilds at this point) this doesn't matter, but you'll never tank Kael or TOV bosses on a Knight. As a result everyone on P99 is used to Warriors and just dumping huge amounts of platinum into clicky threat items, while Knights can't dump platinum to improve their durability.

Now that the bio orb has been nerfed and without the SoD/BoC and strong prox aggro, Knights *should* be the primary trash tanks on raids (the ones without zone pulls, at least). Every time I have raided HoT here it's warriors tanking and Enchanters/Shamans dying some 2x per hour, with each dirt nap followed by the helpless warrior asking everyone to watch their aggro. I don't know whether P99ers will eventually adapt here or not.

Knights don't really get to use their other abilities much on raids, either. Paladin stuns and roots don't land, so they end up as gimp group healers and SKs let the 30 monks pull.

TLDR: if you want to raid, roll a warrior or be prepared to spend hours fighting against the classism

[Benanov]

Luclin's AAs did a lot to mitigate the issues with Knights having terrible durability, but just like all the skills that actually are on P99, Warriors benefit more from them.

Paladins and Shadowknights make great "oh shit" tanks if the MT bites it (IMO, it is easier to have your backup Warrior grab aggro from a Knight standing in the correct spot than have to deal with facing issues with all the DPS now getting ripostes, or worse, chase down a raid target that's gotten loose and now killing casters)

[Trelaboon]

Caveat would be if you ever will need to solo, go SK.

My 60 Paladin can solo named in Sebilis (including Hiero), but my 60 SK buddy in similar gear can’t. SK is really no better at soloing than a Paladin. I’m leveling a 52 SK st the moment, and he actually has a Rocksmasher (47/41 and 41% haste) and I think I solo less effectively than my Paladin did. SK definitely solos better though if your gear isn’t good at all

[kjs86z]

SK definitely solos better though if your gear isn’t good at all

You did a lot of talking about TOV geared characters in the Starting Zone sub forum.

Yikes.

[Naethyn]

Warrior because dps is so much more and the other stuff doesn't matter if you're grouped with good players.

[Budder]

I have a 32 warrior, I leve slow due to play times but noticed I can DPS pretty good but if a pally is in the group I have a hard time holding agro. Same goes for rogues. I have haste gloves and a couple quick duel wield weapons and use the hell out of taunt. Fun simple class with tons of hps!!

[Trelaboon]

You did a lot of talking about TOV geared characters in the Starting Zone sub forum.

Yikes.

No, but that’s the point, my Shadowknight alt, with a ToV weapon, solos less effectively than my Paladin did at the same level with a Sword of the Morning. My point was, that a Paladin imo solos as well or better than a Shadowknight. Being able to heal with a deep water helm is clutch.

Not to mention, he was asking about both groups AND raiding (ToV, surprise surprise) so by ignoring it, you missed the point.

[Breton]

The main reason I started the thread is because I am really struggling to find a main I can really run with. I've tanked well in other games but I understand EQ is not other games.

I've never raided before so the likelihood of me tanking a raid is probably pretty slim given that my guild has well established tanks who have been doing it for years although I'm sure if I got there and was geared enough, they'd give me a shot just because they are nice people. So I'd say my priority is likely group tanking. Does that change the advice at all?

[kaluppo]

The main reason I started the thread is because I am really struggling to find a main I can really run with. I've tanked well in other games but I understand EQ is not other games.

I've never raided before so the likelihood of me tanking a raid is probably pretty slim given that my guild has well established tanks who have been doing it for years although I'm sure if I got there and was geared enough, they'd give me a shot just because they are nice people. So I'd say my priority is likely group tanking. Does that change the advice at all?

I say Paladin if you're not concerned with tanking at raids. Being a good class makes life a lot easier since you get more places you are not KOS by guards. Plus having LoH is a huge plus to have and not just for yourself.

I spent most of my time grouping as my Cleric. I have had a few times where I got healing aggro and was almost dead and then BAM, my health bar goes full because the Paladin tank used his LoH on me. That not only saved me but prevented the group from a potential wipe after I went down.

90% rez at lvl 59 is pretty nice too for when no clerics are around.

[Troxx]

I’ve said it before but it is worth saying again here that I don’t consider paladin inferior to sk for solo. With root and DW helmet the healing potential is pretty insane. Neither will kill quickly but I imagine the downtime can’t be worse for the paladin. Fear kiting is cumbersome and requires room to do it adequately. Mana expenditure is greater and when you’re done you have to Med that mana back plus heal up. Self healing for the SK is mana intensive and only really possible in combat.

I dunno. I solo’d a large chunk of my 55-60 in tight quarters (no room for fear kiting) fighting dark blue mobs. Calm line made for safe and relatively simple pulls. Helmet healing meant mana expenditure per mob was a calm or 2 and a root or 2. Kills were not super fast but I averaged a dark blue kill every 4-6 minutes (factoring in medding) with only self buffs and mana free helmet healing.

Point is I could xp solo faster than a full group. Really the only setups I found truly faster were duo with a necro/mage (necro better but neither need outside buffs/haste) or trio with a shaman and another high dps melee. A unicorn group with me a cleric and enchanter would obviously have been best, but let’s face it ... the ench/clr duo wouldn’t need a third so that opportunity never arose.

Paladin solo capability is significantly underestimated. It’s not flashy in that our dps is giggle-worthy but it is consistent, steady, and reliable mob after mob with a surprisingly small amount of down time.

At 60? I’ve solo crawled seb self buffed out of boredom a few times. We bring our own heals, buffs, single pulls, stuns, cc etc. 59 and on we can even rez ourselves when we fuck up.

Very enjoyable class.

Ps: I still enjoy playing my warrior the most.

[Jimjam]

Honestly on 80% of content I enjoy using a ranger to tank most.

Obviously on raid content sk (trash) and warrior (super boss) are better.

In groups i've found ranger is sufficient and has the best toolkit. I've not played paladin for a long time, and they have a nice toolkit, but i feel the dps of ranger would even give it and edge over paladin.

Obviously this is just my personal experience and i think it differs to the consensus.

[Gustoo]

I was just about to post ranger for main tank as a joke. my main guy on live was a ranger and I was usually the main tank. Back then no one knew that it was statistically proven that rangers shouldn't tank so i tanked a lot and it was no problem.

This was not for raiding but for actually playing the game and enjoying it

To the OP all classes are awesome fun choose a class and race combo you can enjoy and relate to and that has a city or region you enjoy hanging at.

For me right now I would probably make a rogue because they're cool, but a warrior is a close call. Rogues are fun because you can do some sneaky exploring.

But really...play what you like and get into it.

[Jimjam]

I was just about to post ranger for main tank as a joke. my main guy on live was a ranger and I was usually the main tank. Back then no one knew that it was statistically proven that rangers shouldn't tank so i tanked a lot and it was no problem.

This was not for raiding but for actually playing the game and enjoying it

To the OP all classes are awesome fun choose a class and race combo you can enjoy and relate to and that has a city or region you enjoy hanging at.

For me right now I would probably make a rogue because they're cool, but a warrior is a close call. Rogues are fun because you can do some sneaky exploring.

But really...play what you like and get into it.

Oh yea, ranger definately is disadvantaged compared to the true tanks on the toughest fights. They are not raid boss tanks (though they can do guardian wurms, kael arena, HoT in a pinch should no other tank be immediately available). That said, rangers are often used to tank bosses between tank switches using weaponshield. I think it is probably fair to say in accumulated seconds rangers spend more time intentionally tanking raid bosses than either plate knight has.

[elwing]

Ranger are taking significantly more damage, yes, but they got a full tanking toolkit and they do far more damage than sk/pal... They won't be the tank of choice but they will tank some... And I don't think they tank anything in raid.

[Jimjam]

And I don't think they tank anything in raid. weaponshield for tank switches?

[elwing]

weaponshield for tank switches?

Right, tank switch... But that's not really tanking... And yes, ranger, just as bard and rogues, got some tanking disc while both sk and pal gets none... Which is beyond ridiculous...