Hybrid Tank Question

[Vellicon]

This question has probably been asked before, but I have a question about Paladin vs Shadowknight classes. Do to my work schedule and family commitments my playtimes can be limited and due to a 2 1/2 year old, grouping isn't always possible. At the moment I have a level 8 Dwarf Paladin and I was thinking about making a Dark Elf Shadowknight. So my question is which one is better for soloing level appropriate content when grouping isn't an option? Thanks.

[Tenlaar]

Shadow knight, without any question. Invis, FD, and the ability to fear kite.

[Jimjam]

You don’t get invis nor fd til like 30, but yeah sk has some nice tricks.

[Samoht]

Dark Elf Shadowknight.

I'm feeling encumbered just thinking about it.

[Vellicon]

Thanks for the replies. I thought the SK might be better solo, but I was wondering what other people thought. Also I know DEs are the weaker SK race, I just don't care for Ogres and Trolls. I've always had a liking for DEs.

[Snaggles]

I’d say a paladin is on par to about low 50’s, it’s way quicker depending on your budget. SK’s 50+ though can solo in places like the hole easier with less issues.

It’s more time than energy. The sk has more options and if played well with a bummed clarity can put down more in that same period of time in the high levels.

[Baler]

troll sk if you want to tag/pull
ogre sk if you want to tank
iksar sk if you want greenmist
half-elf paladin if you want nature's defender for group tanking
dwarf paladin for barrel rolls
erudite paladin for fashion/shield
ranger for tracking camped in fear.

[Vellicon]

My other question is any suggestions for the extra stat points? I am thinking of rolling a Dark Elf SK but I am open to giving an Ogre a try. Any suggestions for each would be awesome. Thanks.

[tycohunden]

SK is great fun, I leveled one up when my kid was around yours age, at that time there was a lack of tanks so people basically called for me to come by and were super nice about when I needed breaks for the kid. Idk about soloing though, it wasn't all that fun or easy.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

My other question is any suggestions for the extra stat points? I am thinking of rolling a Dark Elf SK but I am open to giving an Ogre a try. Any suggestions for each would be awesome. Thanks.

If you go Ogre dump into INT. You will start with plenty of STR and STA, and most tank gear is focused on giving more STR and STA. Its harder to find tank gear that also has INT/Mana.

Ogres specifically also start with under 75 AGI, so you want to get to 75 AGI to avoid the AC penalty. So that means 5 points into AGI and 15 into INT.

SK is great fun, I leveled one up when my kid was around yours age, at that time there was a lack of tanks so people basically called for me to come by and were super nice about when I needed breaks for the kid. Idk about soloing though, it wasn't all that fun or easy.

Shadowknights can solo quite well, especially once you get Feign Death at 30. Fear kiting is a great way to avoid taking damage.

[Jimjam]

SK can fear kite yellows pretty well at CoM temple.

I remember being there on my SK, pre 40. Some adventurers came over, I asked them if they wanted to team up. They said I was too low. I said "too bad" (or words to that effect), pulled another mob and fear kited in front of them and advised them temple was camped.

[ScottBerta]

Go Troll for solo

[yiuman]

You don’t get invis nor fd til like 30, but yeah sk has some nice tricks.

Get yourself a CoS and you can invis at 20.

[Atmas]

The amount of plat and how far you plan to take the character affects the answer to this question. FD and Fear kiting are great tools and SKs definitely have high survivability but Paladins have high utility as well. Roots, Lulls, Stuns, and Heals will get you out of or prevent you from falling into a lot of bad situations. If you can buy DW helm (which is relatively cheap) and/or a DW BP mana free heals go a long way in your soloing ability.

I think if you get to know either class you are going to be fine and really just should make sure you are playing whatever you enjoy. One thing I will say for your consideration though is that at the end game a SK still has great survivability in soloing and pulling ability but not much in the way of benefiting other characters, where as a Paladin can buff, heal, and rez in a pinch when a 90% is fine (which it is a ton of times).

I can solo some easy camps in chardok, and Seb like NG and Crypt on my Paladin. I know well geared SKs can do similar.

[tycohunden]

If you go Ogre dump into INT. You will start with plenty of STR and STA, and most tank gear is focused on giving more STR and STA. Its harder to find tank gear that also has INT/Mana.

Ogres specifically also start with under 75 AGI, so you want to get to 75 AGI to avoid the AC penalty. So that means 5 points into AGI and 15 into INT.



Shadowknights can solo quite well, especially once you get Feign Death at 30. Fear kiting is a great way to avoid taking damage.

Yea but what is the point in soloing with a class that’s by far the best aggro manager from lvl 9 onwards. Roll SK for the tanking, even makes wizards viable!

[Keebz]

Yea but what is the point in soloing with a class that’s by far the best aggro manager from lvl 9 onwards. Roll SK for the tanking, even makes wizards viable!

Is DC better than flash of light for aggro? Because it's definitely worse than flame lick.

I love my SK, and it's got some good aggro tools, but not sure it's 'by far the best aggro manager' in comparison to the other hybrids.

[Atmas]

Is DC better than flash of light for aggro? Because it's definitely worse than flame lick.

I love my SK, and it's got some good aggro tools, but not sure it's 'by far the best aggro manager' in comparison to the other hybrids.

It's definitely not. Both Paladins and SKs can snap agro.

[A Knight]

I think he said he wants to be DE. If you have bad gear I would go 10 str 10 sta. If you have good gear I would go all in sta.

I am not an expert on Sk. People may tell you anything against putting points into str but if all you have is some bronze sitting around, if you don't put points into str you may pull your hair out.

I think Int is only important on pvp and/or if your character has little to none.

[tycohunden]

Is DC better than flash of light for aggro? Because it's definitely worse than flame lick.

I love my SK, and it's got some good aggro tools, but not sure it's 'by far the best aggro manager' in comparison to the other hybrids.

DC isn't that great outside of being low mana and fast cast time, but with the armor stealing spells shroud of pain or something like that you get really good aggro. Flash of light is still better but has that blind issue where you can lose mobs running off, well I've been told that they can, but I've never tried it... Guess it was my opinion. I've always thought of SK's as the kings of aggro, but I might be wrong.

[Jimjam]

it’s much of a muchness really.

They all have cheap aggro with drawbacks (flash of light blinds, flamelick and disease cloud break mez). They also have less cheap options to mitigate this (stun, snare, ac/atk taps).

[Snaggles]

I put 20 points on Str for my paladin. An annoying issue later on since we all get pretty insecure over those last 100hps but you can still cap stamina with 70 base and riotous health.

FOL is fine if in range. You can pull with a bow or stun and cycle FOL when in camp. Quicker recycle rate than disease cloud so you can just rely on it. All the aggro tanks have one cheap spell (lvl 9) with annoying side effects and a few ones without drawbacks besides the mana cost. Both can generate enough hate to keep a fairly reckless wizard alive. Rangers flame lick is like FOL with a quick recycle and their only real aggro spell...it works really well but they also have DW which seems to help.

If you can cast aggro spells you can get aggro. Just a matter if you want it and what happens if you change your mind.

[formallydickman]

Paladin takes the cake in regards to snap aggro while still keeping CC options open imo. Neither FoL or Stun have a damage component and they also have access to root. The blind component isn't an issue once you have stun for ranged snap aggro and treat FoL like a melee-range ability only.

[Jibartik]

pal > sk for that too because their trix don't create permanent mez breaks ;)

[Snaggles]

Yea a pally is really the knight for those with OCD. Saving someone with LoH, heal over times and general CC work is really good. A boring spell book that delivers.

Sk's are very dynamic though. Nice for those times you dont really have a puller or someone to snare. I would have been just as happy with one.

[Atmas]

Since it got brought up and some people aren't familiar with the mechanic, blind will cause the mob to run around only if no one is in melee range.

[DeathsSilkyMist]

Yea but what is the point in soloing with a class that’s by far the best aggro manager from lvl 9 onwards. Roll SK for the tanking, even makes wizards viable!

OP's question is which hybrid tank is better for solo:) Both can solo fine, but I would say SKs are overall better at soloing due to having more utility, as well as FD for deep dungeon diving. Yes, Paladins can certainly do the same thing with lull and running out of the dungeon with divine aura, but then you lose your progress and have to start over.

For quick drop in and out sessions, SKs have the speed due to their utility and ability to kill faster due to having more offensive spells and buffs. Paladin soloing needs a bit more time and patience, as well as invis clickies.

This also obviously depends on what you are fighting, Paladins can kill some things better than SKs, and vice versa.

[unleashedd]

for pure solo, go erudite or DE - you gonna need lots of mana