Project 1999 - To play a warrior, or not to play a warrior

There is a lot more to tanking as a warrior than some people would have you believe.

First of all, I rolled Barbarian because I wanted to be a large class (for slam stuns/spell interrupts), but didn't want to be a big fat ogre or troll. Barbs look cool.

Positioning the mob for the group is huge. You will have a rogue(s) in most groups in this game, and even though they should be getting themselves in position to backstab, you need to make sure the mob is facing a direction that he won't quickly be pushed in to a wall or corner. On that note, sometimes you need to organize the direction of the push, so making hotkeys along the lines of "/g Push WITH me" etc., are very handy. Towards end game there are several mobs that gate or CH. Pushing for interrupts can make the difference between success and a wipe. If you have the ability to slam/bash stun the mob, even better.

You also need to pick the targets and call assist. Make sure you have the agro you need before you call the rest of the DPS in, and always taunt a mez'd mob before hitting it. Once you land a taunt, you will see the text "I'll teach you to interfere with me, <your name>!" from most mobs. For some reason, some mobs will never give that text. If a mezzed mob breaks and runs for your chanter while you're still fighting another mob, don't just run over and start taunting and wacking it. Chanters should be able to get another mez on it, and you hitting it is going to cause problems. Keep an eye on it though, and if the chanter's hp is dropping too quickly, shift targets and sink a charge of a spider net (or if you're desperate, a mallet) in to that mob. More on those clickies in a bit.

Caster's first when you're picking the next mob to kill. If you have 4 mobs in camp all mez'd and there are 3 melee mobs and 1 wizard mob, kill that wizard first. The reason is that if mez breaks on the wizard, he might be able to nuke (ice comet...ugh) your enchanter before he gets remezzed. Some people will prefer to mana drain the casters while they're mezzed and actually ask you to kill the casters last so they can drain away while the group/raid kills the melee mobs. This is more common on raids, and its acceptable. Just make sure you're communicating with your group/guild on this.

Holding agro becomes MUCH easier when you are higher level for the zone you are fighting in. For example, fighting in KC at level 51 versus fighting there at lvl 55, I had a much easier time landing successful taunts at 55 when the rest of the melee dps was in the lvl 50-54 range. The mobs were blue at both levels, but for some reason they just respected me a little more.

Once you get to level 52, using your Evasive disc in group settings can be a life saver when there's that huge pull and the CC/cleric are LOM. Evasive lasts 3 minutes and has a 7 minute refresh. When its on, mobs will have a hard time even hitting you. At level 55 the Defensive disc is huge for raid boss tanking. Evasive in groups (and for lesser raid tanking).

Spider nets, spider nets, spider nets. This comes back to the OP's question about gear reliability as well. At about 500-600p per net, you can easily spend 5k+ getting yourself the right amount of nets where you'll feel comfortable. Each net has 3 charges of Root. Once you get there though, you have de facto snap agro for life. Root agro rules apply, but since you're the one casting root, you should be able to use it to your advantage in just about any situation. At level 60 I run around with 14 nets on me, and on any given dungeon crawl or planar clear, I go through 10-13 nets. You can also recharge the nets yourself (always leave a 3 charge net on you). Adding to the cost is the fact that they cost about 20p each to buy back when you recharge so its another 200-300p every time you recharge.

For raid boss tanking, Midnight Mallet is the best affordable clicky (500-600p each). Each mallet has 5 charges of a slow click and it generates good agro. On engage of the boss I'm always simultaneously hitting my disc and the mallet (sometimes more than 1 charge). If you're in a guild worth a damn, most people at the raid should be carrying mallets on them (they're lore), and ready to hand one to a tank that calls for a new one.

With enough spider nets, warriors are actually better group tanks than the knight classes considering they're sturdier, have snap agro, and carry no XP penalty. The question just comes down to how much money you have to spend on gear and clickies. Warriors are EXTREMELY gear dependent in this iteration of EQ, especially since we've been in Kunark for 5 years. There are so many alt twink warriors running around that you might feel a little silly running around in bronze gear until later levels. Have thick skin!

For gear, HP (and STA) is king. Haste is huge. Dex is huge once you're using proc weapons. Everything else is whatever.

Legday <Asgard>
Lvl 60 Warrior