Between Paladin and Shadow Knight:
I rate the Paladin as the superlative tank for normal groups for the reasons mentioned above--particularly due to its ability to shut down spell casting monsters. It offers control and lifesaving ability that other tanks simply lack. If you want to spend most your time tanking for full or near-full groups, this is the class to pick. The Paladin's pretty specialized for that purpose, however, and often feels a bit pointless when not tanking. The Shadow Knight, by comparison, serves as a decent group tank whilst generally being a stronger class than the Paladin when not acting as a tank. The SK's better for solo, most duo, travels around more easily, etc. I suspect this explains the marginally higher popularity of the Shadow Knight on P1999, although both classes are towards the bottom in terms of overall numbers.
Racial choices for the Shadow Knight mostly amount to a question of min-max effectiveness versus leveling speed and convenience. Most hybrids do not make level 60 so that isn't an inconsequential consideration.
Danth
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