As the original poster notices, the Monk and the Shadow Knight have a great deal of overlap in the jobs they can do. In general the Monk is more offense-focused and benefits more from really high-end gear. The Shadow Knight is more defensive-oriented and has better innate convenience features--it doesn't need to fuss with obtaining items for things like levitate, enduring breath, etc if it doesn't want to.
I don't agree with the notion that a Monk out-tanks a Shadow Knight. The Monk has somewhat better damage reduction, in part because knight skillcaps are broken and the devs don't care (maybe it'll get fixed some day, but don't count on it). However the Monk has a lot less innate hit points, particularly for people who *aren't* wearing best-in-slot North Temple Veeshan gear (ie, most the server). At a typical gear level (Thurgadin gear and equivalent) Monks tend to average about a thousand less hit points than equivalent knights. On top of that the Shadow Knight has far superior ability to control aggro--against multiple targets if need be. Factoring everything in, the SK's the better tank overall, which is why groups and lower-end raids usually use knight types as tanks in preference to Monks when its a choice between them. That being said, it's very much true that the Monk can serve adequately in the tank role when it needs to do so.
Monks clearly do more damage, and it isn't usually close. At the Thurg gear level (again, which is where the majority of players plateau) the gap is probably smallest because Monks are still mostly using Kunark weapons, and the SK pet reduces the gap some, as well. Nonetheless, Monks always have a significant advantage in this area.
Pulling, Monks have a moderate advantage. I can think of only a couple camps (mainly Fungi King) that a Monk can readily pull (due to Sneak) that I struggle with on my Shadow Knight. That's not enough to worry overmuch about. Otherwise, I can pull the same stuff a Monk can, but as a rule the Monk can pull and split stuff more quickly than I can.
Overall I rate the Monk as the stronger class because Everquest favors offense and speed. The two classes can do most of the same jobs, and with a duo partner (typically Shaman) they can duo most the same camps, but as a rule the Monk will allow a somewhat higher kill rate and hence, in theory, more drops or income over time. If you have no preference between the two classes, the Monk's therefore the safer choice. I really like my Shadow Knight, but that's because I like playing tank characters, I detest fussing with consumables or charged items, and a slower pace is of no consequence to me personally.
Danth
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