Dwarves get the best starting pool stats out of every available race.
Humans + Half-Elves come second (added half elven bonus of Karana worshipers, they get Natures Defender , hands down THE best looking 2handed sword in Velious era and on par with epic but a lot easier to complete --- Humans on the other hand get a semidecent but procless 1h sword out of their Sky quests)
High Elves / Erutides get the shaft statwise, their only bonus is ND for Karana high elves, and Erutides start with good enough faction with Deepwater Knights for the Fiery Defender.
Haste--
-=) Do you NEED haste to maintain aggro? No, our aggro management (much like our counterpart the SKs) comes from spell threat generation coupled by awesome weapon procs (Sword of Morning , get it, love it) and not from pure DPS (we can't dps ourselves out of a wet paperbag at this point).
-=) Should you GET haste if you can? Of course you should, every little bit counts into making your life easier, it will help you solo(lololol) if/when you can, though learn to play the damned class and groups will worship you.
Why should you use a Sword&Shield over a 2handed in groups?
- Bash interupts casting and also stuns the mob for half a second or so (when/if it lands though)
-- Arguably Sword+Shield will offer you a lot better stats than any 2hander out there at the moment bar epic or raid drops (Sharnak Battle Shield + Sword of Morning can last you all the way till you can finish your epic or score a Sword of Rile
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--- Our DPS is sub-par.
---- Even if you decide to use a 2handed for group tanking purposes, always have a shield in an easy accessible spot in your bags, weapon swapping here takes only as much as your mouse clicks.
----- Paladin only 1handers are dirty cheap and can carry you all the way. Ghoulbane will outdmg ANY two handed from the level that it starts to proc and all the way to high 30s if you stick to fighting undead mobs (Unrest till mid 30s, then Lower Guk can take you all the way to 60 if you so want). Also, their procs are quite awesome.
------ Our DPS sucks ass.
Paladins & Solo : Dafuq? Depends on twinking in lower levels I guess, higher levels it's groups all the way.
Paladins & Groups : Along with SKs, they are the best tanks. Awesome threat generation, back-up heals, Ressurection (at 59 though), roots, CC and camp splitting (lull spell line), stuns, IVU. Paladins can also pull for AoE groups.
Paladins & Raids : Eat a DT, kite some shit around, fight evil bastages (opposing guild) for FTE, sacrifice yourself for FTE, kite some shit around, eat a DT. Pick one of the above.
Hybrid penalty sucks donkeyballs, yes -- but play the class well, and the group will get faster (and not to mention safer) exp with you than with some other less optimal tank.