I'm thinking of trying a tank class but was curious with the new x-pac and all what tank if any does best in the group game. Mainly looking for something to do group mobs, names, HA's, progression and such. I feel i should say I've never really played a tank in eq but I am gold and have some plat in the bank too to start off. So I was wondering what tank class would be best for the group game. Not really looking to raid at all but mainly for group stuff with other people from a family guild and the like. Thanks for any input.
Knight classes are easier to play/max + with caster boxes, Warriors are easier to play/max with melee DPS boxes
While there are some significant differences on how they do it, all three tank classes can tank effectively in group content (the good part) and all of them require a substantial effort to get geared well enough to do it well (the not so good part). Beyond tanking you might consider what else they bring to a group: Warrior - some useful utility from procs should you obtain the items with those procs. Paladin - secondary healing, curing, and sometimes root CC. Reasonably good DPS vs. undead. SK - FD pulling, an extremely useful epic, mob movement slowing. A group with the more narrowly focused classes - Cleric, Warrior, and Enchanter - as its core performs just fine and those classes will be in demand when needed by other groups. A group featuring more versatile classes - SK, Bard, etc. - will often benefit from the additional flexibility and their broader capability will be appreciated by those that group with them. IMO, a class that can tank AND do other things too, is going to be more fun and interesting (not withstanding that Warrior tanking has become a complicated play the UI to no good purpose festival).
Each of the 3 tanks has a certain scenario/group set up they are best for. But each of them can tank equally well on anything that needs tanking.
I would go SK. All tanks are decent, but with sk if you are partaking in the group game offers the most diverse choices of play. You can self heal burst dps, invis, itu, snare, fd, invul, very good epic clicky. In raids pallys and warriors perhaps outshine the sk, but in the group and solo game the sk I feel especially if not boxing is the more versatile choice.
Both SK and Pally can bring a little more to the group game. But, if it's your first time tanking, I would likely go with a warrior. Mastering one is just as hard as the other tank classes, but at least early on there are less buttons to push. Unless you're in extremely fast killing groups (unlikely in a relaxed family guild) your aggro shouldn't be an issue. And you have some serious big boy buttons that the knights don't have. Downsides to a warrior: You are chained at the hip to a healer. The other tanks can self heal or tap. The knights will blow your tanking away against easier mobs. But mobs that would be a serious challenge to you, the war has bigger buttons for.
Yeh I forgot i've regretted rolling a knight for 15 years. If only I could go back in time and roll a warrior! Said no one ever.
That's your loss. In answer to his question, Warriors are the best all around for what he is looking for. I'll out pars a knight and out tank a knight at the same time and look good doing it. I guess if I want to go FD somewhere I'd play a SK, or if I want to be a backup healer and splash some I'd roll a pally. Though I will say that paladins dominate anything undead. So if he wants to spend all of his time in zones with undead mobs id say sure, roll a pally. Seriously though, if you are going to pick a tank class, just understand that any of the three is a long term investment and they require gear and AA. I personally love my warrior, been playing it for a long time now and wouldn't trade him over a scrubby knight any day of the week. I've tried paladin and found them to be a bit boring, though I LOVE having them in raids and groups over SK's. Just play each class for a while and see what's most fun for you, then go crazy with it.
If you have people to group with I'd go warrior. Even with the proliferation of buttons for warriors to push over the last few years, I would say they still are the easiest of the three classes to learn. If you are going to have to molo a lot I'd go Pally and find the level appropriate undead spots.
If you are going to raid and you want to be one of the guys that regularly get beaten on by the biggest baddest mobs while you are almost entirely dependent on others to put HP's back into your HP bar play a Warrior. If you are not going to raid or if you are satisfied with tanking all but the baddest mob/s in raids (some well geared and well played knights do tank raid boss mobs) play a knight. These days the classes are nearly equally complex. The difference is that knight complexity is greater versatility in performing the tank role and doing things which are related to combat but well outside the tank role. Warrior complexity is almost entirely restricted to melee damage mitigation, aggro, and mediocre DPS - more button pushing to the same narrow Warrior ends <- target, attack, aggro, now do it pushing 16 buttons, whee. Knights do what Warriors do and do things Warriors do not do. In the group game especially, those other things matter. Frankly I see developer suggestions that aggro is going to be everyone's concern again as a substitute for closing the utility/combat self healing gap without actually closing the gap - like Fezzik in the Princess Bride they "...just want you [BA: Warriors] to feel you're doing well." In this case by proposing a weakening our grip on aggro and likely putting even more buttons on our Busy Box.
^ I cant believe i am about to say this... but I agree with Battleaxe. There is almost no difference (other then the flavors/secondary/tertiary BS the knights can do) in tanking nowadays. Even on the biggest/baddest (kanteer/galenth, some of the new arx events boss mobs) Knights can stand pretty well, In All of COTF there wasn't a boss I couldn't MT/one tank as a paladin. TDS has afew mobs that make me groan to tank (Ledalus in One off, The golem in Arx 2), and theres an issue here and there, but thats tanking in a new expac. Hell in my last guild we cleared COTF regularly without any Warriors in the DZ, so even if you want to boss tank, knights can be an option. Either way you go your going to have an equal amount of micromanaging of abilities Either way you go your going to have to get good augs/gear Either way you go your going to have to work your butt off to do a good job. IF you have a good healer friend/wife/box whatever tho, you MAY have an easier time against some harder content going with a warrior. IF you have to rely heavily on mercs for your healing, you MAY have an easier time against harder content going with a knight I do think in the last few years they have added some cool stuff to the warrior class, I think in general there is alot more the Dev's could do to increase Warrior desirability. But I don't play one so i can't say thats a good assessment. Either way, good groups/guilds are ALWAYS looking for GOOD tanks of any of the 3 classes that can tank. So good luck with whatever choice you make.
If you are going to raid and you are absolutely opposed to occasionally doing non-tanking stuff - curing, group healing, ressing, ... then you might not want to play a Paladin. The downside to having outside of the tanking archetype abilities is having them sometimes pressed into service.
If you want to raid and want to tank the biggest mobs, then roll a warrior. Otherwise, roll an SK or Paladin (my choice would be SK). in the group game, the sk and pally can realistically tank anything the warrior can, plus they are more versatile, and arguably more fun. Those folks above who say that sk's and pallys can tank named raid mobs as well as warriors are leaving out an importatn implicit assumption: HEALING. if you have enough healing, anyone can be a tank. if the raid has sufficient healing available, then sk's and pallys can tank named. and the same is true for a warrior, but overall he needs less healing than the other two classes. But no matter which tank class you choose, keep in mind that all 3 classes are heavily gear and AA dependent. Opinions on the 3 classes differ often because of folks gear and AA levels.
When a knight tanks a raid mob they account for 25 to 50% of the total healing done. The reason most knights can't tank raid mobs is because they are not setup to do that or have no experience in how to achieve that. I need more overall healing... but half of that healing debt is paid by me. For the group game an actively played (well) paladin = sk A poorly played sk > a poorly played paladin though.
That's cuz we're wicked badasses. Be a knight. You'll have a ton more fun and still be able to do anything a warrior can, plus a lot they can't. Extra benefit if you raid, you get to top your own healing parses and feel smug as hell
Never played a tank, so this question might seem serious n00b, but explain the necessity of the SK and Pally epic (2.5 I am assuming) in 105 content. I know tanks are not meant to be DPS'ers, and I know that the SK one heals directly and the Pally one makes heals more effective, but is that the reason they are still must have items? Do the stats on those weapons level up or something? I feel like there's something about them I am missing. Just curious.
