Help me decide: Troll SK or Dwarf Paladin

[Topgunben]

Making a new character pretty soon and have settled on either of these 2 choices. I will be geared with crusty armor and the best 200pp weapon money can buy. I plan on grouping to 55 with no real plans for raiding. I'll be spending nearly all of my time in dungeons and my hope is to be a a really hard to kill tank.

Which of the 2 do you think would suit me best? Which of the 2 is a better tank?

[Arkanjil]

Paladin is a lifestyle you have to be committed to. If you want the option to be able to group, solo, and have good survivability, I would choose SK.

[Swish2]

It's a toss up... like Coke vs Pepsi in terms of the same thing in a slightly different flavor. I'm a big SK fan myself, love the snap aggro that comes with disease cloud and shadow vortex later on. SV can help you prebuild aggro on your next target if you cycle targets - its very OP and done properly your back line can not have to worry about "sit aggro" on incoming with 4 mobs.

Add in the ability to feign death (and therefore pull more easily than war/pal), harm touch adds the snap aggro or extra dps burst you need in a clutch situation, being able to hide, self DMF (later), pull out a disposable pet, proc lifetap (later) and snare... they're the tank I've always loved to play.

Also being evil serves an extra purpose. Everyone hates you anyway so you can kill anything you like <3

[Swish2]

Whichever you pick, remember you're not there to dps primarily so a weapon isn't as important as your ability to hold aggro (via spells).

[Topgunben]

It's a toss up... like Coke vs Pepsi in terms of the same thing in a slightly different flavor. I'm a big SK fan myself, love the snap aggro that comes with disease cloud and shadow vortex later on. SV can help you prebuild aggro on your next target if you cycle targets - its very OP and done properly your back line can not have to worry about "sit aggro" on incoming with 4 mobs.

Add in the ability to feign death (and therefore pull more easily than war/pal), harm touch adds the snap aggro or extra dps burst you need in a clutch situation, being able to hide, self DMF (later), pull out a disposable pet, proc lifetap (later) and snare... they're the tank I've always loved to play.

Also being evil serves an extra purpose. Everyone hates you anyway so you can kill anything you like <3

im kinda leaning SK because of FD alone. I am not so worried about massive DPS, but i am surprised to see good stat weapons for both SK and Pal for relatively cheap.

[Topgunben]

Paladin is a lifestyle you have to be committed to. If you want the option to be able to group, solo, and have good survivability, I would choose SK.

thank you, does Paladin offer anything that is just game breakingly good vs SK?

[Muggens]

thank you, does Paladin offer anything that is just game breakingly good vs SK?

Lay on Hands and root are powerful tools for paladins

[fiveeauxfour]

ogre shaman

[mr_jon3s]

Too bad you can't be a Troll Paladin or a Dwarf SK.

[indiscriminate_hater]

ogre shaman

for sure frontal stun immunity, this is best choice OP

[Pint]

dwarf paladin

+1

[Arkanjil]

thank you, does Paladin offer anything that is just game breakingly good vs SK?

Paladins are amazing for groups. They have decent heals, can hp buff people when no clerics/dru in group, res, root CC, and a life saver in Lay on Hands. Also, there is always at least 1 wanted on raids :)

[Jan Jensen]

In this [stagnant] era, the only thing SK has going for it is fd/snare. Paladin can buff, heal, stun, and pacify. Both are horrible dps. Both tank wonderfully in groups, but subpar on raids.

If you want to mostly solo, go SK. Otherwise, paladin all the way.

[Arkanjil]

In this [stagnant] era, the only thing SK has going for it is fd/snare. Paladin can buff, heal, stun, and pacify. Both are horrible dps. Both tank wonderfully in groups, but subpar on raids.

If you want to mostly solo, go SK. Otherwise, paladin all the way.

You actually put that quite well!

[Baler]

Troll

[Diogene]

Paladins are superior group tanks, agreed. The amount of tools at their disposable is bester than sks. For solo not so much) and btw why not a classy mith marr half elf paladin?

[Varren]

The answer is within you. Flip a coin. If you are disappointed with the result, you know what you really want.

[Xzorn]

Iksar SK specifically will tank better than any other Knight combination because of their bonus AC outside softcap in addition to SK AC tap bonus. They (may) also get access to Greenmist soon which is yet another AC tap and the 200 HP buff Paladin's get does not compare.

Before anyone says Ogre. Evasive skills work during a stun. There is no mitigation loss from not having Stun Immunity. It's helpful for Warrior aggro management but mostly a convenience to Knights.

Outside Iksar SK, I don't think there's enough difference between the Knight tanking capacity to really matter.

There are two major perks to a Paladin. Root and Lay hands. An SK cannot safely CC mobs and Lay Hands is considerably more useful than Harm Touch. Though root is not exactly a rare quality in classes. Both Knights' spells are overlapped by other classes and often rendered useless. SK's can pull and split pulls better than Paladins using FD while generally producing more DPS but this is like counting pennies compared to an actual DPS class.

In the end I'd say Paladin. Dwarf is a much better race for the class. You will likely also find less competition for gear playing a Paladin and while they tend to be less potent they're more versatile. An SK plays much like a necro as you'd expect. Potent, esp Solo but you pretty much press the same rotation of spells over and over. Nothing much changes. As a Paladin you have a few options and more reason to pay attention with stuns, roots and if need be, a panic button Lay Hands.

[White_knight]

- Paladin > SK in terms of group functionality by a long shot.l (it's not even close).
- SK > Paladin in terms of dps.
- Paladin = SK in terms of soloing just different styles/methods.

Play an SK because Paladin's arent for everyone.

[ScaringChildren]

Paladins have roots and stuns, they have Lay on hands, and they get a +200 HP buff later on at end game. They also heal a lot better than most people give them credit for. I hear a lot of people say they make a better group tank, but that's debatable.

Shadow Knights have snare dots, lifetaps, AC and STR leech, FD, DMF(self), and can solo using armor clickies. You shouldn't underestimate FD. It will save your life thousands of times. They also get an upgraded version of it. A skilled SK can split pull better than a monk using snare/FD.

[Crede]

Paladin all the way, not even a contest IMO based on your requirements. SKs aren't superior to Paladin's solo when it comes to dungeons, and it sounds like you plan to spend most of your time there. Stuns, calm, root, DW helm OP heals, etc.

Plus when you are 55+ and decide you want to group, you'll have so much more utility in that setting. And at 60 as a Paladin you'll have a unique 200 hp buff, 90% rez, and have a better heal than all classes except a cleric and torpor shaman(lolz). At 60s SKs get.. an average pet and another FD?

[Axlrose]

Why not roll both?

So depending upon your mood - whether to be evil or good, you will have both aspects covered as the situation warrants.

[mattydef]

I have both classes and they are both equally fun so you can't go wrong with your decision. 1-45 or so they are pretty even soloing, paladin is better in doors with root and SKs are better out doors with fear kiting. 50+ SK actually starts to really shine and get better at soloing where a paladin pretty much has to group at that point. Speaking of grouping, paladin is far better overall in a group. Their agro management and tanking abilities are equal but the utility of the paladin is far superior.

[ldgmo]

Why not roll both?

So depending upon your mood - whether to be evil or good, you will have both aspects covered as the situation warrants.

I second this. Roll both, and just play what you feel. The museum isn’t going anywhere.

[username17]

I recommend pally. Stuns, roots, Lay on Hands, and eventually a 90% rez are super helpful to have.
You'll get more utility out of a high level Paladin than SK. Only utility SK has at high level is corpse summon which you already have covered with your necro.

[chego]

I faced the exact same choice and ended up going Troll SK. I'm a noob, but have loved my experience so far getting to level 13. Only thing I'd add is that being an evil race has been a little annoying, but I spent from 7 through 13 in Blackburrow getting to apprehensive with the Qeynos guards (with the help of a druid whose Wolf Form let me turn in about 120 fangs).