Most complex tank class?

[Tr4c3r]

I am currently playing a dwarf warrior and have got him to 20 so far. I am just wondering what to most complex/hard to learn tank class is. I really like tanking its just that for the warrior for the past 20 levels all I do is spam taunt and kick. From what i hear this doesn't change much either. Any opinions are fine. Basically just tell me what you think is the most complex tank class and WHY.

[valkabo]

Warriors are *the* tank class. On any raid, its a warrior tanking.

So... warriors are the hardest class to learn to tank with, as they are the only class to tank with.

However, if you mean in groups, then thats just a big long argument between Pal's and SK's.

Pally's have some nice taunt spells with flash and stun, while SK's have similiar taunting powers but they utilize dots and they have FD.

So the most complex tank class is SK because of what FD adds to the table. However Paladin's can also act as semi decent healers.. so..

Its a toss up.

The hardest melee class is bard. :P

[Flunklesnarkin]

ranger is a pretty hard tank class


just trying to stay alive and keep hate ;p

[lostclover]

I don't think any are super complex, but I'd say Shadow Knight.

For tanking, you usually pull with an arrow, snare, throw in a lifetap and you're fine on agro. But SK's also have feign death, so the complex part of EQ is something you can learn to master: Pulling.

Warriors are very basic, like you said. You really gotta like collecting equipment and clickies.

[Ohno]

Rangers usually have no issue with aggro as far as I remember... however... staying alive is a bit rougher.

[Lids]

ranger is a pretty hard tank class


just trying to stay alive and keep hate ;p

[Tr4c3r]

Thank you for all the replies :) One more question, I used to raid as a cleric so I never paid much attention to what was going on around me rather than the hp bars. But everyone once and awhile i would peek around and see what was going on. It was usually Sk's pulling and it looked pretty tricky with the FD and all. Is it the same way on p99?

[sbvera13]

Rangers are definately the most complex.

Wait, what? Rangers are tanks? Well, to be fair, a ranger is not a meatshield, which is not quite the same thing. One of the purposes of a tank is to control the fight. A task which the (properly played) ranger excels at. Root, snare, VERY high aggro spells, archery, all allow the ranger to position and control multiple mobs simultaneously, while maintaining aggro on them all as well so that when the control breaks they don't head for the casters, and unlike an enchanter or bard, being able to take enough hits to do this safely. This is the ranger's mitigation- you never have to take hits from more then one mob at once.

Wait a Ranger can NOT do is pure damage mitigation. This means they will never be the MT in raids, and are far less effective when up-killing by a significant margin (5, 6 or more levels above you). They should never be tanking multiple mobs at once, but fortunately get the abilities needed to make sure they never do. In single groups, dungeons, camps, as offtanks, catching mobs that escape to the backline and bringing them back to the melee line etc, they are ideal.

But of course, everyone hates them, and you will be laughed out of groups before you join them. However, anyone I've ever grouped with invites back without hesitation.

If you want a meatshield type of tank, SK is probably the most complex. After all, they ACTUALLY get more then 2 useful, active abilities. Whoa. Hint- use a slow 2hander, and time spell casts between swings. That goes for all 3 hybrids, actually.

[Ikonoclastia]

Thank you for all the replies :) One more question, I used to raid as a cleric so I never paid much attention to what was going on around me rather than the hp bars. But everyone once and awhile i would peek around and see what was going on. It was usually Sk's pulling and it looked pretty tricky with the FD and all. Is it the same way on p99?
Yeah, there's quite a few tricks to it (prox aggro, direct aggro, assist aggro, pathing, obstacle pulling), you can do pretty amazing things with those and FD.

[Slave]

Feign Death is the most complicated mechanic that any tank receives, and so Shadowknights are easily the most complex tank, offering more tactical options than the others in most situations.

[gnomishfirework]

If you want to tank in raids, you need to go warrior. While Sks or Pallys can tank raid encounters, they need much better gear than a warrior. defensive stance is powerful as fuck. i cant remember seeing anything but a warrior tank in velious during the actual velious era. i think its more a "lets see if we can do this" type deal.
Paladins and SKs are equally capable tanks. Sks have greater DPS without sacrificing survivability. Paladins are capable healers. Sks are vastly superior at outdoor soloing. indoors, paladins might have an edge. lull to split, Root + heals to make up for the dps, and stuns for casters.
I think Sks can get slightly better snap aggro, but its been years since ive played a paladin past like 12.

[webrunner5]

As others have said a Warrior is THE tank in Raids. And it is almost always a Ogre Warrior. But when Velious comes out a Paladin is hard to beat for pulling and tanking in a group. I like a Pally better than a Monk for pulling in Velious. Reason for me is a Pally can pull faster with Lull line than Monk split. They have Root also. So Faster XP. But if mobs resist a lot than back to a Monk lol. Nobody said this game is easy.

Hardest to learn I would say is a SK. Pulling is not easy as a noob. FD is harder on a SK than on a Monk. Monk is nearly instant, SK is a spell with a delay that can be interupted. But Monk FD fails some also with castor mobs. Once Velious comes out forget about a Ranger as a Tank in those zones. Mobs hit way too hard.

[Motec]

SK > ranger > war > loladin > monk.