I'll go for the Erudite for sure!

Chain hat?

I think you're more or less right, albeit I reckon trolls have pretty decent chain hats, as far as chain hats go in EQ!

For those wondering how the erudite female looks (yes, all 3 of you), here you are!

The first two images are the normal look from each side (many helms have no graphic, including Crown of Narandi). The third image is the custom Skyshrine helm (welding helmet, or Prexus deep-dive helmet, if you prefer). The fourth shows how it protects you from burning your face off when you salute with epic, and the fifth shows the shield that Oblie linked to earlier.

http://i.imgur.com/InmJagO.jpg http://i.imgur.com/ATwU5yp.jpg http://i.imgur.com/FRQknxX.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/0n671VQ.jpg http://i.imgur.com/esWgULH.jpg

Erudite Female tanks look amazing :D I love it. I think its down to Erudite paladin or SK then :D

I'm biased and have never played an sk but I'd say roll paladin. Here's a couple of things about them that might help you with your decision:

-Pallys are extremely versatile/have more utility compared to SKs. They can lull, root, stun, heal and CH (a gimpy CH at 60). So basically they can tank, heal, CC and pull. Also, the first stun they get plays well with enc spells bc it doesn't break mez.

-They are good at fighting undead mobs since they get vs undead nukes, fear, invis, and ghoulbane, great spear of dawn and other vs undead proccing weapons(some are sk useable too).

-They can heal just as well as a shaman throughout the upper 40s (superior heal), and get a 700hp heal over time + 90% res at 59.

-Cleric buffs + divine aura!!!

-At higher lvls they get a self regen that drains mana but stacks with sham and druid regen. Pretty sexy with C2 + POTG + Crown of Narandi.

-They get a buff that gives em an extra proc (moar deeps).

-In velious they are good for getting charm breaks off of encs, which is very valuable for mobs like aow and tunare (1 enc pet is much higher dps than 1 single rogue). So they are CC at raids.

-Warriors go apeshit over divine strength, a 200hp buff that stacks with everything except a lame ass ranger atk buff.

-The epic is only worth fashion quest points. Its not a very good weapon with velious out.

I'm not bias at all when it comes to sexy tanks...

I like paladin gameplay better myself, over sk. Agree with all of this.

The only thing sk gets that no one else gets that is remotely worth envy is their gigantic purple epic 2h sword. That thing looks awesome.

Other than that, I like all the things a paladin brings to the table, making it more fun to play and imo a better group tank.

As a raid warrior I can confirm that paladins get a useful buff and shadowknights do not. It's a no-brainer.