Your tank of choice?
 

Just wondering which tank class would be your tank of choice these days and why? It seems like an argument can be made for any of them but from what I've read I get that Warrior for raids, SK > Paladin for groups but both are good. Sound about right? Can warriors group tank well? Can SK or Paladins raid tank at all?

Paladin unless defensive is needed; otherwise warrior.

Groups: Warriors can tank groups just fine. Knights have the snap aggro advantage. Between the two knights paladins in my opinion have the superior tool kit and utility.

Raids: Knights can tank raid trash clears well but in general only warriors will be tanking the heavy hitters.

60 geared war > all but its diff at lower lvl / gear lvls

For regular groups I would go SK unlike what said troxx, through to be honest there's little difference between the two, sk have better dps, but it stays low anyway, sk have more pulling tools, while pali can help with the healing... So in my opinion, sk/pali mostly depends on the healers you have in group... Low healing go pal, enough healing go sk

If you have any interest in the raid scene at all, go warrior.

You'll be fine leveling.

That being said, if you want a much more FUN 1-60 experience, go SK or Paladin based on which overall style you like better (they're way more effective in large social groups). Both take damage equally, but have a different kit of doing so. Caveat would be if you ever will need to solo, go SK.

If I had to level a tank, I'd twink a warrior and just find shaman to duo with to 60.

Theoretically Knights should crush warriors here. The Paladin is the Enchanter of tanking; it's not about the heals as much as the stuns (especially on charmed pets), roots, and lulls. The SK can FD split and then pull with probes/beads while tanking, snaring and life tapping in emergencies. A good Knight should turn the strong Cleric/Enchanter duo into an absolute powerhouse, and be clearly superior to a Warrior or Monk in the same trio. And quite frankly, leveling without charm is for losers.

In practice most people play Knights like Warriors With Better Taunt Keys. Part of this is lack of mana; Knights probably miss decent FT more than any other class. Part of this is the tendency to fill groups; with 6 players usually the Paladin can convince themselves that someone else can handle rooting and stunning and the SK will let one of the 3 monks in the group pull. Part of it is the overall quality of play; the better the group the less the Knight abilities will matter. Part of it is just culture; no one expects Knights to be badass here so they aren't. Meanwhile the Warrior just keeps on chugging, bringing the most DPS and constantly popping evasive to minimize damage.

TLDR: Warriors are fine. If you roll a knight, seek out smaller groups with some mana regeneration support where you can do more than spam Flash of Light/Disease Cloud.

Knights cannot tank raid bosses without about twice as much healing as a Warrior. In Kunark with short fights (especially considering the size of the Zealous Endgame Raiding Guilds at this point) this doesn't matter, but you'll never tank Kael or TOV bosses on a Knight. As a result everyone on P99 is used to Warriors and just dumping huge amounts of platinum into clicky threat items, while Knights can't dump platinum to improve their durability.

Now that the bio orb has been nerfed and without the SoD/BoC and strong prox aggro, Knights *should* be the primary trash tanks on raids (the ones without zone pulls, at least). Every time I have raided HoT here it's warriors tanking and Enchanters/Shamans dying some 2x per hour, with each dirt nap followed by the helpless warrior asking everyone to watch their aggro. I don't know whether P99ers will eventually adapt here or not.

Knights don't really get to use their other abilities much on raids, either. Paladin stuns and roots don't land, so they end up as gimp group healers and SKs let the 30 monks pull.

TLDR: if you want to raid, roll a warrior or be prepared to spend hours fighting against the classism

Luclin's AAs did a lot to mitigate the issues with Knights having terrible durability, but just like all the skills that actually are on P99, Warriors benefit more from them.

Paladins and Shadowknights make great "oh shit" tanks if the MT bites it (IMO, it is easier to have your backup Warrior grab aggro from a Knight standing in the correct spot than have to deal with facing issues with all the DPS now getting ripostes, or worse, chase down a raid target that's gotten loose and now killing casters)

My 60 Paladin can solo named in Sebilis (including Hiero), but my 60 SK buddy in similar gear can’t. SK is really no better at soloing than a Paladin. I’m leveling a 52 SK st the moment, and he actually has a Rocksmasher (47/41 and 41% haste) and I think I solo less effectively than my Paladin did. SK definitely solos better though if your gear isn’t good at all

You did a lot of talking about TOV geared characters in the Starting Zone sub forum.

Yikes.

Warrior because dps is so much more and the other stuff doesn't matter if you're grouped with good players.