Best tank class (group edition)

[Troxx]

Originally Posted by Alleriah [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Ya Thats one narrow way of looking at it mr blood guard. I was entertained reading what you had to say.. Back to reality.
Now to clear some things up..
How i justify rangers being optimal tanks is this.
1.5 Sec Cast - 10 mana for FU sandwiches to any mob to be #1 on their hate list.
The more reliable that you are at holding that aggro = Faster the Sham/Ench can land the 70%+ slow in so you can literally the enchanter can tank it.

Paladins get a 1.5sec blind and stun. Bards have unlimited free mega-aggro. Sks likewise are aggro magnets on demand. This does not make rangers competitive because they are one of the 4 out of 5 tanks who can do this. It does not make you special in any way other than directly compared to monk/warrior ... and this disparity has already been acknowledged. You're not contributing anything new there.

Originally Posted by Alleriah [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Due to the ranger being able to maintain high dps without aggro proc weapons, the mob in turn dies faster which means what.. 1) Less damage being taken which = less heals having to be cast . 2) Faster kill times = Less risk of repops and charm breaks per cycle. 3) More kills = more loot.

This made me laugh. Rangers are not high dps. They are capable but pretty middle of the road. I parse everything. Rangers are mediocre raw dps relative to their level of gearing. With velious weapons they are strong dps ... but so are all melee with that level of gearing.

I'm sorry to report that the only rangers who ever consistently out-dps'd my warrior from 51-60 and ongoing at 60 are the one's rocking ToV weapons compared to my aggro tools still falling in the 9/18 to 12/22 range. With comparable weaponry my warrior has consistently been at worst on the ranger level but generally a step above ranger.

Rangers have a dps advantage over bard/pal/sk.

Now can any ranger do this? No.. If hes rocking some crazy str/dex gear then OBVIOUSLY hes going to get teeth knocked in. But if taken just a little bit of time to gear properly ( No you dont need BiS gear for this ) , you can tank any group content just fine.

Nobody has said rangers can't tank group content. In general, they can do it just fine. Deep down at Paebala camp in DN? SG? High end named? When the going get's rough a ranger tank not kitted out in full velious end-game raid gear will be a liability to the healing crew.

Rangers fall into the 'good enough' range ... which for classic eq is just fine. This thread was about "best" ... not "good enough"

Due to the fact that rangers have a 1.5 second cast 10 mana spell that blows any weapon aggro proc out of the water.. Rangers are best for snap aggro.
SKs/Pallys - Yes.. They have this ability too but will most likely suffer from generating enough "white" hate forcing them to cast shit all the time just to hold the aggro.
When i tank stuff. I cast 1 spell. and i won't lose aggro. You cast a slow and it gets resisted? Ya ill still have aggro. You cast another slow and i just cast another 1.5 second 10 second mana spell as your casting the slow and you wont get hit by trying to reslow.

"Best" for aggro is a pointless argument. To be "best" for the threat part of tanking effectively you just need to always have aggro when you need it - higher than your group mates. On demand bards, paladins, and SKs can do this flawlessly on demand. If any of these 4 classes want it they will have it.

As for casting hurting white damage threat component ... 1.5 second cast time. When using my paladin's 45ac 2hander I can get a spell off between swings with 100% haste and not miss a beat. This includes blind, lowest level stun, and even my heal over time. Between swings I can even tab over to the mezzed target, land a stun/blind, and tab back between swings not missing a beat. Even with my 27/29 and shield and 100% haste, barely missed white damage output.

Why do you think warriors are never wanted in fungi king groups? Theyre not optimal for the situation.. Theyre just almost as bad as monks for snap aggro and they cant pull. Just grab the monk and have 1 less person rolling.

I've received tells from the other side of the world asking if I wanted to come tank king on my warrior. In that scenario, though, they'd rather not have the ranger to similarly have one less person to roll. They'd rather just let the monk tank (who also will "tank" better than rangers when being actively hit. The only reason I'd want a ranger in the king group is for snares ... not for tanking.

Understanding the logic? [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

You're still ignoring the fact that there are 3 other classes with on demand easy aggro that soak damage better than you.

Rangers:
-fun class
-plenty of strong general utility
-not good defensively compared to real tanks
-slightly less good defensively compared to bard tanks
-middle of the pack damage output (below monk/rog/mage/necro/warrior)
-better damage output than bards/knights
-not a lot of defensive spell casting utility
-on demand aggro comparable to 2/3 of the "real tanks" and the other pseudo-tank bard