Howdy tanks of VG. I recently picked this game up again as I am looking for a group based game and there are no others on the market close to VG when it comes to being group centric. I have played in the past but as healers and DPS, never as a tank so I have a few observations that I would appreciate validation of. I enjoy Warrior, DK, and Pali but from what I hear the only options are really DK and Pali. Of these two the big difference seems to be that only Pali’s can raid and DK seems to do the best in group play because of their abilities to AoE as opposed to the Pali’s single target prowess. Is this an accurate assessment? I am planning on really only doing group play as I do not really have the time to dedicate more than a few hours here and there to a game so I am thinking that DK is the best fit for me but I have enjoyed all three on the Isle so your feedback on what the rest of the game hold for me and my choice of tank is appreciated.
Jopef wrote: Pally is best single target tank + best aggro at the moment. (plus most invulns and can self heal + rez) DK is good AE and all round tank but can also main tank any raid mob (some with difficulty due to Fear, hopefully this will be fixed soon - DK can self heal via life taps and generate decent aggro with 1 invuln). Warrior is best snap aggro but lacks in Dps (where the Warrior should shine, hopefully the Dev(s) will fix this also to make them #1 tank dps) All tanks are capable of tanking raid mobs, some raid mobs are better suited to different tanks at end game but if you are just after a good all round tank for grouping, any of these tanks are more than capable of performing in this role. Pick one you feel more comfortable playing and play it to the best of your ability.
Thank you for the verification. Next question, does the DK AoE cause problems with CC classes. For example I played a game where an AoE tank was rendered useless because the mezzed adds would be constantly broken free by the tank using AoE skills that caused damage to snap the mobs out of mezz but could not out of agro with the mezzer. The end result being that the AoE tanking method rendered mezzing useless thusly rendering the tank useless. Also if I recall properly VG has some funky agro mechanics and AoE skills could end up pulling in lots of adds. Does the DK have problems along these lines?
Jopef wrote: That can be a problem depending on which class mezzed the adds, if it was a Psi, you will have no worries as their mez is unbreakable. You will however have to use strategy around self healing while adds are mezzed under other classes control. (I rarely ever use self heal abilities in raids but groups I sometimes do if things get nasty) You have abilities that will aggro any mob within a range, this will not break mez, the AE heal will however break mezz if its not controlled by a Psi, this should not affect your game play too much though due to usually having a healing in situations that require mezzing. Aggro is decided by a few factors, this includes Dps, heals, range from mob and so on... A lot of adds in VG are social aggro, so if you pull one, every mob attached to that social chain will come. This is not a design fault, just takes more strategy to get around or prevent you from doing content that is meant for a group or higher levels. The DK has some aggro issues but nothing that can't be over come. DK's are a pretty good all round tanks in my opinion, I just wish they had immunity to Fear (for 2 end game mobs) and a slight aggro/dps increase. Either that or Nerf the Pally beyond belief and make DK's and Warriors the best!! lol (sorry Dravid )
Jopef wrote: You wont use the DK AoE leveling up, it drains too much. Two maybe three aoe hits and youre out.
Hydrazine wrote: If this is true then what is the value of the DK over the Pali? Sounds like I will be doing rotating target agro controll even with the DK and since the Pali is better suited for this then why not just play one?
Jopef wrote: Paladins are very utility heavy and they work a little differently. Apart from Energy and Endurance Paladins use a 3rd pool called Virtue Points for firing certain abilities. As a youngin paladin you have very very limited virtue points and can only refresh them once every 20 minutes. But the virtue points grow with your level and cap at 25 once you hit level 50. Paladins also get their first endurance refresh spell at level 34 (usable every minute) and the shield consecration that restores endurance at level 42 (which is a proc off using shield attacks). Other than shining beacon which is an AOE taunt paladins have no AOE damage abilities short of trying to generate healer aggro. DK's get Ravaging Darkness (endurance filler) much much earlier -- level 18 I believe and usable every 30 seconds. They also have better spell based attacks compared to a Paladin on non-undead mobs. Endurance is the key to holding aggro. So as a paladin you might struggle for endurance till you hit 42. Once you get your shield proc, you are quite set. Also the nice thing about Paladin endurance regens are the fact it refreshes the whole group's endurance unlike DK's. Paladins also get the ability to resurrect at level 40 and couple that with heals makes them nice for small group content. So if you are looking at mostly soloing Paladins will start weak, but gain power over levels. Paladin at level 50 pretty much the best Single Target tank out there. Once you hit 55 and finish PotA (which gives you a proc to regenerate VPs in combat), your paladin pretty much outlast anyone. Paladin's biggest weakness is AE snap aggro (other than a force taunt). So you'd have to work on aggro one mob a time. DK's AE snap aggro is a little better than Paladin and they have more AE damage abilities, but again the endurance costs are pretty steep to keep spamming them as Hydra already mentioned. Paladins also can do vit heals. For soloing vit heals can help in a crunch situation but your soloing will be a lot limited compared to a Dread Knight who can lifetap to heal themselves and solo a lot better as long as they manage endurance. But then the power to heal someone is a big utility. So Paladins hold better in a group based scenario. But in crunch situations where the entire group is about to wipe, DKs will usually always survive the wipe by tanking all the mobs toe to toe keeping themselves alive through self heals and bring the group back up (as long as the healer gave the DK a rez stone). Overall I'd say DKs can solo better over the levels and provide a very thrilling experience but very selfish (in terms of utility). DKs can also strip enchantments off mobs which a lot of mobs do have. But Paladins blend well in groups mainly due to utilities. It's all play style preference.
