The Hidden Forest

For general tanking, aggro control and later progression past lvl 70 would a SK be a better option over a Pal? Currently have enc, mag, clr.

Both are equally strong, so pick whichever you prefer the style of. SK helps with FD pulling, Paladin has more healing options (and later on surpasses the SK for heals, though the SK holds its own with life taps).

Both get the same defensive disciplines (through items) and AOE agro clicks/spells. Both hold agro equally well.

Pallies get the Spell Casting Reinforcement AA. That means 30% longer defensive discs. That's enough to tip my scale in favor of a Paladin, personally. But, I've tanked on both and they're both excellent.

I never really used FD much on the SK, but it's handy to have.
Pallies have a backup rez. Also handy.

As for epics... I tend to think the SK epic is way better than the Pally one in most situations

Noren wrote:Pallies get the Spell Casting Reinforcement AA. That means 30% longer defensive discs. That's enough to tip my scale in favor of a Paladin, personally. But, I've tanked on both and they're both excellent.

I never really used FD much on the SK, but it's handy to have.
Pallies have a backup rez. Also handy.

As for epics... I tend to think the SK epic is way better than the Pally one in most situations

Does reinforcement affect discs? interesting.

If that's true then the choice of SK vs. Pal for main tank comes down to if you plan to donate (I agree with Noren the SK donors are > Pal)... discs lasting 30% longer is kind of a no-brainer to me.

Nilbus wrote:

Noren wrote:Pallies get the Spell Casting Reinforcement AA. That means 30% longer defensive discs. That's enough to tip my scale in favor of a Paladin, personally. But, I've tanked on both and they're both excellent.

I never really used FD much on the SK, but it's handy to have.
Pallies have a backup rez. Also handy.

As for epics... I tend to think the SK epic is way better than the Pally one in most situations

Does reinforcement affect discs? interesting.

It does. Both clicky discs and combat ability discs are affected.

And to be fair, it's not a net 30% longer. It's just an additional 30% boost on top of the focus, for cumulative extension.

Noren wrote:I never really used FD much on the SK, but it's handy to have.
Pallies have a backup rez. Also handy.

We don't use it much any more but we did use it a lot until we started using fading memories. It helped us a ton with breaking into the Avatars, where fading memories is much trickier to use.

But it's not a deal-breaker.

In terms of raw, toe-to-toe tanking ability, my friend's SK has always had the upper hand over my Paladin, despite the extension to defensive (which I don't think makes a ton of difference in the majority of fights, not with three defensive clicks to use) but then he has always had a little more AC/HPs as he's our main tank, so it's difficult to say if the spells/donator make the difference. In some encounters, my Paladin is better suited and in others his SK is. And in others, our Warrior wins out.

I'd think anyone would find it difficult regretting their choice of any tank on this server, as they're all so well balanced; so I maintain it's down to preference of style.

Although, if you only use one tank and intend to tank in DSK with the UF client, it's Paladin all the way.

Ydiss wrote:Although, if you only use one tank and intend to tank in DSK with the UF client, it's Paladin all the way.

What makes you say that?

Think I'll go with pally. Too early to say if I'll donate or not and it's always nice to have backup heals. Any suggestions for last two boxes?

Bard for sure. If you plan on donating, then I'd suggest rogue.. If not, probably necro?