The Hidden Forest

Hey everyone,

I've been constantly going back and forth between warrior and shadowknight as my tank for my 6 man group. The composition currently is:

war/shd,brd,rog,nec,clr,shm

PRO

Warrior - better damage output, more discs, easier to hold single target aggro, can swap to another toon if I need to without worrying on the warrior that I'll lose aggro.

Shadow Knight - Spells (variety), pet, utilities (group tap), increase group damage, self-tap. Fear immune after a few AAs.

CON

Warrior - can be boring as primary toon. without augs no self-healing. Doesn't do anything to improve the group. Poor AOE threat.

Shadow Knight - requires very active controller to maintain aggro and operate at full potential. That, or must be fully scripted to automate. Dmg output as himself also isn't that of a warrior. I also find even just barely at 70 (new players) that my rogue steals threat consistently still if I'm not on the ball with the SHD.

Conclusion

I'm looking for thoughts from players. I will likely never, ever reach beyond T6. I'd love to finish T6 but I imagine that would mostly be it as I'm not going to venture into a 2nd group for a very long time. That said, in the first few tiers am I going to run into 'real' trouble using a SHD over a WAR as my MT, or visa versa? They operate differently, I get that. But are there going to be hard mechanics or gearing phases where something's going to happen I should be aware of?

For example, does AOE healing become a huge issue in tiers 3-6 maybe and having the SHD is really, really going to make things easier? Or does it really all balance out in the end anyways because the WAR will take less dmg, require less healing, and allow for more attention from the backup healer on the group?

Those kinds of thoughts..

Thanks!

I have all three and like War better. The AE thing is not much of an issue at the high tiers with Swipe and Rampage. If you get the Donor BP its defiantly not an issue. With all the discs you can have one on 100% of the time.

SK/Pals are fun due to the spells, however, that can also be their downfall. If the mob you are fighting dispels, it affects SK/Pals more because they rely on their buffs/spells more that War.

There are some encounters on the server where one class is needed over the other, however, in the end I don't think it matters much. It comes down to what you enjoy.

They are functionally equivalent until T7 where a boss regularly fears.

Putting my player hat on, I'd note that you are healer heavy (shm, cleric, necro group lifetaps), and thus aggro/dps/attention requirements would be my top priorities. A tank is nothing if they cannot hold aggro, so if holding aggro with an SK requires more attention than you can afford to give will still having fun and successful progressing, then your answer is simple!

Otherwise, horse-a-piece

Really appreciate all of the responses. That helps a lot - thanks!