Paladin or Fighter? -Tank

[ThorMan412]

Hello, returning player here looking to make a (most likely) pure tank character, wondering if I should go fighter or paladin. I would like to choose only one class, not a big fan of multiclassing. The way I understand it is fighter would be better at what it does, and just tank and fight, whereas a paladin would have more utility and group helpfulness, right? Or maybe I'm wrong. Just wondering which would be better for most content in the long run. I have lots of content and would love to get past 20 for the expansions! Legendary Dreadnought, Divine Crusader, and Unyielding Sentinel all look like a ton of fun, too. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[unbongwah]

Although I haven't gotten around to posting a pure pally yet, see my Dwarven Defender and Sacred Defender threads.

[ThorMan412]

I appreciate you posting those builds, and I will certainly review them as I build my character, but they don't really help me much in deciding which to choose. I understand how to build them, I just don't know which performs better, I guess.

[unbongwah]

Well, if you insist on staying pure, you have the gist of both classes, I think. Ftrs get plenty of feats for customizing your build, high melee DPS, and good tactics DCs (if you build for them); but they've got zero self-sufficiency / healing and low Will & Reflex saves (a serious drawback for a tank, since spells hit really, really hard in EEs). Pallies have good saves, plenty of self-healing, and generally are highly survivable; but their DPS isn't nearly as good as a pure ftr, they're badly starved for feats, and their capstones are underwhelming.

[Fedora1]

It is odd that something with light armor and evasion make better tanks in many cases. Like EllisDee's evasion pally.

That said, between the two, I really think a pally is necessary for the self healing. If you are tanking, you are taking damage. Some interesting combos (you would either need to multiclass/splash or use LR+) are PDK Paladins or Bladeforged Fighter.

[ThorMan412]

Am I going to have a hard time finding a group as either class?

[Fedora1]

Am I going to have a hard time finding a group as either class?

I wouldn't think so. Most of the PUGs I join on G-Land just take the first 5 that click on the lfm. Sometimes I'll see a "Reserved" for guildie or rogue, or something like that. Just be careful about the ones that say "Know your way, BYOH, don't die" and such.

In heroics just stay in the middle of the group (don't get too far out in front if there are traps or if you need the party cleric to keep you topped off). Bring lots of CSW potions and don't use them sparingly, chug away between fights.