Weakest Tankish Zoning Class in the Game

[Beryv]

Beyond the survey please feel free to leave comments explaining your vote. Please note the question does not take into consideration PVP. Although if you'd like to leave a note explaining how PVP might improve or reduce your view overall that is also welcome.

[Hele]

Scouts have squishy hpt

[Beryv]

Small addendum since people have started explaining to me scouts are not tanks. Yes, I understand, the point is really to consider which of these classes are the worst for soloing and have the least value to a group overall at all stages of the game. Thanks!

[Hoodoo]

If you think scouts aren't tanks, you aren't baptin' doing it right. :)   Tanked most of the mud on Ix.   Warriors are solid but require actual skill to tank as opposed to scripts and the ability to type 'wild;breach' every few rounds. (Warrior's strength comes from target/legend parry limdam/fortress combo, and the fact that the breach skill has not rotted their brains and ruined their habits).

DK/Pally are really solo monsters: either barbs or warriors do it better for large group tanking.

[muddeer]

Unless there has been a significant change during the last wipe and a half I haven't played, I think the fighter classes are pretty well balanced for zoning.  Some are strong in solo, weak in group, and others are vice versa.  Barbs and their hps still rule for group tanking though.  Entry bash/stun makes warrior defensive skills useless in many cases.

[Gramm]

i think scouts are weakest tanking class overall, they have their perks dont get me wrong. but unless they are fully legend or ridiculously stacked i just dont see them ever "out tanking" a barb basher paladin in groups. They have their uses though of course, just not as overall tanks, sort of the mage class of attack damage if you ask me. They are all instinct damage and bursts but not good at consistently eating damage.  I havent legended a scout though personally, sky scouts obviously cant tank, i still dont see mountain scouts as main tanks , and ocean scouts have never really stood out when there is a legend paladin or barbarian in the group as the choice i would go with as main tank lol. bring back the ranger! time to lube scouts! lube them good!  lets make it so you can shoot at targets from a few rooms away too for added fun : p *a flaming arrow comes zooming past your head WHOOSH!* a small kender is caught in the crossfire, a small kender is DEAD R.I.P!

[Hoodoo]

Ocean scouts are the kings of fence and limdam stacking.  Really does work. :) Though yes, full legend is needed.  Tanked full Fun Mir with one, among many other places.

That being said, it is *easier* to tank it with a warrior.  Still, you'd be surprised what a steelskin full legend 28 dex ocean with about +15 fence/rip can tank without sweating, Gramm.  :)  There are definitely major fights where I found it far easier tanking on my ocean than a warrior/pally/barb would have.

Jason

Ocean: Ix (Steelskin/full legend, kender)
Warrior: Vyllein (Steelskin/full legend kender)
Whitey: Molly (Steelskin/full legend gnome)

Yep, seems to be a pattern.

[Morte]

scouts are not tanks. and if you try to play one as a tank you are spending alot more time and effort then its worth.

[Hoss]

If mage's had rescue, they would tank way better than a scout.

[Chisul]

When I was playing, my Mtn never served as a decent tank, but I found plenty of zones and mobs that I could solo as a scout that my legend paladin would just get chewed up in...and vice versa. There are tons of zones and mobs my paladin can solo that would kill my mountain faster than I could recite recall me.

It really comes down  to what you know and what you want. When playing a tank, I hate simply sitting there absorbing damage so the party can kill stuff. That is a simplification, but gives some flavor. When I used to lead, I didn't care what skills a tank had beyond high HP, a solid rescue, and some trained damage mitigation.

So if i define a tank based on how I played vs. What I wanted when leading I'd get two very different answers.

[snax]

If mage's had rescue, they would tank way better than a scout.

Hell yeah.  Mages are the strongest tanks in the game.  Even crappy 3rd tier me has mained stuff like soth as a mage. =)  I've seen a lot of mages over the years main most of the dragons without an orb, and if they have an orb well then they're just gravy.

[Hoodoo]

Mountains are DPS, not tankly.  Anyone who tries to tank a mountain deserves the beating they're about to receive.  Why?  Mountains have no innate damage mit past fence, and oceans even do that better. 

Oceans, on the other hand, get legend whale and legend crab, along with solid fencing.  Stack some relatively easy to acquire minor limdams on top of fence and legend crab, with whale's innates helping in various ways, and you have a tank that dodges most things, heals every round a small amount and 200+ hps on a timer, reduces what he doesn't dodge by a *significant* amount, paralyzes on a timer... it's fairly filthy.  Only problem is that scout rescue is not unlike winning a gold in the Special Olympics:  even at superb, it requires significant help. :)

I'm not saying I'd main tank a scout over, say, a solid warrior, but I did have quite a bit of success on Ix.

Jason

[Morte]

shamans are better tanks than scouts at least their rescue lands.

[Hoodoo]

"Their".   

[Hoss]

"than"