I’ve been having one heck of a time trying to decide if I want to tank on my paladin, or my warrior. Right now the paladin is sitting at level 44, the warrior 42 (after some adventures yesterday). One reason why I want to limit myself to working up a single character is because I’d also like to (ideally) craft on this character, which is restricted by levels. If I spend too much time leveling up both at once, I’ll fall behind. I really need an alchemist to replace the DK I had on my old server. In my decision making I looked at each character individually to come to my eventual conclusion.
The Warrior:
Feels like a tank – if that makes sense. Because the paladin tends to cast spells it can almost feel like a caster. Also the warrior cool downs are fairly easy to handle, I always have something up. My warrior also has more hit points, and when I eventually hit 85 I’ll be able to critically shield block which is something the paladin lacks. Also, charge is awesome.
The down side to the warrior (remember, I’m low level) is that I only have one aoe at the moment, thunderclap. Two if you count rend triggering on everyone I’ve thunderclapped. While I hold aggro just fine on 5 mobs, anything more then that tends to be a little tricky for me because of this. For example if I have already used thunderclap and another group of adds join into the fray I have to wait for the aoe to be back up while I frantically taunt mobs off of everyone. There’s those over eager gamers who are constantly using all of their AoE’s before I’ve even done anything, and I find it a little annoying to pull off of them. I know this comes with practice and time (and levels, as eventually I’ll get shockwave) but for now it’s annoying.
The Paladin:
Keep in mind my level, 44. A lot of the instances I’m doing are filled with undead, and Wrath is also filled with undead. This gives the paladin an edge over the warrior. At this low level, I’ve also got three AoE, two of them are instant cast, and I’ve also got avenger’s shield which stuns and silences three mobs (I use it to pull, typically). I’ve got buffs that help not only me, but the group. I can lay on hands, cast protection, and cure disease and poison. I can also rez.
I REALLY dislike the paladin cool downs, at this level I feel like I’m lacking buttons to press. Paladins are also incredibly common, being thought of as the easy mode class, because they can tank / dps / heal. Although I think anyone who plays a class well is worth it no matter how common they are it’s something that I try to avoid (playing common classes, that is).
The Decision:
In the end I decided to go with the paladin, changing my earlier decision of warrior. I came to this decision for one final reason that outweighed everything else. When I reach level 85 I will have the choice of tanking, dpsing, or healing depending on my mood. If I were to level the warrior to 85 I would only have two choices, tanking or dpsing. I don’t want to level a character to 85 and have them just sit there doing nothing at all so having more options was a better decision for me. I may come to regret this as I make my way to 85 and if that’s the case then I will simply switch over to the warrior and continue leveling that character up. I suppose we’ll just have to see.
In the end, as long as I’m having fun it doesn’t really matter what I’m playing (and the same can be said for anyone). Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!