I plan to use the combo mentioned in the subject line and am wondering which tank class (Warrior, Paladin, or Shadow Knight) is the best in terms of DPS and surviveability. My biggest question is how does a Paladin stack up to the other two?
***Disclaimer: I don't have nearly as much raid/end game experience as a lot of the posters above/below me will have. Whats written below is opinion, based on in game experiences.
I've played a mid tiered warrior and high end paladin so I'll give you my opinion based on my experiences.(My SK is only level 52, so my claims about sks come from grouping with sks, and from the wiki) Also note your first question is hard for me to answer since, in my opinion, the answer will change depending on the circumstance.
My short answer to your second question is that the Paladin is a great choice, because, imo, they are much better then the warrior and sk, because they do almost everything the same or better then the other 2 tanks. (Except for mitigating, and single target agro, which I've never had any problems with, but I've heard people complain about this)
In the case of DPS, for example, a warrior while tanking will deal more damage then the sk or paladin because the sk/paly have to use shields while tanking.(However, the sk can do more dps for short time periods then warrior) However while duoing the sk/paly will be capable of doing at least the same or better dps because they can use a 2-handed weapon. (against undead the paladin will imo be better dps then both tanks in most every situation)
The same is true for survivability, imo, it will depend on the situation. For a raid mob the mitigation a warrior gets will be superior to the avoidance a paly/sk must rely on, so the warrior is the best tank for a raid mob on, or above your tier. The paly/sk will however be the better tank for exping/lower tier raiding.
compare/contrast of positives and negatives
Paladin:
positives:
1.) Great group hots. Gets a great group heal at level 64 and another one at 65(ikkisith spell). Also get an instant cast direct group heal AA, which is incredible in those "oh crap" situations.
2.) Also gets 3 great self heals which are absolutely incredible, cast quickly, inexpensive, and heal for a ton.
3.) Lay on hands, free full heal.
4.) Innate 10% crit chance, and against undead all your crits and your groups crits turn into cleansing blows, which hit harder then regular crits.
5.) Best aoe agro in the game, can also do fine single target from my experience, so long as the mobs don't have high MR.
6.) Protection of the lady. AA that reduces all spell damage taken by raid by 40% for a short duration.
Negatives:
1.) Rely on avoidance instead of mitigation, which isn't a problem unless your fighting mobs that take off huge chunks of your hp per hit. Basically this is only, imo, a negative if your raiding on tier or higher tier bosses.
2.) Spells don't have negative resist modifiers, meaning mobs that have high MR, like red con raid targets, can resist a lot of your spells, giving you potentially serious agro problems.
Shadowknight:
1.) FD; great if your duoing/raiding and need to get a mob singled out.
2.) Leech touch. I've heard this can crit for around 8-10k damage, which is incredible if true. Thats basically a LOH + incredible agro.
3.) A nice self buff at 65. I assume it stacks with every other buff in the game. Very nice buff that adds ac,ds,hp, proc.
4.) Incredible burst damage; with HT, and their spears they can dish up some serious pain when needed.
5.) Mitigate more then a paladin. Have to use a style to do this, and doesn't last long from what I hear, but very nice if you have to tank a tough raid mob.
6.) Best single target agro in the game. With HT, spears, and group agro transfer spells I'm not even sure it's possible to pull agro off an SK that wants to keep it.
7.) Lifetaps. While they wont heal as much as paladin heals, or be as mana efficient, they do deal damage, thus giving you more agro, which is nice.
Negatives:
1.) Relies on avoidance more then a warrior. Go back to negative 1 for paladin and read that point, since I think it applies here too. (Higher mitigation then paladin though using a style)
2.) Very few aoe agro abilities.
Warrior:
Positives:
1.) Best mitigation in the game using a /style.
2.) Deal more damage while tanking then paly/sk
3.) An AA that reduce damage taken by half for a short time.
Negatives:
1.) No consistent ways to get Aoe agro.
2.) No ways to self heal like the paladin/sk. Not as important on a raid, but when your duoing/grouping this is pain.
OK that's it. This took way longer then I thought it would. Will edit later.
