About to start leveling a tank...

Paladin is the best tank to learn on if you're not use to tanking.

Warrior is the best over all tank currently in a group setting, but requires some in depth knowledge of it and the encounter you're going into to get it's full use.

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Originally Posted by Crimess

Gosh no people like you give bad advice....I was doing A2 yesterday and this DK was just doing unleashing losing all the aggro to the healers and dps and I ended tanking everything....Just no...

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Don't be a dullard. Using unleash in the manner I described is a viable tactic for a leveling tank new to the role, which I presume the original poster to be? Of course she'll have read the appropriate guides and gained enough experience by the time she hits 60 to have developed more effective means of gaining and holding threat in a full party. Not that your anecdotal experience wasn't a refreshing digression from the topic at hand; after all who doesn't enjoy a pointless non sequitur on the internet? But by all means, Crimess was it? By all means, please offer an alternative stratagem for holding AOE threat in the wilds of Haukke manor and Brayflox. I'm certain there's all sorts of ways for a fledgling Dark Knight beyond turning on grit at the start of the encounter and using unleash. Offer us your tactical acumen that we might improve our insight into the art of meat shield.

PLD doesn't get good until 40.

A lot of people are saying that PLD is the easiest to play/learn on, but I disagree. PLD is great for single target tanking and easy mitigation, but it's not as good for AoE tanking (not bad at it by any means, but both WAR and DRK are better).

The one thing you have to do is level Gladiator to 22. You absolutely need Provoke. Then level Marauder to at least 8 for Foresight and Bloodbath.

As for which to take to 60... it really depends on what playstyle you enjoy:
PLD is your stereotypical tank, using shield to block and having a lot of direct damage reducing options. It's playstyle is straightforward: Flash and Enmity combo for threat and then use defensive cooldowns and healing (at 58+) for heavy attacks. And if story matters to you, they are the "righteous hero" types.

WAR lends itself better to an Off-Tank role, though it can still perform the Main tank role perfectly well. It's a more damage-focused tank. They have roughly the same base mitigation as the PLD, but lack the shield. They make up for lack of shield with extra healing and more short-term defensive mitigation. Takes a bit more planning to make sure you'll have your defensive buffs available. WAR's playstyle takes a bit more thought: Overpower and Enmity combo for threat, but manage your Wrath (gained through attacking while in Defiance) for defensive cooldowns (mainly Inner Beast). Story-wise, WARs are more about the thrill of battle and the inner beast.

DRK is more similar to WAR than PLD. It's like WAR in that it's a more damaged-focused tank. It again has the same base mitigation as PLD or WAR, but lacks the shield. DRK makes up for lack of shield with Self-healing. DRK's playstyle has a lot to do with managing MP and choosing when to use Dark Arts, which buffs a number of skills the DRK has. Story-wise, DRKs are all about justice... but with an ends justifies the means sort of philosophy. They harness and control the "dark side" that exists within everyone but try to use it for justice.

I haven't had a chance to play a tank to 60 yet, but up to 50 I found WAR to be more my speed. It plays a lot like DRG, juggling a bunch of debuffs while occasionally blasting the victim with enmity combos or overpower/flash. There's a lot of stuff in WAR's toolbox to keep track of though, so if you're looking to nap in your bluebox slot, you might not want to play WAR.

PLD was a lot more white knuckle for me until I got shield oath at level 40, which is PLD's main mitigation skill/spell. Sure, you have rampart and sentinel, but you could be cutting incoming damage by 20% before you even use a cooldown. It makes life after Cutter's Cry so much easier, and you can easily coast after you get shield oath to 50 with a couple weapon upgrades in between. A PLD that's on top of his flash/halone game isn't going to let anything get away from him unless he goes afk for a full minute, and it's really easy to rotate your one combo around on trash pulls to keep everything locked onto you.

I personally love the WAR. Playstyle, animations, and the balance of tank/damage. very fun class. PLD is enjoyable from the perspective of role: I love the shield/sword look! unfortunately (just for me) they feel very slow early on with their solo damage output, and it's more work to keep threat with them. Once 40 hits though, they are the easiest from a mitigation perspective...my WAR has to watch her CD's and effective use of her Determination stacks, whereas the PLD just hits a button and goes to town.

DRK can't say...but if you want to feel like FotM, can't go wrong with one. everyone's leveling a DRK it seems. FYI...WAR has just as much threat gen, it's just a cone instead of a circle, so you actually have to aim a bit.