STR vs. VIT for leveling

[Bourne_Endeavor]

I know this is the popular topic of late, but as someone looking to level a tank class, I would appreciate some input on what my stat focus should be while leveling from baby dungeons through to 50. Seems traditional tank accessories are getting frowned on for lack of a better term. So wanted to know if I should focus on STR, VIT or hybrid the two, and which of them is most viable.

[Fevelle]

VIT. It will make things go much smoother, even with a not so good healer. Also, the synch function on low level dungeons is quite strong, so you won't have problems keeping aggro with full VIT equips.

[Dhex]

Level in VIT gear - add some STR gear if you have enmity issues (but that usually ends up being because of an underlevel weapon) put your bonus into STR; at lv60 begin to slowly swap to mostly STR as you get up towards i180+ while figuring out/meeting the threshold HP requirement for your typical healers (13.5k-16k) and you'll be golden.

[SwordCoheir]

Actually, STR is the better option pre-50. One reason is your enmity toolset is limited and some jobs get their big DPS boosts early on so enmity generated through DPS is a bit more critical, another reason is the stat differences don't stand out large enough to matter till 50 when you're ilv can jump up 80 levels instantly. Even then, unless your doing something that would be considered "end-game" for pre-Heavensward content, or you just happen to just make the minimum level for a post 50 dungeon your doing you don't really have to worry about HP too much.

[Rbstr]

Strength.
You get plenty of HP by being up on left-side stuff and the weapon. Hate is the hardest thing you have to deal with. There are a couple level ranges where it's nearly impossible against some synced players.
Anyone that gets hit with level-sync will be rocking the maximum ilevel for the dungeon. If you're in a level-appropriate dungeon it's very hard to do that yourself.

Vit is going to be most appropriate right when you hit 50 and again when you hit 60 since it's easier to hit content you're relatively undergeared for.

[Freyyy]

I levelled my tanks in full STR because I wanted to do more damage when doing stuff like quests, leves, hunting logs and FATEs, and I never felt squishy or whatever in dungeons and never got any complaint from healers. But it honestly doesn't matter at low level, the difference in HP between the two is really small. The difference in DPS is small too but more noticeable. Take whatever you're the most comfortable with.

[Atoli]

I'd say it depends on the tank job you want to level.
GLA/PLD has a lot of trouble holding hate below 50. Any little bit of STR you can get helps making it easier, and you can shield through dmg intense phases/hits with your defensive cooldowns, so having less VIT is not a problem, even with weak healers.

DRK and WAR don't suffer from the same problem, so you can smoothen things out with more VIT. I personally went full STR on both build and accessories (and even a bit on the left equipment side) and still didn't have any trouble. I even regularly asked my healers if they felt I was taking too much dmg or if healing me was stressful, but they all replied that it wasn't the case, so...VIT would have been a waste.
But if you feel uncomfortable with a smaller HP pool, it's fine to go for VIT instead
Just not as GLA..xD

[Ashkendor]

I'd say it depends on the tank job you want to level.
GLA/PLD has a lot of trouble holding hate below 50.

PLD shouldn't have trouble after level 40 when they get Shield Oath. 30-40 are probably the absolute worst levels for Paladins. Personally, I level in full STR because I hate feeling like I'm hitting things with a wet noodle when I have to do solo encounters, and I don't want to have to carry around 2 complete sets of accessories for whatever level I'm at because my armory chest is already overflowing.

[Atoli]

VIT, because at low levels its actually very powerful until you reach level 52. Then go strength.

All it does is give you a bigger HP pool, which is kind of pointless unless you do massive pulls and have a healer that can heal that many HP.
Like several people already said, defensive gear is important to reduce dmg taken, but VIT is just an extra cushion to fall on if all else fails so it's a waste of potential unless you feel too uncomfortable without the extra safety.

PLD shouldn't have trouble after level 40 when they get Shield Oath.

While Shield Oath is very useful in keeping hate, getting the first AoE skill at 50 had a lot more impact on me. Even with Shield Oath, Flash and rotating targets for threat combos, there is no way you can keep hate on really big pulls when BLMs and the like let loose right away. But hitting everything once with a nice AoE and applying DoTs on all the targets helps a lot to eastablish that initial threat that you can reinforce with your other abilities/skills afterwards.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Wow. Thanks a lot everyone. Appreciate all the input. First time I'll be giving tanking a go in an MMO.