Tankiest of Tanks

[Raikami]

I know this may end up being a somewhat vitriolic conversation thread as it may seem a bit personalized, but basically I am curious about it and it is driving me nuts too no end. So here it goes.

I am wondering out of the six tanks whom is the tankiest of tanks. By that I mean, which tank if stated into raw defenses, traits and everything ends up being the best at just raw mitigation. Now too be fair, I will help it along. I'm curious from an RvR and PvE perspective. (Given I know PvE is.. semi worthless as far as I know.)

As a point of interest as well, I'd know sometimes it may be hard to categorize it. I imagine some tanks excel at groups more than others, but we'll root through all the details as we go.

I'd like to know which of the six is the burliest, however I'd also love to know which ones are the beefiest for each faction. Let's keep it civil folks! Thanks and I hope for a plethora of information!

[k1o3]

I'm almost positive it is Blackguard, at least I remember it being so on live, but I could be wrong. Which, also, was terribly ironic for the class itself. I remember SM being incredibly defensive as well, which was also terrible ironic.

[dansari]

Short answer: depends on how you build and what you equip, honestly.

Bubble snb SM could be very tanky, especially if you're only facing one mob (Impeccable Reactions for double parry, defense tactic for +5%, +10% parry/block depending on which stance you're in, etc.) However, "turtle" tanks are often seen as not very viable (in PVP). Speccing for some sort of offense is important. For SM you can still get a bit of this, even as snb, since most of your damage is spiritual, especially from abilities like Blurring Shock.

This is also a different question from "what seems to be the most important tank in RVR," which right now, without question, is kotbs/chosen, simply because of the strong plethora of auras they can provide to the group.

[Raikami]

Yeah, I wasn't concerned about what people want most of all. Just what comes across as most mitigation.

[Krima]

chosen... but they nerfed CS recently

[k1o3]

I'm pretty sure BG's were the go-to main tanks in PvE, no? I'm pretty sure there were a lot of tears about it, too.

[nocturnalguest]

My vote for BG

[peterthepan3]

Well-played BG/IB. BG has epic morales for survivability, too.

[Dabbart]

A super defensive knight imo. IBs can be super tough as well. I just think the Aura bots have more tools at their disposal, but I have very little experience with chosen.

But that bubble build SM takes a lot of killin...

Pretty much any tank can be built super tough. It's all in the build.

[FlyingApron]

Chosen or black guard. Chosen is easier.