IB versus BO question

[Eeshen]

Hello,
I'm a returning player who specifically enjoys SnB tanks. I've tried Knight and Chosen in the past, but found I really enjoy BO and it's skills for blocking. I love the "blocking concept" in tanks and BO seems really good in that area.

However, I've been told Order lacks SnB tanks, so I want to give IB a try. Would someone give me pros/cons regarding IB in relation to BO and any links for IB builds and tips (videos, etc...).

Also, looking at other posts, it seems BOs are wanted in groups, but Im unclear about IB, since it seems Knights are the best.

Lastly, if I were to get into ranked scenarios, which of the two tanks offers more and do ranked scenarios even have SnB tanks?

Thank you for your time !

[Baaldr]

BO is a better SNB tank then IB however order lacks in tanks so you will have an easier time finding groups regardless.
For ranked I would say IB is better thanks to them having a single target punt.

[zulnam]

IB is a nice tank to play. Not as useful to the entire group as knights, no, but they have their utility. Also more fun to play since you have to keep up an active rotation to buff your oathfriend/group.

About your worry for knights being more wanted. It's not really a thing. Whenever running RvR, oWBs ask for "tank". the need is high enough that they don't really care. Occasionally, you might get city wbs asking for specific classes, but for everything else no one's really that picky when it comes to tanks.

You can also check the guild list in-game and see what people are recruiting (use the first #, not the second). You'll see that, with few exceptions, most active guilds want any tanks.

IB is very good at buffing a single DPS, making them hit harder and more often. Most wb leads know this so ideal groups know are 1 knight + 1 ib/sm. No one that i know of is trying to make wbs with 6 knights and 2 SMs like back in the day.

A standard build would be something like this. Told Ya So is your only group utility, but a very good one. Every time you consume grudge, you give your group the same amount of AP. Besides this, IB has a lot of single target buffs with the oathfriend mechanic. Most of these revolve around melee stats, so ideally you should always be guarding a slayer, or an aoe WL if not.
IB also gets Seasoned Veteran as a core tactic, which gives you a 15% damage reduction every time you block. And with that build you get GnM, a great heal; makes you very strong when caught alone.

But lets say you want a more consistent blocking experience, well you can then experiment with the mid build, giving you Shield Mastery (10% block and 5% constant dmg reduction), and why not give Oathstone a try? a 4-attack guaranteed block that causes quite a big amount of damage to mdps when used at 100 grudge (very fun to solo roam with it). Or just Shield Mastery with GnM. There's some room for experimentation.

Also while leveling (and low geared), why not get Ancestral Inheritance for a nice, solid 660 armor boost.

Should also be noted that, when geared properly, IB also has a very nice 2H spec, for both solo and group play. With still more utility than a 2H BO.

[Earthcake]

BO is the best tank in the game so obviously IB is less good. Only place where IB is better is in ranked scs, a game mode 50ppl play.

Doesn't mean you are garbage tho, all tanks are wanted, especially on order.
If you wanna be good on IB, forget the "but you get all this and that and also this" there is simply not enough time to do everything and you'll end up doing 30% of everything and be bad. Focus on something you wanna be good at, and you'll be very good at it, whatever it is, IB can do it all, just not all at the same time.