Chosen vs Black Orc (new player)

[Kharosch]

Hello everyone,

I'm just downloading the client for RoR while I'm typing these lines. Super excited to jump back into RoR, played live during launch as I teenager and I absolutely loved it!

So as the title suggests, I'm stuck between class choices for tanks. I've found multiple reddit posts and posts here about tank class descriptions, strengths and weaknesses. I now narrowed it down to either Chosen or Blackorc (Ironbreaker is also tempting but I definitely want to be on the destruction side for RP reasons). However, some info doesn't quite add up and isn't crystal clear like I wish it would be...

I've understood that Chosen is considered more beginner friendly and more straightforward. Might be a good call as a RoR newbie, but I'm worried it gets boring to quick to just be handholding in PvP while dishing out auras (not that I wouldn't turn down that apparent Chosen giga chad lifestyle haha). But I also already know that PvP as a tank in RoR is including punts, body-blocking and active shielding. Still, if there isn't much room to fail I'm afraid that there might also not be a lot of room to really shine in the heat of battle...
The Blackorc on the other hand seemed to be more engaging with combos - is that the case? He is considered to be more viable with 2H than Chosen and can dish out more damage. Also Chosen is considered more wanted/better of large RvR and Blackorc more wanted/better for small-scale? (But I found a lot of contradictory voices here...). The Blackorc was also considered inferior in any way by some folks, was this was maybe patch dependend? How is it right now?

From the RP side I could see myself playing both of the classes, but I'm unsure which playstyle and niche would fit me best personally, I'm comparing things like:

- general style of gameplay
- toolkit variety
- strengths and weaknesses
- 2H vs SNB viability
- viability in RvR/small-scale/solo-PvP
- ease of finding a spot in rnd groups and guilds
- viability in PvE (if that's even a thing to talk about)

If any experienced player could share their point of view on the Chosen and Blackorc and maybe also share which one is more fun to play in your opinion (ideally if you have played both) - that would help my decision making a lot!

Hope to see you all on the battlefield soon!