My friends and I just started playing this game. It's been a ton of fun, and I think we'll be subbing. In the trial I got a warlock and SK up to 20.

Neither of them have good gear, because IDK a place to get it besides quests/drops which hasn't been too efficient. Either way we've been able to level fairly easy so far. I'm trying to decide which class to play. So far I think both of them are decent.

I read that the SK isn't really that good or desirable at end game, and that warlocks are. So I'd like to get some perspective from both sides about how they fair later on and end game.

SKs are tanks, and warlocks are AoE dps.

What do you want to do, tank or dps?

Well, I used to play WoW...and I was always a caster dps or healer. Because of that, I kind of want to try tanking.

But since I'm new to the game, I'm thinking maybe I should go through some stuff as dps before I try to tank it.

SK's are okay, but youd be beter off with a warlock or some other tank class, such as a guardian or a berserker. even a paladin is a good class, as I have a nice lvl 80 Paladin now, and its very useful.

If you want to have guaranteed spots in raids which will allow you to learn the content , and get gear for alts (almost all gear legendary or fabled in eq2 is Heirloom tagged which means it's swappable between characters of the same account, keep that in mind), you should roll a class with high desirability namely a bard (dirge or troubie) or an enchanter (coercer or illusionist), or a healer like a shaman or a cleric (druids are dime a dozen).

Tanks are desirable for heroic content but not so much for raids since the majority of guilds have long established their main tanks/off tanks for their raid groups.

 SK all the way, just because they are SKs hit things with big weapons. On a side note, you could always play what you find fun. It is a game after all, not a full-time job.

if you want to join raids in endgame then its usually best to have a non tank class as main char. in eq2 raids consist of 24 players and you usually need 2 tanks in a raid, and each guild usually tries to keep these tanks static.

From time to time there might be openings for tanks in raids, but thats rare and usually its easier to get into raiding with other chars. generally i think the most wanted classes in raids are chanters (coercer, illusionist), healers and bards(dirge, troubadour)  think then next on list is a mix of different dps classes that changes a bit with time rogues (brigand, swashbuckler) are allways wanted for debuffs, wizards and assassins tend to be highest dps in single target fights, warlocks are highest in multi mob fights, rangers and summoners usually rank a bit lower on the desired lists (good players of these classes with good equip can do nice dps and should be able to get spots, but they are often not the primary classes guilds are looking for if they want to fill dps spots).

for grouping i would say any class should be ok, but bards chanters and healers tend to be the ones finding group spots most easy again.  usually a group consists of a tank one healer one chanter or bard and 3 dps classes. for some hard zones its sometimes better to take 2 healers or both a chanter and a bard.

dunno where you got the info but just ask level 80s and they tell you the tank of preference at level 80 is now the SK ,which has caused them to be the FoTM and guardians are quitting/rerolling because of this .

but as a new tank you need a guild to gear u up really however that said you can 5 man instance run and get good upgrades at level 80 .

warlocks are good in aoe long dps fights.i say play what you are happy with and then see.

consider a bard too or illusionist.

yes sk got a big boost with tso and are currently one of the preferred tank classes even for raids. guards lost most of their outstanding position till tso, pally and berserker are about in same postilion like they were before.

like always with these fotm classes is that this might change with next expansion and then another tank class might be the preferred one.

Personally i would always take tanking experience over being a special class that is currently the best tank. A good tank knows how to play his class for the best results and thats the only thing that really matters.

Originally posted by quaiky

yes sk got a big boost with tso and are currently one of the preferred tank classes even for raids. guards lost most of their outstanding position till tso, pally and berserker are about in same postilion like they were before.

like always with these fotm classes is that this might change with next expansion and then another tank class might be the preferred one.

Personally i would always take tanking experience over being a special class that is currently the best tank. A good tank knows how to play his class for the best results and thats the only thing that really matters.

as the man said.personally i say play what you like.i cannot see SoE ignoring guardians in next xpac due in 3 months time since all they are good for is tanking .