Hey guys, I'm getting back into progression raiding and was wondering which class seems to be better at damage mitigation, juggernaut or assassin? If it at all helps, the second tank in my group will most likely be a Powertech, I've tanked with both pre-2.0 and preferred the assassin, but with juggs getting a few buffs like saber reflect and assassins taking a hit to their armor value, I have difficulty deciding who to focus on. Thanks! Edited April 21, 2013 by Apollone

I feel my Juggy can take more damage overall but my sin has the the self healing which is awesome

 

Sin also has cc and pull which is great

 

Wither helps IMO hold aggro much easier than my Juggy

 

With all that through I prefers Juggy, weird as the is

 

They are both pretty awesome though but sin has more utility

Tank balance is probably the tightest out of anything in the game, honestly.

 

Both Juggy and Sin are perfectly workable for raid tanking, so try both out a little and play whichever seems to be more fun.

 

Sin is undeniably spikier in its damage taken profile, but it also is doing pretty phenomenal DPS right now, plus retains its healing and powerful CDs.

 

Juggy has great mobility, even better CDs than before, and a significantly better tank tree than it had in 1.0, so it's no longer so difficult to play competently.

 

The utility Sin brings to the table outstrips what Juggy can do, but Juggy is an absolutely fantastic boss tank right now.

Edited April 21, 2013 by Omophorus

It's clear that as a sin tank I feel spikier than pre 2.0 while tanking several mobs. But I'm pretty sure other tanks feels the same in certain situations. Also the changes in shielding mechanics make assassins even more powerful while tanking bosses. So the armor nerf seems ok at the moment.

 

On the other hand I also have a healer and from a healer perspective i felt no big differences while healing all three tanks. Yet i prefer healing a sin tank with good fight knowledge instead of other two. Because when they use their cooldowns proactively and heal themselves effectively they are still slightly better than others. But still you'll need to put more effort to every fight if you choose your assassin.

Edited April 21, 2013 by feelingtheblanks

Juggies are much easier to play in comparison that sin tanks are more difficult than they were as they are much more reliant on cooldowns and their self heals via damaging attacks.

 

Tanking I would give the edge to juggs, at the moment Sin tanks just don't have the mitigation to stand up to much without a good healer. They are however by far the best offtank as they can dish the best DPS of any of the tanks and can easily live for a good while when they pop cooldowns. Main tank being jugg or PT should pull off of them to be ideal.

Edited April 21, 2013 by mastirkal

Have 2 Assassin tanks in our raiding group and so far we don't have any bit of problem. Apart from that i'd go pt or jugg to be off tanking, picking up the adds and stuff like that since they are slighlty more suitable to get damage from multiple targets. On the other hand an assassin really shines while tanking a boss. But in the end there isnt any real big difference. Edited April 22, 2013 by feelingtheblanks

Well, this still holds pretty true: A bad sin tank gets himself killed, while a bad jugg tank gets his group killed.

What do you want your challenge to be? Staying alive or holding aggro?

Well, this still holds pretty true: A bad sin tank gets himself killed, while a bad jugg tank gets his group killed.

What do you want your challenge to be? Staying alive or holding aggro?

 

That was very true pre-2.0, a lot less so now. Guardian's got some great buffs in 2.0, especially with Saber Reflect (8k threat on everything in range, off the GCD plus whatever they throw at you reflected for more threat? yes please!)

 

At the moment, I don't think any of the tanks really shine in an off tank capacity, all 3 lose significant benefits when they aren't being hit and while Guardian Slash proccing Riposte helps Guardian's, you still feel quite Focus starved when not actively tanking. The heavily reduced regen for Shadows gives the same feeling when not tanking.

 

Utility wise, Shadow and Guardian are pretty even IMO. Shadow's Shelter is nice but not huge, the OOC Mezz is handy for mob skipping but rarely do you need to CC more than 2 things in a pull and Force Pull does make mob positioning a lot easier than Push. Guardian's get a bubble on their AoE taunt, huge mobility with 9s effective CD on Leap and Guardian Leap, AoE 6s Mezz and shorter CD on interrupt.

 

CDs I'd give to the Guardian. Saber Ward is better than Deflection, albeit slightly longer CD. Warding Call vs Battle Readiness is very debatable. Resilience and Saber Reflect both have their times to shine and personally, I love Enure.

 

Honestly, and please don't hate me for this, play whatever you enjoy more. I love the fast and furious play style of the Guardian while KBN and Kitru love the complexities of pushing the limits with Shadow tanking. As long as you are a competent player, both tanks will perform well for you and both will compliment a Vanguard co-tank.