[Alarion]

As a level 18 warrior, with decent gear for my level - I am a little eager to see the changes they are making to Warrior mitigation. I know you are 2 levels higher than myself, but you have almost 400 more AC, and I *use* a shield.

In all honesty, until you see differently, I would suggest you stick with the tried and true tanking methodology - and that is to use a shield if you are tanking, unless you just aren't taking much damage without it.

I don't have my 2h skills built up yet, but it is something I am working on. Thus, I have not used 2h weapons in a grouping environment.

That said, I have not done enough experimentation to determine if, while in defensive stance, there is much of a difference between using a shield and not. I know warriors have some reactionary abilities (and at least one normal ability) that requires a shield - not sure about DRKs.

Edit:After looking at my vgplayers.com page, I am questioning my recollection of my AC value. I will have to check this in game tonight.
Edit2:Man I'm blind, finally saw the AC listing on the page (was only seeing the "defense" at first) - yeah my AC is 640 but my defense is 2579 - with a shield.