Guides · Tanking
How we ranked classic tank slots
Armor class, then hit points, then stamina. Everything else is ignored for the pick. This is our chase rule for Hate, Fear, Sky, dragons, and Yael — not a community “best in slot” reprint.
A wiki lists every item that can land in a slot. We picked a rule and ran it. If you weight haste or regen differently, your worn set will disagree. That is what Gear Advisor is for: best of what you own, with public weights.
Numbers in the table are starting points we used to settle close calls. They are not catalog truth. If inspect disagrees, inspect wins — send the window. Class locks still apply (Indicolite is Warrior). Old Innoruuk race locks we treat as gone on EQL.
Slots under this rule
| Slot | Item | AC | HP | STA | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ear (×2) | Black Sapphire Electrum Earring | 2 | 35 | 0 | Jewelcraft |
| Neck | Fine Plate Collar | 8 | 0 | 0 | Blacksmithing · Fine Plate |
| Face | Darkbrood Mask | 7 | 0 | 0 | Plane of Hate · Innoruuk |
| Head | Indicolite Helm | 20 | 0 | 0 | Hate · a kiraikuei |
| Finger | Engineer’s Ring (lore — one) | 20 | 5 | 5 | Hate · Innoruuk |
| Finger | Platinum Fire Wedding Ring | 5 | 55 | 0 | Jewelcraft |
| Wrist (×2) | Indicolite Bracer | 12 | 0 | 0 | Hate · a kiraikuei |
| Arms | Indicolite Vambraces | 20 | 0 | 0 | Hate · a kiraikuei |
| Hands | Indicolite Gauntlets | 16 | 50 | 5 | Hate kiraikuei / Fear phoboplasm |
| Shoulders | Imbued Granite Spaulders | 20 | 0 | 0 | The Hole · Master Yael |
| Chest | Indicolite Breastplate | 35 | 0 | 15 | Hate · a kiraikuei |
| Back | Shield of the Immaculate | 25 | 0 | 0 | Hate · Lord of Ire |
| Waist | Brell’s Girdle | 10 | 0 | 10 | The Hole · Master Yael |
| Legs | Indicolite Greaves | 20 | 0 | 5 | Hate · a kiraikuei |
| Feet | Indicolite Boots | 20 | 0 | 0 | Hate · a kiraikuei |
| Primary | Dagas | 20 | 100 | 0 | Sky · Warrior Test of Smash |
| Secondary | Bladestopper | 25 | 50 | 15 | Nagafen’s Lair · Lord Nagafen |
| Range | Bow of the Underfoot | — | — | — | The Hole · rock golems (range util) |
Close calls the rule actually decides
- Back + shield: SOTI can sit on back or secondary. We wear it on back (25 AC) and keep Bladestopper as the shield (25 AC / 50 HP / 15 STA). Same shield AC; Bladestopper wins HP then STA.
- Waist: Brell’s (10 AC / 10 STA) ties Girdle of Faith on AC and HP, then wins STA. Faith is also Paladin-only.
- Engineer’s Ring: 20 AC / 5 HP / 5 STA, lore so only one. Second ring is Fire Wedding (5 AC / 55 HP) over Djarn’s (0 AC / 80 HP) because AC ranks first. Plenty of people wear Djarn’s anyway — they are not using this rule.
- Face: Darkbrood ties Fine Plate Visor at 7 / 0 / 0. We kept Darkbrood for resists. Old Dark Elf lock treated as unlocked here.
- Shoulders: Granite Spaulders (20 AC) beat Pauldrons of the Blue Sky (12 AC / 7 STA).
- Neck: Fine Plate Collar (8 AC) beats Runed Wind Amulet (6 AC / 40 HP).
- Chest / legs / hands: Indicolite already wins AC; those pieces also carry STA, so the third tiebreak never saves a lower-AC chest.
When you throw the rule out for haste
Real tanks drop AC on back and waist for worn haste. That is a play call. The ranking is not broken; you just stopped using it on those two slots.
| Slot | Item | AC | HP | STA | Haste | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Back | Cloak of Flames | 10 | 50 | 0 | 36% | Nagafen — common worn back |
| Back | Cloak of Scales | 15 | 50 | 0 | — | Innoruuk — best cloak AC/HP; still loses to SOTI on back |
| Waist | Belt of the Four Winds | 5 | 0 | 12 | 41% | Sky · Warrior Test of Think |
| Waist | Runed Bolster Belt | 5 | 0 | 10 | 31% | Vox — pre-Sky haste |
Typical worn kit: Cloak of Flames + Four Winds (or Bolster), keep the rest of the table. Four Winds also beats Brell’s on STA (12 vs 10) if you accept the AC loss. If a bard already song-caps you, the Endurance worksheet ignores haste on purpose.
No Indicolite (SK / Paladin / anyone still pre-Hate)
Same AC → HP → STA rule, different chests:
| Class | Chest | AC | HP | STA | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shadow Knight | Umbral Platemail Breastplate | 30 | 0 | 9 | Fear · Amygdalan knight |
| Paladin | Valorium Chestplate | 30 | 0 | 9 | Fear · a fetid fiend |
| Any (pre-Hate) | Enameled Black Chestplate | 25 | 0 | 0 | Lower Guk · ghoul savant |
| Any (pre-Hate) | Brutish Breastplate | 24 | 0 | 7 | Splitpaw · Tesch Val Brute |
Matching Umbral / Valorium greaves are 17 AC; boots 17 AC / 5 STA — still under Indicolite’s 20.
Innoruuk pieces Live players remember as race-locked
On EQL we treat these as wearable. Old locks, for people coming from Live memory:
| Item | Slot | AC | HP | STA | Old race lock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineer’s Ring | Finger | 20 | 5 | 5 | Gnome |
| Darkbrood Mask | Face | 7 | 0 | 0 | Dark Elf |
| Cloak of Scales | Back | 15 | 50 | 0 | Iksar |
| Hotof’s Bracer | Wrist | 10 | 0 | 0 | Wood Elf |
Hotof’s is a strong wrist before Indicolite (or a second wrist if you are short a bracer). Indicolite Bracer still wins at 12 AC.
What we would camp first
- Engineer’s Ring (Innoruuk) — biggest single-slot AC jump plus STA.
- Indicolite (Hate kiraikuei) — chest, then legs and hands, then the rest of the set.
- Bladestopper (Nagafen) + SOTI (Lord of Ire).
- Imbued Granite Spaulders + Brell’s Girdle (Yael).
- Dagas (Sky Warrior) — 20 AC / 100 HP mainhand.
- Jewelcraft ears, Fire Wedding, Fine Plate neck/visor while the camps run.
Stepping stones before Hate — Crafted, Skull Barbute, Brutish, Scute Shield — are on the pre-planar ranking (that page uses AC×10 + HP + STA×5, a slightly different scale). Adding STA as a third tiebreak did not change any pick versus AC then HP alone; it only confirms Brell’s over Faith and favors Four Winds among haste belts.
Unofficial fan writing. Not affiliated with Daybreak Game Company. Inspect in game before you camp or destroy anything over a ranking.