an example:

>If and when I get my area done, I'll roll a mortal and play
>test the practice code. I'm thinking some sort of warrior.
>Am open to suggestions, though I might decide to go with
>whatever I'm interested in at the time.

I cannot resist this - are you admitting you do not really know what it's like to play some sort of warrior?

Sorry.

>
>For your amusement, here's a list of the first few things I
>perfected with Nhiala. First number is rank, second is hours
>played. The only things I spammed were remove curse, cure
>blindness, word of recall and lore. Maybe disarm. Worked on
>them when there was little else to do, before I joined
>Fortress. Also I solo ranked to 35.
>
>14 10hr enh. damage
>16 19hr sword
>20 26hr mend wounds
>21 34hr flamestrike
>22 39hr parry
>22 39hr shield block

ohkay. Sub 22 I will chalk up as a necessary evil.

I think 40 HOURS to get to 22 is too long, and in the past I have frequently soloed numerous classes up a lot faster.

If you think this is OK, then this is where we disagree.

>22 40hr disarm
>23 46hr shield mastery
>24 53hr second attack
>24 54hr wrath
>28 67hr flank attack
>28 68hr mace
>29 74hr meditation

80 hours, and you can see your hps as numbers. How many RL weeks have you now spent working on this character?

I would like to be able to hit rank 30 in about 30 hours. I think that's fair. That's about three weeks at 10 hrs/week.

I would really like to be able to do it in about 10 hours.

>31 82hr summon
>33 90hr veterans insight
>36 102hr third attack
>37 105hr sanctuary

A few other miscellaneous points, regarding the specifics of this:

Given that the ranking times are OK in the imm book.

What race were you? Specifically, what was your INT.

Have you ever tried learning parry with a class that was not meant to tank?

Tried soloing with a class that was not meant to tank?

Sat around wishing you could get involved in all the fun that happens at the hero ranks, but unable to find someone to tank for a group?

Tried to convince a group that you could learn faster on easier mobs because your 'tank' is not very good?

I think defenses, specifically PARRY and DODGE and SHIELD BLOCK, should be at 100% by rank 30ish. I would love to suggest things, but I do not even understand what exactly we do not agree about.