Monsters & Memories Shadow Knight and Tank Classes
Monsters & Memories has four classes built to tank: Fighter, Shadow Knight, Paladin and Inquisitor. The Fighter has the best tools for holding aggro. The Shadow Knight hits harder than a Paladin but mitigates less than a Fighter, and it is the only one of the four with a pet. The Paladin tanks and casts emergency heals. The Inquisitor shuts down casters and feeds mana to the group.
By CoGM ·
The four tank classes at a glance
| Class | Armor | Races playable now | Role notes (developers) | Signature tool |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fighter | All types (community wiki) | Deep Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, Human, Ogre, Wood Elf | Best aggro control. More damage than most tanks, less than a Ranger or Monk | Vengeance stacks |
| Shadow Knight | Plate | Deep Elf, Goblin, Human, Ogre | More damage than a Paladin, less mitigation than a Fighter | Soul Servant pet |
| Paladin | Plate and shield | Deep Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, Halfling, Human | Shield to tank, two-hander to deal damage. Fast heals at a high mana cost | Lay on Hands and oaths |
| Inquisitor | Plate | Deep Elf, Human | Built to fight casters | Pillage Mana |
Every class in the game is covered in our Monsters & Memories classes guide.
Fighter
The developers rebuilt the Fighter as a dedicated tank. They say it has the strongest aggro-control tools of any class. It also deals more damage than most tanks, though a damage class like the Ranger or Monk still out-damages it.
Vengeance drives the kit. You build stacks while you take damage, then spend them on Frenzy, Cleave or Second Wind. Second Wind scales with your Stamina.
You fight in one of three stances: Offensive, Defensive or Tactician. Challenging Arrow is your pull, and it lands with high threat. The rest of the kit includes Cross Cut, Feint, Kneebreaker, Shield Block, Juggernaut and Vanguard.
The September 30 release patch made Kick and Shield Bash share a cooldown. Using one now puts the other on cooldown too.
Shadow Knight
The Monsters & Memories Shadow Knight is a plate tank that sits between the Paladin and the Fighter. The developers give it more damage than the Paladin and less raw mitigation than the Fighter. The official class page calls it an antihero monster hunter.
Its pet is the Soul Servant. To summon it you need a Soul Remnant, a reagent you collect with Siphoning Slash.
Shadow Knight spells and abilities
| Use | Abilities |
|---|---|
| Pull | Grip of Shadow, a 20 m pull |
| Lifetap | Soulrend |
| Pet | Soul Servant, summoned with a Soul Remnant from Siphoning Slash |
| Auras | Aura of Vampirism, Aura of the Unholy |
| Other attacks and tools | Shadow Strike, Reave, Goading Bash, Palpitation, Smothering Shadows, Theft of Vigor, Grip of Agony, Lord of Shadows, Wreath of Souls, Feign Death |
Shadow Knight build and stats
We found no official stat build for the class. Stamina has the clearest payoff in the official notes: it raises your health, raises your sitting health regen and scales Grip of Agony. Dexterity improves your melee hit rate.
Four races can play a Shadow Knight right now: Deep Elf, Goblin, Human and Ogre. In the community wiki's beta-era race base stats, before any class modifier, the Ogre has the most Stamina of the four: 19, against 17 for a Human and 15 for a Deep Elf or Goblin.
Shadow Knight quest
The class page promised collectable abilities earned by hunting monsters. The system behind that, Profane Study, is not in the game as of the Early Access launch. For now a Shadow Knight starts the way every class does, with the guild master's introductory quests. The FAQ below covers how to find them.
Paladin
The Paladin wears plate. Carry a shield and you tank. Swap to a two-handed weapon and you deal damage. The developers call it a fast-casting emergency healer, and its heals cost a lot of mana.
- Attacks: Crusader Strike, Restorative Smite and Vengeful Smite, plus Hammer of Light for pulling.
- Shield: Shield Slam, Warding Slam (raises your Block) and Shield Toss.
- Auras: Aura of Courage and Aura of Piety.
- Consecrations: Hallowed Ground, Blessing of Sanctuary and Exorcism, each lasting 30 seconds.
- Oaths: Vigilance absorbs 5% of the damage an ally takes. Sacrifice absorbs 75%.
- Heals: Healing Touch, and Lay on Hands stays in the kit.
- Resurrection: the line starts at level 16 and ends with Revival at level 56, which returns 75% of the lost experience.
The Ancient Guardian pet is gone. The release patch gave the Paladin Kick back at level 3 and added threat to Crusader Strike.
Inquisitor
The Inquisitor is a plate tank built to fight casters. Its answers are silence, dispel, mana drain and a short charm.
- Damage: Censuring Strike, Purifying Blow and Distress.
- Mana: Pillage Mana drains mana and shares it out to your group.
- Auras: Aura of Rapidity, a primary haste, and Aura of Resistance.
- Charm: Dominate the Mind.
- Other tools: Ward of Suspicion, Interdiction, Reflecting Bash and Arcane Tyrant.
The Early Access patch on September 19 cut the damage of charmed NPCs for the charm classes. Dominate the Mind was left unchanged, because its cooldown is very long and its duration is short. The release patch also gave the Inquisitor Kick back at level 3.
Off-tanks: Cleric and Ranger
The class pages name two more classes as off-tanks. An off-tank holds extra mobs while the main tank works.
- Cleric. The game's premier healer wears heavy armor and carries a shield, and the class page says it can off-tank. Prayer of the Faithful gives it the Block skill, and Divine Aegis makes it immune to damage for 15 seconds. Its healing kit is in our healer classes guide.
- Ranger. It wears chain and has a Survivor stance for off-tanking, but the class page says its aggro is limited. The developers call it strongest in outdoor zones. Our best solo class guide covers which classes level well alone.
Stats for tanks
There is no official stat glossary yet. This is what the patch notes and deep dives say each stat does for a tank.
| Stat | What it does for a tank | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Stamina | Raises health. Sitting health regen and Block scale with it. Scales Fighter Second Wind and Shadow Knight Grip of Agony | Beta patch notes, deep dives |
| Dexterity | Improves hit rate for melee and ranged physical attacks. A to-hit rework in Beta Patch 10 (September 2026) keeps extra Dexterity useful for longer | Beta patch notes |
| Agility | Part of the same beta to-hit rework. The community wiki says it adds damage mitigation (page edited June 2026, beta era) | Beta patch notes, community wiki |
| Strength | Raises how much weight you can carry. Physical damage scales from it | FAQ, beta patch notes |
| Wisdom | Paladins scale ability damage off Wisdom since a June 2026 beta balance patch. Wisdom also boosts healing | Beta patch notes |
Armor matters too. The Cleric deep dive says plate now cuts incoming damage more than it used to, and the Shadow Knight, Paladin and Inquisitor all wear plate. The full breakdown is in our stats guide.
Which races can play each tank
The official race page and class pages agree on these lists. Nine races are playable in Early Access.
| Race | Fighter | Shadow Knight | Paladin | Inquisitor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Human | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Deep Elf | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dwarf | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Gnome | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Goblin | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Halfling | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Ogre | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Wood Elf | Yes | No | No | No |
| Deep Gnome | No | No | No | No |
Four more races are planned for later modules, with no date set: Deep Dwarf (all four tanks), High Elf (Paladin and Inquisitor), Troll (Fighter and Shadow Knight) and Var'nai (Fighter).
Your race and class also decide where you start. The community wiki (edited September 29, 2026) lists Deep Elf Inquisitors and Paladins as starting in Ail'vorith only, and Halfling Paladins in Night Harbor only. Lore and starting cities for every race are in our races guide.
Fill the tank seat for every camp
Monsters & Memories is built around small groups camping in shared, open zones. When you post an M&M event on CoGM, you can start from a preset:
- Camp: 6 signups.
- Dungeon: 6 signups. Dungeons in M&M are open world.
- Named target: no size limit, so signups stay open.
The Camp and Dungeon presets open with six seats: 1 tank, 1 healer, 1 support and 3 DPS, and you can change them for each event. The Named target preset sets no seats. Members sign up into the seat they play, so you see an empty tank seat before anyone pulls. Set it up with the event scheduler. When a big night turns into several groups, the party builder helps you sort them. The party builder is a Pro feature, and the first M&M guild you create in a community starts on a 14-day Pro trial with no card needed.
FAQ
Which tank does the most damage?
We have not seen an official ranking of all four. The developers say the Shadow Knight hits harder than the Paladin, and that the Fighter out-damages most tanks while staying below damage classes like the Ranger and Monk. A Paladin with a two-handed weapon also plays as a damage dealer.
Which tank can heal?
The Paladin. It has fast emergency heals that cost a lot of mana, plus Healing Touch, Lay on Hands and a resurrection line from level 16. The Shadow Knight has Soulrend, a lifetap. The Inquisitor helps the group another way: Pillage Mana shares drained mana with your party.
Does the Shadow Knight have a pet?
Yes. The Soul Servant needs a Soul Remnant, which you collect with Siphoning Slash. The Paladin lost its Ancient Guardian pet in the class rework. The Inquisitor can charm an enemy for a short time with Dominate the Mind. The Fighter has no pet.
Where do I get my first tank quest?
Read the note you start with. It sends you to your class guild master, who gives you an introductory quest chain, skill training and new ability scrolls. Quests have no markers: you hail an NPC with H and answer with keywords in /say, and your journal (J) logs the conversation. You learn abilities by scribing scrolls, then memorizing them, up to 10 at a time. Since the release patch, scrolls for levels 1 to 5 cost every class the same: 4 silver 5 copper in total.
Sources: official site (class pages, class deep dives, race page, gameplay page, new player guide), official FAQ, official patch notes from the February 2026 beta pre-patch through the September 30, 2026 release patch, and the community wiki on Miraheze.