Every group needs a tank to lead the charge and catch the enemy’s attention. But not all tanks are created equally. If you’re looking to take point in your group, we’ll help you pick the best one for the situation.
Overall, it’s pretty good news across the board. While there are stronger choices depending on the type of content you’re running, nobody is doing poorly. Tank balance is pretty healthy right now, so don’t be afraid to pick the class that appeals to you the most. That said, if you really want to be at the top of the top, we’ll still set you on the right path.
Tank tier list for the Nerub-ar Raid
ATier – Blood Death Knight, Brewmaster Monk, Guardian Druid
B Tier – Protection Warrior, Vengeance Demon Hunter
C Tier – Protection Paladin
Blood Death Knight seems especially useful, with high damage output and survivability. They’re not short on utility, either. They’re probably your best pick in general, but they’re not doing SO well that they need their own tier. Guardian Druid and Brewmaster Monk are doing great at keeping up.
Vengeance Demon Hunter and Protection Warrior are good picks as well. They’re only lacking a bit of utility in raids compared to the A tier classes. Even Protection Paladin isn’t a bad choice, despite being C Tier. But they are the hardest class to keep up and offer less utility. Still, it should be stressed that nobody is bad this expansion.
Tank tier list for Mythic+ content
A Tier – Guardian Druid, Protection Warrior
B Tier – Blood Death Knight, Vengeance Demon Hunter
C Tier – Brewmaster Monk, Protection Paladin
Guardian Druid is again a top tier, making it a great choice for either content. The party buff Mark of the Wild is just the most useful thing offered by tanks for dungeons. There’s also an ease-of-use aspect with Guardian Druid. That will make them very appealing to people experimenting with tanking for the first time. Protection Warriors are extremely durable. They do, however, require a good healer to make up for a lack of self-sustain.
Blood Death Knight and Vengeance Demon Hunter are both great picks. Blood Death Knight’s self-healing can make it a great choice for helping out new healers in your party. Their mechanic utility is decent, but they lack any group-wide buffs and don’t shine with damage. Vengeance Demon Hunters are great survivors all around.
Protection Paladins are again lacking in survivability. That’s an unfortunate downside for a tank. They’ve got great tools for utility and damage, but that doesn’t matter when you’re face-down on the floor. Brewmaster Monks work well, but can be cumbersome to play for a lot of newer players. However, like with the raid, none of these specs are bad by any means. They just have some larger weaknesses than others.
