With TWW Patch 11.1 just around the corner, the Mythic+ tank meta is shifting once again. If you're wondering how tanking feels in the new season and which specs are performing best, you're in the right place. This tier list is based on PTR, community feedback, and the latest tuning updates from Blizzard. The insights here come from Quazii's latest YouTube video, where he broke down the strengths and weaknesses of each tank spec heading into Season 2. If you are interested, keep reading! Meanwhile, if you want to buy cheap TWW gold to prepare for the new journey, now is the time! Our gold is affordable, reliable, and safe, providing strong support for your gaming adventures. Don't miss out on this opportunity!
How Does Tanking Feel in Season 2?
It's no surprise that tanking in Season 1 felt really bad, with plenty of community complaints. The good news is that Blizzard has listened, and things are looking much better in Season 2. To understand why, let's break down the major changes that will improve the overall tanking experience.
Tankbuster Mechanics Are Less Punishing
The first thing you'll notice on Day 1 of Season 2 is that Blizzard has significantly reduced the number of dangerous, tankbuster one-shot mechanics compared to Season 1. This doesn't mean tanks are immortal like in Dragonflight Season 3 or 4. But it's certainly much easier than it was in Season 1. Tanks can still sustain themselves, but at least you won't have to constantly worry about being one-shot in every pull.
In fact, the difficulty profile for Mythic+ is shifting away from tanks and onto healers. While tanks were arguably the hardest role in Season 1, in Season 2, healers will bear a greater burden. Many heavy-hitting abilities will now randomly target party members rather than focusing solely on tanks. Because of this, your pull size as a tank is no longer just limited by your own survivability but also by what your group and healer can handle. This is one of the biggest reasons tanking will feel easier in Season 2.
Season 2 Tanking Damage Profile
The damage profile for tanks in Season 2 is very different from Season 1. You'll see far more bleed debuffs and unblockable damage-over-time effects. As a side note, the Dwarf racial remains insanely overpowered for tanks due to its ability to remove bleeds.
Tank Damage Buffs
Many players have complained about tank damage being underwhelming in the PTR. However, Blizzard recently announced a flat 15-20% auto-attack buff to all tank damage. On top of that, they've also increased threat generation, meaning you won't have to stress as much about holding aggro compared to Season 1. That said, it probably won't save you from melee DPS players popping cooldowns at the start of pulls, but at least it's a major improvement.
Tank Tier List: Ranking the Specs from Worst to Best
The gap between the best and worst tanks is much smaller than it was in Season 1. There are still clear differences in power levels, but the spread is significantly closer. That said, we all know the community is meta-driven, and that's not going to change. What's considered "Tier S" today might not be top-tier once the meta stabilizes. Blizzard will still make tuning adjustments in the preseason and possibly in future minor patches. So, this tier list is subject to change.
E Tier: Brewmaster Monk
Since Brewmaster has one of the highest skill ceilings in the game, are you even surprised that Brewmaster is at the bottom? The difference between a good and a great Brewmaster is massive—managing Purified Chi stacks, timing Celestial Brew perfectly, abusing 100% dodge for tankbusters, and more.
However, the spec has some major weaknesses:
- It requires constant healer attention, which is problematic in a healer-taxing season.
- Its tier set provides more defensive uptime but doesn't solve its core survivability issues.
- Celestial Brew remains underwhelming, even after buffs.
- Brewmaster struggles against the season's abundant bleed and magic damage sources.
- The buffs they received barely fix these long-standing issues. Honestly, Brewmaster needs a full rework—stagger mechanics have been a problem for too many seasons now.
On top of that, Brewmaster lacks meaningful group utility compared to other tanks. Because of all this, Brewmaster is ranked in the E tier.
D Tier: Protection Warrior
Prot Warriors are ranked in the D tier. They're currently in a transition phase, with Blizzard planning a rework in Patch 11.1. Apparently, Blizzard thinks their Actions Per Minute (APM) is too high—despite other tanks like Prot Paladins having even higher APM.
This rework has resulted in significant sustain issues:
- Ignore Pain downtime: Less rage generation means you can't maintain Ignore Pain as effectively.
- Weak against bleeds, magic damage, and heal absorbs: Without reliable rage income, Ignore Pain isn't as useful for mitigating DoT effects.
- Season 2 mechanics favor unblockable damage: Since Prot Warriors rely on blocking, they're at a disadvantage in many dungeons.
That said, Prot Warriors still have strong positives:
- Spell Reflect is OP in certain encounters.
- They deal solid AoE and single-target damage.
- Great crowd control toolkit (AoE silence, Shockwave, AoE fear, multi-target Storm Bolt).
However, these strengths don't fully counteract their weaknesses in Season 2. The damage profile of the season just doesn't favor them. Hopefully, they will be better in the next tuning pass.
C Tier: Guardian Druid
Patch 11.1 brings major changes to the Druid talent tree, and Bears have certainly benefited from some of the new nodes. One of the most notable additions is Ursol's Warding, which enhances their tanking ability, especially against their biggest weakness—magical damage. Although this new magic damage reduction talent is an improvement, it still feels too expensive for the small amount of survivability it provides against magic-based tankbusters, especially considering the talent points required to unlock it. Additionally, Bears still struggle with bleed damage, which remains a problem.
However, it's not all bad news. The new Guardian Druid performs much better at handling white swing damage. They continue to have solid mob control and can handle larger pulls than some other tanks, especially with Incarnation. That said, their damage potential is somewhat limited in the Season 2 Mythic+ meta, which is largely defined by how big a pull your healer and group can handle rather than what you, as a tank, can survive.
There is also a notable drawback to playing Guardian Druid—they have the weakest damage profile among tanks, especially in single-target encounters. However, this is balanced by their class buff—Mark of the Wild, which is still considered an S-tier buff in Mythic+.
Overall, Guardian Druids enter Season 2 in a decent state, definitely stronger than in Season 1, but they might need a couple of buffs to become truly meta. For now, they continue to wait their turn in the forest.
B Tier: Blood Death Knight
Next on the tier list, in 3rd place, we have Blood Death Knight (DK), which is ranked as a B-tier tank. Blood DKs are always a hot topic during testing. This was the case even before The War Within launched.
The core identity of Blood DK remains the same in Season 2—both its strengths and weaknesses persist:
- Self-sustain is unmatched due to their incredible self-healing.
- Solid sustained damage and excellent potential through abilities like Anti-Magic Shell (AMS) and Icebound Fortitude (IBF).
- Anti-Magic Zone is incredibly valuable this season, helping your party survive massive AoE damage.
- Death Grip continues to be an amazing utility tool for handling immobile casters, which are quite prevalent in Season 2.
However, Blood DK's long-standing weaknesses remain:
- They struggle with high burst damage, which is becoming more apparent in Mythic+ Season 2's scaling.
- In higher keys, Blood DKs may struggle to handle big pulls, especially in high-pressure scenarios like the first pulls in Motherlode.
- That said, this isn't a huge problem for most PUG groups, where Blood DK remains a strong and viable tank for weekly Mythic+ keys.
While Blood DKs bring great survivability, they lack the high-end meta viability of the top-tier tanks—unless they receive some unexpected buffs.
A Tier: Protection Paladin
Moving up, in 2nd place, we have Protection Paladins, a very strong A-tier tank in Season 2. Protection Paladins were the undisputed kings of tanks in Season 1, but their dominance has slightly declined due to a series of nerfs:
- Passive tankiness nerfed (Strength in Adversity reduced).
- Longer cooldowns on key defensives like Divine Shield and Lay on Hands due to nerfs to Uther's Counsel.
- Significant AoE damage nerfs.
These changes mean Protection Paladins feel less self-sufficient compared to Season 1 and have an overall lower damage profile. Another persistent issue is the Mana management—Prot Paladins still need to drink more than their own healer, which is strange, but it's still a thing.
Despite these nerfs, Prot Paladin remains an incredibly strong tank with:
- The best utility toolkit among tanks to support their party.
- Excellent synergy with Season 2's possible meta healer—Discipline Priest.
- Key support abilities like Avenger's Shield for interrupts, Lay on Hands, Blessing of Sacrifice, and Spellwarding (BoP equivalent for magic damage).
While they are no longer dominant, Protection Paladins remain a top-tier choice, especially in coordinated groups.
S Tier: Vengeance Demon Hunter
Finally, in 1st place, we have Vengeance Demon Hunter (DH), sitting at S-tier. Vengeance DH has undergone major changes, leading to:
- Better Soul Fragment economy, which results in stronger self-sustain.
- Feed the Demon now being a 1-point talent, freeing up more talent choices.
- This change unlocks powerful new builds, and you can now pick up Last Resort (cheat death) without sacrificing any important part of your toolkit.
Key Strengths:
- Metamorphosis (Meta) is the best defensive cooldown among all tanks, making their tier set bonus incredibly powerful.
- Chaos Brand remains an S-tier buff, boosting your party's magical damage. If casters are meta, this synergy is even stronger.
- Darkness is now a game-changer—with group-wide AoE damage being a huge concern, this spell becomes MVP-tier for keeping your team alive.
- Amazing AoE control and interrupts, which help buy precious seconds for healers to recover.
While Vengeance DH isn't far ahead of Prot Paladin, it stands out as the most well-rounded tank for high-level Mythic+ pushing in Season 2.
Final Thoughts – Season 2 Tanking Landscape
Season 2 Mythic+ isn't about whether you, as a tank, can survive—it's about whether your group can survive. This fundamentally shifts the tanking role:
- Less focus on watching your own cooldowns.
- More emphasis on short-calling for interrupts, defensive cooldowns, and group coordination.
- The biggest threats aren't blockable tankbusters but bleed damage, DoTs, and debuffs.
Tanks are more balanced now compared to Season 1. However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing—tanking now requires more teamwork and coordination, which can be a good challenge. That said, Season 2 feels much better than Season 1, and tanking will be more enjoyable.
