As we dive into The War Within, the competitive landscape of Mythic+ dungeons continues to evolve. With new talents, abilities, and gear adjustments, tank players are constantly seeking the best strategies to maximize their performance. This tier list, shared by Marcelian on his YouTube channel, aims to provide an up-to-date ranking of tank specializations based on their effectiveness in Mythic+ content. Meanwhile, if you need some gold to build your tank, MmoGah can help, a professional WoW gold shop. Now, let's dive in.
Tier S
Guardian Druid
Guardian Druid is known for its high health pools and strong defensive abilities. It has received several updates in TWW, particularly in its talent trees and abilities.
Survivability: Guardian Druids excel at soaking up damage with abilities like Ironfur and Frenzied Regeneration. Their high health pool and strong self-healing make them very durable.
Talents: The new talent system offers more flexibility, allowing players to customize their build to suit different encounters. Popular talents include Galactic Guardian and Survival of the Fittest.
Gear and Stats: Prioritizing stats like versatility and mastery can enhance your survivability and damage output. Gear with high agility and stamina is also crucial.
Rotation: Effective use of abilities like Mangle, Thrash, and Maul is essential for maintaining threat and managing damage intake.
It is the number one tank in this tier list, so it is in the S tier. Actually, Guardian Druid is clearing the highest keys and is currently one of the best tanks in the game. The top Guardian Druid in the world did the first 14 two days ago when Marcelian recorded this video, which is impressive. It is definitely worthy of being the number one.
Prot Warrior
Protection Warriors are renowned for their robust defensive capabilities and strong physical presence on the battlefield. Their key features and playstyle are as follows:
Talents: The talent tree for Protection Warriors has been updated to provide more flexibility and synergy. Key talents include Devastator for increased damage and Bolster for enhanced survivability.
Rotation: The rotation focuses on generating and spending Rage efficiently. Abilities like Shield Slam and Thunder Clap are used to generate Rage, while Shield Block and Ignore Pain are used to mitigate damage.
Defensive Cooldowns: Abilities like Last Stand and Shield Wall provide strong defensive cooldowns to handle burst damage phases.
Until this week, Prot Warrior has been the best tank in Mythic Plus. So, it is worth the S tier, the same as Guardian Druid. It's hard to say which one is the king in the middle of the Season, as people probably don't have their perfect gear yet. Until that point, things can go a little bit up and down, but right now, Prot Warrior is very solid for sure. It's super tanky and has a lot of damage.
Tier A
Vengeance DH
Vengeance Demon Hunters are known for their high mobility, strong self-healing, and excellent AoE damage. Their key features and playstyle are as follows:
Talents: The talent tree for Vengeance Demon Hunters offers a mix of defensive and offensive options. Key talents include Fallout for additional Soul Fragments and Spirit Bomb for high AoE damage.
Rotation: The rotation focuses on generating and spending Pain efficiently. Abilities like Immolation Aura and Fracture are used to generate Pain and Soul Fragments, while Soul Cleave and Spirit Bomb are used to spend Pain and heal.
Defensive Cooldowns: Abilities like Demon Spikes and Metamorphosis provide strong defensive cooldowns to mitigate incoming damage.
Vengeance DH can be put into A tier. It is similar to Prot Paladin and very close to Prot Warrior and Guardian Druid, but it's ahead of Blood DK and Brewmaster Monk, making it in its own tier. Some of the top Vengeance DH is actually clearing a lot of 13s, but not quite as much as Prot Warrior and Guardian Druid.
Tier B
Blood DK
Blood Death Knight is known for its strong self-sustain and ability to handle both physical and magical damage. In The War Within, Blood DKs have seen significant changes, especially in their talent trees and the introduction of new hero talents: San'layn and Deathbringer. Contrary to what a lot of people think, Blood Decay is a solid B-tier. But it doesn't mean it is a bad tank. The tanks are all good. The difference between each tier is roughly around one key level completed by the best of the tanks. We'll rank them based on their slight differences in key pushing.
So, we put Blood DK in B tier, and it's probably going to remain in B tier while other tanks might climb as the Season progresses because Blood DK still has the same issue of being one-shotted, which is a very unreliable way to have a tank. But it has probably the highest DPS that tanks usually put out in dungeons. Playing a Blood DK is fine. Even if it's in the B tier, you will enjoy it.
Brewmaster Monk
Brewmaster Monk is known for its unique ability to mitigate damage through stagger mechanics and its high mobility. Their key features and playstyle include:
Stagger Mechanic: This core ability allows Brewmasters to delay a portion of incoming damage, making it easier to manage and heal.
Talents: Popular talents include Blackout Combo and Celestial Brew.
Rotation: Effective use of abilities like Keg Smash, Breath of Fire, and Purifying Brew is essential for maintaining threat and managing staggered damage.
Brewmaster Monk is also around B tier. Actually, it is kind of worse than Blood DK because, overall, the top 10 players that are pushing Brewmaster are slightly worse than Blood DK.
Brewmaster is still really good and is being pulled a little bit by some of the top Brewmasters in the world, but it's still going to lack behind every other tank, which has always been the case since Beta, unfortunately. So, if you really want a monk to get your group to push higher for that monk utility, you're probably going to look at getting Windwalker.
Prot Paladin
Protection Paladins are known for their strong defensive capabilities and ability to support their allies with healing and utility spells. Here are several changes to the Protection Paladin's abilities and talents in TWW.
Talent Tree Updates: Some talents have been redesigned for better synergy and utility. For example, Sanctuary now makes Consecration benefits persist for 4 seconds after leaving it.
Survivability Adjustments: There have been nerfs to some defensive abilities, such as Sentinel and Eye of Tyr, which now have shorter durations.
Hero Talents: New hero talents have been introduced, providing more damage, survivability, and utility through passive nodes.
Marcelian put it into the B tier. Protection Paladin is clearing keys at the same level as Brewmaster Monk and Blood DK, essentially in the 11s and 12s. Marcelian didn't recommend we play Prot Paladin because even though it can technically keep up with the rest of the tanks, it's an unreliable tank if you're not playing it perfectly.
