Mythic+ Tank Rankings: A Tier List for The War Within (Patch 11.0.2 / Season 1) (2024)

This tier list is NOT FINAL; it will change and will be updatedas often as necessary prior and during The War Within Mythic+ Season 1. There areoften moments of tier set and class tuning, as well as talent changes andsecondary stat scaling that will impact the placement of the specs.

I am Petko, a competitive Mythic+ player, known to be pushingthe boundaries of High Mythic+ with several World first andEurope first rankings among past seasons on multiple classes. I have workedhard on preparing for Season 1 of The War Within, spending numerous hours per dayexamining each and every spec in a dungeon environment on Beta. This Tier listwill continue to be updated as much as it requires over the course ofThe War Within and it will also focus on what the "meta" will look likeas it stabilizes. Along the way, this Tier list will also be supported byvarious professional Mythic+ players with high credibility in the community,theorycrafters across all specializations, and my own empirical evidence.

To begin with, this Tier list will exclusively focus on the firstSeason of Mythic+ in The War Within. There will be noWarcraft Logs rankings addednor simulation data for the majority of the classes and specs. As a result, thisTier list will be solely based on empirical evidence of the current state of theclasses' performance in Mythic+ from my own point of view and the point ofview of the group of players testing those classes who are among the bestrepresentatives of the specs in the community. Moreover, this Tier list willtake into consideration every impactful class change and tier set tuning beforeand after the start of the season.

It is important to note that opinions might vary and that is completely okay,but remember to be respectful when providing feedback as the sole purpose ofthis tier list is to help the WoW community with their choice of main or alteach season.

This tier list is entirely based on several factors, such astank durability, group composition synergy, mobility, damage profile, self-sustainand external party-wide cooldowns.

Below, you can find the full rankings for Tank specializations in The War Within Mythic+.We encourage you to read further and understandwhy some classes are placed lower or higher than expected, with severalfactors taken into consideration.

1. Guardian Druid (Best choice)
2. Protection Warrior (Excellent choice)
3. Vengeance Demon Hunter (Excellent choice)
4. Blood Death Knight (Excellent choice)
5. Brewmaster Monk (Good choice)
6. Protection Paladin (Underperforming)

If you are interested in our other rankings for Mythic+ in The War Within,Season 1, please click the links below.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Guardian Druidreceived a decent amount of changes through the Beta cycles, paired with2 brand new Hero Talent choices - Elune's Chosen /Druid of the Claw and a new tier set. The 2-piece will allow for Thrash and Moonfire to increase your damage done and reduce the damageyou take by 1% for 8 sec, stacking up to 3 times. In addition,the 4-piece increases the Arcane damage you deal by 5% and Bleeddamage by 8%.

Guardian Druid did receive some attention in the early stages ofThe War Within, for better or worse, only time will truly show. Theirdamage profile against many enemies is one of the highest, and so is theirdurability. There are a lot of spec-specific talents that do not fit wellwith Guardian Druid and are considered a "burden." In addition, theirversatile utility can tackle any situation, as both offensive and defensively supportyour team. All that considered, the bears are in a commanding position to be one ofthe best tanks of the season, despite its rotational flaws.

Hero Talents are quite boring (so is your rotation), mostly passive, and do not have a massiveimpact on the gameplay. Talent positioning is a significant issue for Guardian Druidboth in the spec-specific and general tree talents.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Mark of the Wild	Increasing the Versatility of your raid/partyby 3%.
Core	Entangling Roots	Single-target root effect.
Optional	After the Wildfire	Extra off-healing.
Optional	Innervate	Allowing 1 friendly healer to castspells without spending mana for 8 sec.
Optional	Stampeding Roar	Increasing the movement speed to all raidmembers by 60% for 8 sec.
Optional	Remove Corruption	Removes all Curse and Poison effectsfrom a friendly target.
Optional	Soothe	Dispelling all Enrage Effects from anenemy target.
Optional	Hibernate	Single-target crowd-control effects againstbeasts and dragonkins.
Optional	Incapacitating Roar / Mighty Bash	You have the choice between AoE disturb effector a single-target stun.
Optional	Typhoon	Aoe knockback.
Optional	Mass Entanglement / Ursol's Vortex	You have the choice between AoE root effect orAoE wind-of-vortex, pulling all the mobs to one location.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Protection Warriorreceived minor changes leading to the final stages of Beta. However, just likeevery specialization, they will be introduced to 2 new Hero Talent options- Colossus / Mountain Thane, and a new tier-set. The 2-piecewill trigger when your Shield Slam cooldown is reset by Strategist,you gain Expert Strategist, increasing the damage of Shield Slamby 5% and reducing all damage taken by 3% for 6 sec. In addition,the 4-piece will enable Shield Slam critical strikes to increasethe damage dealt by Thunder Clap and Revenge by 10%for 8 sec.

Protection Warrior is performing exceptionally well, which willsignificantly increase its damage profile, which is now considered one of thehighest across all tanks going into the The War Within expansion. Spell Reflection is proving to be an useful utility inthe Season 1 dungeon pool, which will positively influence their rankings. On top of this,they will be receiving some nice quality-of-life changes such as no longer being damagedand punished by running Defensive Stance and the Storm Shield + Intervenecombo. Additionally, with the strength of melee characters, Battle Shout is looking much more appealing. Overall, Protection Warriorhas a great offensive and defensive profile, making it a promising choice.

As always, Protection Warriors may suffer if anything cannot beblocked or reflected. Although their utility and mob control have never been considered the best,they make up for it with their raw power in terms of damage and survivability.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Rallying Cry	Temporary increasing the health of your raid/party.
Core	Battle Shout	Extra 5% attack power.
Optional	Spell Reflection	Usable in niche situations.
Optional	Intimidating Shout	AoE disturb effect capped at 5 targets.
Optional	Storm Bolt	4 sec single-target stun.
Optional	Shockwave	AoE Stun

Patch 11.0.2 update: Vengeance Demon Hunterreceived their fair share of changes, paired with 2 brand new Hero Talentchoices - Aldrachi Reaver / Fel-Scarred and a new tier set.The 2-piece enables Soul Cleave to deal 15% increased damageand have a 35% chance to shatter 1 Lesser Soul fragment froma target it hits. In addition, the 4-piece triggers once consuming a Soul Fragment,increasing the damage and healing of your next Fel Devastation by 2%up to 30%.

The Most recent consecutive buffs to Vengeance Demon Hunter have placedthem in a much better state, due to their incredible synergy with the current toptier DPS specs (caster-comp / exodia-comp), as well as havingone of the strongest damage outputs compared to the rest of the tanks.They have lost their amazing tier set from Season 4 of Dragonflight andreplaced it with a much inferior version of the tier set, which will make theirgameplay and maximise its potential a lot harder to extract. On top of that,their Illuminated Sigils talent (which previouslyallowed you to have one extra charge of Sigil of Misery / Sigil of Silence),has been nerfed, but they will still have one of the best mob control across any tanking spec.In addition, their defensive profile does need a bit of love to be a truly irreplaceabletank across any key level in Mythic+. Overall,we believe that if the DPS meta favours magic damage, they will have a much bigger incentive to betaken due to Chaos Brand, which provides a noticeable damage boost for theentire group, and likely become the best tank spec.

There are quit a few bugs that surround Vengeance Demon Hunter thatultimately increase their survivability / self-sustain of the spec. Thisfurther improves their great Mythic+ performance and we hope thatgets to be resolved soon.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Chaos Brand	5% extra Magical damage
Core	Darkness	% chance to avoid all damage from an attack.
Core	Sigil of Silence	Silences all enemies affected by the Sigil fora short time.
Optional	Sigil of Chains	All enemies affected by the Sigil are pulledto its center and snared.
Optional	Chaos Nova	AoE stun effect.
Optional	Imprison	Single-target out of combat crowd-control.
Optional	Consume Magic	Remove 1 beneficial Magic effect.
Optional	Sigil of Misery	AoE disturb effect.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Blood Death Knightreceived a ton of changes since the start of the Beta testing and just like everyspecialization so far, inherited 2 brand new Hero Talents - Deathbringer /San'layn and a new tier-set. The 2-piece will trigger once you have one or morecharges of Bone Shield, the damage you take is reduced by 2%. Losinga Bone Shield charge has a chance to reduce the damage you take by an additional1%, up to 3% for 6 sec. In addition, the 4-piece allowsyour damage to be increased by 1% per active Bone Shield charge. Takingdamage while below 6 Bone Shield charges has a chance to generate 1-2 Bone Shield charges.

The rework of Blood Death Knight has put them in a prominent position to beone of the best tanks this season as it most definitely strengthens their durability,self-sustain and damage profile by a large margin. On top of that, they will begetting a brand new utility, from the general Death Knight talent tree,which fits perfectly for a 5-man content - Vestigial Shell. In addition,one of their signature spell - Gorefiend's Grasp has much better positioningin the new Blood Death Knight spec-specific tree and is further supplementedby Tightening Grasp (if you talent it) which allows for a 3 sec of silence.Although you got some recent nerfs, we are extremely happy with the current version ofspecialization, since it already plays better and is stronger than its old Dragonflight version.

-

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Anti-Magic Zone	Provides extra durability against heavy magical damage.
Core	Death Grip	Repositions an enemy of your choice.
Core	Raise Ally	Combat-resurrection.
Optional	Blinding Sleet	AoE disturb effect.
Optional	Abomination Limb	Every 1 sec an enemy is pulled closeto you.
Optional	Gorefiend's Grasp	Mass-grip.
Optional	Insidious Chill	Reduces the auto-attack speed of your target by5% stacking up 4 times.
Optional	Control Undead	Mind-control an undead enemy to fight on your side.
Optional	Asphyxiate	5 sec single-target stun.
Optional	Vestigial Shell	Adding Anti-Magic Shell on 2 nearbyallies.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Brewmaster Monkreceived a ton of changes leading to the The War Within expansion, including2 brand-new Hero Talents - Master of Harmony / Shado-Pan anda new tier-set. The 2-piece bonus will enable Blackout Kick and Keg Smash to deal 20% additional damage, and Shuffle alsogrants 3% damage reduction. The 4-piece bonus will trigger once you cast Blackout Kick, increasing your damage dealt by 1% for 15 sec,stacking up to 3 times, and has a chance to reset the cooldown of Keg Smash and make its next cast cost no energy.

Brewmaster Monk is entering The War Within with one of the highestdamage profiles across all tanks and an improved durability profile. On top of thealready good mob control, they still sync best with a physical damage-oriented squaddue to their Mystic Touch debuff. Overall, playing Brewmaster Monk willbe easier than in Dragonflight as a lot of button bloating has been cleared,which is a welcome change. We are happy with the current performance of the specand we look forward see them develop through the Season 1.

Works well with a heavy physical damage-oriented team ( Mystic Touch)and a lot less with a full magical squad. Similar position as the Protection Warrior,if melees were to be meta, those 2 specs would climb much higher.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Mystic Touch	5% extra Physical damage for your raid.
Core	Leg Sweep	3 sec stun effect.
Optional	Tiger's Lust	Removes all roots and snares.
Optional	Ring of Peace	It can be used to help your tank kite and as aAoE disturb effect.
Optional	Detox	Removes all Poison and Disease effectsfrom the target.
Optional	Paralysis	Single-target disturb effect.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Protection Paladinreceived their fair share of changes leading to the The War Within expansion, includingbrand new Hero Talents - Templar / Lightsmith, and a newtier-set. The 2-piece bonus increases the damage of Shield of the Righteousby 10% and grants 3% damage reduction. Additionally, the 4-pieceenables Holy Power abilities to increase the damage and healing you deal duringyour next Avenging Wrath by 0.5%, which can stack.

As with almost every specialization so far, Protection Paladin has receivedits fair share of changes, including a choice between Lightsmithor Templar Hero Talents, both of which will alter how you approachyour gameplay, ability, and cooldown usage. The spec's durability is decent butnot strong enough to compete with the rest of the tanks while still maintaining their unique(and sometimes overpowered) Mythic+ utility. However, their damage profile is quiteimpressive, and it is one of their strongest assets. Just like everyPaladin spec, they will not benefit from Retribution Aura asit has been recently removed. Overall, we expect further changes to be made to Protection Paladin,specifically ones that increase the fun factor of playing while further enhancingtheir durability.

Significantly more difficult to play compared to most of the tanks. However, you havemany tools to support your team if needed. If you are a beginner player, becautious when choosing Protection Paladin as it is quite an advanced tank.Further tuning is needed, especially on behalf of their durability.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Avenger's Shield	Extra interrupt option that has a follow-upsilence effect.
Core	Devotion Aura	Permanent 3% group/raid-wide damage reductionaura.
Core	Hammer of Justice	A powerful single-target 6 sec stun effect.
Core	Lay on Hands	Heals a member of your party/raid to full health.
Core	Intercession	Combat-resurrection
Optional	Blessing of Spellwarding	Granting magical damage immunity for 10 secon a chosen ally.
Optional	Blessing of Sacrifice	Helps a single member of your raid in acritical situation. This can be further improved by talenting Sacrifice of the Just.
Optional	Blessing of Protection	Physical immunity, which can help you withsome boss encounters.
Optional	Blessing of Freedom	Immunity to movement impairing effects.
Optional	Repentance / Blinding Light	You have the option between single-target crowd-controleffect or a powerful mass AoE stop.
Optional	Cleanse Toxins	Removes all Poison and Disease effectsfrom the target.
Optional	Turn Evil	Be able to fear any Undead, Aberration orDemon, which is an additional form of crowd control.