Dragonflight Tank Rankings

[Guest King89slayer]

So what's the new teir list

[Guest daman]

5 hours ago, Guest King89slayer said:

So what's the new teir list

i really doubt that Dk are still in 1st place after the latest nerfs

[Impakt 25]

3 hours ago, Guest daman said:

i really doubt that Dk are still in 1st place after the latest nerfs

They're still very strong, but I'm purposefully holding off until this week to update since Blizzard specifically announced there would be legendary buffs this week to go along with the nerfs this past week. We'll see how everything ends up after we see the full range of tuning.

[Guest SeanGill]

Anyone with half a brain should immediately ignore this clickbait post when they see guardian can't deal with magic damage. 

Two stacks of survival instincts. 

Barkskin CD reduced from 90 to 60 seconds. 

Two stacks of Frenzied Regeneration. 

If it gets bad enough you can run Nature's Order Will legendary. 

Rend and Tear gives 6% on top of our already present 6% from Thick Hide. 

 

 

You would've just been better off saying "I gave Guardian a C because I don't like their playstyle thus I don't play them and can't actually weigh in on their abilities. 

[Impakt 25]

3 hours ago, Guest SeanGill said:

Anyone with half a brain should immediately ignore this clickbait post when they see guardian can't deal with magic damage. 

Two stacks of survival instincts. 

Barkskin CD reduced from 90 to 60 seconds. 

Two stacks of Frenzied Regeneration. 

If it gets bad enough you can run Nature's Order Will legendary. 

Rend and Tear gives 6% on top of our already present 6% from Thick Hide. 

 

 

You would've just been better off saying "I gave Guardian a C because I don't like their playstyle thus I don't play them and can't actually weigh in on their abilities. 

I get your frustration if you play Guardian, but you're wrong. All of those tools you listed are very minor and not nearly enough compared to any other tank. Frenzied Regen self-healing has been bad for multiple tiers now, which leaves Guardian with no consistent way to deal with magic damage if that's the main source of damage in the fight, which is the case for several of the harder encounters in Castle Nathria. I don't know if you've played Guardian on beta, but SI and Barkskin are not nearly enough. Guardian runs out of cooldowns and tools faster than any other tank, and it's not close. In a high damage encounter where the primary damage being dealt is magic (making ironfur useless), Guardian is at a disadvantage compared to other tanks.

 

This is not saying Guardian is nonviable, it's just worse than other tanks right now. It needs a better, more consistent way to deal with magic damage. Some passive 6% DRs here and there is just not good enough compared to what any other tank offers.

[Guest James]

Hi just wondering if we will see an update on here soon? I get things are changing constantly but would be cool to get your thoughts. Iv mained a BDK since Cata but have always played other tanks on the side, im highly debating switching to my Prot pally. I raid at a AOTC and into Mythic level and enjoy pushing keys, my OT mains a BrM. Do you think the gap between BDK and PP is a lot smaller after the changes?

[Impakt 25]

9 hours ago, Guest James said:

Hi just wondering if we will see an update on here soon? I get things are changing constantly but would be cool to get your thoughts. Iv mained a BDK since Cata but have always played other tanks on the side, im highly debating switching to my Prot pally. I raid at a AOTC and into Mythic level and enjoy pushing keys, my OT mains a BrM. Do you think the gap between BDK and PP is a lot smaller after the changes?

I'll be submitting updates tonight, hopefully they'll be live tomorrow. I specifically waited after last week since blizzard said the accompanying buffs were coming this week, which they did yesterday. 

I wouldn't say the gap is alot smaller. BDK is still the best, but prot pally is a bit better than before.

[Guest Guest]

On 10/16/2020 at 6:00 PM, Impakt said:

I'll be submitting updates tonight, hopefully they'll be live tomorrow. I specifically waited after last week since blizzard said the accompanying buffs were coming this week, which they did yesterday. 

I wouldn't say the gap is alot smaller. BDK is still the best, but prot pally is a bit better than before.

Any updates on rankings

[Impakt 25]

13 minutes ago, Guest Guest said:

Any updates on rankings

They're updated. The ranks have not changed, just a couple of minor notes on a few classes.

[Ardil 0]

wow... i waited to get home and check again on a desktop, you know maybe my phone had a small screen or something.

Both of my posts got straight up deleted, without one single mention or discussion. Well you don't control every media do you? Expansion is due, shitty weather, guess i'll proceed to blow the horn in other platforms about this disgusting display of a forum and the exchange of ideas.

Edit: no message on why it was deleted, nothing...

Edited October 23, 2020 by Ardil

[Impakt 25]

1 hour ago, Ardil said:

wow... i waited to get home and check again on a desktop, you know maybe my phone had a small screen or something.

Both of my posts got straight up deleted, without one single mention or discussion. Well you don't control every media do you? Expansion is due, shitty weather, guess i'll proceed to blow the horn in other platforms about this disgusting display of a forum and the exchange of ideas.

Edit: no message on why it was deleted, nothing...

Hey Ardil,

 

I saw your first question about bears before, but didn't have a chance to respond to it yet. As for why your post was deleted, you posted a second time saying, and I quote,

"Would a moderator please delete the last question. I went ahead and registered an account specifically for exposure, since i believe i bring a fair point, not considered in the guide."

I didn't personally delete you last comment, but I assume that is why it was deleted, since you asked for someone to delete it.

 

As for your original question, you are correct the pulverize is worth mentioning now, but that's a failure on my part to include it in Bear's description, not on the ranking itself. Bear is still in the C-tier and is ranked correctly, I'll just mention pulverize as well. There are several abilities and talents for almost every specialization that I don't mention because I can't mention everything in just a paragraph, but I do agree that Pulverize is more important now and deserves a note.

Bear specifically has a few tools that as stand-alone spells are decent, but their coverage is just very lacking compared to other thanks, which is their main problem. As a bear, you run out of ways to deal with high-damage periods quicker than any other tank, and it isn't close. If you are in a mythic raid encounter with high sustained damage, Bears will struggle much more than other tanks, which is why they are as low as they are.

 

 

[Guest Fbômb-Lothar]

My current main is DH tank.  After the pre-patch was released I have been playing around mythic+ and trying to get a feel for the changes thus far.  On higher keys (19 and above) before the pre-patch I would go through some very spikey damage that I just didn't have any more CD's to pop and Demon Spikes could not keep heavy damage from crushing me (could just be player fail).  Thus far I am pretty encouraged on where DH tanks are headed.  The Fel-Devastion spell being on a 1 minute CD is nice and if you spec into the mini-meta for 6 sec then you have that in the toolbox.  Use it on a pack of adds or when single boss target save it for an emergency mini-meta.

That having been said I have also been getting my DK ready and I can see the difference.  Sometimes the self healing is truly brilliant when I can use it at my best and the toolkit is fuller for mitigating high damage periods.  Since my DK is not high ilvl sometimes I can get  surprised by some bit of damage coming in and just one shot.  I think it's more a factor of not having the correct stats etc worked with BIS gear.  The one thing I do not like is Boneshield.  Feels like they gave me something to do just because.  Now if there was some dependencies between Boneshield and another spell to make it more effective then that would change the dynamic a bit.

Monk has never been my forte but I have leveled and semi-geared one out.  Luxthos' weak auras gave me a better understanding of the stagger  by watching what was going in the timing and seeing how it all worked.  Play wise they have the mobility and pretty enjoyable.  One observation though is that you are always busy tanking on a monk.  Keeping up with your stagger getting rid of the damage that you can and then sucking ion the spheres.  Add on top of that positioning adds or boss and maintaining SA on what is happening in the fight...I think I am more busy on the monk then any other tank class I have played.

Really sad for Bear Druids.  They are my favorite class to play. After the nerf in Legion I have no love for Blizzard developers leaving the druid behind and seeming to just generally forget about them.  Seems like they would have tied some ability into iron fur for dealing with magic damage. Maybe at three stacks of iron fur you consume those stacks for a magic damage immunity.  Trade off being increased physical damage.

[Impakt 25]

36 minutes ago, Guest Fbômb-Lothar said:

My current main is DH tank.  After the pre-patch was released I have been playing around mythic+ and trying to get a feel for the changes thus far.  On higher keys (19 and above) before the pre-patch I would go through some very spikey damage that I just didn't have any more CD's to pop and Demon Spikes could not keep heavy damage from crushing me (could just be player fail).  Thus far I am pretty encouraged on where DH tanks are headed.  The Fel-Devastion spell being on a 1 minute CD is nice and if you spec into the mini-meta for 6 sec then you have that in the toolbox.  Use it on a pack of adds or when single boss target save it for an emergency mini-meta.

That having been said I have also been getting my DK ready and I can see the difference.  Sometimes the self healing is truly brilliant when I can use it at my best and the toolkit is fuller for mitigating high damage periods.  Since my DK is not high ilvl sometimes I can get  surprised by some bit of damage coming in and just one shot.  I think it's more a factor of not having the correct stats etc worked with BIS gear.  The one thing I do not like is Boneshield.  Feels like they gave me something to do just because.  Now if there was some dependencies between Boneshield and another spell to make it more effective then that would change the dynamic a bit.

Monk has never been my forte but I have leveled and semi-geared one out.  Luxthos' weak auras gave me a better understanding of the stagger  by watching what was going in the timing and seeing how it all worked.  Play wise they have the mobility and pretty enjoyable.  One observation though is that you are always busy tanking on a monk.  Keeping up with your stagger getting rid of the damage that you can and then sucking ion the spheres.  Add on top of that positioning adds or boss and maintaining SA on what is happening in the fight...I think I am more busy on the monk then any other tank class I have played.

Really sad for Bear Druids.  They are my favorite class to play. After the nerf in Legion I have no love for Blizzard developers leaving the druid behind and seeming to just generally forget about them.  Seems like they would have tied some ability into iron fur for dealing with magic damage. Maybe at three stacks of iron fur you consume those stacks for a magic damage immunity.  Trade off being increased physical damage.

One very important thing to keep in mind is that this tier list is strictly for raiding. The M+ tier list is going to look VERY different. Blood DKs are actually considered terrible on beta right now for M+, whereas DHs are considered one of the best M+ tanks. If you look at the highest keys done, VDH is the most represented tank at the moment in keys.

Always important to remember that M+, Raiding, and other competitive aspects of the game will have VERY different criteria for what makes certain classes good or bad. I would go so far as to say this is one of the most diverse patches in awhile in terms of M+ and raiding having wildly different requirements for what makes classes "good".

[Guest James]

I feel like Pally and Monk seem to be in the best place for the average player looking to be competitive in raids but also push keys. Has anyone had the time to test Monks aggro after a lot of the changes? I remember outside of DH and Pally this was a pretty big issue but the monk changes at least on paper look like this might have been addressed for them? 

I have to agree this expansion more so then in the past it seems like there is a fair gap in performance between content which has made it pretty hard for me to actually chose a main. My OT has flipped from BrM to DK now and hes even unsure if that's what hes gonna go with. 

[Guest James]

One other question for you, when your ranking prot pally which covenant are you using? I really want to go Kyrian because divine toll feels awesome for M+ but idk if it will hinder me in raids. Iv seen ICY is now recommending Vynthir for raiding but a 4min CD just seems like it sucks for every other bit of content......are the conduits really that much better that its worth it?

[Impakt 25]

6 hours ago, Guest James said:

One other question for you, when your ranking prot pally which covenant are you using? I really want to go Kyrian because divine toll feels awesome for M+ but idk if it will hinder me in raids. Iv seen ICY is now recommending Vynthir for raiding but a 4min CD just seems like it sucks for every other bit of content......are the conduits really that much better that its worth it?

You'll probably be fine choosing whatever you want. From what I understand Venthyr is the go-to choice for raids because it is the highest DPS on paper, which is why Prot Paladins are good right now. Kyrian is better in M+, so don't feel pressured to choose one or the other.

[Guest Zwinkz]

On 9/12/2020 at 11:31 PM, Impakt said:

There are multiple warnings explaining that these are not final rankings and there will change before Shadowlands. That being said, it's also just empirically false to think that you cannot determine anything useful from how tanks perform now. Monks can get nerfed, but Stagger is still going to be a mechanic. Blood DKs will still have AMZ and grips. When it comes to tank balance, we know a ton about how the tier will play out because we know the core mechanics of the tanks and we know how the fights in Castle work for the most part.

Except you know the fact that some of us have been playing this game since the beginning and as a tank have seen every single tier and moved through OTs .... we have "seen some *filtered*".  I can tell you without any doubt that the vast majority of tanks i have played alongside all play with their cookie cutter rotations, and follow your guides but dont understand that it is not that cut and dry.  When people were screaming about how great threat was on one tank i was ripping threat off of every single other tank.  I play 3 different tank specs and i can tell each and every one of you that Prot warriors are not suffering from Threat problems.  The problem is people don't know how to play the class.  Ya took a toddler, ya threw some armor on them, ya taught them the most basic of rotations without teaching them any of the others, or how you need to change it, even your stats, or trinkets by fight.  You're making me sad.  I understand that you are trying to create these generic, easy to follow, noob guides.... but please.  For the love of all that is holy stop making these Tier lists.  They are wrong 99.9% of the time on almost every single level.

[Zwinkz 0]

1400 days played across accounts, with WFs and multiple other top 10 US/World kills here going back as far as Classic.  I can tell you without a single doubt that this Tier list does not and will not matter.  Just pick the class you like to play and stick with it.  If you become highly skilled in any of these tank specs, you will dominate the majority of players who lack in skill regardless of the application (M+ or Raids).  I have played every single tank spec, and i understand how they all work VERY well.  I will be playing a Prot Warrior, DK, and Brewmaster this expansion.  Likely with an emphasis on Prot warrior.  Remember that there could be a patch tomorrow that takes the FotM tank and completely changes it.  The only thing Tier Lists like this do is cause derision and cause people to not  take a tank to a dungeon or a raid based upon some misinformed elitist attitude.  The fact of the matter is this. 80% of you worrying about a tier list are incapable of playing this game at a high enough skill level that this tier list becomes any kind of relevant.  Forget about the tier list and go become skilled in YOUR favorite class.  Nerfs/Buffs will change this dumb list next month anyways.

[Impakt 25]

12 hours ago, Zwinkz said:

1400 days played across accounts, with WFs and multiple other top 10 US/World kills here going back as far as Classic.  I can tell you without a single doubt that this Tier list does not and will not matter.  Just pick the class you like to play and stick with it.  If you become highly skilled in any of these tank specs, you will dominate the majority of players who lack in skill regardless of the application (M+ or Raids).  I have played every single tank spec, and i understand how they all work VERY well.  I will be playing a Prot Warrior, DK, and Brewmaster this expansion.  Likely with an emphasis on Prot warrior.  Remember that there could be a patch tomorrow that takes the FotM tank and completely changes it.  The only thing Tier Lists like this do is cause derision and cause people to not  take a tank to a dungeon or a raid based upon some misinformed elitist attitude.  The fact of the matter is this. 80% of you worrying about a tier list are incapable of playing this game at a high enough skill level that this tier list becomes any kind of relevant.  Forget about the tier list and go become skilled in YOUR favorite class.  Nerfs/Buffs will change this dumb list next month anyways.

I understand the sentiment, but you literally start your post with "1400 days played, WF's and other top 10's" then tell people not to read anything that tries to talk about the meta. You're the only one being elitist here.

 

I completely agree that people should play what they want to play - some of my favorite specs to play historically have been more niche specs like Feral. You can still have a conversation about what the meta might look like and acknowledge that player skill makes more of a difference than spec choice.

[damdifino 0]

Any updates to this?

[Alexis 0]

Interesting, I'm now doing my 3rd alt and although it doesn't matter for me, I wanted to see what the tank rankings were!

I see here that all tanks are listed as A-tier except for Protection Warrior and Vengeance Demon Hunter being B-Tier.

Limit, who dominated the WF race, played a Protection Warrior and Vengeance Demon Hunter.  Funny!

Max (the guild leader of Limit) said that Protection Warrior was a big reason for the success, and said in part they were lucky for that Protection Warrior buff (although they bet that Blizzard would buff it).  Also he blamed other guilds for "not doing their homework" for running Brewmaster monks,,, who are noticeably not as strong this tier as they were in the past.

FWIW-- Max said the bottom tier tanks at the moment are Guardian Druid and in a distant last place is Protection Paladin.  I assumed he meant for end game tanking/top 50 raiding.  🙂

Just wanted to share my thoughts!

 

[Guest Top Tier list]

The top lists Prot Paladins in the A tier, but the body of the page reads that they are B tier

 

[Impakt 25]

2 hours ago, Guest Top Tier list said:

The top lists Prot Paladins in the A tier, but the body of the page reads that they are B tier

 

Protection Paladin should be B-tier now, the top list not reflecting that is a typo. I just committed a fix right now, thanks!

[Guest Ciphric_Norg]

xD I love the mixed message the article gives. the comment on pally tanks : "While Protection Paladins are still quite strong at dealing damage, tank DPS has proven to be less important of a consideration this tier. "

 

aaaand the comment on DK Tanks: but they are sliding on the rankings for one reason: damage. Blood Death Knights deal miserably low damage at the moment, which puts them in a tough spot for Mythic progression where tank damage is looking like it will be important.

 

I get the utility differences between these tanks. but is tank damage important or not?

[Impakt 25]

4 hours ago, Guest Ciphric_Norg said:

xD I love the mixed message the article gives. the comment on pally tanks : "While Protection Paladins are still quite strong at dealing damage, tank DPS has proven to be less important of a consideration this tier. "

 

aaaand the comment on DK Tanks: but they are sliding on the rankings for one reason: damage. Blood Death Knights deal miserably low damage at the moment, which puts them in a tough spot for Mythic progression where tank damage is looking like it will be important.

 

I get the utility differences between these tanks. but is tank damage important or not?

After reading those over again, I agree the messaging is a bit mixed and I'll update it. Blood DK had some major damage issues, specifically early on in the expansion that were much more severe than any other tank. While they still are on the lower end, they are in a more acceptable place now. 

As the tier progresses and ilvls increase from the great vault, raid, and other sources, tank damage matters less and less. Early on when damage is tight, tank damage matters more. At this point in the tier, tank damage will not stop you from killing any boss, so it matters much less compared to just ensuring your tanks stay alive and have the utility to get you through encounters.