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

Last updated on Aug 18, 2024 at 10:53 by Petko 190 comments

From the weakest to the strongest specialization, each provide unique character distinction and add value toward shaping the seasonal "meta" of Mythic+. These Beta-based Tank specialization rankings provided for The War Within's first Season of Mythic+ are based on pure Tanking survivability, DPS and group-added-value such as utility, mobility, and defensive options.

This list will be updated as new tuning and class changes come out over the course of leading up to the season's start and beyond.

1.

About the Beta Tier List

Our analysis provides an estimate of the current Mythic+ meta with weekly updates every Sunday on the website, immediately after Sunday live on stream, until Season 1 arrives. However, it is important to remember that there will be many more changes, and what you see is not the final product. Instead, it is a progression of how each specialization performs from the start of the beta to the actual season release.

If you are interested in the DPS and Tank versions of this 11.0.2 Beta Tier List, check the links below!

If you are interested in our current tier list for Season 4 Patch 10.2.7, you can find that below:

Please note that anything I say is purely subjective and represents my opinion. However, it is an educated guess based on numerous hours of Beta testing and extensive discussions with some of the best theorycrafters from each of their specs. If you have a different opinion, that is perfectly fine. I will be happy to answer any questions in the comment section. After the Beta testing is completed, we will compile all the data and create the official Tier List of Season 1. Thank you for reading, and enjoy!

1.1.

Criteria of the Tier List

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

Please keep in mind that what you're about to read is a preliminary iteration of the 11.0.2 Season 1 tier list in The War Within expansion, and it WILL change before the season is released. Nothing written here is a guarantee or promise. All opinions are subjective and should be taken with a grain of salt. I update this tier list every Sunday at 14:00 CEST live on my stream, before being uploaded on the website. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

2.

Tank Tier List for Season 1 of Mythic+ in The War Within

Below, you can find the full rankings for Tank specializations in The War Within Mythic+. We encourage you to read further and understand why some classes are placed lower or higher than expected, with several factors considered, such as having a 4-piece tier-set active at all times and the key levels.

BETA HAS CLOSED AND THE OFFICIAL RANKINGS FOR EACH SPEC/CLASS IN TWW ARE DOWN BELOW.

3.

Full Tank Class Rankings

3.1.

Best choice

3.2.

Guardian Druid

Patch 11.0.2 update: Guardian Druid received a decent amount of changes through the Beta cycles, paired with 2 brand new Hero Talent choices - Elune's Chosen / Druid of the Claw and a new tier set. The 2-piece will allow for Thrash Icon Thrash and Moonfire Icon Moonfire to increase your damage done and reduce the damage you 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 BleedBleed damage by 8%.

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

3.2.1.

Cons

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

Utility Package
Functionality Spells Notes
Core Mark of the Wild Icon Mark of the Wild Increasing the Versatility of your raid/party by 3%.
Core Entangling Roots Icon Entangling Roots Single-target root effect.
Optional After the Wildfire Icon After the Wildfire Extra off-healing.
Optional Innervate Icon Innervate Allowing 1 friendly healer to cast spells without spending mana for 8 sec.
Optional Stampeding Roar Icon Stampeding Roar Increasing the movement speed to all raid members by 60% for 8 sec.
Optional Remove Corruption Icon Remove Corruption Removes all CurseCurse and PoisonPoison effects from a friendly target.
Optional Soothe Icon Soothe Dispelling all Enrage Effects from an enemy target.
Optional Hibernate Icon Hibernate Single-target crowd-control effects against beasts and dragonkins.
Optional Incapacitating Roar Icon Incapacitating Roar / Mighty Bash Icon Mighty Bash You have the choice between AoE disturb effect or a single-target stun.
Optional Typhoon Icon Typhoon Aoe knockback.
Optional Mass Entanglement Icon Mass Entanglement / Ursol's Vortex Icon Ursol's Vortex You have the choice between AoE root effect or AoE wind-of-vortex, pulling all the mobs to one location.
3.3.

Excellent choice

3.4.

Protection Warrior

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

Protection Warrior is performing exceptionally well, which will significantly increase its damage profile, which is now considered one of the highest across all tanks going into the The War Within expansion. Spell Reflection Icon Spell Reflection is proving to be an useful utility in the 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 damaged and punished by running Defensive Stance Icon Defensive Stance and the Storm Shield Icon Storm Shield + Intervene Icon Intervene combo. Additionally, with the strength of melee characters, Battle Shout Icon Battle Shout is looking much more appealing. Overall, Protection Warrior has a great offensive and defensive profile, making it a promising choice.

3.4.1.

Cons

As always, Protection Warriors may suffer if anything cannot be blocked 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 Icon Rallying Cry Temporary increasing the health of your raid/party.
Core Battle Shout Icon Battle Shout Extra 5% attack power.
Optional Spell Reflection Icon Spell Reflection Usable in niche situations.
Optional Intimidating Shout Icon Intimidating Shout AoE disturb effect capped at 5 targets.
Optional Storm Bolt Icon Storm Bolt 4 sec single-target stun.
Optional Shockwave Icon Shockwave AoE Stun
3.5.

Vengeance Demon Hunter

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

The Most recent consecutive buffs to Vengeance Demon Hunter have placed them in a much better state, due to their incredible synergy with the current top tier DPS specs (caster-comp / exodia-comp), as well as having one of the strongest damage outputs compared to the rest of the tanks. They have lost their amazing tier set from Season 4 of Dragonflight and replaced it with a much inferior version of the tier set, which will make their gameplay and maximise its potential a lot harder to extract. On top of that, their Illuminated Sigils Icon Illuminated Sigils talent (which previously allowed you to have one extra charge of Sigil of Misery Icon Sigil of Misery / Sigil of Silence Icon 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 irreplaceable tank 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 be taken due to Chaos Brand Icon Chaos Brand, which provides a noticeable damage boost for the entire group, and likely become the best tank spec.

3.5.1.

Cons

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

3.5.2.

Utility Package

Utility Package
Functionality Spells Notes
Core Chaos Brand Icon Chaos Brand 5% extra Magical damage
Core Darkness Icon Darkness % chance to avoid all damage from an attack.
Core Sigil of Silence Icon Sigil of Silence Silences all enemies affected by the Sigil for a short time.
Optional Sigil of Chains Icon Sigil of Chains All enemies affected by the Sigil are pulled to its center and snared.
Optional Chaos Nova Icon Chaos Nova AoE stun effect.
Optional Imprison Icon Imprison Single-target out of combat crowd-control.
Optional Consume Magic Icon Consume Magic Remove 1 beneficial Magic effect.
Optional Sigil of Misery Icon Sigil of Misery AoE disturb effect.
3.6.

Blood Death Knight

Patch 11.0.2 update: Blood Death Knight received a ton of changes since the start of the Beta testing and just like every specialization 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 more charges of Bone Shield Icon Bone Shield, the damage you take is reduced by 2%. Losing a Bone Shield Icon Bone Shield charge has a chance to reduce the damage you take by an additional 1%, up to 3% for 6 sec. In addition, the 4-piece allows your damage to be increased by 1% per active Bone Shield Icon Bone Shield charge. Taking damage while below 6 Bone Shield Icon Bone Shield charges has a chance to generate 1-2 Bone Shield Icon Bone Shield charges.

The rework of Blood Death Knight has put them in a prominent position to be one 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 be getting a brand new utility, from the general Death Knight talent tree, which fits perfectly for a 5-man content - Vestigial Shell Icon Vestigial Shell. In addition, one of their signature spell - Gorefiend's Grasp Icon Gorefiend's Grasp has much better positioning in the new Blood Death Knight spec-specific tree and is further supplemented by Tightening Grasp Icon 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 of specialization, since it already plays better and is stronger than its old Dragonflight version.

3.6.1.

Cons

-

Utility Package
Functionality Spells Notes
Core Anti-Magic Zone Icon Anti-Magic Zone Provides extra durability against heavy magical damage.
Core Death Grip Icon Death Grip Repositions an enemy of your choice.
Core Raise Ally Icon Raise Ally Combat-resurrection.
Optional Blinding Sleet Icon Blinding Sleet AoE disturb effect.
Optional Abomination Limb Icon Abomination Limb Every 1 sec an enemy is pulled close to you.
Optional Gorefiend's Grasp Icon Gorefiend's Grasp Mass-grip.
Optional Insidious Chill Icon Insidious Chill Reduces the auto-attack speed of your target by 5% stacking up 4 times.
Optional Control Undead Icon Control Undead Mind-control an undead enemy to fight on your side.
Optional Asphyxiate Icon Asphyxiate 5 sec single-target stun.
Optional Vestigial Shell Icon Vestigial Shell Adding Anti-Magic Shell Icon Anti-Magic Shell on 2 nearby allies.
3.7.

Good choice

3.8.

Brewmaster Monk

Patch 11.0.2 update: Brewmaster Monk received a ton of changes leading to the The War Within expansion, including 2 brand-new Hero Talents - Master of Harmony / Shado-Pan Icon Shado-Pan and a new tier-set. The 2-piece bonus will enable Blackout Kick Icon Blackout Kick and Keg Smash Icon Keg Smash to deal 20% additional damage, and Shuffle Icon Shuffle also grants 3% damage reduction. The 4-piece bonus will trigger once you cast Blackout Kick Icon 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 Icon Keg Smash and make its next cast cost no energy.

Brewmaster Monk is entering The War Within with one of the highest damage profiles across all tanks and an improved durability profile. On top of the already good mob control, they still sync best with a physical damage-oriented squad due to their Mystic Touch Icon Mystic Touch debuff. Overall, playing Brewmaster Monk will be 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 spec and we look forward see them develop through the Season 1.

3.8.1.

Cons

Works well with a heavy physical damage-oriented team (Mystic Touch Icon 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 Icon Mystic Touch 5% extra Physical damage for your raid.
Core Leg Sweep Icon Leg Sweep 3 sec stun effect.
Optional Tiger's Lust Icon Tiger's Lust Removes all roots and snares.
Optional Ring of Peace Icon Ring of Peace It can be used to help your tank kite and as a AoE disturb effect.
Optional Detox Icon Detox Removes all PoisonPoison and DiseaseDisease effects from the target.
Optional Paralysis Icon Paralysis Single-target disturb effect.
3.9.

Protection Paladin

Patch 11.0.2 update: Protection Paladin received their fair share of changes leading to the The War Within expansion, including brand new Hero Talents - Templar / Lightsmith, and a new tier-set. The 2-piece bonus increases the damage of Shield of the Righteous Icon Shield of the Righteous by 10% and grants 3% damage reduction. Additionally, the 4-piece enables Holy Power abilities to increase the damage and healing you deal during your next Avenging Wrath Icon Avenging Wrath by 0.5%, which can stack.

As with almost every specialization so far, Protection Paladin has received its fair share of changes, including a choice between Lightsmith or Templar Hero Talents, both of which will alter how you approach your gameplay, ability, and cooldown usage. The spec's durability is decent but not 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 quite impressive, and it is one of their strongest assets. Just like every Paladin spec, they will not benefit from Retribution Aura Icon Retribution Aura as it 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 enhancing their durability.

3.9.1.

Cons

Significantly more difficult to play compared to most of the tanks. However, you have many tools to support your team if needed. If you are a beginner player, be cautious 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 Icon Avenger's Shield Extra interrupt option that has a follow-up silence effect.
Core Devotion Aura Icon Devotion Aura Permanent 3% group/raid-wide damage reduction aura.
Core Hammer of Justice Icon Hammer of Justice A powerful single-target 6 sec stun effect.
Core Lay on Hands Icon Lay on Hands Heals a member of your party/raid to full health.
Core Intercession Icon Intercession Combat-resurrection
Optional Blessing of Spellwarding Icon Blessing of Spellwarding Granting magical damage immunity for 10 sec on a chosen ally.
Optional Blessing of Sacrifice Icon Blessing of Sacrifice Helps a single member of your raid in a critical situation. This can be further improved by talenting Sacrifice of the Just Icon Sacrifice of the Just.
Optional Blessing of Protection Icon Blessing of Protection Physical immunity, which can help you with some boss encounters.
Optional Blessing of Freedom Icon Blessing of Freedom Immunity to movement impairing effects.
Optional Repentance Icon Repentance / Blinding Light Icon Blinding Light You have the option between single-target crowd-control effect or a powerful mass AoE stop.
Optional Cleanse Toxins Icon Cleanse Toxins Removes all PoisonPoison and DiseaseDisease effects from the target.
Optional Turn Evil Icon Turn Evil Be able to fear any Undead, Aberration or Demon, which is an additional form of crowd control.
4.

Changelog

  • 18 Aug. 2024: Update #7 of the progressive Beta TWW tierlist.
  • 11 Aug. 2024: Update #6 of the progressive Beta TWW tierlist.
  • 04 Aug. 2024: Update #5 of the progressive Beta TWW tierlist.
  • 28 Jul. 2024: Update #4 of the progressive Beta TWW tierlist.
  • 21 Jul. 2024: Update #3 of the progressive Beta TWW tierlist.
  • 14 Jul. 2024: Update #2 of the progressive Beta TWW tierlist.
  • 07 Jul. 2024: Update #1 of the progressive Beta TWW tierlist.
  • 29 Oct. 2023: New round of changes after the most recent PTR Build.
  • 22 Oct. 2023: Second round of updates after the most recent PTR changes.
  • 15 Oct. 2023: Page added.
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