Melee class with the greatest survivability?

[Loaf Lord]

Simple question. Which melee currently has the highest survivability? I'm assuming it's either warriors or DKs?

[Dald]

Warrior by a good margin

[Valedus]

Currently? Warriors.
After the Defensive stance nerf, I'd have to tie warriors and DK's as conversion is getting a hefty buff. That being said, warriors are currently the outlier: most melee are pretty damn squishy.

[Rorke]

Retribution Paladins and Unholy Death Knights.

[Lierial]

Retribution Paladins and Unholy Death Knights.

sorry, i can maybe see dk but retri they are currently in an abysmal shape pvp-wise, no dps, no surviability
and don't say they have DA half the classes can dispel it, and even it they don't all it does is giving you 6s more

[Itisamuh]

Warriors probably. Ferals would probably be next, in my opinion, though they have to actually play well to get the benefits. Rets and enhance shaman have a little but probably need more, especially rets. I have no idea about monks, having never played one. Death knights have awful survivability, arguably the weakest along with rogue. Long gone are the days where they could do insane damage while healing like a hybrid.

[Skarssen]

1- arms
2- feral
3- enhance
4- monk
5- unholy
6- rogue
7- ret
8- frost

[Snuggli]

1- arms
2- feral
3- enhance
4- monk
5- unholy
6- rogue
7- ret
8- frost

Enhance is awful. Other than that it's nearly spot on.

I'd rate Rogue below Ret though.

[kosechi]

Enhance is awful. Other than that it's nearly spot on.

I'd rate Rogue below Ret though.

enhance has defense against stun chains which puts it way ahead of most other melee.

[CHRONICGODX]

1- arms
2- feral
3- enhance
4- monk
5- unholy
6- rogue
7- ret
8- frost

enhance at #3 eh? can i queue into your team? lol

[Senathor]

enhance at #3 eh? can i queue into your team? lol

They have a lot of self healing, however it's consistent and not bursty. So yeah, they're definitely not third.

[Tyrean]

I am not sure if you guys know about DK defenses and just buy into the common knowledge hype. Frost for sure is lacking in defensive ability, but unholy has a lot of tools to help them live longer. The main unholy tool is obviously kiting which most melee players are not used to doing so you don't see DKs do it much. I guess I should just list what I consider Unholy Survival abilities and let you decide.

1.) Can play in blood presence without much loss in offensive pressure. So +10% Damage reduction, +25% stamina, and +55% armor.
2.) Lichborne healing is more effective. Higher health because of blood presence, higher healing done because of mastery, and more coils because of lower death coil cost.
3.) Pet Stun can be used when you are in trouble.
4.) Pet can interrupt casts or temporarily root.
5.) Unholy Frenzy can be used to keep your healer out of CC.
6.) Icy Touch Dispels can be very helpful.
7.) Icebound Fort (eh)
8.) Strangulate ranged silence. Saved my butt so many times when I was getting bursted out in the open.
9.) Dark Sim can be used pretty effectively. Grabbing clones, fears, shields, etc is pretty easy to time.
10.) Pet Sac (will be conversion next patch for most ppl)
11.) Death Strike when you are really in trouble. (only 7% heal for half your runes)
12.) AMS.

Basically, Unholy can live for a long time on their own but they really shine when they are kiting melee and LoS ranged and letting all of their diseases and pets do their dirty work. Unfortunately most DKs just run out into the open and get blown up and wonder why they are so squishy.

[Valedus]

I am not sure if you guys know about DK defenses and just buy into the common knowledge hype. Frost for sure is lacking in defensive ability, but unholy has a lot of tools to help them live longer. The main unholy tool is obviously kiting which most melee players are not used to doing so you don't see DKs do it much. I guess I should just list what I consider Unholy Survival abilities and let you decide.

1.) Can play in blood presence without much loss in offensive pressure. So +10% Damage reduction, +25% stamina, and +55% armor.
2.) Lichborne healing is more effective. Higher health because of blood presence, higher healing done because of mastery, and more coils because of lower death coil cost.
3.) Pet Stun can be used when you are in trouble.
4.) Pet can interrupt casts or temporarily root.
5.) Unholy Frenzy can be used to keep your healer out of CC.
6.) Icy Touch Dispels can be very helpful.
7.) Icebound Fort (eh)
8.) Strangulate ranged silence. Saved my butt so many times when I was getting bursted out in the open.
9.) Dark Sim can be used pretty effectively. Grabbing clones, fears, shields, etc is pretty easy to time.
10.) Pet Sac (will be conversion next patch for most ppl)
11.) Death Strike when you are really in trouble. (only 7% heal for half your runes)
12.) AMS.

Basically, Unholy can live for a long time on their own but they really shine when they are kiting melee and LoS ranged and letting all of their diseases and pets do their dirty work. Unfortunately most DKs just run out into the open and get blown up and wonder why they are so squishy.

Yeah, Unholy is a lot less squishy than people think, as long as the DK knows what they are doing.

[apepi]

Warrior now, but I can see a rogue winning next patch.

[skitzy129]

Second Wind by itself > other melee classes.

[Valedus]

Second Wind by itself > other melee classes.

Second Wind by itself isn't the issue, its the fact that they can also jump into Defensive Stance. Blizz got it right when they left second wind the way it was and nerfed D stance.

Warrior now, but I can see a rogue winning next patch.

Nah, rogues will have lots of CC and such, but catching them in a stun with no trinket is pretty deadly. They have leather with no extra damage reduction. Without Elusiveness or evasion or anything, they take more damage than a mage does from physical attacks.

[Jawless Jones]

i'd rate monk as the highest survivability, however i would be taking into account all the escapes (FSK, two rolls with 50% movespeed or two rolls with sprint/freedom or three rolls, transcendence)

if a monk wants to get away from someone there's very little that person can do (unless they're a monk ofc), so i'd rate monk as highest active survivability (as opposed to the passive survivability that warriors have with def stance, second wind, 20% dmg reduc from Die by the Sword)

edit: the downside to this "Murvive-sobility" (survival through mobility) is that you can easily out range or LoS your healer, thus sort of negating the benefits if you aren't keeping track of your teammates

[Valedus]

i'd rate monk as the highest survivability, however i would be taking into account all the escapes (FSK, two rolls with 50% movespeed or two rolls with sprint/freedom or three rolls, transcendence)

if a monk wants to get away from someone there's very little that person can do (unless they're a monk ofc), so i'd rate monk as highest active survivability (as opposed to the passive survivability that warriors have with def stance, second wind, 20% dmg reduc from Die by the Sword)

I agree with this. Passively, Warriors and DK's will have the most damage reduction/hps. But Rogues and Monks, if played well, can be very slippery targets (even ferals... but less so, they need Symb with a Disc/Pal).

[corebit]

Are we talking this patch or the next? For 5.2 warrior survivability has taken a big hit with shockwave and defensive stance nerfed, so I wouldn't put it that high on the list. Meanwhile rets, monks, and rogues will take the spot IMO.

[leggomydairy]

I haven't played ALL melee classes, but with what I have played I'd have to say Brewmaster monks most likely