best tank m+

[Sturmwut]

One thing to clarify:
this is not a "what should I play" thread. I was asking for other opinions and experiences.

maybe the OP is some uberleet tryhard

No I'm not

[dirtybrew]

I'm about 2k current season 17-18 timed most dungeons and have experience playing most tanks. Not a pro but a solid player. If you're talking about pushing keys as high as possible right now Prot warrior is best . BRM is 2nd best currently, with paladin being pretty close and even Bear is not far behind behind. Tank balance is better than last season where the shield tanks were just way better.

That said, BDK and VDH are a notch below them because they don't scale as well on really hard hitting trash/bosses, have to kite the most and it is riskier for healers to spend globals doing damage cause they are the most prone to getting spiked down and killed on hard hitting trash/bosses. Note: This really only applies to current 17+ keys assuming proper gear/play.

[quite an expert in wow]

One thing to clarify:
this is not a "what should I play" thread. I was asking for other opinions and experiences.

No I'm not

i play prot warrior and find it a strong and very fun class to tank with

that's my opinion and experience

[Th3Scourge]

Play a prot warrior

sincerely,

A Blood DK

[randomer]

prot pally...

[barackohmama]

Bear is always the best choice

[God Save The King]

Right now, at the top of the meta?

Warrior >>>>>>> Monk > Paladin >>> DH > DK = Druid

Warriors make up about 50% of the tanks at the top. Monk is about 20%, paladin 15%. DH is 7%, and DK/Druid are about 5% each.

Warrior does the most AoE damage by quite a bit, and at the top of the game damage is what really prevents a key from succeeding (barring mistakes). Monks have a niche in that they take incredibly steady damage which allows a healer such as a resto druid to spend more time dps'ing and less time healing since a monk won't go from 50% to 0% in a few seconds (except in specific circumstances).

Paladins really sit in the medium between Warrior/Monk. They're harder to heal than a monk, but also deal less damage than a warrior. They have no real niche, but can succeed okay. You see paladins surging in popularity in lower keys (10-15s), since they're easier than either of monk or warrior.

DH/Dk/Druid are all basically bottom tier given their dps and survivability issues. None of them provide the raw DPS to replace a warrior nor do they offer the steady damage curve of a monk.


However, this is the top of the game. I'm referring to 20 and above. If you just want to play 10-15s, you should have no issue with any tank. They're all represented around 15-20%. None of them are so bad that they can't achieve Keystone Master (all 15s timed). From personal experience (I've done KM on 3 tanks this season, and all 6 in the previous 2) BrM is always the easiest, healers seem to have a much better time on him. Next would be both warriors/paladins. DH/DK next, and druid dead last. Druids were buffed this season so hopefully it won't be so painful, but I haven't done dk/dh/druid yet in season 3. For pushing into the 17/18s? Prot Warrior and BrM for sure, the others are notably rougher.

[Marrilaife]

brewmaster is lagging behind in dps.

The pvp essence fixes that.

As long as you can stomach respeccing out of brewmaster and doing rated pvp that is.

[dagonar]

Wait, what? Paladins have a big instant group heal? Which ability is that? I've played a paladin forever and don't recall a group heal via talents or spellbook. All I know is you can talent for HoP to be used on others, but it's not anything "big" at times as well as JoL which heals for peanuts, but still useful.

Talented HoP is what I meant, it can be used to heal the group, rather than a group heal. Sorry, wrong terminology.

I still find it very powerful in mythic+, I have it set as a alt+click on frame heal and I could probably solo heal lower m+ while tanking, especially using blessings of protection and sacrafice etc.

[dcc626]

The pvp essence fixes that.

As long as you can stomach respeccing out of brewmaster and doing rated pvp that is.

im a trash ww and i am like 1500 in 2s. took like 2 hours tops of screwing around. anyone can do it.

now its one win a week til i get rank 3. then donezo.

[KOUNTERPARTS]

Protection paladin is the best with talents like this:

Final Stand - When you use Divine Shield, you also taunt all targets within 15 yards for 8 sec.

That alone will make me choose Prot pallies over anything else in +13 and above keys.

[Naville]

Protection paladin is the best with talents like this:



That alone will make me choose Prot pallies over anything else in +13 and above keys.

This is a very strong talent yes, but it also comes with a long cooldown (5 min) and it lasts only 8 secs. I don't find it that OP, and obviously it won't make prot pallies the only viable tank over +13...

Talented last stand on prot warrior is also very strong, it lasts 15 sec while having a way shorter cooldown.

Even VDH's metamorphosis is now very strong. Being over 800k+ HP with lots of armor and more self-healing makes you almost unkillable for 15 sec. Reducing its cooldown with vision of perfection essence is also great.

[HitPoint]

Warrior and pally if you're pushing 17-22, otherwise everything is pretty viable rn compared to previous season (season 2 was AWFUL for leather wearers besides monk in some cases).

Play what you feel! With azerite knowledge reducing the amount of azerite needed it shouldn't take much longer to hit 65 effectively giving you a huge 3rd passive essence (this will make it much easier for other classes combinations to push keys).

[Sturmwut]

I really enjoy dh tanks. I started last week with a prot warrior but I do not like the rotation but one point to mention:

Jesus, I can soak so much damage, I was very surprised how easy I tanked a +10 last week (easy affixes) with only 390 ilvl. This week with necrotic I saw how smooth damage intake is. My warrior is also a dark iron dwarf so I can clear necrotic stacks very easy. I still have a low shield (350) and will look deeper with the new week into the warrior.

Parallelly I equip my guardian, he starts to become a wall. Monk is still very smooth and easy to soak a lot of damage.

In my opinion this season the tank balance is much better. Lots of different strength and weaknesses between the tanks.

[HitPoint]

I really enjoy dh tanks. I started last week with a prot warrior but I do not like the rotation but one point to mention:

Jesus, I can soak so much damage, I was very surprised how easy I tanked a +10 last week (easy affixes) with only 390 ilvl. This week with necrotic I saw how smooth damage intake is. My warrior is also a dark iron dwarf so I can clear necrotic stacks very easy. I still have a low shield (350) and will look deeper with the new week into the warrior.

Parallelly I equip my guardian, he starts to become a wall. Monk is still very smooth and easy to soak a lot of damage.

In my opinion this season the tank balance is much better. Lots of different strength and weaknesses between the tanks.

This. Unless you're currently pushing 20 keys without your 3rd minor slot, everything is a lot more balanced compared to previous season (if you're discluded pita rogue/druid comps).

[Sturmwut]

yeah, I need to mention my highest keys I got intime are +14

[Marrilaife]

Warrior and pally if you're pushing 17-22, otherwise everything is pretty viable rn compared to previous season (season 2 was AWFUL for leather wearers besides monk in some cases).

Well Monks are also quite popular in high key pushing, let's not discard them.

And yeah DH after the buffs is quite good on low - mid keys where you can selfheal like crazy. On high keys their lack of defensives starts hurting. But depends who you run with, boomkins / shamans can provide extra relief in form of treants / earth ele for example.

[Saverem]

Tanks have been in the best state of balance in 8.2 then they've been in the last 4 years or so. They're all pretty decent in M+.

People usually bring Wars for MDI because they're still at the top of DPS and mitigation and MDI is all about speed and big pulls, but even in the last MDI we've seen BDK, Veng and BrM in there.

I'd say War/Pally/BrM/Veng/BDK are all top notch for M+. Guardians are also great at mitigating and have decent DPS, but they lack the utility to be top tier. But really, you can roll ANY tank right now and pump some +15 keys if you have the skill/gear.

- - - Updated - - -

Even VDH's metamorphosis is now very strong. Being over 800k+ HP with lots of armor and more self-healing makes you almost unkillable for 15 sec. Reducing its cooldown with vision of perfection essence is also great.

I love pulling big shit and letting my healer know to not bother healing me because I go Meta at half HP and pop big daddy Anima for 80k AoE damage and instant 50% heal.

[avx81]

Tanks have been in the best state of balance in 8.2 then they've been in the last 4 years or so. They're all pretty decent in M+.

People usually bring Wars for MDI because they're still at the top of DPS and mitigation and MDI is all about speed and big pulls, but even in the last MDI we've seen BDK, Veng and BrM in there.

I'd say War/Pally/BrM/Veng/BDK are all top notch for M+. Guardians are also great at mitigating and have decent DPS, but they lack the utility to be top tier. But really, you can roll ANY tank right now and pump some +15 keys if you have the skill/gear.

- - - Updated - - -



I love pulling big shit and letting my healer know to not bother healing me because I go Meta at half HP and pop big daddy Anima for 80k AoE damage and instant 50% heal.

No chance are all tanks even remotely balanced. Once you start hitting ~+15 keys it becomes very apparent what is trash tier. As of right now brewmaster monks are dominating in progression raids. They are also a second pick in M+ and could potentially steal some light from warriors in season 4 M+ as they are already doing now slowly. Either way prot warrior and brewmasters are a full tier ahead of anything else. Brewmasters are about to become the best raid and possibly M+ tank in S4.

In what world is prot warriors barely having their health get tickled in +17 keys while on some pulls being able to do more damage than dps specs balanced? Watching MDI pulls and prot warriors doing more dps than windwalkers on trash is just hilarious. Right now the closest thing to balance that has always been are prot paladins.

Regarding the MDI Blood DK was the season 1 pick. After season 1 blood dk had their legs cut off and everyone starting to make the transition to prot warrior. Do you see any blood dk's being being taken seriously in the MDI this season? No because they are literally trash tier. I think we have seen more of every other tank with the exception of guardian druid. Sure they are all viable in +10 keys. Once you hit +15 and above most (not all) people dont want to have anything to do with blood or guardian.

I have seen many keys where its a blood dk and the healer having a fit/questioning it even if their score is decent. Fact is healers dont want to deal with healing paper. You said it yourself. People run prot warrior for their high mitigation and damage. Go figure. People want a tank that does not fall over on high keys even on tiny pulls which starts happening right around the +15 mark. Can every tank spec do a +15 key in time? Sure they can and they have. But if asked most people would rather take the easier route. Would you rather have to walk up 100 floors or take an elevator? Most people want to take the elevator.

[Saverem]

No chance are all tanks even remotely balanced.

I said they're in the best balance they've been in 4 years, not that they're balanced.

People pushing high keys over 15 is equivelant of top 100 mythic raiders, they make up such a low percentage of players that Blizz doesn't balance around it. You don't even get any acknowledgement for timing keys over +15s and EVERY TANK right now can tank a +15 key with no issues assuming they're appropriately geared.


Yes, if you're a professional M+ runner trying to time +20s, OF COURSE you're gonna need to min/max, but classes are not balanced around that level and they NEVER will be.