The War Within Season 3 Mythic+ Tank tier list
The Mythic+ tank tier list for The War Within Season 3 is here! Find out which tank specs dominate Season 3 dungeons and which ones might struggle.
Table of Contents
Key takeaways
- This M+ Tank tier list for Season 3 is based on the PTR testing for the upcoming 11.2 patch.
- All tank specs are viable if you play them well.
- S-tier for M+: Vengeance Demon Hunter, Brewmaster Monk
- A-tier for M+: Protection Warrior, Protection Paladin, Guardian Druid
- B-tier for M+: Blood Death Knight
In this post, we spotlight Tanks. This tier list is based on the results of PTR testing of TWW Season 3 and the 11.2 patch, as well as current class balance. In future it will be updated according to buffs or nerfs.
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Please note that this is just one opinion among many. What meta is doesn’t matter if you don’t enjoy playing the spec. We give you our perspective on the class situation in Season 3. What to do with it is your decision. The most important thing is to have fun playing your favorite game.
The War Within Season 3 Tank tier list criteria
We assigned tiers from S to B to all existing tank specs. The highest tier is S, the best tank option for running the current Mythic+ dungeons. A place in the B-tier of our WoW tank tier list belongs to the tanks that struggle the most in a new environment.
- S-tier. The current best option to run in Mythic+. The combination of utility, damage, survivability, and synergy with meta DPS picks. These are the most popular tank specs for M+.
- A-tier. A balanced, healthy option for a tank. The only downside of these classes is the existence of the S-tier.
- B-tier. Selection of specs that have problems preventing them from reaching A–tier. You can treat these classes as A–tier if you are a dedicated main.
Season 3 M+ Tank tier list
Season 3 comes with new buffs and changes that shifted the balance of powers among tanks compared to the previous Season. The gear set bonuses for Season 3 provide unique upgrades to Hero Talent specs. You can learn more about new tier sets in our The War Within Season 3 Tier sets: Hero Talent bonuses guide.
With the latest wave of buffs, Vengeance Demon Hunter once again reigns as the king of M+ tank meta, just like in the last Season. This spec brings the highest damage output, excellent mobility, and exceptional sustain combined with Chaos Brand, making them a meta pick for caster-oriented party compositions.
Buffs to damage and survivability bring Brewmaster Monk, one the weakest tanks in previous Season, right behind the Demon Hunter. This makes them the best choice among Monk specs to get Mystic Touch for physical damage groups.
Protection Warrior takes the crown of the A-tier. The spec has good enough performance to be a substitute for Brewmaster in physical comps. That is, assuming your group gets Mystic Touch from another source.
Protection Paladin took a hit that made him move a tier down. They retain access to their incredible utility. Still, this spec has less damage and survivability compared to higher-ranked tanks.
Guardian Druids got buffed enough to climb into A-tier. Now they have better damage and defences, while also bringing useful Druid utility. Overall, a versatile spec that can fit many comps.
As of now, Blood Death Knight is sitting alone in B-tier. Although the spec has great sustain, its damage is not as high as that of other tanks. Most of the Blood DK potential is still tied to long cooldowns, hampering overall performance. Still a good choice for those who don’t want to rely on healers that much or play Vengeance DH.
S-tier Tanks in Mythic+
In S-tier we have two tanks that perform the best in the upcoming Mythic+ dungeon line up in Season 3. This ranking is based on raw stats and values, as well as performance in meta team compositions.
Vengeance Demon Hunter
At the top of our Mythic tank tier list sits Vengeance Demon Hunter. With their damage, strong defense, excellent mobility, and decent utility, Vengeance DH is the most popular choice for Mythic+ runs.
The relative ease of gameplay also adds to that, as it allows you to focus on what happens around you, instead of your buttons. High mobility enables quick intercept of extra mobs or easy kites of your enemies. It is a must-have spec for caster-oriented comps, as its Chaos Brand increases magic damage dealt to enemies.
The only downside is that most of the current meta DPS options primarily deal physical damage. However, on its own, Vengeance DH is currently the strongest tank for Mythic+. It is one of the few tanks who passed the latest stress tests with the best results.
The Season 3 M+ dungeons line up favors classes with block and parry mechanics, and there is no one better at parries than Vengeance DH. All these qualities make playing Vengeance DH feel like cheating.
Aldrachi Reaver is a Hero talent option that provides better self-sufficiency. Many talents here correlate and improve your Soul Fragment generation. That results in DH being able to better sustain themselves. Higher sustain alleviates pressure from healers. The damage profile tends to be less bursty and more evenly spread.
Fel-Scarred is an option that emphasizes Metamorphosis, making it an even stronger cooldown. It results in a stronger burst, as Metamorphosis would activate extra damaging abilities, and reset some sigils and essential buttons.
Demon Hunter lacks utility compared to other tanks. However, DH still has some powerful tools. Among them are abilities like Darkness, Sigil of Misery, Imprison, Consume Magic, Sigil of Chains, etc. And, of course, we cannot forget the most important one, Chaos Brand.
The 2-piece bonus of Aldrachi Reaver tier set increases damage dealt by Reaver’s Glaive while increasing damage from other physical sources. 4 pieces improve interactions between Reaver’s Glaive, Shear, and Soul Cleave, allowing you to stack a second Reaver’s Mark. This increases your single-target damage.
Tier set bonuses for Fel-Scarred increase your AoE and burst. With 2 pieces, your Immolation Aura deals increased damage and makes Soul Cleave hit harder. With 4 pieces, every time you enter demon form, you automatically use Demonsurge and get a damage increasing buff.
Both sets have nearly equal performance, with differences depending on the type of content. The set for Aldrachi Reaver hero spec is slightly better for Mythic+.
Brewmaster Monk
The biggest issue with the Brewmaster monk was the balance between its difficulty and power ratio. It is the hardest tank spec in the game, and finally, its performance reaches the S-tier. The damage and survivability significantly increase going into Season 3.
Although class still relies on healers the most. Currently, the Brewmaster is the best choice for Mystic Touch out of all Monk specs. This ability increases physical damage dealt, making Monk a must for a group full of physical DPS.
Infamous for the button bloat in previous expansions, Brewmaster Monk became better in that regard in TWW. It still remains one of the most beginner-unfriendly specs to play. You have to pay attention to your Stagger and manage your Brews. But now it rewards all that time invested into learning this spec with high numbers.
The Hero talent trees provide approaches to your gameplay. Shado-Pan grants many passive effects to various abilities. It increases your overall performance without adding new buttons. This allows you to focus on your primary rotation.
Master of Harmony also grants extra interactions and effects to abilities. It also grants extra charges to some of them. This opens up additional possibilities for your sustain and damage, but requires even better planning of your resources.
The Monk’s utility is on the lesser side. Aside from the significant Mystic Touch, Brewmaster has Tiger’s Lust, Paralysis, Detox, and Ring of Peace. Although extremely niche, they can find some uses.
Tier set for Master of Harmony grants you a chance to trigger a Harmonic Surge with Tiger Palm each time you get vitality. Harmonic Surge deals AoE damage and heals allies. With 4 pieces, your Thunder Focus Tea guarantees the next two Tiger Palm triggering Harmonic Surge.
The Shado-Pan 2-piece bonus increases Flurry Strike damage, while improving effects of Weapons of Order cooldown to give you 10 stacks of Flurry Strike. With 4 pieces, your Flurry Charge generation is increased, while Weapons of Order now trigger Flurry Strike for spending energy.
Master of Harmony is a preferable spec for M+. It is enticing to Shado-Pan due to its passive nature, but bonuses from Master of Harmony set and extra resources granted by the spec tree, such extra Celestial Brew charge, have higher value in Season 3.
A-tier Tanks in Mythic+
Protection Warrior
Warrior was always a class about stat-checking enemies, scaling considerably with good gear. Buffs for Season 3 allowed Protection Warrior to fill its niche. This spec has less utility than other tanks. But its Battle Shout greatly synergizes with physical and melee damage comps. And now spec itself brings a lot of raw damage and defense.
Protection Warrior is an excellent alternative to Brewmaster Monk. It’s a good option for beginners. Intuitive gameplay helps to focus on the run instead of complex rotation. As things stand now, Protection Warrior can find its place even in high keys.
The difference with Hero talents is primarily due to your preferred gameplay. The Mountain Thane provides fast gameplay based on quickly gaining and spending Rage and some empowerment for the Avatar. It has increased AoE and better defensive bonuses, with damage profile spread evenly through your rotation.
The Colossus provides a better burst, entirely revolving around a powerful cooldown called Demolish. It is less involved, but the correct setup can provide better damage, especially in single-target scenarios.
Utility, although abysmal, is still there. Warriors have two cooldowns, Rallying Cry and Battle Shout. Extra attack power and more Health are always welcome, especially for physical comps. Thus, Protection Warrior is expected to be a meta pick in Season 3.
The set for Colossus focused on increasing single-target damage. With 2 pieces, your Demolish deals more damage, while other abilities deal increased critical damage to enemies affected by your Demolish. With 4 pieces, your Demolish turns the next Shield Slam into a guaranteed crit. Your Shield Slam crits significantly increase damage dealt by Rend and Deep Wound.
Mountain Thane gets a new interaction for Thunder Blast. With 2 pieces, each use of Thunder Blast has a chance to summon Ionized Strikes, dealing Nature damage in the area. With 4 pieces, every time Ionized Strike is triggered, you get a Thunder Blast charge with increased damage.
As for now, the Mountain Thane is a more preferable option for Mythic+. The simplicity of this spec combined with the provided set bonus provides Mountain Thane with an easier way of getting aggro and stronger AoE. Thane can also use Ignore Pain more freely.
Protection Paladin
Although it is not as strong as before, Protection Paladin is still a valuable pick for running M+ dungeons. Survivability, sustain, and damage — all the necessary tank qualities remain decent for this spec. And no one can topple Paladins when it comes to utility. This tank is also beginner-friendly, as its gameplay loop is not complicated. But still slightly more difficult than Protection Warrior.
All the utility requires you to keep attention to your party members so you can get the most out of your Blessings and Auras. And, unlike DH, you have to pay attention to your defensive cooldowns and active healing abilities, such as Word of Glory, to ensure personal survival.
Both Hero talent trees provide valuable options for the spec. The Templar tree turns the Eye of Tyr ability into a powerful multi-purpose cooldown. With it, Paladin has access to a burst of AoE damage, single-target damage, healing, and shielding every minute. All that is on top of great defensive cooldowns.
The Lightsmith tree emphasizes the supporting capabilities of a Paladin. It allows you to provide your allies with extra shield and damage buffs, improving utility options.
Speaking about utility, Paladin has it all. Various Auras, such as Devotion Aura, grant buffs to the whole team. Blessings, such as Blessing of Freedom and Blessing of Protection, can help your allies in a pinch.
More specific things, such as Repentance, Blinding Light, Turn Evil, etc, help you keep your enemies in check. Paladins have many tools for a variety of situations. They can also help healers with things like Word of Glory or Lay on Hands.
The 2-piece bonus for Lightsmith increases the healing of Hammer and Anvil, allowing you to trigger Hammer and Anvil by Crusader Strike at reduced efficiency. With 4 pieces, your Hammer and Anvil also grant a Masterwork buff that makes the next Holy Armament apply a Lesser version of itself to a nearby ally.
With 2 pieces, Templar gets increased critical strike damage for Empyrean Hammer. Critical hits, in general, can grant an extra stack for Light’s Deliverance. With 4 pieces, your Hammer of Light deals more damage to the primary target, gets an increased target cap, and can be used for an extra time after casting Eye of Tyr.
Although players prefer using Templar, the tier set for Lightsmith shines the best in Mythic+. Extra Armaments created due to bonus have higher value in such content. In terms of raw power, both sets are fairly balanced, so if you prefer using Templar you can do so.
Guardian Druid
Guardian Druid is a versatile tank that keeps climbing up in ranks with every buff it gets. It still has the same sustain levels, but damage and defense have increased significantly. With all these changes, Guardian Druid is a competitive choice among other Druid specs to bring unique utility. And its simple gameplay loop allows you to focus on the run itself.
The Hero talents are more focused on your aesthetic and damage profile choices. Chosen of Elune is all about Arcane magic, while Druid of the Claw is about your physical, bestial side. That said, Druid of the Claw has some extra upgrades to your utility and survivability, but also more involved button-wise. Chosen of Elune, however, focuses on extra DoT effects and therefore has superior sustained damage.
The utility package of the Druid is unique, hence picking one as a tank is a good option. Mark of the Wild, Stampeding Roar, Soothe, Hibernate, Innervate, etc., are valuable assets to any Mythic+ run.
With 2 pieces, Druid of the Claw gets increased Haste, Critical chance, and Bleed damage when using Ravage. With 4 pieces, every Ravage can trigger another, slightly delayed Ravage at full effectiveness.
Elune’s Chosen gets increased damage and the chance to trigger Starsurge for Thrash with a 2-piece bonus. With 4 pieces, Starsurges triggered by Thrash also split to up to 3 additional enemies and grant Gathering Moonlight stacks. These stacks are consumed on Lunar Beam, increasing its damage per stack.
Out of two sets, the one for Elune’s Chosen is a better fit for M+. These bonuses increase your AoE damage and self-sustain, which are the perfect thing to have in high keys.
B-tier Tanks in Mythic+
Blood Death Knight
Although it has one of the most powerful self-sustains in the game, Blood Death Knight currently struggles with damage and mitigation. The spec prefers to self-heal the damage instead of reducing it.
This sustain is so strong that it often allows Blood DK to finish fights solo, as they can heal all the damage. This can come in handy in scenarios where DK is the last man standing during an encounter. But as the level of the keys grows, Blood DK feels squishier than tanks from higher tiers. Especially when it comes to taking tank buster attacks.
Add to that a reliance on longer cooldowns, and you get a tank that requires strict resource management, which does not yield such great results. Spec has troubles at the start of every pull, as it cannot simultaneously focus on defense and get aggro. This can be problematic in M+, especially for inexperienced players.
Both Hero paths are viable as they present two distinct damage profiles. Deathbringer focuses on improving existing buttons and giving a new core cooldown, Reaper’s Mark. With all the talents, you get a better burst on shorter intervals.
San’layn provides better sustain of both kinds. You can get extra healing and damage through the encounter with its proc nature. It also increases the strength of the Dancing Rune Weapon, making it even more valuable.
The utility of this spec is quite a niche, but there are still some nice things in his pockets. Anti-magic Zone and Vestigial Shell are great defense cooldowns for your team. Gorefiend’s Grasp, Death Grip, and Blinding Sleet provide extra crowd control. And let’s not forget a combat resurrection, Raise Ally.
The 2-piece set bonuses for Deathbringer grant you extra stacks of Exterminate on Reaper’s Mark use. With 4 pieces, Exterminate gets increased damage, while Reaper’s Mark‘s stack limit increases. Upon exploding, Reaper’s Mark also increases your critical chance.
For San’layn, your 2-piece bonuses allow Infliction of Sorrow to extend the duration of your disease on the primary target and make Essence of Blood Queen grant extra Mastery. With 4 pieces, your Blood Beast duration is extended, while using Vampiric Strike increases the damage of Dancing Rune Weapon.
Both sets are kind of underwhelming, as there are no game changing buffs or bonuses. As of now, without any changes to sets and direct buffs to Blood DK, a set for San’layn is a safer option.
Conclusion
And that’s it for our tank tier list The War Within Season 3. We hope the insight you gained will help you easily navigate the Mythic+ scene. If you are interested in more guides, we recommend reading our How to tank in WoW for beginners: 5 tips to become a PRO article. Whatever you do, remember that the best class to play is the one you enjoy the most. So have fun running M+ dungeons!
If you ever need assistance running dungeons, our WoW Mythic boost is always here to help.
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