Today we bring you the ultimate tank tier list for the Season of Discovery. Tank is a pivotal role in every group's success; they soak up damage while controlling a battlefield. In this season though there is an abundance of 6 classes that act as tanks which include: Paladin, Warlock, Shaman, Warrior, Druid and Rouge Classes. Let's dive in!

 

• Tank Tier List & Ranking
• Paladin: S-Tier
• Warlock: A-Tier 
• Shaman: B Tier
• Warrior: S Tier
• Druid: A Tier
• Rogue: B Tier
• TL;DR

 

↖ Tank Tier List & Ranking

Tier S	Paladin  Warrior
Tier A	Warlock  Druid
Tier B	Shaman  Rouge

 

Considerations: Damage Output & Damage Taken While Tanking

 

↖ Paladin: S-Tier

Season of Discovery in WoW has introduced many enhancements to the paladins making them one of the best tanks. Surely, they are tanks equipped with all necessities required for their domination either as a protagonist, or a good team player in dungeons during this season.

This confident hero has been crowned as the king of defense with these buffs added to their already sturdy toolbox:

• Spec Perks: With talents like Redoubt and Shield Specialization, Paladins enhance their block chance and damage absorption significantly.
• Righteous Fury: This ability not only increases threat generation but now also restores mana—25% of incoming heals translate into mana replenishment.
• Blessing of Kings: A staple in the Paladin toolkit that provides a comprehensive stat boost.
• Hand of Reckoning: This game-changing rune now serves as a taunt, boosting the threat from Righteous Fury by a whopping 80%.
• Seal Modifications: Seal of Marom has transitioned from an AoE cleave spell to a mana-generating boon for the party.
• Aegis: A rune that offers an additional 30% block value and chance, complementing Redoubt for layered mitigation.
• Avenger's Shield: A multi-target attack that deals significant damage and applies a slowing effect.

 

↖ Warlock: A-Tier 

For centuries, Warlocks were known by everyone as a class capable of cursing others and summoning demons. However, this season things have changed. Their new abilities are meant to help them fit into tanking A-tier competition with other classes. In essence:

• Demonic Embrace: This ability now grants an impressive 15% extra stamina, fortifying the Warlock's staying power.
• Improved Voidwalker: Enhancements to the Voidwalker's Sacrifice ability provide a robust defensive shield.
• Metamorphosis: A versatile spell that boosts armor by 500%, reduces critical hit vulnerability, and increases threat generation.
• Spell Synergy: Abilities like Searing Pain become instant in demon form, while Curse of Recklessness adds a taunt component.

 

Also, there are several changes that Metamorphosis makes in some skills:

• Searing Pain becomes instant; it allows for fast threat building.
• Shadow Cleave is an evolution of Shadow Bolt enabling one to hit multiple targets.
• Curse of Recklessness has taunt added to it.
• Demon Charge and Demonic Howl are AoE taunts.

Besides that, they have Demonic Tactics which increases spell critical damage and Demonic Grace that raises dodge and crit chances. Although it may take some time for players to adjust to yet another role, but the potential here is overwhelming.

 

↖ Shaman: B Tier

Shaman is always a versatile class healing dealing damage and now more than ever tanking – not yet top tier but solidly B-tier owing its unique set of abilities: Tanks' health gets increased while the amount of melee attacks critically hitting reduces plus it also raises survivability by lowering taken damage.

The Shaman class, often overlooked as a viable tank, lands itself a respectable B Tier on our list. Here's why:

• Shields Spec (5/5): A cornerstone for any tank, Shamans can bolster their defenses with a solid shield spec.
• Critical Strike (5/5): Critical hits aren't just for damage dealers; they help Shamans maintain threat.
• Dodge (5/5): Despite some controversy, Dodge provides essential mitigation, especially when Shield Block values are low.

 

Key Abilities:

• Molten Blast: This ability is like a Sunder Armor for Shamans—damage and significant threat generation.
• Shield Mastery: Every block replenishes mana and stacks up armor—an essential skill for mana management and defense.
• Way of Earth: With Rockbiter Weapon active… you see massive increase in threat generation and survivability.

Shamans aren't your traditional tanks. But who needs tradition when you can have a hack and slash shaman? The ability to weave damage with defense creates a unique kind of tank that no one else can even think of. Most people would say it's impossible for Shamans to get to the endgame because they rely on leather gear and have serious mana management issues, but I'm willing to bet we can still make it work.

 

↖ Warrior: S Tier

Ah yes Warriors – epitome of resilience and power! These behemoths have always been favored by those who like wrestling at close quarters and rightly so because Warriors possess strong defensive skills and rely on rage for doing their thing. Warriors are launching as S-tier since they combine survivalbility with strong offence; dealing them is almost impossible. These are tanks who can punch above their weight class.

• Shield Specialization (5/5): Increases block chance and generates rage on blocks.
• Improved Bloodrage & Last Stand: For those "oh no" moments, these abilities provide a much-needed boost to survivability.
• Toughness (4/4): More armor equals less damage taken – a no-brainer for any tank.

 

Key Abilities:

• Devastate: A powerhouse move that scales with applications, making it a staple in the Warrior's arsenal.
• Flagellation: This ability amps up physical damage after using Bloodrage or Berserker Rage, perfect for establishing early threat.
• Consumed by Rage: When rage is maxed out, Warriors can unleash hell with a significant melee damage bonus.

The quintessential tanks, Warriors are built to absorb punishment and dish it back tenfold. With abilities that cater to both defense and offense, they're versatile and reliable in almost any situation.

 

↖ Druid: A Tier

Druids have always been nature's guardians, capable of turning into any form to adapt to situations. With the recent changes made to them, they have become top-of-the-line tanks.Druids are A-tier tanks due to their impressive versatility and ability to maintain consistent threat levels.

They may not be as outright durable as Warriors but make up for it with their adaptability.

• Build Optimization: Investing five points into Ferocity and Thick Hide increases armor contribution from items by 10%, significantly boosting survivability.
• Talent Choices: A single point in Brutal Impact and Feral Charge is recommended. If you want Skull Bash instead though, consider reallocating points to maximize Brutal Impact due to shared cooldowns.
• Critical Skills: Sharpen Claws And Primal Fury are critical talents that enhance critical hit chances and rage generation. They are essential for maintaining threat.
• Rune Selection: The Lacerate glove rune inflicts significant bleed damage that stacks up to five times for threat management. The Wild Strikes chest rune option benefits both the Druid and nearby party members with increased attack power.
• Survivability vs. Party Utility: While Survival of the Fittest is a tailor-made rune for tanking, offering critical hit reduction and damage mitigation, Wild Strikes might be preferable if your party lacks a Shaman's Windfury Totem.

Druids remain a solid choice for tanking in WoW Classic SoD. Their ability to adapt runes and talents to suit party composition and encounter demands secures their A-tier status.

 

↖ Rogue: B Tier

Wait, rogues tanking? Yes, you heard that right! Rogues do bring a special touch to Season of Discovery in terms of tanking.Rogues are B-tier tanks. While they possess interesting mechanics that allow them to dodge and parry effectively, their abilities are more limited than those possessed by traditional tank classes.

Their survivability is weak against spellcasters and relies heavily on active mitigation abilities.

• Agility-Based Defense: The Rogue tank build emphasizes agility with five points in Lightning Reflexes for increased dodge and parry chances.
• Combat Prowess: Reposte and an additional 5% hit chance bolster the Rogue's ability to deal and avoid damage.
• Key Abilities: Main Gauche delivers offhand strikes while boosting parry rates. Just a Flesh Wound provides damage reduction and critical hit avoidance while increasing threat generation.
• Blade Dance Synergy: Blade Dance enhances parry chances with combo points but relies on active uptime, which can be a vulnerability if crowd control interrupts are in play.
• Rogue Tanks: Rogues are good against melee damage, as their parry mechanic can block most physical attacks. However, they struggle against magic damage since parry can't mitigate spell damage. While Kick is a great interrupt tool on its own, it's not enough to fully protect a party from magic abilities. Cloak of Shadows and other cooldowns would have been a nice addition.

Rogues bring an interesting agility-based tanking style to the table, but their dependence on active mitigation and poor magic defense make them a B-tier option in our list. With the right party or in specific situations, this class could even drop down to C-tier.

 

Season of Discovery DPS Tier List and Ranking

 

↖ TL;DR

As the phase 3 looms closer, it's important to pick which SoD class suits your playstyle and what you want to bring to your group.

• Paladins take the cake with strong mitigation options and mana regeneration mechanics that land them in S-tier territory.
• Warlocks are still performing well with new abilities and added versatility with demon form in A tier. 
• Shamans have teased us with their strong hybrid tanking build, but it still falls short compared to heavily armored alternatives.
• Warriors remain at the top as best tanks due to their massive toolkit and incredible resilience. 
• Druids stay comfortably in A-tier with their balance variety and consistent threat management across builds. 
• Rogues offer an oddball alternative in B-tier thanks to evasive dodge-and-parry playstyles, though they require careful execution for full effectiveness.

 

Thanks for coming along on this strategic journey through the tank tier list! Your experiences will be invaluable moving forward—be sure to tell us which class you believe dominates this season's tanking landscape in the comments below!