WoW Forever Best Tank Tier List
Protection Paladin leads the WoW Forever tank board at S, with S for mitigation and cooldowns, which is what saves a pull gone wrong. Protection Warrior sits a grade lower at A but holds threat better, with an S on threat.
Protection Paladin
Protection Warrior
Moved up from CFeral Combat DruidWhat each tier means
- STop The top grade on this board, the strongest specs it ranks
- AStrong A strong pick on this board, one step under the top grade
- BSolid Sound on this board, without the edge of the bands above
- CSituational Short of the bands above on this board, even where one of its reads runs high
- DBottom The lowest grade on this board, with the weakest case once every read is counted
Talent tree icons and class emblems by Blizzard Entertainment, from the World of Warcraft Forever game client.
Reduces the cooldown of your Holy Strike ability by 4 sec. Additionally, Holy Strike now strikes with your shield, triggering your active Holy Shield and Shield Specialization talents without consuming their charges or triggering their cooldowns, and allowing you to Block spells for 6 sec.
Increases your Parry chance by 5%.
Increases the threat generated by your Holy Strike ability by 30%. While Righteous Fury is active, Holy Strike also reduces your damage taken by 6% for 6 sec.
Reduces the duration of Stun and Charm effects on you by 20%.
Generates 1 Rage every 3 sec while in combat, and reduces Rage loss while out of combat by 30%.
Slam the target with your shield, causing 430 damage, increased by your Block Value, and has a 50% chance of dispelling 1 magic effect on the target. Causes a very high amount of threat.
Increases all damage you deal by 10% while a shield is equipped.
Reduces the cooldown of your Shield Wall ability by 11.0 min.
Increases your critical strike chance with spells and melee attacks by 4%.
Bite the target, dealing 100% normal damage plus 42 and generating a high amount of threat.
Increases your Intellect by 10%. In addition, while in Bear Form or Dire Bear Form your Stamina is increased by 20% and while in Cat Form your Strength is increased by 10%.
Increases damage done by your melee abilities on Bleeding targets by 15%.
Board breakdown
Protection Paladin is the best tank, at S. Its Templar's Bulwark talent shields you for 100 percent of your maximum Health for 8 seconds, on a 5 minute base cooldown. That is a second Health bar, but it shares Forbearance with Divine Shield, so casting either blocks the other.
Open Protection Paladin or another tank from its tile.
Protection Paladin, graded S, is our pick for dungeons and raids. For leveling we pick Feral Combat Druid instead, since it grades S for solo play on our spec tier list.
- Dungeons
For dungeon packs, Protection Paladin spreads threat wide. Consecration burns enemies who enter its area, and the 4 earliest to enter take an extra 216 damage over 8 sec.
- Raids
On a raid boss, Protection Paladin's S for mitigation and cooldowns carries a long fight, and Sacred Duty takes 60 sec off Templar's Bulwark, Divine Shield and Divine Protection. Protection Warrior, with S for threat, is the second raid tank we would bring.
- Leveling
Feral Combat Druid grades S for solo play on our spec tier list, the top solo grade among the three tank trees. Travel Form adds 40 percent movement speed outdoors, and Cat Form adds Attack Power for questing.
The three tanks part ways on AoE reach: Thunder Clap affects up to 4 targets and Swipe hits 3 nearby enemies, while Consecration burns enemies that enter its area.
Taunt: Judgement on Seal of Fury taunts the target for 3 sec and deals 153 Holy damage. AoE threat: Consecration, with Holy Shield adding 20 percent extra threat to its block damage. Emergency: Templar's Bulwark, an absorb worth 100 percent of maximum Health for 8 sec.
Taunt: Taunt and Mocking Blow, plus Challenging Shout, which makes nearby enemies attack you for 6 sec. AoE threat: Thunder Clap, which hits up to 4 targets. Emergency: Shield Wall cuts damage taken by 60 percent for 12 sec, and Last Stand lends 30 percent extra Health for 20 sec.
Taunt: Growl, plus Challenging Roar, which makes nearby enemies attack you for 6 sec. AoE threat: Swipe, which hits 3 nearby enemies. Emergency: Survival Instincts grants 30 percent of maximum Health for 20 sec, lost when it ends, and Frenzied Regeneration turns Rage into Health.
Spike damage meets its answer in Templar's Bulwark, an absorb worth 100 percent of maximum health for 8 sec, while Holy Shield turns blocks into Holy damage carrying 20 percent extra threat.
Holy Strike anchors this tank: Iron Creed adds 30 percent threat, and Shieldsworn takes 4 sec off its cooldown and lets you Block spells for 6 sec. With Righteous Fury active, Iron Creed makes it cut damage taken by 6 percent for 6 sec, beside Improved Righteous Fury's 9 percent.
Aggro sticks to this Warrior because Shield Slam causes a very high amount of threat, while emergency survival leans on Last Stand, 30 percent of maximum health that disappears after 20 sec.
Defiance is why a Warrior tanks in Defensive Stance: with a shield on it adds an additional 20 percent threat, and Shield Slam dispels a magic effect half the time. Improved Shield Wall takes 11 minutes off Shield Wall's cooldown, so the big cooldown returns faster.
Bear Form threat runs on Lacerate, which causes a high amount of threat and stacks up to 5 times, while Frenzied Regeneration converts up to 10 Rage per second into health, so recovery spends the Rage Lacerate needs.
Natural Reaction keeps Bear Form fed, adding 5 percent dodge and 5 Rage per dodge, while Primal Bite generates a high amount of threat. Druid armor stops at Leather, so there is no shield to Block with, and the class's Survival Instincts and Frenzied Regeneration answer the spikes.
Paladin is the best tank class in WoW Forever, because Iron Creed and Shieldsworn turn Holy Strike into threat and damage reduction. Warrior tanks through Shield Slam's very high threat, and Feral Combat Druid tanks in Dire Bear Form, raising item Armor by 360 percent.
- PaladinTank spec SPaladin class guide
- WarriorTank spec AWarrior class guide
- DruidTank spec BDruid class guide
Yes, all three tank specs have a build to start from. Protection Paladin and Protection Warrior each get a Tank build. Feral Combat Druid gets a Hybrid build, a fit for a tree that also grades B on the DPS tier list.
- Protection PaladinS tierTank buildProtection Paladin macros
- Protection WarriorA tierTank buildProtection Warrior macros
- Feral Combat DruidB tierHybrid buildFeral Combat Druid macros
Feral Combat Druid is last here at B but S for PvP, where Feral Charge roots and interrupts. Protection Paladin and Warrior both reach S on the spec tier list, yet the Paladin drops to B on the PvP tier list and the Warrior to C.
- Protection PaladinTank SSpec list SPvP B
- Protection WarriorTank ASpec list SPvP C
- Feral Combat DruidTank BSpec list BPvP S