Mythic+ Tank Rankings: Beta Tier List for The War Within (Patch 11.0 / Season 1) (2024)

Our analysis provides an estimate of the current Mythic+ meta with weekly updates every Monday on the website and every Sunday live on stream, until Season 1 arrives. However, it is important to remember that there will be many more changes, and what you see is not the final product. Instead, it is a progression of how each specialization performs from the start of the beta to the actual season release.

If you are interested in the DPS and Tank versions of this 11.0 Beta Tier List, check the links below!

If you are interested in our current tier list for Season 4 Patch 10.2.7, you can find that below:

Please note that anything I say is purely subjective and represents my opinion. However, it is an educated guess based on numerous hours of Beta testing and extensive discussions with some of the best theorycrafters from each of their specs. If you have a different opinion, that is perfectly fine. I will be happy to answer any questions in the comment section. After the Beta testing is completed, we will compile all the data and create the official Tier List of Season 1. Thank you for reading, and enjoy!

This tier list is entirely based on several factors, such as tank durability, group composition synergy, mobility, damage profile, self-sustain, and external party-wide cooldowns.

Below, you can find the full rankings for Tank specializations in The War Within Mythic+. We encourage you to read further and understand why some classes are placed lower or higher than expected, with several factors considered, such as having a 4-piece tier-set active at all times and the key levels.

1. Guardian Druid (Best choice)
2. Blood Death Knight (Best choice)
3. Brewmaster Monk (Excellent choice)
4. Protection Warrior (Good performance)
5. Vengeance Demon Hunter (Average)
6. Protection Paladin (Underperforming)

Patch 11.0 update: Guardian Druidreceived a decent amount of changes through the Beta cycles, paired with2 brand new Hero Talent choices - Elune's Chosen /Druid of the Claw and a new tier set. The 2-piece will allow for Thrash and Moonfire to increase your damage done and reduce the damageyou take by 1% for 8 sec, stacking up to 3 times. In addition,the 4-piece increases the Arcane and Bleed damage you deal by 5%.

Guardian Druid did receive some attention in the early stages ofThe War Within, for better or worse only time will truly show. Theirdamage profile against many enemies is impressive, and so is theirdurability. There are a lot of spec-specific talents that do not fit wellwith Guardian Druid and are considered a "burden." Overall, they are ina commanding position to be one of the best tanks of the season, despite itsrotational flaws.

Hero Talents are quite boring, mostly passive, and do not have a massiveimpact on the gameplay. Talent positioning is a significant issue for Guardian Druidboth in the spec-specific and general tree talents.

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Mark of the Wild	Increasing the Versatility of your raid/partyby 3%.
Core	Entangling Roots	Single-target root effect.
Optional	After the Wildfire	Extra off-healing.
Optional	Innervate	Allowing 1 friendly healer to castspells without spending mana for 8 sec.
Optional	Stampeding Roar	Increasing the movement speed to all raidmembers by 60% for 8 sec.
Optional	Remove Corruption	Removes all Curse and Poison effectsfrom a friendly target.
Optional	Soothe	Dispelling all Enrage Effects from anenemy target.
Optional	Hibernate	Single-target crowd-control effects againstbeasts and dragonkins.
Optional	Incapacitating Roar / Mighty Bash	You have the choice between AoE disturb effector a single-target stun.
Optional	Typhoon	Aoe knockback.
Optional	Mass Entanglement / Ursol's Vortex	You have the choice between AoE root effect orAoE wind-of-vortex, pulling all the mobs to one location.

Patch 11.0 update: Blood Death Knightreceived a ton of changes since the start of the Beta testing and just like everyspecialization so far, inherited 2 brand new Hero Talents - Deathbringer /San'layn and a new tier-set. The 2-piece will trigger once you have one or morecharges of Bone Shield, the damage you take is reduced by 2%. Losinga Bone Shield charge has a chance to reduce the damage you take by an additional1%, up to 3% for 6 sec. In addition, the 4-piece allowsyour damage to be increased by 1% per active Bone Shield charge. Takingdamage while below 6 Bone Shield charges has a chance to generate 1-2 Bone Shield charges.

The rework of Blood Death Knight has put them in a prominent position to beone of the best tanks this season as it most definitely strengthens their durability,self-sustain and damage profile by a large margin. On top of that, they will begetting a brand new utility, from the general Death Knight talent tree,which fits perfectly for a 5-man content - Vestigial Shell. In addition,one of their signature spell - Gorefiend's Grasp has much better positioningin the new Blood Death Knight spec-specific tree and is further supplementedby Tightening Grasp (if you talent it) which allows for a 3 sec of silence.Although you got some recent nerfs, we are extremely happy with the current version ofspecialization, since it already plays better and is stronger than its old Dragonflight version.

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Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Anti-Magic Zone	Provides extra durability against heavy magical damage.
Core	Death Grip	Repositions an enemy of your choice.
Core	Raise Ally	Combat-resurrection.
Optional	Blinding Sleet	AoE disturb effect.
Optional	Abomination Limb	Every 1 sec an enemy is pulled closeto you.
Optional	Gorefiend's Grasp	Mass-grip.
Optional	Insidious Chill	Reduces the auto-attack speed of your target by5% stacking up 4 times.
Optional	Control Undead	Mind-control an undead enemy to fight on your side.
Optional	Asphyxiate	5 sec single-target stun.
Optional	Vestigial Shell	Adding Anti-Magic Shell on 2 nearbyallies.

Patch 11.0 update: Brewmaster Monkreceived a ton of changes leading to the The War Within expansion, including2 brand-new Hero Talents - Master of Harmony / Shado-Pan anda new tier-set. The 2-piece bonus will enable Blackout Kick and Keg Smash to deal 20% additional damage, and Shuffle alsogrants 3% damage reduction. The 4-piece bonus will trigger once you cast Blackout Kick, increasing your damage dealt by 1% for 15 sec,stacking up to 3 times, and has a chance to reset the cooldown of Keg Smash and make its next cast cost no energy.

Brewmaster Monk is entering The War Within with one of the highestdamage profiles across all tanks and an improved durability profile. On top of thealready good mob control, they still sync best with a physical damage-oriented squaddue to their Mystic Touch debuff. Currently, it's hard to say if melee orranged would be better in Mythic+. Overall, playing Brewmaster Monk willbe easier than in Dragonflight as a lot of button bloating has been cleared,which is a welcome change. We are happy with the current performance of the specand believe they are one of the best tanks in the current Beta iteration.

Works well with a heavy physical damage-oriented team ( Mystic Touch)and a lot less with a full magical squad. Similar position as the Protection Warrior,if melees were to be meta, those 2 specs would climb much higher.

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Mystic Touch	5% extra Physical damage for your raid.
Core	Leg Sweep	3 sec stun effect.
Optional	Tiger's Lust	Removes all roots and snares.
Optional	Ring of Peace	It can be used to help your tank kite and as aAoE disturb effect.
Optional	Detox	Removes all Poison and Disease effectsfrom the target.
Optional	Paralysis	Single-target disturb effect.

Patch 11.0 update: Protection Warriorreceived minor changes leading to the final stages of Beta. However, just likeevery specialization, they will be introduced to 2 new Hero Talent options- Colossus / Mountain Thane, and a new tier-set. The 2-piecewill trigger when your Shield Slam cooldown is reset by Strategist,you gain Expert Strategist, increasing the damage of Shield Slamby 5% and reducing all damage taken by 3% for 6 sec. In addition,the 4-piece will enable Shield Slam critical strikes to increasethe damage dealt by Thunder Clap and Revenge by 10%for 8 sec.

Protection Warrior is performing exceptionally well through thefirst cycles of Beta testing, with an impressive damage profile and is also consideredone of the most durable tanks going into the The War Within expansion. Spell Reflection is proving to be an extremely useful utility inthe Season 1 dungeon pool, which will positively influence their rankings. On top of this,they will be receiving some nice quality-of-life changes such as no longer being damagedand punished by running Defensive Stance and the Storm Shield + Intervenecombo. Additionally, with the strength of melee characters, Battle Shout is looking much more appealing. Overall, Protection Warriorhas a great offensive and defensive profile, making it a promising choice.

As always, Protection Warriors may suffer if anything cannot beblocked or reflected. Although their utility and mob control have never been considered the best,they make up for it with their raw power in terms of damage and survivability.

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Rallying Cry	Temporary increasing the health of your raid/party.
Core	Battle Shout	Extra 5% attack power.
Optional	Spell Reflection	Usable in niche situations.
Optional	Intimidating Shout	AoE disturb effect capped at 5 targets.
Optional	Storm Bolt	4 sec single-target stun.
Optional	Shockwave	AoE Stun

Patch 11.0 update: Vengeance Demon Hunterreceived their fair share of changes, paired with 2 brand new Hero Talentchoices - Aldrachi Reaver / Fel-Scarred and a new tier set.The 2-piece enables Soul Cleave to deal 15% increased damageand have a 35% chance to shatter 1 Lesser Soul fragment froma target it hits. In addition, the 4-piece triggers once consuming a Soul Fragment,increasing the damage and healing of your next Fel Devastation by 2%up to 30%.

The changes to Vengeance Demon Hunter have been quite disappointing.First, they will lose their great tier set from Season 4 of Dragonflight, andsecond, they will lose their Illuminated Sigils incredible utility (which previouslyallowed you to have one extra charge of Sigil of Misery / Sigil of Silence).Do keep in mind that they still have the most "stops" across all tank specs.In addition, both their offensive and defensive profiles are in a decent state butnowhere near the levels they were in the past few seasons of the last expansion. Overall,we believe if the DPS meta favors magic damage, they will have a much bigger incentive to betaken due to Chaos Brand, which provides a noticeable damage boost for theentire group. Further changes are needed for Vengeance Demon Hunter tohave a more detailed opinion.

Further buffs for their offensive and defensive profiles are needed, perhaps a reworkof the tier set or a better balance between both Hero Talents.

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Chaos Brand	5% extra Magical damage
Core	Darkness	% chance to avoid all damage from an attack.
Core	Sigil of Silence	Silences all enemies affected by the Sigil fora short time.
Optional	Sigil of Chains	All enemies affected by the Sigil are pulledto its center and snared.
Optional	Chaos Nova	AoE stun effect.
Optional	Imprison	Single-target out of combat crowd-control.
Optional	Consume Magic	Remove 1 beneficial Magic effect.
Optional	Sigil of Misery	AoE disturb effect.

Patch 11.0 update: Protection Paladinreceived their fair share of changes leading to the The War Within expansion, includingbrand new Hero Talents - Templar / Lightsmith, and a newtier-set. The 2-piece bonus increases the damage of Shield of the Righteousby 10% and grants 3% damage reduction. Additionally, the 4-pieceenables Holy Power abilities to increase the damage and healing you deal duringyour next Avenging Wrath by 0.5%, which can stack.

As with almost every specialization so far, Protection Paladin has receivedits fair share of changes, including a choice between Lightsmithor Templar Hero Talents, both of which will alter how you approachyour gameplay, ability, and cooldown usage. The spec's durability is decent butnot strong enough to compete with the rest of the tanks, while still maintaining their unique(and sometimes overpowered) Mythic+ utility. Just like everyPaladin spec, they will not benefit from Retribution Aura asit has been recently removed. Overall, we expect further changes to be made to Protection Paladin,specifically ones that increase the fun factor of playing while further enhancingtheir performance.

Significantly more difficult to play compared to most of the tanks. However, you havemany tools to support your team if needed. If you are a beginner player, becautious when choosing Protection Paladin as it is quite an advanced tank.Further tuning is needed, especially on behalf of their durability.

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Avenger's Shield	Extra interrupt option that has a follow-upsilence effect.
Core	Devotion Aura	Permanent 3% group/raid-wide damage reductionaura.
Core	Hammer of Justice	A powerful single-target 6 sec stun effect.
Core	Lay on Hands	Heals a member of your party/raid to full health.
Core	Intercession	Combat-resurrection
Optional	Blessing of Spellwarding	Granting magical damage immunity for 10 secon a chosen ally.
Optional	Blessing of Sacrifice	Helps a single member of your raid in acritical situation. This can be further improved by talenting Sacrifice of the Just.
Optional	Blessing of Protection	Physical immunity, which can help you withsome boss encounters.
Optional	Blessing of Freedom	Immunity to movement impairing effects.
Optional	Repentance / Blinding Light	You have the option between single-target crowd-controleffect or a powerful mass AoE stop.
Optional	Cleanse Toxins	Removes all Poison and Disease effectsfrom the target.
Optional	Turn Evil	Be able to fear any Undead, Aberration orDemon, which is an additional form of crowd control.