MMOSO WotLK - PvE Tanks Tier List in WotLK Classic

Oct-01-2022

Tanks in Wrath of the Lich King Classic are different from previous expansions. WotLK Classic incorporates Death Knights; Blood Specialization is a powerful tank option alongside Prot Paladin and Feral Druid. Due to various issues, protection warriors are often memes.

Virtually every tank class and specification has feasibility and utility. Progress is never hindered due to the tier/spec of the team tank. All four options are possible and get the job done. Some occupations will be able to fill specific roles, while others will be able to be a jack of all trades. While each tank spec is ranked in the tier list, it's important to say it again: every tank is viable in Wrath of the Lich King.

PvE Tanks WotLK

Protection Paladin

Protecting Paladins can do anything you ask them to do. They may not be the best at a particular task, but they are perfectly capable of doing it with confidence. What Protection Paladins may lack in terms of optimal threat, damage, or survivability, they make up for it with their kit. Blazing Defenders help increase their survivability, bringing them on par with Feral Druids. The rework to Divine Protection helps make its cooldown comparable to Warrior's Shield Wall.

In terms of threat, the Protector Paladins are still doing well. Hammer of Justice and Shield of Justice help Paladins become better at acquiring and maintaining threats. Consecration is now proportional to Attack Power and Spell Power by being touched by Light, making core skills even better. The amount of threat that Paladins can maintain in single-target and AOE abilities is impressive.

Unsurprisingly, the Paladin-like utility kit remains top-notch. Between two hands, trials, and various raid cooldowns, Paladins have always been a very resourceful class. Divine Guardian and Divine Sacrifice are great additions to help mitigate damage to your team.

Blood Death Knight

The new hot topic, Blood Death Knight, is available at every stage of the Wrath Classic. Blood DKs have no equal when it comes to single-target threats. Abilities like Cold Touch and Rune Strike are not only central to class rotation, but they also pose an insane threat. However, the same cannot be said when it comes to AOE threats. They can get the job done, but require a certain amount of ramps. They can't keep up with protecting the Paladins in this regard.

When it comes to survivability, few can match the Blood Death Knight. The combination of a high health pool and self-healing makes the class stand out. This is not a single capability, but a utility in this regard. Death Strike, Improved Rune Tap, Vampiric Blood, Death Coil, and Lichborne talents all allow players to heal themselves. You won't be as strong as other tank specs, but you'll definitely get a hit or two. or ten.

Like Paladins, Death Knights provide additional team utility in addition to being effective tanks, making them an important part of team composition.

Protection Warrior

Let's be honest with the protection warriors. They are not as bad as people think. While they won't reach the level of a Paladin or Death Knight, this tried and true class can still hold its own as a tank in classic WotLK. Compared to The Burning Crusade, the spec has some improvements in its talents, abilities, and toolkit. These help protect fighters from doing damage, high threats and getting the job done.

YouTubers and content creators claim that protection warriors shouldn't have a place in the raid lineup. Although they are not as powerful as the previous classes in our tier list, they still have the ability to compete with threat generation and survivability. Most of their data is based on private servers, which has proven to be a poor indicator of the actual Classic World of Warcraft experience.

Shockwave is an important new skill introduced in Wrath of the Lich King Classic. It allows Warriors to not only increase their threat to single targets and AOE, but also to provide crowd control. Refined talents such as Shield Mastery, Shield Specialization, Improved Defensive Stance, Critical Block, Gag Order, and Vitality can greatly improve quality of life.

None of the above abilities are as important as swords and paddles; the Fury skill is a must-have for protecting warriors, and it not only provides an important survivability and damage effect, but also improves the spec's playstyle. Sword and Chess combine nicely with the absurd buff of the Revenge ability, allowing the spec to deal impressive damage.

In terms of utility, vigilance doubles as a way to reduce damage taken by allies, while also transferring a portion of their threat to you. Heroic Throw now also allows Protected Warriors to perform ranged pulls without needing to carry ranged ammo.

Feral Druid

They did a great job in Classic TBC. Coming to the classic Wrath of the Lich King, Feral Druid sees some nerfs and balance tweaks across the board. We list it as a B tier for several reasons.

The biggest reason is the diminishing returns of the newly introduced avoidance-related statistics. Sadly, the days of completely avoiding damage are over. This is not to say that the norm is poorly survivable. Actually, far from it; WotLK introduces a much-needed survivability cooldown for Feral Druids. Bark and Rage Regeneration have received buffs that increase their importance. Bark can now be used in any druid form and no longer causes the player to transform into bear form. Rage regeneration now restores 3% of the Druid's health every second. This is a change from the static 100 health per second in classic TBC. Survival Instinct is a new cooldown that temporarily grants Druids 30% health for 20 seconds. These new abilities and rework give the spec some much-needed capabilities, but at the expense of raw efficiency.

Additionally, threats have been simplified and better balanced among other specs. Feral Druid is far from a bad choice, it's just not a clear favorite for others in certain situations. Combined with this, other classes and specializations gain buffs and utility that were once exclusive to druids. For example, Berserkers can give the team a wolf leader-style buff. Also, the ability to perform as a cat as an out-of-spec DPS is entirely dependent on the player's gear. This is no big deal for some raiding squads and won't be noticeable. For others who will strive to be their best, this can be a make-or-break situation when building your team portfolio.

Druids still have significant buffs and cooldowns, so they still have a place in the team. When it comes to tanks, however, the glory days of the Burning Crusade seem to be a thing of the past. If you want to tank in WotLK Classic, there is no wrong choice. Play what you want and have fun!

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