Best WoW Season of Discovery Tanks: Every Class Ranked Best to Worst

May 2024 · 3 minute read

The Survival of the Fittest Rune grants Druids the raw defenses they sometimes lacked at this early stage of the game. That alone makes it that much easier to appreciate the efficiency of running early-game content with a Druid tank as well as the AoE threat generation they’ve always excelled at offering. No, they’re not Warriors, but they are reliable and their shapeshifting abilities allow them to adapt to various situations in a pinch. 

However, I will admit that Warlock tanks are the most surprising addition to the Season of Discovery roster. Thanks to the Metamorphosis Rune, Warlocks can not transform into Demonic tanks that come with an AoE taunt ability, an AoE threat generator, instant DPS attacks, a powerful stun, and massive defensive bonuses. Though they lack pure defensive abilities and stats available to other tanks, it’s hard to imagine another tank matching their raw damage output at this early point in the game. 

Ultimately, though, I think Warlock tanks will be preferred by heavily geared speed-clearing groups or as off-tanks. The things they can do at this point in the game are impressive and unique, but they can be difficult to learn, their damage mitigation options are incredibly limited, and they don’t offer much in the way of group utility abilities. They’re a more than viable tank option, but they come with quite a few risks as traditional early-game main tanks. 

Paladins are fascinating. The addition of powerful Runes like Aegis, Seal of Martyrdom, Divine Sacrifice, and Hand of Reckoning give Paladins the early game tanking options that they simply never had access to before. Season of Discovery is clearly trying close the gap between Paladin tanks and Warrior tanks, and the early results are impressive. I can already see Paladins eventually becoming the AoE threat-generating, nigh-unkillable, utility-tanking monsters that they were in Buring Crusade. There’s a very good chance that late-game Paladin tanks will be your best overall tanking option.

We are certainly not there yet, though. As it stands, Paladins are still far too mana-dependent to really compete with the other tank options in the early game. They also just don’t excel at any particular tanking category at the moment, especially when you consider that most parties will probably be running a Paladin healer or Retribution Paladin to get their Paladin buffs. They’re more than viable, but they’re not necessarily ideal at the moment. 

Though Shamans have technically always been able to serve as tanks, Season of Discovery wants to make Shaman tanks a genuinely viable alternative to the typical tanking options. The early results of that approach are…interesting. Like Paladins, Shamans are mana-dependant tanks. Unlike Paladins, Shamans have been granted an array of Runes that are designed to increase their overall Mana regeneration abilities while tanking. The idea seems to be that Shaman Tanks will eventually be able to generate the kind of single-target threat and damage typically associated with DPS casters. Unlike DPS casters, though, Shaman tanks will actually want to generate all of that threat as they’ll be able to withstand the damage that comes with it.  

ncG1vNJzZmhqZGy7psPSmqmorZ6Zwamx1qippZxemLyue8yoraKdXa%2B8r7GOm5ysrF2svLh50p6YrKeeYrynecOiqpynppq%2FunnTmqWkq12aw6a%2B2GaapZmjqHqzrc2knJ1lkprAtXnTqGSwp6KowXA%3D