World of Warcraft: Shadowlands is two weeks away, and many players are feeling the clock ticking down on them. The new expansion will offer plenty of new content, including new dungeons and raids. Players who run healing and damage classes have more leeway when it comes to learning new mechanics and fights, but tanks aren’t quite as lucky. World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will require tanks to be at the top of their game, so players are looking carefully at how their classes stand up to the new expansion.
The pre-patch for Shadowlands changed quite a bit of the game. The new level cap of 50 means that players can level more quickly and try new classes that much faster. The addition of Chromie Time means players can pick any expansion to level their character. In addition, the current World of Warcraft Anniversary event means that players have an extra boost for leveling new characters right now. This tier ranking might give some players an idea of tanks they want to try for the new expansion.
The Best Tank
Current data shows that the best class in Shadowlands is the Protection Paladin. This class swapped spots with Blood Death Knight, which is the new number 4 spot. Protection Paladin has one major benefit in its AOE damage, which is something that the other tanks seem to be lacking in Shadowlands. Blood Death Knight lost its standing for several scaling reasons, but also due to Ossuary being removed for now. This takes away the extra free Death Strikes that Blood gets. In addition, Blood tanks don’t get as much from Azerite Traits which is a negative for now but might help the spec out later when Covenant abilities are acquired.
The Worst Tank
The spot for worst spec in the World of Warcraft, at least in terms of tanking, seems to have switched between two. The former worst spec was Brewmaster Monk, but this is now second to worst. Vengeance Demon Hunter, which is one of the hardest World of Warcraft characters to kill, is now the bottom of the pack. This spec has a similar issue with the Blood Death Knight due to pre-patch balancing removing quite a bit of Vengeance’s damage. In a way, it sort of makes sense that players are now two expansions past Legion so the spotlight is officially leaving Demon Hunters.
When it comes to tanking overall, it doesn’t look like a ton will change in the new Shadowlands expansion. Azerite Traits are still very important for tanks until Covenants become available for all classes at the end of Shadowlands. Most of the tank specs seemed to swap spots with an adjacent class. New legendary gear will also play a big role in adjusting these rankings as well.
As a disclaimer with any sort of tier ranking right now, there are a lot of factors that can change classes in Shadowlands. Covenant abilities differ based on which faction players align themselves with. There is also the discussion that nerfs and buffs are always a possibility whenever new content is released. While now is a great time to create a new tank and try the class out, it doesn’t mean that any player should toss aside a character if they enjoy it. There is still a lot to do before players step into Shadowlands and experience it for themselves.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will release on November 23 on PC.
Source: WoWHead