*Updated Jan. 10, 2023: more information from Logs and Balance patches have shifted the meta.

Season 1 is in full swing and players are now fully grasping the new talent system revamp in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight. There have also been a number of balance changes and while there haven't been huge sweeping changes to Tanks in particular, the meta has nonetheless shifted in favor of certain specs. Today we go through each of the tanking specializations and determine what we believe are the best tank specs for Dragonflight.

This tank tier list takes into consideration the Parsing Logs that have been gathered over the past few weeks and compiled data from Mythic+ Rankings to compare all tanks versus one another and place them on a tier list, ranking their overall performance for both Raids and Mythic+ content.

It should be noted that all tanks are performing really well and players should not be too concerned that their class is holding them back. The balancing between tanks is some of the best we've ever seen in regards to tanks in WoW. We've updated this list from the past that was based on the Beta and Pre-Patch in Shadowlands, while it gave us a glimpse of what was to come it was not the best indicator for tanking, having a number of talent options and systems not being available for the current expansion.

WoW Dragonflight Tank Tier List Criteria

The criteria of the Tank Tier List should take into account:

1. Mitigation / Survivability
2. Utility
3. Mobility
4. AoE Capabilities for Mythic+
5. Single Target Capabilities for Raids

All tanks have exceptional Mitigation and Survivability this season, so players don't have to worry too much about dying. The biggest difference between each tank is what else they can bring to the group via their utilities, mobility, and damage.

WoW Dragonflight Tank Tier List

Best Tanks In Dragonflight

S-Tier: The tanks below provide the best toolkit for surviving, offering great utility, and have good damage to boot. These specs will be seen in all the top compositions for World Firsts.

Protection Warrior

Protection Warriors are dominating the top Mythic+ rankings and are also seen as the main tank for many Raid compositions. They've received massive buffs with the talent system revamp that came in the Dragonflight Pre-Patch. Offering some fantastic leech passive abilities and great defensive utilities. Their playstyle remains mostly intact and has not changed much, but they have gained talents that increase the usefulness of skills and passive abilities. The Shadowlands talent system made players choose between some very impactful talents, but now Warriors are able to specialize differently to hit some of them at the same time.

• The defensive prowess of the protection warrior is currently unmatched compared to the other tanks in the game. With Demoralizing Shout being affected by the talent Thunderlord and Shield Wall by Impenetrable Wall makes for some quick cooldowns for better mitigation.
• With strong mobility coming from Heroic Leap, Shield Charge, Fast Footwork and more, the class is able to excel in the mobility department.
• Mythic+ AoE damage and threat.options from both the class tree (Shockwave, Spear of Bastion, Thunderous Roar), and the specialization tree (Ravager, Shield Charge).
• Spell Reflection and Spell Block offers some magical damage mitigation
• Provide important group utility with Rallying Cry and Battle Shout

Good Dragonflight Tank Specs

A - Tier: These Tank Specializations are performing very well and can even surpass S-Tier specs under certain circumstances or group compositions due to their abilities. There will be some groups that are pushing higher keys that will do well with any of these specs.

Vengeance Demon Hunter

Vengeance Demon Hunters could also be in the S-Tier if we were only talking about Mythic+ content, where they excel with their high mobility and AoE damage. The changes mostly revolve around rotation and what skills you will be using, but the tankiness aspect of the class hasn't changed much.

The Frailty talent will be your friend and utilizing it well will be how you succeed in Dragonflight. Stacking up several talents to beef up the effectiveness of Frailty makes the Vengeance DH a powerhouse of self-healing while remaining the mobility king. They lack the pure damage mitigation of the Protection Warrior which is why they are second on this list, but they mostly make it back up through self-healing and magical damage mitigation.

• Magical Damage mitigation is high compared to other tanks
• Ability to rotate defense abilities to keep at least one active most of the time aids survivability
• Mobility is unmatched as always, making it great for Mythic+ and enjoyable to play
• Damage output feels great especially when pooling stacks of Frailty for burst situations
• Provide Important utility Darkness, Chaos Brand, Chaos Nova, and various Sigils, notably Sigil of Silence

Blood Death Knight

Blood Death Knights continue to be self-healing juggernauts with less damage-mitigating abilities, focusing on gaining health back that was lost, rather than preventing it altogether. In Dragonflight, they continue to be very good tanks and deserve to belong in the A-Tier. They have less mobility and damage output than other classes and this is the main weakness holding them back from stardom.

• Death Grip and Abomination Limb help bring in and group up many enemies useful in Mythic+ situations
• Self-healing can mean less stress on the healer if the player can avoid other unnecessary damage
• Mobility and add management has been greatly improved thanks to Death's Echo affecting Death's Advance, Death Grip, and Death and Decay
• They also provide Anti-Magic Zone for group damage mitigation.

Protection Paladin

Good Protection Paladins have been known to carry groups with their long list of utilities to support the group. Most top Mythic+ Keys and Raid compositions won't be needing their tools to achieve success but they are certainly welcome additions. While their overall survivability might not be as good as other tanks they offer much more utility to the group.

• A plethora of Defensive cooldowns: Eye of Tyr, Sentinel, Ardent Defender, Guardian of Ancient Kings, Divine Shield
• Divine Shield and Blessing of Spellwarding provide complete immunity, something unique versus other tanks.
• Divine Toll and Avenger's Shield to help with interrupts.
• Bastion of Light talent can help with the Holy Power deficiency
• Provide Devotion Aura buff and a myriad of utilities including Blessing of Protection, Blessing of Sacrifice, Blessing of Freedom, Lay on Hands.
• Can Battle Resurrect: Intercession

Worst Tank Specs In Dragonflight

B - Tier: Playing as one of these tanks is by no means a bad thing and players will be able to complete all types of content. However, for the tanks below, they will likely not be seen very often in high-end Mythic+ Keys or World Firsts due to lagging behind in some areas where other tanks excel.

Guardian Druid

Guardian Druids have the best damage output out of all tanks and are some of the best AoE Tanks out there. They do however lack a little in the single-target atmosphere. The consensus by players is mixed on the Guardian Druid, but after looking at the other classes we have covered, they just don't add up to the same level as the others.

The Guardian druid will still be viable to use, especially in Mythic+, but if you are looking to min-max your group composition, the S-Tier or A-Tier options will likely perform much better in a better variety of scenarios.

• Top-notch AoE damage and mitigation due to the interaction between Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc and Ursoc's Guidance.
• Mobility is lacking compared to Warriors and Demon Hunters
• Provide the buff Mark of the Wild and a lot of other utilities such as Stampeding Roar, Mass Entanglement, Soothe, Ursol's Vortex, Innervate, and the list goes on.

Brewmaster Monk

The major thing holding Brewmaster Monks back from being in higher tiers is the vulnerability to high amounts of Magic and Bleed Damage and the difficulty to master the spec for most players. Brewmasters that are comfortable with their toolkit and have extensive knowledge of mechanics will perform just fine. This specialization feels ridiculously good to play and top-notch for physical damage using the stagger system. Some players don't enjoy the stagger system as it means damage is constantly coming through and not necessarily being mitigated much, just delayed. To perfect this spec you need to perfect your cooldown management, but if you can do that, you are likely pushing the Monk into S-Tier territory.

While they have access to the most amount of damage mitigation tools, they lack in terms of group utility when compared to the other tanks. Nevertheless, this specialization is an excellent choice and borderline S-Tier.

• Ability to stagger damage means they can tank massive amounts of damage if managed well with Celestial Brew and Purifying Brew
• Mobility is a bit lacking outside of Roll / Chi Torpedo, Tigers Lust, and, situationally: Transcendence
• Damage output is excellent, especially in AoE - with many options in your talent build to choose from, you will be jumping in on the DPS meters and giving them a run for their money.
• Important buffs like Mystic Touch, Generous Pour and Close to Heart
• Unique utility with Ring of Peace, and Paralysis, AoE stun with Leg Sweep.

More: Best DPS Specs in Dragonflight for PvE