WoW The War Within raid rank tier list (Nerub-ar Palace)

WoW The War Within’s first raid has begun, but which tanks are dominating our tier list? While a few of them stand out, I feel like, for the most part, tanks are fairly balanced right now. Some builds are superior, but overall, you really can’t go wrong. Since you don’t bring many tanks to a raid, having the right ones—or at least classes that can spec into tank roles if needed—is pretty important.

Of course, this is just a subjective tier list of raid tanks in WoW The War Within. You may disagree, and that’s perfectly fine. The most important thing is knowing what your tank class can and cannot do—skill and knowledge are better than simply picking whatever is in the meta, any day of the week—whether you’re in the healing, tanking, or DPS roles.

---

Best tanks tier list for WoW The War Within’s Nerub-ar Palace

Tier	Specialization
S	Blood Death Knight
A	Vengeance Demon Hunter, Guardian Druid, Protection Warrior, Brewmaster Monk
B	Protection Paladin

This is our complete list of the best tanks in WoW The War Within’s Nerub-ar Palace Raid. This particular list doesn’t make any particular distinction between the difficulty levels (Raid Finder/Normal/Heroic/Mythic). While these are the tanks we feel are strongest, pick whichever you feel suits you the best.

---

S-Tier raid specs in WoW The War Within

Blood Death Knights are just a cut above the rest (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

• Blood Death Knight

The Blood spec Death Knights are so strong right now in WoW The War Within, making them top our raid tank tier list. From the incredible Deathbringer Hero Talents, to their incredible utility and damage, they’re the absolute peak of tanking. I could see groups just bringing two Blood DKs, frankly.

They have sustain (Death Strike), amazing pulls (Death Grip), and so many great buttons. Anti-Magic Zone, Insidious Chill, Death’s Advance, this class has it all. Some tanks come close, but nobody else is in the same league as the Blood Death Knight. S-Tier in general represents the peak of a role/gameplay type, and that is exemplified by how great Blood DKs are in World of Warcraft.

---

A-Tier Raid specs in WoW The War Within

The A-Tier are all solid picks, but just lack a little something keeping them from the top (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

• Vengeance Demon Hunter
• Guardian Druid
• Brewmaster Monk
• Protection Warrior

A-Tier tanks on the World of Warcraft raid tier list are all great picks. They have reliable damage, solid buttons, and would serve your party well as a tank or off-tank. Anyone in A-Tier is solid and reliable but just has something minor holding them back from the top.

Frankly, I think most of them are pretty great right now, though. Protection Warriors have solid AOE buffs, an AOE Silence/Taunt (Disrupting Shout), and have great mitigation buttons.

Then you have Vengeance Demon Hunters and Sigil of Silence/Chaos Brand. You also have Sigil of Chains for yet one more important button for specific fights. Brewmaster Monks feel kind of bloated on buttons, but they bring so much. They have buffs (Generous Pour/Close to Heart), a debuff (Mystic Touch), and an AOE Knockback (Ring of Peace).

---

B-Tier raid specs in WoW The War Within

Any Paladin can bring Devo Aura to a raid (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

• Protection Paladin

Prot Paladins are still good tanks in WoW The War Within even though they’re in B-Tier on our tier list. They’re still solid and dependable, with a quality utility like Devotion Aura/Aura Mastery. The downside to Paladins is that most of what they bring, you could already have on another tank.

For example, you only need one Paladin in a raid for Devotion Aura. It’s something almost any other Paladin could do. They do have survivability that other tanks lack (other than Blood Death Knight), but they have to burn valuable resources to get that healing/mitigation out. Protection Paladins are fine, but they are far from the top of the heap.

However, it’s possible that, depending on how the final boss shakes out for this raid, there might be strats that require a Protection Paladin. Only time will tell.

---

Check out our other WoW The War Within guides and features

• WoW The War Within Raid Healer tier list
• How to turn on Arachnophobia Mode in WoW The War Within
• How to change loot specialization in WoW The War Within