Best tanks to use in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands

If you like taking a beating, you’ll want to know what the best options are for tank classes in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. Listed below are some of the best options for keeping your party’s damage in check during dungeons and raids, as well as looking like a beast when you’re out questing.

Protection Warrior

This brute of a build comes with a complete lack of self-healing, but makes up for this by giving you the ability to increase armor and stun enemies to stop any incoming damage. You can also use Intervene and Hamstring to draw all incoming enemies in your direction. Although Anger Management has received a big nerf for Shadowlands, War Machine builds up the needed Rage for the rest of your skills.

Blood Death Knight

Death knights no longer exclude Pandaren or any Alliance characters, and now you can see how much fun everyone was having. The Blood version of a Death Knight uses Death Strike to recover health, Ossuary to reduce its cost, and Blood Tap to keep the rune generation from stopping. If you’re considering Mythic+, you could do much worse than tanking as a Blood Death Knight.

Vengeance Demon Hunter

A Vengeance Demon Hunter might not be your first choice for a tank, but the changes that came with Shadowlands might make you reconsider. The new Infernal Armor talent increases your defense by 20% while dealing fire damage to any melee attackers. It’s not the best build for dungeons and raids, but if you want to try out this class for questing, you’ll get over the nerfs for Soul Fragments and the fact that Demonic has replaced Gluttony for strengthening Metamorphosis.

Protection Paladin

Protection Paladin has been a go-to for tanks since the vanilla days of World of Warcraft, but don’t think the novelty has worn off. Avenger’s Shield is used to hoard the necessary Holy Power for Shield of the Righteous. You can also use the Holy Power to increase armor or heal yourself. Shadowlands has added Word of Glory, which gives you even more self-care options, determined by the amount of health you have lost.

Brewmaster Monk

If you like the idea of a balanced tank, consider a Brewmaster Monk as the next addition to your roster. They can use Stagger to put off any incoming damage, and although Ironskin Brew is no longer useful, you’ve got other skills like Keg Smash and Shuffle to work with. Celestial Flames and Exploding Keg are new options for Shadowlands to add some literal firepower to your arsenal.

Guardian Druid

Druids get the shaft in group activities, but if you plan on doing some solo questing, you can do worse than turning into an animal. With Ironfur and Frenzied Regeneration, you will never have to worry about critical damage getting you into a jam. Shadowlands has brought out Berserk to lower cooldown on abilities, and Incarnation: Guardian of Ursoc carries a ton of benefits while active.