In this tanking tidbit I’m going to answer an email from a reader concerning which class is the best tank.
Hey Valaar, nice blog it’s been informative and entertaining thus far. I’ve really enjoyed reading your tanking tidbits and have been considering rolling a new toon to tank with but I’m not sure which to pick. Part of me wants to roll a DK because of the starting from 58 part is easy but I really want a pure tank and not just a side thought.
In your opinion which class do you think is the best tank overall?
Thanks,
Dave
Level 80 Shadow Priest
First off, thanks for the question Dave. I’m going to “try” and be as unbiased as I can here due to the fact that I’m a Paladin tank. There are 4 classes that can tank right now: Warriors, Paladins, Druids and Deathknights. Let me first start off by saying I’ve grouped with all 4 of them as tanks while playing my mage and all 4 of them can tank very well. So in that regards you can’t really go wrong with any class that you pick. That being said there are some tanks that are picked by other players or needed by raids more then the others.
I have to say the least popular tank, at least from my perspective, has been druids. I’ve been grouped with druids who have done fine jobs but I have to say that it’s been in 5-mans mostly. I haven’t really been with many in raids. So my knowledge of them is a little limited. I base my opinion on them from what other players have told me while I was tanking.
A Deathknight would probably fall next in line. This is simply because I don’t think Blizzard has paid much attention to it. I have a DK that is DPS first and was a tank second. So I’ve had specific experience playing both a Paladin and DK and one thing I noticed is that it’s a bit trickier as a DK. I found that the DK had a harder time keeping threat on multiple mobs then my paladin. That’s not to say that it was impossible or sucked, but it was just more difficult. I also found that they have quite a few single target taunts, which make them more like Warriors, but overall I think they are an okay tank. DK’s don’t really fail nor do they really exceed in any specific area other then one and that depends on your tanking spec. If you’re a frost tank then you don’t really benefit as much as if you were a blood spec. As blood your attacks are healing you and thus making your healer that much happier.
In the end it comes down I think to Warriors and Paladins who are the best overall tanking class. I say this for a few reasons and I’ll list them.
1.) Warriors mainly have been tanking spec since the beginning. Paladins sort of came of tanking age right before BC (Burning Crusade) came out. But these two classes have had the attention of the developers as pure tanks for a while.
2.) Players, when thinking of a tank think of these two classes and hence they are more demanded when raids are looking for a tank.
3.) Having a sword and shield allows for more stamina and defense overall giving them more stats to get the job done.
4.) Their rotations are based more normally. Paladins and Warriors rely on Mana and Rage, respectively. DK’s for instance rely on Runes and you have to be very good at watching which runes you have up in your rotation because if a rune you need is down and you need that to taunt to save a healer, you’re screwed.
Paladins and Warriors still differ though. Paladins I think are the best at tanking multiple adds where tanks have better single targets abilities. They also damage their mobs differently. Paladins are basically spell based, hence the mana. Warriors are ability and “White” damage based. Paladins have more “Save Me” buttons to keep from dying but Warriors naturally have more stamina without gems or enchants, while it’s not drastic its there.
As it stands right now Paladins are the number 1 most requested tank and are the most useful, currently. This is because of all the undead content in the game with ICC. Paladins with their Sense Undead ability and all the holy spells they use are more useful in the current content.
Cataclysm is coming and everything’s going to change. Things will change for tanks as well but how much I don’t know. I still feel that Paladins and Warriors will remain the current favorites. While tanking I have had healers tell me that they love Paladins the best so take that for what it’s worth.
Overall, I will tell you to pick a Warrior or Paladin and I think you’ll be happy either way.
If I can tempt with you a biased statement, Paladins get free grounds mounts that are unique to us and are cool.
Aside from my comments do some other research on the net and see what others say. But I think in the end you’ll come back to my statement of a Warrior or Paladin.
Hope that helps and for anyone else out there please send in your questions like Dave did to admin@valaar.com and I’ll be happy to answer your question.
Till the final Tanking Tidbit,
Mike aka Valaar
Also, I’ve had people ask what server I’m on currently and it’s Kargath US, careful not to get confused with Korgath. KARGATH server. Look me up!
