A level-60 character one of the raid's tanks, in Forever's raids at the cap: The Barrow Deeps (10 players) and Hyjal Summit (20 players), both opening 9 Dec 2026 and not in the client yet, and Onyxia's Lair if it ships. Long boss fights against hard hits, a main tank and off-tanks for swaps and adds, raid-wide buffs and debuffs, and several healers. Until the raids are in the client the fights are extrapolated from what Blizzard has said and from Raid demands, and the list says so.
The subjects are the 4 specs that tank : Feral (Bear) 
Druid, Protection 
Paladin and Protection 
Warrior, whose trees are built to tank, and 
Enhancement 
Shaman, which Blizzard calls a "temporary tank in small group gameplay" (7 Oct deep dive) and which has no taunt. Enhancement is rated as a tank on the same anchors as the others, with no allowance for being a hybrid. With four subjects, two tanks in the same tier is a normal result.
This is a forecast. The beta stops at level 30, so nobody has played any spec at 60 in a group. The ratings come from the client's level-60 spell ranks and talent trees, the class guides' projected builds, and what Blizzard has announced.
The raids are extrapolated. The Barrow Deeps (10 players) and Hyjal Summit (20) open on 9 December and are not in the client, and Onyxia's Lair (40) is planned. Blizzard has not published a boss list, tuning, fight lengths, lockouts or a debuff limit, so the fights are judged from what it has said and from how raids of this kind are built.
Since 15 October, 
Leader of the Pack, Moonkin Aura, 
Trueshot Aura, 
Battle Shout and the Shaman buff totems reach the whole raid, not just the caster's party. There is no Bloodlust, and the only combat resurrections are a Druid's 
Rebirth and a 
Warlock's Soulstone.
Every score is a whole number from 1 to 5 against written anchors, and the tier comes from the weighted score alone: no spec is placed by hand. Two scorers rated every spec without seeing each other's work; where they differed, the score the facts supported better was kept, never an average, and a final pass checked that specs with the same tools got the same scores.
Enhancement Shaman is on both lists although Forever ships no Shaman tank spec and Blizzard has said Shaman tanking is "not quite yet": players ask about it, so it is rated on the same rubric as the others, with no allowance for being a hybrid.
This is the first tank list; the dungeon list ranks the same four against its own rubric.
The formula is open to change: a different weight or threshold makes a new version of the list, with every spec that moves saying why.
The rubric: each criterion scored 1 to 5| Criterion | Weight | What it measures |
|---|
| Mitigation and effective health | 30 | Survives a hard-hitting raid boss's melee with a large health pool, high armour and steady avoidance, block or absorbs; healers can keep it up comfortably: 5. Survives with heavy healing; spikes are a real risk: 3. Too little health or armour for a raid boss; dies to a streak of hits: 1. |
|---|
| Single-target threat | 25 | Holds a boss against a full raid's damage going all out, for the whole fight: 5. Holds a boss if the raid's damage dealers pace themselves: 3. Loses a boss to the raid without threat-reduction help: 1. |
|---|
| Emergency cooldowns | 15 | Several strong defensive cooldowns (damage taken cut, health added, heals on itself) for the big hits: 5. One strong cooldown: 3. None that matters on a raid boss: 1. |
|---|
| Adds and multi-target tanking | 10 | Picks up and holds several adds at once and taunts them off others: 5. Holds one or two adds at a time: 3. Can't hold more than its own target: 1. |
|---|
| What it brings the raid | 10 | A raid-wide buff or boss debuff the raid plans around (attack-power or attack-speed cuts, armour, a combat resurrection): 5. One useful raid buff or debuff: 3. Nothing beyond tanking: 1. |
|---|
| Resource over a long fight | 10 | Its threat and mitigation run the whole fight with no resource trouble: 5. Runs short sometimes (little rage when avoiding, mana on a long fight): 3. Starves of its resource and loses threat or mitigation on long fights: 1. |
|---|
An entry’s tier comes from its weighted score:
4.25 or more is S, 3.75 or more is A, 3.25 or more is B, 2.75 or more is C, 2.25 or more is D, and anything lower is F.
A tier set by hand instead says why in its write-up. Within a tier, the best score comes first.
- Talents: the spec's recommended level-60 tanking build from our class guide, or the nearest the guide has; for Enhancement Shaman, its tank build (
Rockbiter Weapon, a shield, 
Spirit Weapons). - Gear: pre-raid: dungeon blues, crafted and reputation items, chosen for tanking. No raid gear, no world buffs.
- Consumables: the ordinary ones a group player brings: potions, elixirs, food, oils and stones.
- Group: a balanced raid of the instance's size, with the buffs a normal raid gives (both factions' buffs exist in Forever); the spec is rated as main tank and as off-tank, the way raids use it.
- The game rules of the stated build. A patch that changes them makes a new version.
Rated from the client data and our research, before anyone has played it at this level on this build. Where the data stops, the write-up says what it assumed.
Choose a spec on the chart to see why it sits where it does.
Shield Wall, 
Last Stand, the raid's armour debuff and raid-wide Battle Shout make the Warrior the raid tank the others are measured against.
Scores for Protection Warrior| Criterion | Weight | Score |
|---|
| Mitigation and effective health | 30 | ●●●●○ 4 |
|---|
| Single-target threat | 25 | ●●●●○ 4 |
|---|
| Emergency cooldowns | 15 | ●●●●● 5 |
|---|
| Adds and multi-target tanking | 10 | ●●●●○ 4 |
|---|
| What it brings the raid | 10 | ●●●●● 5 |
|---|
| Resource over a long fight | 10 | ●●●●○ 4 |
|---|
Weighted score 4.25, which is S tier.
A raid boss tests cooldowns, and the Warrior has the most. Shield Wall cuts damage by 60% for 12 s on a 4 minute cooldown, and Last Stand adds 30% health on a 3 minute one. Plate, a shield, parry and 
Shield Block make it the steadiest of the four under a boss.
Shield Slam, 
Sunder Armor and 
Defensive Stance's +30% threat hold a boss, and Taunt, 
Mocking Blow and 
Challenging Shout cover a swap or adds. The raid plans around it: Sunder Armor is the main physical armour debuff, and since 15 Oct Battle Shout reaches the whole raid. On a long fight a boss's steady hits keep its rage up.
It is S rather than A because both scorers gave it the top mark on cooldowns and what it brings the raid, and at least 4 on everything else. 4.25 meets the S threshold exactly, so it would drop to A if any criterion fell by one.
Weaknesses
- No self-heal
- Rage drops when it is not being hit
- No dispel or combat resurrection
What would move it: A boss that hits rarely or in bursts, leaving it short of rage, or a debuff limit that crowds out Sunder Armor.
Rated on assumptions:
- Nobody has played past the beta cap of 30, so level-60 tanking is projected from the client's spell ranks, talents and Blizzard's notes.
- The raids open on 9 December 2026 and are not in the client; boss hit sizes, fight lengths and taunt immunities are projections.
Read the Protection Warrior guide · Back to the chart
Templar's Bulwark and its absorbs make it a sturdy raid tank, but boss threat, mana and a single taunt keep it in B.
Scores for Protection Paladin| Criterion | Weight | Score |
|---|
| Mitigation and effective health | 30 | ●●●●○ 4 |
|---|
| Single-target threat | 25 | ●●●○○ 3 |
|---|
| Emergency cooldowns | 15 | ●●●●○ 4 |
|---|
| Adds and multi-target tanking | 10 | ●●●○○ 3 |
|---|
| What it brings the raid | 10 | ●●●○○ 3 |
|---|
| Resource over a long fight | 10 | ●●●○○ 3 |
|---|
Weighted score 3.45, which is B tier.
A Paladin's mitigation is strong: 
Holy Shield adds block, 
Seal of Fury adds an absorb on every swing, and 
Improved Righteous Fury cuts damage taken by 6%. Templar's Bulwark absorbs 100% of maximum health for 8 s on a 5 minute cooldown (4 with 
Sacred Duty), and 
Lay on Hands backs it up. The bubbles are tied to Forbearance's 1 minute lockout, and magic damage gets past block.
Its threat is Holy damage under Righteous Fury, which scales with spell power, and 
Consecration's coefficient was cut on 15 Oct. It has one taunt, 
Judgement under Seal of Fury, with a second from 
Swift Judgement once a minute, which makes swaps and adds slower than for a Warrior. Its mana comes back through blocks and the Seal of Fury shield.
It is not A because it scores only 3 on boss threat, adds, utility and mana. Its blessings duplicate what the other classes give. 3.45 is 0.30 short of A.
Weaknesses
- One taunt, tied to Judgement
- Threat scales with spell power
- Mana over a long fight
- Magic damage gets past block
What would move it: Level-60 threat numbers with spell-power gear, or a raid boss with heavy magic damage.
Rated on assumptions:
- Nobody has played past the beta cap of 30, so level-60 tanking is projected from the client's spell ranks, talents and Blizzard's notes.
- The raids open on 9 December 2026 and are not in the client; boss hit sizes, fight lengths and taunt immunities are projections.
Read the Protection Paladin guide · Back to the chart
What a bear brings the raid, from Leader of the Pack and 
Faerie Fire to Rebirth, carries a kit that is only average at holding a boss.
Scores for 
Feral Bear Druid| Criterion | Weight | Score |
|---|
| Mitigation and effective health | 30 | ●●●○○ 3 |
|---|
| Single-target threat | 25 | ●●●○○ 3 |
|---|
| Emergency cooldowns | 15 | ●●●○○ 3 |
|---|
| Adds and multi-target tanking | 10 | ●●●○○ 3 |
|---|
| What it brings the raid | 10 | ●●●●● 5 |
|---|
| Resource over a long fight | 10 | ●●●●○ 4 |
|---|
Weighted score 3.30, which is B tier.
A bear brings more to a raid than any other tank. Leader of the Pack has been raid-wide since 15 Oct. It also brings Faerie Fire's -505 armour, 
Demoralizing Roar and 
Gift of the Wild, and Rebirth is one of the game's two combat resurrections. Rage comes from dodges, crits and damage taken, so a long fight does not starve it.
As a tank it is average. High armour and health but no block or parry make for spikier damage under a boss, and its emergency tools are Frenzied Regeneration and 
Barkskin, with no absorb or immunity. 
Growl and 
Challenging Roar handle swaps and adds. Bear threat rose to +50% on 8 Oct, but nobody has measured it since.
It is not A because it scores 3 on mitigation, threat, cooldowns and adds, the criteria that carry 80% of the weight. Rebirth and 
Innervate need it to leave Bear Form. 3.30 is 0.45 short of A.
Weaknesses
- No block or parry, so spikier damage
- No absorb or immunity cooldown
- Leaves form to cast Rebirth or Innervate
- Bear threat unmeasured since 8 Oct
What would move it: Whether Forever keeps Classic's crushing-blow rule, which hurts a tank with no block, and measured bear threat at 60.
Rated on assumptions:
- Nobody has played past the beta cap of 30, so level-60 tanking is projected from the client's spell ranks, talents and Blizzard's notes.
- The raids open on 9 December 2026 and are not in the client; boss hit sizes, fight lengths and taunt immunities are projections.
Read the Feral Bear Druid guide · Back to the chart
No taunt and no defensive cooldown rule out tanking a raid boss; a Shaman's raid value is its totems, not its tanking.
Scores for Enhancement Shaman| Criterion | Weight | Score |
|---|
| Mitigation and effective health | 30 | ●●○○○ 2 |
|---|
| Single-target threat | 25 | ●●○○○ 2 |
|---|
| Emergency cooldowns | 15 | ●○○○○ 1 |
|---|
| Adds and multi-target tanking | 10 | ●●○○○ 2 |
|---|
| What it brings the raid | 10 | ●●●●○ 4 |
|---|
| Resource over a long fight | 10 | ●●○○○ 2 |
|---|
Weighted score 2.05, which is F tier.
A raid boss needs a tank that can take a taunt swap and survive a big hit, and a Shaman can do neither. It has no taunt and no defensive cooldown, since Shamanistic Rage is not a player ability, and no absorb or self-heal while tanking.
Its threat comes from Rockbiter Weapon and Spirit Weapons' +30%, and mana is its only resource, so a long fight drains it. What it brings is the totems: Strength of Earth, Grace of Air, Windfury and Flametongue have reached the whole raid since 15 Oct.
It is not D because it cannot hold a boss or swap with another tank. 2.05 is 0.20 short of D. Blizzard has said Shaman tanks are "not quite yet".
Weaknesses
- No taunt
- No defensive cooldown
- Mana drains over a long fight
- No absorb or self-heal
What would move it: A Shaman tank talent tree or a taunt.
Rated on assumptions:
- Nobody has played past the beta cap of 30, so level-60 tanking is projected from the client's spell ranks, talents and Blizzard's notes.
- The raids open on 9 December 2026 and are not in the client; boss hit sizes, fight lengths and taunt immunities are projections.
Read the Enhancement Shaman guide · Back to the chart
Earth Shock