Tank Class Tier List

Last updated: Update 42 (Gold Road)

SUMMARY OF EACH CLASS

DRAGONKNIGHT

First, we have Dragonknight. Defensive-wise, they have access to additional armor and block mitigation, decent damage shields - Igneous Shield and Hardened Armor, a stamina restoring passive that makes stamina sustain trivial, and an ultimate that makes them immortal, in case a fight goes really bad. They can also use Protective Plate to greatly reduce damage taken from projectiles. They also provide the Minor Brutality buff which will increase the group’s weapon and spell damage, increasing everyone’s damage and healing. They can also provide the group with Major Brutality and Sorcery through Igneous Weapons, which your teammates can get through other ways, but getting it from Igneous Weapons allows them to make changes to their builds, for example if they don’t need to get Major Brutality from their potions, they can use Heroism or Tri-Stat pots instead, and some classes need those to sustain. Offensively they provide the Stagger debuff which increases enemies damage taken and Engulfing Flames which increases flame damage taken.

ARCANIST

Next, Arcanist. Defensive-wise, they have access to absurdly high damage shields thanks to Impervious Runeward, tons of armor from Runic Sunder and Aegis of the Unseen, recoveries from Erudition and Wellspring of the Abyss, and an ability that heals you when you fall below 50% hp. This makes surviving so much easier because as long as you pay attention to your Runeguard you're safe. If your Runeguard is up then you're completely safe from smaller damage ticks, you can only die by not blocking some heavy attack. If your Runeguard is not up, your next action should be reapplying it. They can also help their group survive with the Curative Surge - a healing beam, this ability is kind of unreliable because of the desync, but if your allies are standing still you can heal them for a lot because its scaling is completely busted so it heals for a lot even with tank stats. Offensively they provide a unique 2200 armor debuff from Runic Sunder and they can easily keep Minor Vulnerability and Minor Brittle with Rune of the Colorless Pool. These debuffs can be accessed through different means, but it's a bit more difficult. Utility wise, you have the Passage Between Worlds, a portal that allows you to keep jumping between 2 positions, it's extremely unreliable on even slightly uneven ground, but there are fights where it can be useful.

NECROMANCER

Next, Necromancer. The most unique tank class gameplay wise. Defensive wise, they have access to the best raw damage mitigation, at the cost of not having any class damage shields. The Spirit Guardian will constantly grant you 10% damage mitigation. The Disdain Harm passive will reduce your damage taken from DoTs by 15% and it's actually extremely important because the hardest content in the game is all about DoTs. Your main self heal, Hungry Scythe, can reach massive numbers when used against multiple enemies, but it can also be unreliable because you need to hit someone to heal yourself, so when you're repositioning, or when there's just no enemies next to you, you lose access to your main healing tool and it's a big deal in some fights. Offensively, they have the access to the Glacial Colossus ultimate, which applies Major Vulnerability, increasing enemies damage taken by 10%. This can be obtained from item sets such as Turning Tide or Archdruid Devyric, but getting it from the Colossus allows you to replace these sets with other support sets. They also have the best ultimate generation out of all tank classes, thanks to Necrotic Potency, which allows them to drain ultimate out of corpses. Utility wise, they have access to the Reanimate ultimate which instantly resurrects 3 allies. It can save a lot of time by preventing a wipe for example when you're the last person alive while also being under too much pressure to be able to resurrect anyone the normal way.

SORCERER

Next, Sorcerers. Defensive wise they have access to a really strong damage shield that also heals them - Hardened Ward. On top of that they have really strong direct heals - Summon Unstable Clannfear and Vibrant Shroud. The Blood Magic passive heals them each time they cast certain abilities which keeps your health up even when you're just trying to apply debuffs, they can restore stamina with Dark Deal and they have an ability that grants absurd amount of block mitigation for a short moment - Bound Aegis. Offensive wise, they can provide 1000 armor penetration with Crystal Weapon ability, Major Berserk with their Atronach ultimate which increases damage done by 10%, and they provide the unique Minor Prophecy buff which provides 6% crit chance. Utility wise, they have access to the Bolt Escape ability which allows them to teleport across the battlefield, making them the most mobile tank class.

WARDEN

Next we have Warden. Defensive wise, they don't bring much for themselves but they bring a lot to the group. They provide the unique Minor Toughness buff which increases max hp by 10%, and they can apply Major Resolve to the entire group with Expansive Frost Cloak. They gain increased armor from the Frozen Armor passive, they have access to a decent heal, Polar Wind, which can also heal your allies. Offensive wise, they can easily apply Minor Vulnerability with the Fetcher Infection ability and they can keep Minor Brittle in an AoE thanks to innate increased chance to proc Chilled from Glacial Presence and having abilities that have higher than normal base chance to proc Chilled, such as Winter's Revenge. Utility wise, they have access to Shimmering Shield which allows them to absorb projectiles to generate additional ultimate and they have access to Gates, which are traps that you can preplace on the ground which will pull enemies towards you when they step into them, they're extremely extremely good in Arenas and in a few other places.

TEMPLAR

Next up, Templars. Defensive wise they have access to Radiant Ward - a decent damage shield that scales with the number of enemies around you, very good healing over time effects, Restoring Focus and Extended Ritual which come with the drawback of being ground effects which forces you into a “stand your ground” playstyle. They also get increased block mitigation from Sacred Ground passive while standing in these ground effects I just mentioned. Unfortunately they do not have a reliable instant self-heal, as Honor the Dead can target other players if they’re more wounded than you. Offensively they provide the Minor Sorcery buff, which increases everyone's damage and healing. Utility wise they provide the Purify synergy which cleanses all debuffs when used.

NIGHTBLADE

And last, Nightblades. Defensive wise they have incredibly busted sustain, thanks to Siphoning Strikes. But that’s pretty much where the good stuff ends. Their healing over time from Dark Cloak can be decent when a fight allows them to stand still, but as I said before, that doesn’t happen often. Just like with Templar, their instant self-heal - Healthy Offering - can randomly go on an ally if they’re more wounded than you, making it extremely unreliable. Offensive wise they provide the unique Minor Savagery buff that increases crit chance by 6%, and they can provide Minor Vulnerability in an AoE thanks to Lotus Fan.