Posted on by Sunnier

Tank Comparison: Cooldowns

This is the second in an MoP series on tank comparison. I’ve asked several tanks for improvements to this list, but it’s still possible that I’ve missed something. Please comment if I’ve forgotten or improperly evaluated something. Next I will cover passive bonuses and masteries.

My plans for this series are as follows:

  1. Active Mitigation
  2. Long Cooldowns
  3. Passive Bonuses and Masteries
  4. Strengths and Weaknesses in all of the above

In this post I compare defensive abilities for all tanks, which I define as situational skills with long cooldowns (greater than 30sec) that keep you alive through extreme damage. Raid utilities are included if they help keep the tank alive as well, though it should be noted that they cannot always be used this way. Also, passive cooldowns like Purgatory are included because they have internal cooldowns and can normally be depended on just like a traditional cooldown.

Please keep in mind that this is for knowledge purposes only. I do not attempt to make an analytical argument, and tank abilities should never be compared in a vacuum. They are designed with the whole kit in mind. For example, Brewmasters don’t have the sheer number of long cooldowns that other tanks have, but they make up for it with an abundance of active mitigation. To reiterate, this list is only composed of cooldown abilities; active mitigation was covered previously and passives will be covered next.

I’ve divided active mitigation abilities into the following classifications:

Damage Mitigation Method

  1. Avoidance (dodge, parry, etc)
  2. Physical Mitigation (non-random physical damage reduction)
  3. Magical Mitigation
  4. Healing
  5. Increase to Max Health
  6. Death Prevention

Cooldown Length

  1. Extremely long cooldown (greater than 3 min)
  2. Long cooldown (between 2 and 3 min)
  3. Medium cooldown (between 1 and 1:59)
  4. Short cooldown (less than 59 seconds)

Duration

  1. Long duration (20 seconds or longer)
  2. Medium duration (between 10 and 19 seconds)
  3. Short duration (less than 9 seconds)
  4. Inconsistant duration (usually based on charges)

Brewmaster Monk

  • Fortifying Brew + Brewmaster Training:
    Increase to Max Health (20%), Physical Mitigation (20% outright, 20% stagger), Magical Mitigation (20%),
    Long cooldown,
    Long duration

    • Glyph: Stoneskin: Adds a damage reduction to bleeds
    • Glyph: Fortifying Brew: Increases physical and magical mitigation (25%), reduces Increase to Max Health (10%).
  • Level 75 Talents
    • Dampen Harm:
      Physical Mitigation (50% for next three big attacks), Magical Mitigation (50% for next three big attacks),
      Medium cooldown,
      Inconsistant duration

    • Diffuse Magic:
      Magical Mitigation (90%), Other: Magical DoT dispell,
      Medium cooldown,
      Short duration
  • Zen Meditation:
    Physical mitigation (90%), Magical mitigation (90%),
    Long cooldown, Short duration (only reduces the damage of the next hit, as it will be immediately canceled), Raid cooldown
  • Level 90 Talents
    • Invoke Xuen, the White Tiger:
      Physical and Magical Mitigation for as long as Xuen stays alive. Most often cannot taunt bosses, Long cooldown, Inconsistant duration.
  • Symbiosis: Survival Instincts:
    Physical Mitigation (25%), Magical Mitigation (25%),
    Long cooldown,
    Short duration

Guardian Druid

  • Barkskin:
    Physical Mitigation (20%), Magical Mitigation (20%),
    Medium cooldown,
    Medium duration
  • Might of Ursoc:
    Increase to Max Health (30%),
    Long cooldown,
    Long duration

    • Glyph: Might of Ursoc: Increases Max Health by 50%, but gives it an extremely long cooldown.
  • Survival Instincts:
    Physical Mitigation (50%), Magical Mitigation (50%),
    Long cooldown,
    Medium duration

  • Level 30 Talents
  • Level 60 Talents
    • Force of Nature:
      Physical and Magical Mitigation for as long as Xuen stays alive. Most often cannot taunt bosses, Medium cooldown, Inconsistant duration.
  • Level 90 Talents
  • Symbiosis:
    • From Death Knight: Bone Shield:
      Physical Mitigation (10%), Magical Mitigation (10%),
      Medium cooldown,
      Inconsistant duration
    • From Monk: Elusive Brew:
      Avoidance (10%),
      Medium cooldown,
      Short duration
    • From Warrior: Spell Reflect:
      Magical Mitigation (100%, though doesn’t reflect all spells),
      Long cooldown,
      Short duration, only 1 charge

Protection Warrior

  • Last Stand:
    Increase to Max Health,
    Long cooldown,
    Long duration
  • Shield Wall + Bastion of Defense:
    Physical Mitigation (40%), Magical Mitigation (40%),
    Long cooldown,
    Medium duration

    • Glyph: Shield Wall: Increases physical and magical mitigation (60%), but gives it an extremely long cooldown.
  • Demoralizing Shout:
    Physical and Magical Mitigation (20%),
    Medium cooldown,
    Medium duration
  • Level 30 Talents
  • Level 75 Talents
    • Mass Spell Reflection:
      Magical Mitigation (100%, though doesn’t reflect all spells),
      Medium cooldown,
      Short duration, only 1 charge,
      Raid cooldown
  • Rallying Cry:
    Increase to Max Health (20%), Long cooldown, Medium duration, Raid cooldown
  • Symbiosis: Savage Defense:
    Avoidance (45%),
    Medium cooldown,
    Short duration

Protection Paladin

Blood Death Knight

Comparison

These comparisons only take into account the above cooldowns. Big cooldowns are somewhat difficult to compare, especially monk and DK abilities, so this table is highly subjective.

✔ = Strong, always have access
~ = Weak, sometimes have access
✖ = None, never have access

Brewmaster Guardian Warrior Paladin Death Knight
Avoidance ✖ ~ ~ ✖ ✔
50% Damage Reduction ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Medium Damage Reduction on Medium CD ~ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Significant Magic-Only Mitigation ✔ ✖ ~ ~ ✔
Healing ✖ ✔ ~ ✔ ~
Increase to Max Health ✔ ✔ ✔ ✖ ✔
Death Prevention ✖ ✖ ✖ ✔ ✔