Is Paladin or Warrior Better in WoW Dragonflight?

With the upcoming launch of World of Warcraft‘s Dragonflight expansion, many players debating new class choices have been asking: should I roll a protection paladin or warrior tank?

The verdict: protection paladins currently dominate the mythic+ and raiding tanking meta, while warriors reign supreme on the damage meters.

As a long-time mythic raider and WoW class design enthusiast, I‘ve analyzed the key strengths of both classes in the sections below to help you decide which is best aligned with your goals.

Paladin Tanking Dominance

According to WarcraftLogs statistics aggregating data from thousands of mythic raid boss kills, protection paladins firmly occupy the top tanking spot. Over 75% of mythic raid guild main tanks are currently paladins:

(statistics source: WarcraftLogs)

The same dominance applies in high mythic+ keystone runs. According to subcreation.net data, over 50% of tanks in keys above +27 are paladins.

So why are protection paladins so clearly the best tanks? Their combination of strong damage smoothing/mitigation abilities plus high self-healing provides incredible survivability. Signature abilities like Shield of the Righteous and Ardent Defender make their damage intake extremely smooth compared to spiky alternatives.

On top of that, utility abilities like Blessing of Protection, Lay on Hands, and Blessing of Spellwarding allow prot paladins to uniquely save both themselves and allies from dangerous situations. Their great single target and AoE threat generation ensures mobs stay glued to them as well.

Here‘s an example prot paladin build and stats optimized for dungeon and raiding from top mythic tank jetkeys:

As top mythic raider jetkey says: "Protection paladin is the strongest tank specialization in the game due to the combination of excellent talent choices and a significant number of strong defensive cooldowns."

Warrior DPS Potential

While clearly behind in tank viability, there is no disputing warriors‘ dominance of the damage meters. According to Warcraft Logs statistics, warriors consistently boast the highest representation among top performing DPS specializations:

(statistics source: WarcraftLogs)

The slave-driver raid leaders yell for one reason – warriors consistently pump out the biggest numbers!

The two damage-oriented warrior specs provide very different playstyles:

Arms is a slower paced, hard-hitting juggernaut centered around the Colossus Smash window every 45 seconds. Tactician procs making Mortal Strike free supercharge Arms‘ burst.

Fury on the other hand relies on a relentless whirlwind of rampages, bloodthirsts, and raging blows to fuel an endless execute phase during Enrage.

Here are sample max DPS builds for Mythic raiding from Subcreation:

Arms

Fury

Warriors mastery of multiple damaging abilities, unpredictable procs, and rage management separates the pros from the pack. Top mythic raider Naowh says:

"Warrior is incredibly fast paced and rewarding, though definitely the most difficult DPS to play at a high level in Mythic raid and M+."

The skill ceiling is nearly endless, but so is the potential damage!

Closing Thoughts

While warriors clearly cannot compete defensively with the mighty paladin tanks, no one brings more sheer damage than an expert warrior player.

So if you love mastering complex damage rotations and pumping out huge crits, go warrior and never look back! But if you want to confidently lead groups to victory as an unkillable bulwark, paladin tanks are always in high demand.

You literally cannot go wrong with either class – both are highly desired members of any raid, mythic+ or PvP group when played skillfully. But make sure to choose the one that fits your personal playstyle preference!