WoW players are discovering why one race is the best for tanks in high Mythic+ runs

World of Warcraft players are beginning to notice that one race in particular is dominating the upper echelons of the game’s Mythic+ leaderboard, especially when it comes to one role: tanks. 

In a thread posted to the WoW subreddit earlier today, players discussed the importance of racial abilities in high Mythic+ keys and noted that dwarves (and their extremely useful racial ability) are a useful race to be playing when pushing through the highest tiers of keystone levels at the tank position. 

Tanks, regardless of their class, often look toward dwarves as their race of choice when trying to min-max the ability to push keys each Mythic+ season. Dwarves are a popular choice for tank players because of the active ability that’s exclusive to the race: Stoneform. The ability, which has been a cornerstone for dwarves dating back to the days of Vanilla WoW, is a strong defensive cooldown that reduces all physical damage by a percentage-based amount for eight seconds. It also removes all poison, disease, curse, magic, and bleed effects, which is a major boon for tanks, who can sometimes struggle to find resources and spells that can purify them of those status effects. 

Normally, your race choice doesn’t make too much of a difference when it comes to gameplay. But if you’re a high-level keystone pusher, the extra defense granted by Stoneform is too good to pass up. 

Related: What is the best race for Warlocks in WoW Dragonflight?

While the defensive resistances provided by Stoneform is strong for all classes and roles, it’s particularly good for tanks, who need all the extra tools in their kit that they can get. One commenter in the original Reddit thread, user meecan, noted that “many tank mechanics in m+ involve applying a bleed to the tank, and being able to remove it with dwarf Racial is often a large survivability bonus.”

That analysis rings true completely as the use of Stoneform can oftentimes circumvent the need to bring certain classes and their status-removing spells to compositions. And with almost every one of the eight dungeons in the Dragonflight season two Mythic+ pool requiring the removal of a status effect, Stoneform is a valuable tool. Even without the status-removing effect of the dwarf racial ability, the extra damage reduction that the spell gives every two minutes is an extra safety net.

Many of the game’s top players for specs including Brewmaster Monk, Blood Death Knight, Protection Warrior, and Protection Paladin choose to play as dwarves. A strong majority of the top 20 players at each of those specs play as dwarves, according to WoW stats site Raider.io. 

We might see even more dwarves enter the fray soon as nerfs were handed out to Guardian Druid—a spec that dwarves can’t play as. With that in mind, the door might open up for more dwarf-friendly classes to stake their claim at the top of the Mythic+ meta in the very near future.