I'll start off this happy-rant with some logistics and facts, as that is my favorite part of writing. This will be my sexual encounter, and my examples and opinions will be my cigarette. Quite a sexy post already, huh? Moving along, the leg this post will stand on is going to be threat and how it works. While most everyone understands that "having aggro" means "the big dude is going to hit you in the face", a lot don't understand the true mechanics of it. So first, the basics:
- When pulling a mob while it's OOC(out of combat), the initial puller(hopefully the tank) will get a 30% headway on threat of whatever damage they do. As an example, on Patchwerk: A Warrior shoots an arrow to pull Patchwerk into combat, the arrow does 300 threat on contact. For anyone to pull aggro, they will need to exceed 390 threat(300*1.3) if the Warrior does not do any more damage. This headway was implemented by Blizzard as a buffer for initial pulls as they assume(and are correct) that DPSers will idiotically start DPSing earlier than they should.
- Pulling a mob without doing any damage, but walking within their aggro radius(or "Face Pulling") will provide zero threat, but the mechanics work as if the puller has a 30% headway, even though 30% of zero is zero. Any threat provided by another player while the tank has a 30% headway of zero will result in the mob attacking said player.
- Mana, Rage and Energy gain provides a small amount of threat: .5 threat per mana point gained. 5 threat per rage point gained. Energy approximation is unknown. This threat is only gained once you appear on the enemy's threat table.
- Buffing any target on a mob's threat table will cause a small amount of threat. Example: Putting a Prayer of Fortitude on the tank after he/she face pulls will cause the priest to gain aggro.
- During combat, the 30% headway stays put on whatever threat the tank puts out on most mobs. However this 30% headway is only for ranged DPS and healers. Melee range enemies to the boss only get a 10% headway. This makes aggro-watching far more important for melee DPS as they get 20% less headway on threat and also are within arm's reach of the mob. Before TBC, the headway was 30% for all ranges, this was changed in patch 2.1.
- Effective healing provides .5 threat per 1 point of healing done to a target. This threat is distributed to all enemies with no range limit. Overhealing provides no threat.
- Taunting a mob off of another player will put you at exactly the same threat number they are at, no matter what number you were at previously. The difference between both is that the player that taunted will have the 10%/30% headway over the player he taunted off of.
- Taunting while you are above everything/everyone else's threat does 100% nothing.
- Hunter pet's "Growl" and Warlock pet's "Torment", while they have a taunt-like visual, they are not taunts. They simply produce a large amount of threat.
When DPS Attacks!... Too much.
Threat issues are on the verge of non-existent in this expansion. As an example; for single target pulls I always tell my DPS to start in as soon as I make the first hit with my sword. By then I've used Avenger's Shield, Judged, and the first sword swing will be accompanied by a Shield of the Righteous that was boosted by my Judgement with my Libram. At this point it's going to be hard for any class to come even close to me on threat with 1 or 2 hits. This is, of course, a perfect situation. I am able to set up and pull when I need to with little to no complications. The only problems with threat that happen in the game for myself are in 1 of 2 situations:
1) The mob in question has special threat rules. IE; random threat table, no threat table, etc.
2) DPS and/or healers are acting as if they possess an IQ no higher than what they can count on their fingers and toes.
The first situation is for the most part inevitable. To some extent, these types of mobs can be controlled, but typically aren't meant to be and thus won't/shouldn't be. The second situation on the other hand, this is what deaths are made of! I'll give some examples:
Face pulling. Now, other than a Death Knight sitting at 62, I have 1 of every class at level 70 or higher. I know how DPS and healers won't be necessarily focusing in on anything around them, but rather on their action bars, cooldowns and mods. However, taking notice of when a tank face pulls, or when anyone face pulls(on purpose or not) is what saves lives. Just because you see an enemy flailing about, does not mean you need to pummel the fucker in the face with a 10k Shadow Bolt. Take notice of what's going on first, listen to voice over, check mods, etc.
Which brings me to my next example. "I'm going to pull back." This statement has baffled the non-tanking masses for years. In Retardinese, it's roughly translated to, "Hit this mob as hard as you fucking can as soon as you can and don't hold back for any reason." But kidding aside. Please, DPS.. I beg of you. When a tank notes that he is going to pull a mob out or back, try to hold back that jumpy/shacking finger that is looming over your PoM/Pyro macro with sweat dripping on the key. Your DPS isn't going to be 200 higher just because you got that one Aimed Shot off 2 seconds sooner. For the love of god and all that is holy, stop doing that shit.
Hopefully this helps everyone understand the aggro and threat mechanics a little better, as it's not as simple as some might think.
Till next time!
