Threat - understanding threat and aggro

[Shadowwolf]

Theres actually a few bosses that require tank swaps. The elemental boss, Hydross the Unstable in SSC requires it for example. Unless you have 1 MT who can swap out resist gear on the fly which seems hectic to even try. He goes from frost magic to nature when hes moved and he has to be moved due to a debuff he stacks on the raid. I honestly dont know if he can be taunted or not but id imagine he cant. Seemingly most of the bosses Blizz designs  with the need for tank swaps usually have some sort of vulnerability or are susceptible to taunt of some form. Evwn some bosses that dont need tank swaps but ditch aggro after some event like that Ogre boss in SL sometimes have a friendliness to taunt abilities.

That sheet is slightly inaccurate tho as most people are playing guess work on what and how aggro generates from. Blizz wont admit clearly anything, so its all experience and guesstimations, but theres some things listed that arent true anymore or not listed at all. Rockbiter Weapon for Shaman doesnt increase threat anymore, that was removed a few patches ago. Conceivably it could still somewhat do it only because it ups the weapon DPS, but the overall unwritten increased threat it used to hold is gone. Also, I didnt see it there, but Mana Regeneration seems to draw a small level of aggro too. There was a few times where mobs aggrod early somewhere and anyone still drinking got aggro if the tank didnt pick it up quickly or no one else hit it, it would b-line for the people drinking. Ive actually seen this happen a few times now. I think regeneration in any form, healing or otherwise is threat building.

[usonian]

LOL drinking generates aggro?  I thought that only happened in bars

FYI - don't use Bloodrage for a shout if you're waiting for the Prince anywhere in the Netherspace.  I did it once to buff the group before the pull and that prancing pony came straight for me.  Talk about bugged mechanics, geez.

[Shadowwolf]

LOL drinking generates aggro?  I thought that only happened in bars

HAHA

[Kothnok]

Resting of any kind will generate threat.  Eating, drinking, doing whatever that causes a benefit to regen (unless the ability specifically has a modifier to reduce it) will cause threat and/or increased aggro radius.  Several other MMOs do this and I'm not surprised WoW does too.  In older games, there was no concept of "in combat" or not, so you were able to drink/eat while the party fought (in some, merely sitting was the same as drinking, so just sitting caused threat).  The designers wanted to keep up the illusion that eat/drink/sit/rest was something you don't do in dangerous places and placing a threat on such activities discourages that as it attracts "wandering monsters" or a smack from one a buddy is fighting nearby.

A brief history of something you probably never cared about. =)

[LastDyingBreath]

A little druid input on offtanking-

When I'm running kara in B group, felani's usually main tanking.  The hallway after the Curator is pure hell for ty, those arcane guardians play rough and faceplant him several times.  In that hallway I stay in bearform, and pretend I'm tanking.  Since I'm not getting hit, I'm rage starved and well below Felani's threat, but I manage to keep ahead of most people.  Nef and Seth I'm neck and neck with.  If felani takes a dirtnap, I'm poised to grab that sucker before he goes and kills our dps.  Works pretty well. 

[Arcdelad]

Im sure this guide isnt perfect...this is the guy who made KTM, and we all use omen now, so that should be some indicator anyway

BUT...it does have great info in it, and it puts you in a frame of mind to start thinking about threat differently. Most players I think just know - tank has aggro, I hit mob, maybe I steal aggro. And thats all they know. I want people to start thinking about aggro and threat in more complex deeper ways...judging by the posts and views here I think we have a great conversation going thats only going to make our raiding / 5 mans easier...

uso...why would you offend me? becuase you disagree with me? pshhh...cmon man

[Lynette]

Resting of any kind will generate threat.  Eating, drinking, doing whatever that causes a benefit to regen (unless the ability specifically has a modifier to reduce it) will cause threat and/or increased aggro radius.  Several other MMOs do this and I'm not surprised WoW does too.  In older games, there was no concept of "in combat" or not, so you were able to drink/eat while the party fought (in some, merely sitting was the same as drinking, so just sitting caused threat).  The designers wanted to keep up the illusion that eat/drink/sit/rest was something you don't do in dangerous places and placing a threat on such activities discourages that as it attracts "wandering monsters" or a smack from one a buddy is fighting nearby.

A brief history of something you probably never cared about. =)

This brings back some memories...saw 50-man raids wipe in EQ when a single person sat down to meditate and it pulled mobs from all over.

[Threlin]

uso...why would you offend me? becuase you disagree with me? pshhh...cmon man

That, in a nutshell, is why I love this guild. 

I am one of those who thought about aggro as Arc said and this thread definitely has me thinking differently now. Thanks to everyone for their imput. And I never knew that drinking and/or eating increased your threat or aggro range. I'm assuming that includes using First Aid. Explains a lot, that. 

Y'all are a great source of knowledge and help!