Latest Hotfixes: Enormous buffs to tank threat generation.

[Correction]

Ghostcrawler's latest : Threat Level Midnight

Upcoming changes

Here are the specific changes you’re likely to see:

• Hotfix: The threat generated by classes in their tanking mode has been increased from three times damage done to five times damage done.
• In an upcoming patch: Vengeance no longer ramps up slowly at the beginning of a fight. Instead, the first melee attack taken generates Vengeance equal to one third of the damage dealt by that attack. As Vengeance updates during the fight, it is always set to at least a third of the damage taken in the last two seconds. It still climbs from that point at the previous rate, still decays at the previous rate, and still cannot exceed the current maximum.

Down the road:

We want to move the shorter cooldowns like Shield Block, Holy Shield and Savage Defense so that they work more like Death Strike. Blood DKs have a lot of control over the survivability they get from Death Strike, but as part of that gameplay, they have to actually hit their target. The other three tanks will get similar active defense mechanics. This doesn’t mean everyone needs to use the DK model of self-healing, but they can use the DK model of managing resources to maximize survivability.

We toyed at one point with the paladin Holy Shield being a Holy Power consumer and we think we could do so again. Heck we could make Word of Glory the thing you’re supposed to do with Holy Power, so long as we balanced all tanks around that idea and didn’t feel it infringed too much on the DK mechanic. We could make Shield Block cost rage, and change Protection warrior rage income such that they had to manage rage, the way Fury and Arms warriors now must do. If tanks generated more rage from doing damage and less from taking damage, then hitting a target becomes very important, but for mitigation, not threat management reasons. This is a bigger change than it seems though. We don’t want a model where the Prot warrior ignores Shield Slam, Devastate and Revenge (since threat isn’t a big deal) in order to bank all rage for Shield Block (because survival is). Imagine a rage model where you always had enough rage for your core rotational abilities (they could be cheap or even generate rage), so that you could funnel most of your rage into Shield Block when survival mattered and Heroic Strike when it did not. Redesigning Savage Defense to make it a rage sink is an even bigger change, but we think there is an opportunity there to make the rotation more interesting for druids (and all tanks really). Their rotation would help them achieve the goal that usually matters the most to tanks: living.

tl;dr going to require more active button mashing to stay alive during burst damage periods, but you won't have to care as much about threat management in the long term. But for now, enjoy that 5x multiplier on threat lol.

[Mortilox]

As an occasional offtank for my guild.. I am pleased with this.

Maybe now I stand a greater chance at the beginning of single target burstfests like Majordomo without tricks/misdirection.

However, some members are displeased with these changes. Fuck knows why.

[Correction]

Impossible to be mad at the 5x multiplier but bad tanks everywhere have every reason to be nervous about changes to their class that involve being more predictive than reactive about their cooldowns.

[Siniroth]

Not a 5x multiplier btw, unless you mean 5x instead of 3x

increased from three times damage done to five times damage done.

[Correction]

what else could have I meant by '5x multiplier?'

[Kaylia]

This boost isn't going to change much after the first 10 seconds of a ...which I guess is nice. It's not really a tank buffs imo, but a retarded dps buff.

[The Stig]

I can totally respec and reglyph all 3 of my tanks to care little about aoe now haha.

Even though my spec and glyphs on DK and Paladin focuses on aoe threat as well, I do sometimes feel maybe I am not tanking at 100% efficiency (but no one has complained). I don't follow the recommended EJ cookie cutter specs 100%, and although I know trash doesn't matter I do take prideness in my ability to make every mob stick to me in Firelands and massively outthreat the off tank.

But it doesn't matter now. I can remove some of my AOE orientated glyphs and specs and spec into some more utility stuffs.

Might as well remove Omen. Apparently the change is now live, I'll see what happens tonight in Firelands.

[Guitarman]

It's hugely noticeable. I did occu'thar tonight and even going balls out right away as a frost DK I never went above 52% on my threat meter. It's glorious. I don't have to hold back anymore.

[Skai]

It's hugely noticeable. I did occu'thar tonight and even going balls out right away as a frost DK I never went above 52% on my threat meter. It's glorious. I don't have to hold back anymore.

Time to blow some shit up on the frost DK in heroics.

Might also make off spec as protection so I can get faster queues. Even queuing as healer is slow nowadays.

[Kaylia]

and massively outthreat the off tank.

Vengeance want to have a word with you. (I really hope you outthreat the off tank ;/)

[The Stig]

I mean outthreat the offtank when it's his turn to tank

Before this fix I usually apply 2 Death Strikes (in this case a Warrior and sometimes Paladin) and boom I'm tanking again haha

[SamanosukeShiva]

The warriors in my guild /jiz their pants, usually we have salv rotations just for them, but they dont need em anymore and just 45+k dps burst at start

[The Stig]

oh man a warrior is outthreatting me now haha, I tried my best to out threat him, can't!!!!

I don't notice much difference on DK, not like I had threat problems to begin with, but retard co-tanks at Occuthar is gonna be painful.

[Meresgi]

Didn't blizzard say at one point after WoTLK they wanted tanks to not have to spam buttons to stay alive during burst phases as much as before..and that threat generation was going to be semi hard so that good tanks were above and beyond bad tanks and it required more out of them? I really could have sworn this was part of their vision for Cataclysm after WoTLK where people were just AoEing down trash in 5mans and threat wasn't an issue anywhere.

Bring me back the good ol days of Molten Core where dps had to wait for a 4 stack of sunder armor before you LOOKED at the boss, otherwise you pulled threat. And no boss was tauntable XD

[The Stig]

Bring me back the good ol days of Molten Core where dps had to wait for a 4 stack of sunder armor before you LOOKED at the boss, otherwise you pulled threat. And no boss was tauntable XD

"After 2 sunders you can basically start doing damage to it!" (onyxiawipe clip)

How hard/how long was it to apply 4 stacks?

And co-tank warrior is now bragging haha ... "WTS Threat" and that stuff.

[Norellicus]

Took about 5 seconds to get the threat lead iirc, 10 if you really needed a good head start due to fights with phases where tank can't keep attacking...one of the reasons why dps blowing their load immediately on pull is such a retarded move. It's not hard to just count to 5 before doing anything.

[SamanosukeShiva]

MD and tricks, gg

[Norellicus]

Don't always have those in 5 mans derp

[SamanosukeShiva]

lol ok

[Meresgi]

Don't always have those in 5 mans derp

5mans are major content yo.