Threat Generation Nerfed for Tanks in Battle for Azeroth

Beta Posted 2018/05/28 at 10:44 PM by Squishei

Interested in more Battle for Azeroth Class Changes? Check out our Consolidated Changes Articles!

All Class Changes

Baseline ThreatHow does threat currently work in Legion?

As a baseline, Tanks currently generate 10 times more Threat than DPS.

However, with an artifact equipped, Tanks can generate between 14 and 20 times more Threat than DPS. Auto attacks deal around 14 times more Threat while the Thrash Bleed deals 20 times more Threat than DPS.

How does threat work in Battle for Azeroth?

As a baseline, Tanks will generate 4 times more Threat than DPS.

This is a massive threat reduction from Legion. For some tanks it may be up to an 80% threat reduction but may vary due to weird nature of Legion Threat. For comparison the Skittish affix currently reduces Threat by 75%.

In Legion, a Tank receives around 220k-320k Threat on the meter.

In Battle for Azeroth, a Tank receives 64k Threat on the meter.

OmenTank No Artifact5 timesTank Artifact7 timesDPS No ArtifacthalfDPS ArtifacthalfTaunt and High Threat Abilities

In Battle for Azeroth, Taunt multiplies the Threat gained by the tank by an additional 5 times for the Taunt duration. This is consistent with how Taunt works in Legion.

High Threat abilities will multiply the Threat gained by an additional 4 times.

20 timesHeroic ThrowThrow GlaiveThrow Glaive16 timesThrow Glaive80 times

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Comment by TifiddyI'm sure this will make no real difference.Comment by GyrosparkHere comes the complain train. Choo choo, coming throughComment by Mike21daisuInteresting, I wonder how this works out. I wanna know what's the idea behind this, this used to be a thing back in vanilla/tbc, but now it's kinda questionable to do this kind of change, makes me kinda concerned about how this is gonna affect M+.Comment by SolivarnikSeems the gameplay is coming back to the roots, when tanking wasn`t dependend solely on gear. Seems good!Comment by RyuthedragonI don't understand why they're doing this right know but ok I guess they seems to want to make the decision taking more important in BFA. I just fear pick up content, where people mostly burst on aggro.Comment by omedon666Haahaaa that’s the sound of all nine of my tank alts retiring from dungeon PUGs and retreating to the copious role-agnostic content offerings! No one who started in recent expansions will be ready for the old school threat tug of war!

Not really complaining because thankfully we have options now, which of course intentionally comes hand in hand with these changes. Queued dungeons are intentionally and culturally now a farm system for the MDI, and I have zero desire to feed that culture.

Thankfully world quests, islands and warfronts say I don’t have to! I’ll do the story runs with my warlock and then wait for guild runs. Dungeons framed as “team content” instead of “group content” is ultimately better for their identity, but ain’t no way I’m PUGing those growing pains.

I’ll just need some Netflix for that one story run’s DPS queue... as will we all.Comment by PropheticVisionAs a Tank I approve of this in theory, now if only I could get a Beta Key to test it in practice....Comment by mysticalosI'm sure this will make no real difference.Comment by RovingbanditI worry how this will affect fight design. One of the things allowing for more interesting raid fights was the idea that tanks wouldn't lose threat against DPS. Currently we have some DPS checks that have adds all over the place. With this change, it's possible we end up with fights failed because a tank had to use his taunt on adds and not a tank swap. If Blizz wants us to go back to an off-tank, they will have to de-tune certain fights. This is something they will likely revert simply because it is going to cause more issues than it solves.Comment by MikarriThey do this every so often. Then they ramp up the threat generation again.Comment by TheDrakbornWonder of this will make threat meters a thing again, as in legion I've had no issues really with threat as either tank or dps, except the freak occurrence of my lock being grouped with a fresh 110 tank for daily hc.

Also my condolences to my tank friend who struggled with threat in legion during our mythic+ runs.Comment by mysticalosI don't understand why they're doing this right know but ok I guess they seems to want to make the decision taking more important in BFA. I just fear pick up content, where people mostly burst on aggro.Comment by TaarakianWhy? Why bring this back? Why "fix" something that isn't broke?Comment by TobiasAmaranthAs a tank, I want to say this DOES make a moderate difference, and reduces the fun of tanking. I struggle with maintaining aggro sometimes and feel like I lack the tools to generate it with any aggro aside from the taunt move. :<Comment by ldeneJust need the reintroduction of sunder armour and we'll be back to the good 'ol days!Comment by IzibbI don't know if it is already implanted on beta, but I did some dungeons on beta 2 weeks ago as a BrM, and it was a nightmare to keep aggro on a pack of thrash. Maybe it was because I was like 115 grouped with 120s, or that tuning was in progress, but it was such a struggle it felt so bad.Comment by selkie47Tanks may have problems holding aggro on secondary mobs when only using passive AoE and may need to make good use of Taunts and target swaps to keep secondary mobs off their allies.Comment by NevcairielAs a tank, I want to say this DOES make a moderate difference, and reduces the fun of tanking. I struggle with maintaining aggro sometimes and feel like I lack the tools to generate it with any aggro aside from the taunt move. :<Comment by ShuyinVardizLove it, cant wait to get the threat dance back. Loved it in the past, hated it when aggro was basically granted, happy to see it changed or at least tuned towards past.Comment by PinkisAs a somewhat tank myself (have casually tanked M+ pretty much whole expansion) I can say that this will bring more depth and fun for tanks. Even though it's annoying when it's skittish week, dps goes full ham and all I can do is to slow melee mobs and taunt/interrupt casters... That being said - Skittish weeks are probably those I have most fun as a tank, due to tanking not being mere "mash aoe", but actually actively engaging.
Edit: Those who are complaining about live threat issues - tanking is not about being a "turtle". You have to gear for dps at least a bit.

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