Nortibiry
08-09-2007, 11:14 AM
Lifted from http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?t...13352&sid=1 (http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=233513352&sid=1)
Threat list
Whenever a mob is in combat, he creates a threat list that includes the players he will try to kill. You are added on a mob's threat list if: You enter his aggro range while he isn't in combat (you can go close to most mobs that are already fighting without being added to their threat list)
You use an offensive ability on him
You use a defensive ability on a player that is in his threat list
If the mob has a random target attack, or some AoE ability, getting hit by one of those will also put you in his threat list.
Some mobs are linked to each other, then, getting on the threat list of one of them will put you in the other's list as well.
Most "big" bosses will put you in their threat list wherever you are in the instance. Example: your guild is wiping in AQ40, you died first and run back to the instance before the fight is over, you get in combat while entering, and the boss teleports you to him when he has no target close to him: you die again.
You are removed from a mob's threat list only if: Well, if the mob dies :P
If you die
When you get the mob out of his patrolling range (some kind of area that I don't really know details about) and don't direct damage him during at least 6 (is it 6?) seconds.
When a mob is still alive and his threat list is empty, he runs back (faster than his normal speed) to his normal position, and you cannot do anything to him until he's back (he will "evade" your attacks). This explains why hunters are good at kiting: they have a lot of direct damage that they can easily do while running away. Priests have few direct damage spells and only SWD is instant.[/b]
I just wanted to refresh everyone's memory on this mechanic because I'm not sure we have all be on the same page. The key point is that on pulls we can manipulate mob behavior, not just through who has the most aggro, but through who the mob knows exists -- on pulls without in-combat tics you have to put yourself on the threat lists, one way or another. This is the why behind casting shield & PoM before the pull.
Example: Back in the day, in heroic slave pens, Twisted pulls a pair of mobs without having improved sap. He hits sprint, saps, breaks stealth and aggros the other elite via proximity. He's the only person on the threat list, with zero threat ... which is good enough for now. I react to his girlish cries on vent and hit battleshout. This would generate threat, but I'm not on the mobs threat list now, so he's still in rogue killing mode. When Twisted gets within 30 yards of me, I hit battleshout, buffing us all. Since I have buffed TB I'm now on the threat list of both mobs, and since I've generated an insigifigant but non-zero amount of threat the elite changes targets and charges me.
Example: We have some random three mob pull where we want to split them up, but only two hunters. Right now we'd misdirect onto Aoree and maybe a second tank, and have the third try to charge in and pick them up, maybe getting clobbered by cleaves/fears/whatever in the meantime. If we did a longer misdirect pull, the third tank could buff one of the other tanks, generating non-zero threat on the third mob and then run into position long before there is any damage taken.
Paladins could pick up spare initial aggro on appropriate pulls just by buffing the puller, or someone who is already on the threat list -- you won't hold aggro, but you can control which direction they move in initially. And again because of this mechanic, pre using shield or PoM doesn't just mean a priest won't have aggro on the pull, it means that the mob won't know the priest exists on the pull. I believe sap and misdirect pulls also fail to put the rogue/hunter on the threat lists but obviously can't speak from personal experience :)
This isn't a major point but I think it's something that's important to know, and something we can use to our advantage. One key point I should emphasize is that this all has NOTHING to do with being in combat. Bloodrage will put a warrior into combat, but it won't add you to any threat lists. In contrast, and possibly adding confusion, the in combat tics on boss fights also add you to that threat list, and should probably be viewed as putting everyone in zone on this list, with a side effect of putting you in combat.
Threat list
Whenever a mob is in combat, he creates a threat list that includes the players he will try to kill. You are added on a mob's threat list if: You enter his aggro range while he isn't in combat (you can go close to most mobs that are already fighting without being added to their threat list)
You use an offensive ability on him
You use a defensive ability on a player that is in his threat list
If the mob has a random target attack, or some AoE ability, getting hit by one of those will also put you in his threat list.
Some mobs are linked to each other, then, getting on the threat list of one of them will put you in the other's list as well.
Most "big" bosses will put you in their threat list wherever you are in the instance. Example: your guild is wiping in AQ40, you died first and run back to the instance before the fight is over, you get in combat while entering, and the boss teleports you to him when he has no target close to him: you die again.
You are removed from a mob's threat list only if: Well, if the mob dies :P
If you die
When you get the mob out of his patrolling range (some kind of area that I don't really know details about) and don't direct damage him during at least 6 (is it 6?) seconds.
When a mob is still alive and his threat list is empty, he runs back (faster than his normal speed) to his normal position, and you cannot do anything to him until he's back (he will "evade" your attacks). This explains why hunters are good at kiting: they have a lot of direct damage that they can easily do while running away. Priests have few direct damage spells and only SWD is instant.[/b]
I just wanted to refresh everyone's memory on this mechanic because I'm not sure we have all be on the same page. The key point is that on pulls we can manipulate mob behavior, not just through who has the most aggro, but through who the mob knows exists -- on pulls without in-combat tics you have to put yourself on the threat lists, one way or another. This is the why behind casting shield & PoM before the pull.
Example: Back in the day, in heroic slave pens, Twisted pulls a pair of mobs without having improved sap. He hits sprint, saps, breaks stealth and aggros the other elite via proximity. He's the only person on the threat list, with zero threat ... which is good enough for now. I react to his girlish cries on vent and hit battleshout. This would generate threat, but I'm not on the mobs threat list now, so he's still in rogue killing mode. When Twisted gets within 30 yards of me, I hit battleshout, buffing us all. Since I have buffed TB I'm now on the threat list of both mobs, and since I've generated an insigifigant but non-zero amount of threat the elite changes targets and charges me.
Example: We have some random three mob pull where we want to split them up, but only two hunters. Right now we'd misdirect onto Aoree and maybe a second tank, and have the third try to charge in and pick them up, maybe getting clobbered by cleaves/fears/whatever in the meantime. If we did a longer misdirect pull, the third tank could buff one of the other tanks, generating non-zero threat on the third mob and then run into position long before there is any damage taken.
Paladins could pick up spare initial aggro on appropriate pulls just by buffing the puller, or someone who is already on the threat list -- you won't hold aggro, but you can control which direction they move in initially. And again because of this mechanic, pre using shield or PoM doesn't just mean a priest won't have aggro on the pull, it means that the mob won't know the priest exists on the pull. I believe sap and misdirect pulls also fail to put the rogue/hunter on the threat lists but obviously can't speak from personal experience :)
This isn't a major point but I think it's something that's important to know, and something we can use to our advantage. One key point I should emphasize is that this all has NOTHING to do with being in combat. Bloodrage will put a warrior into combat, but it won't add you to any threat lists. In contrast, and possibly adding confusion, the in combat tics on boss fights also add you to that threat list, and should probably be viewed as putting everyone in zone on this list, with a side effect of putting you in combat.