Hold the Line; An Endgame Tanking Reference

By: Patrick O'Callahan / Ciderhelm


3.4 Special Creature Abilities

The following is a list of general creature abilities which will can be found in most encounters. However, with each encounter they are factored differently, and often you will find a mix of these abilities. Some mobs have special, hard-coded and unique abilities such as Golemagg's reactive damage proc; these mob-specific abilities are not covered here.

3.4.1 Threat Reduction & the Ceiling

To preface the following list of creature abilities I would like to make a few notes about general aggro issues regarding bosses.

Regarding the Aggro Ceiling. This phrase is used by people to describe arcane and sometimes mythological contraptions used by Blizzard to create incredibly complex aggro issues. It also is completely misunderstood, partly by the way people originally presented this theory to MMO gamers.

There is no Aggro Ceiling. There is, however, a limit to raid aggro output based on the mechanics of certain fights and abilities. The simplest way of explaining this is that certain abilities drop the aggro on the creature's target -- the tank -- by either a percentage or a set threat value. As the same tank continues to have his overall aggro reduced, the raid generally has a higher chance of pulling aggro. This can be solved from two directions -- dropping overall raid DPS to compensate and/or utilizing multiple tanks so the aggro reduction is substantially more limited. Innovate.

These abilities come in many forms. An aggro reduction can be attached to any ability a creature has. These triggered threat drops are a standard part of Warcraft and were introduced originally in Blackwing Lair but more heavily in Ahn'Qiraj and Naxxramas.

There has beeen discussion of an Aggro Floor as well. This is based on misconceptions of the Aggro Ceiling and has never been seen to date in a Warcraft encounter.

3.4.2 Knockbacks, Knockups, Knockdowns, and Stuns

These abilities represent the ability of the creature you are fighting to directly control your character's position or ability to respond. These abilities are also standard, unlike programmed invulnerabilities or immobilization.

Let's start with the most common and most difficult of the abilities to deal with -- Knockbacks. A Knockback has two critical components. First, it attempts to physically move your location on the battlefield. The simple solution to this is to use positioning and your environment to your advantage.

The second component to a Knockback is an aggro reduction. Nearly every Knockback in the game -- I cannot recall an encounter where this isn't true -- removes a portion of your accumulated aggro on the creature. Any creature with the Knockback ability is highly prone to aggro loss, and creatures which are immune to Taunt require innovative thought or careful raid aggro output.

Dealing with the aggro component of a Knockback often requires multi-tanking. This is particularly true for Onyxia, Broodlord, Firemaw, Ebonroc, Flamegor and any other fight with a propensity towards rapid Knockbacks; it would otherwise be impossible to handle these fights with a single tank. However, if multiple tanks are vying for aggro on untauntable mobs, threat will generally pass back and forth and essentially cut the risk of losing to raid aggro in half. Keep in mind, however, that any time a new tank is added into the rotation they must have a higher accumulated aggro than anyone else in the raid; Knockbacks are not standard aggro exchanges. Once the additional tanks have gained aggro at least once, though, they will be held to standard aggro mechanics for the remainder of the fight.

Another key note for dealing with Knockback abilities is that cutting your raid damage output can be detrimental to the course of the event; though the tank gains the temporary benefit of not losing aggro on a given Knockback, the increased duration of the fight means any Knockback which reduces a percentage (as opposed to set amount) of accumulated aggro will build up over time until it passes the point of no return.

A helpful way of dealing with some Knockbacks is to stance-dance and Intercept back to the creature, particularly if it is an immobile creature such as Ragnaros.

Knockups are the same as Knockbacks except that they do not include the threat-reducing effect. This is characterized by being knocked upwards, either vertically such as with Anub'Rekhan or at a slight angle. Fall damage is nearly always incurred in a Knockup, so identifying positioning where a balcony or overhang will limit your fall damage is helpful.

Knockdowns are a short immobilizing effect which make you incapable of interacting with the creature in any way. A Knockdown can often occur near the time you engage on a creature, particularly with Molten Destroyers, so the raid needs to be made aware if you will be unable to accumulate aggro early on to avoid aggro issues.

Stuns are similar to Knockdowns but have the key component that they can be broken through the use of trinkets or abilities. Stuns can also be resisted.

3.4.3 Triggered Memory Loss

Triggered Memory Loss can be found in stand-alone creature abilities or attached to other abilities such as Core Hound stuns. A Triggered Memory Loss is a temporary threat wipe which causes the creature to attack other players or generally stop attacking you.

Recovering from a Triggered Memory Loss must happen in one of two ways. Either you must physically engage the target again or it will happen automatically once a debuff or impairing ability wears off. On tauntable mobs, it can often be helpful to have another tank in between the creature and the rest of the raid so that once the memory loss occurs he can pick it up and bring the creature back to you.

A Triggered Memory Loss is always temporary and has no impact on your accumulated aggro; it is not the same as a Triggered Aggro Loss.

3.4.4 Triggered Aggro Loss

This is one of the most difficult abilties for a tank to deal with. A Triggered Aggro Loss is a complete erasure of your accumulated aggro. Examples of Triggered Aggro Loss include Shazzrah and Noth the Plaguebringer. Triggered Aggro Losses usually require innovative thinking because they are different for each encounter.

Some creatures with Triggered Aggro Loss are impossible to maintain regular aggro with, such as with Naxxramas Cultists; much of the time you can ignore these. However, most creatures give you the ability to maintain them for a set amount of time before they erase their accumulated aggro again.

Dealing with this is relatively simple in theory. Once the aggro wipe occurs you will want to rebuild it as you would normally -- ideally quickly, so the raid can fully assist on bringing the creature down. Shazzrah and Noth both sport relatively long damage timeframes you can use before the aggro loss reoccurs and these encounters are designed around utilizing it.

What makes aggro wipes particularly difficult are that the ability itself does not cancel any spells or damage in progress at the time of the wipe. This means that a massive Aimed Shot or Shadowbolt crit may hit Shazzrah immediately after -- not prior -- to the aggro wipe. Since the aggro has accumulated onto that Hunter or Warlock, it is generally made doubly difficult to get back off because you will then have to gain the threat of the other player's damage and an additional 10% to get the creature to attack you.

Dealing with this is best as a two-pronged approach. First, if there are timers involved and slower, sustained DPS will defeat the creature, cancel any ranged DPS in particular near the time of the Triggered Aggro Loss. Second, it will help you a lot to practice rage conservation -- if you know Noth is near blinking away, make sure you have enough rage to use Shield Slam and Heroic Strike to get him back immediately.


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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

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