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Dev Discussion #47 - Tanking: Threat Mitigation

VaknarVaknar Moderator, Member, Staff
edited February 2023 in General Discussion
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Glorious Ashes community - it's time for another Dev Discussion! Dev Discussion topics are kind of like a "reverse Q&A" - rather than you asking us questions about Ashes of Creation, we want to ask YOU what your thoughts are.

Our design team has compiled a list of burning questions we'd love to get your feedback on regarding gameplay, your past MMO experiences, and more. Join in on the Dev Discussion and share what makes gaming special to you!

Dev Discussion - Tanking: Threat Mitigation
For people who prefer to play the tanking role, do you enjoy holding threat as a prevalent part of combat? Would you prefer threat mechanics to be a part of combat initiation, or throughout the entire duration of combat?

Edit: Here is a follow-up question for you non-tanking players :wink:
For non-tanking players, are you fond of having to play your role with threat in mind?

Keep an eye out for our next Dev Discussion topic regarding Training!


Important Update

Hello all!

On Friday, we showed off some updates for the Tank archetype during the January Development Update Livestream. The recording shown on the livestream was re-recorded. I know some of you have left feedback on this thread regarding threat mitigation, so be sure to check out the re-recording on YouTube if you haven't already :wink:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwWK9HJNJRQ
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Comments

  • Entire duration of combat and ideally some new mechanics outside of just standing there pressing one button and yelling "yo mama" jokes at the mobs.

    Iirc we already have that cone formation thing, so I think a mechanic of random agro by the mob that tank can "feel" beforehand and has a second or two to get in position and set up a defensive stance in front of the target would be great.

    In other words, please try out something new with this archetype.
  • Song_WardenSong_Warden Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    edited January 2023
    Short bursts of threat generation coupled with decent damage. A taunt to pull mobs off others is preferable to constant threat generation. Gives a tank more options overall. I don't want tank and spank. I want skill and slaughter.

    In my experience tanks are often locked into pve roles or flag carrier roles in pvp. Hence why I request decent damage for the pvx tag. There is no holding aggro in pvp and there should be no mitigation of damage when holding aggro in pve. It is fine to be evasive but evasion and damage sponge at the sane time is rubbish. Someone should still be taking damage unless the tank has positioned the boss to prevent damage.

    It's difficult to describe the issues due to the broadness of tanking in general. I just wouldn't want to play a tank if I would be locked into pve only in a pvx game.
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  • I'm hoping for the threat generation to come from a few skills but also I'm not looking to be a DPS in armor. I'd like to see reflective damage that generate hate because that would worry me if i hit some ones shield only to feel the reflection in my blow in my hands or claws.
  • The threat should work as a debuff where the target has damage mitigation focusing on any target other than the user of the threat. What makes the skill very useful but does not necessarily lock the target hit by it.
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  • LashingLashing Member
    edited January 2023
    My feedback on this is here.
    https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/comment/357275#Comment_357275



    TLDR I would like threat management to be fairly easy on the opening of a pull an progressively get harder as the fight goes on. This solves the biggest issue I always see people have with threat systems. They do not want to wait to deal damage. With the tank having abilities that can preemptively prevent someone from pulling threat off them. In addition some mobs should have things they hate that makes them more likely to target a specific party member. Like a mob that hates healers or a mob that hates fire. That way the tank knows they need to focus on people with the negative affinity with their threat management skills. Please refer to my link for more details.
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  • AzheraeAzherae Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    When I tank, it is almost always using a class/style where I need to constantly take actions, or DPS will take it off me. By some standards it isn't quite tanking in certain games, because other people are allowed to be attacked, just 'at the moment I decide'. Then they are healed, usually by me, and I reclaim the hate based on that.

    I view threat management as a group coordination thing, therefore, and it requires at least some effort from everyone. Anything less is completely uninteresting to me. For clarity, I'm 100% an Evasion Tank. Every game. I have never chosen to play a 'straight mitigation' style tank, that I can remember, even my MOBA choices are more about 'force opponent to chase' and 'root them while I move away'.

    My main game historically didn't even have the Tank be the one to engage, as they lacked the skills to drop or avoid unwanted aggro, so ranged classes with such skills or Bards would pull, therefore the initial Threat/Hate would be important. Other games, I am fine with pulling and 'getting into position for initial Aggro' because again, I'm Evasion Tank, it doesn't often matter.

    To me, threat management is about riding the line of 'how much mitigation do I need, and how much can I remove for accuracy or other paths toward damage/control?'

    This, however, depends a LOT on the TTK of a group vs a strongish enemy in the game. Using the one I am used to, which is also what I observed in Alpha-1, it would have to be similar, where the hate generation is a consistent, sometimes complex system, and knowing 'when to put energy into mitigation' vs 'when to put energy into spiking hate after an ally does something powerful' is one of the primary skills of an experienced Tank.

    I don't remotely enjoy the flow of 'Do an ability at start to get hate and now, how good a Tank you are comes down to if you can CC the Mob's big stuff and how much damage mitigation you have'. I do not enjoy games where the 'effective way of fighting a mob' is to 'prevent the mob from actually doing all of its dangerous things', as it reduces the variety. It doesn't matter what the mob actually does if the main gameplan is always just 'stop it from doing that'. However, if mobs are allowed to realize and use their abilities, some of them will probably cause reductions in hate values, requiring the 'constant management'.
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  • Gaul_Gaul_ Member
    edited January 2023
    For people who prefer to play the tanking role, do you enjoy holding threat as a prevalent part of combat?

    I'm not sure what this question is asking. Holding threat is what defines the tank role so this seems to be self-evident.

    Would you prefer threat mechanics to be a part of combat initiation, or throughout the entire duration of combat?

    If it is possible for a dps to pull threat by their cumulative damage (when the boss is being tanked optimally), say in the middle of a raid boss, then Ashes will need some kind of threat warning system that surfaces that information to the dps and the tank as well. Otherwise, you will have a mage pull aggro on a world dragon boss with no warning whatsoever. It might be funny but it isn't really good gameplay if the mage is wondering when he will pull aggro and the tank never knows when he might be required to suddenly taunt. And if one dps can pull aggro off the tank, then it might set off a chain of dps pulling aggro...in which case the taunt cooldown becomes an issue.

    With proper balancing, threat should matter without making the tank play a mini game where they need to taunt reflexively every pull and then waiting for taunt to come off cooldown again
  • GrandSerpentGrandSerpent Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    I'm also pretty uninterested in a combat system where threat/hate mechanics are determined primarily by who engages first.

    In all the MMOs I've previously enjoyed, management of threat was an active process which everyone in the party needed to be aware of. Stuff like "the DPS needing to decide whether to commit to burst damage, based on how confident they are that the tank has control of the situation", or "quickly cycling aggro away from the healer when they need to save someone" for instance, is important to me feeling engaged, and feeling like my party has the potential for effective teamwork.

    I also agree with the point Azherae made about CCs - while it's fun if tanks have some ability to disrupt enemy attacks, if it's either too easy to do consistently, or if CCs have low cooldowns, combat can quickly get monotonous.
  • GrilledCheeseMojitoGrilledCheeseMojito Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    I play mitigation tank. The entire thrill of the fight to me is being able to control the flow of hate precisely such that my allies can spike DPS, or heal me in some way that rises threat from the opponent monster as a response to something they did. I think that this push and pull effect makes group coordination more important, because both allies and the person currently with aggro need to manage each other such that they don't perform actions that raise/drop threat too much.

    Plus, by having this available you also enable the capacity to drop hate onto others without requiring an explicit ability that does so. Emergent game play!

    Having threat determined by the pull seems like a really terrible idea to me and decreases diversity of pull situations. Especially if we see abilities like in alpha 1 where the tank can pull targets or charge at them, it would be a shame if you couldn't combine that with a Mage or Ranger pull because they take so much initial threat.

    Also, tying threat generation to mitigation abilities is a mechanic I like a lot. Whenever I use something like a Damage Reduction Stance, it should understandably upset the target a whole lot.
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  • SongRuneSongRune Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    Threat management should be an active consideration from before the engagement even begins:
    Who pulls might depend on party statuses, other enemies in the area, what buffs or prep is underway by others, requiring their time or focus.

    It should be a continuous consideration for the entirety of the fight: Tanks have the greatest focus, but the arrangement of buffs from your Bard, who and in what order the Cleric heals, how the DPS manage their abilities, and what the Rogue does to move threat around in order to allow additional tactical choices on behalf of other teammates should all be a part of the dance of threat management.

    Threat management can provide additional layers of depth to healing as well. Not just "keep the tank alive", but managing the types and levels of healing used on each teammate in order to keep hate off yourself, while anticipating upcoming events.

    Threat management should be a consideration for buffers: Do I give the Ranger more attack or will it make him pull aggro off the Tank? If he does, how long can he last, and is that useful to us? (Which brings up coordination with the healer's CD/MP/focus)

    The worst thing you could possibly do is make Threat management a simple one-time thing, or the focus of only one or two players. Done right, it allows a complex party interplay, creating and capitalizing on opportunities, adapting to unexpected shifts in situations, or ways that your responses to situations change the focus of the opponents and the shape of the battlefield.

    Threat management should start at the beginning of the planning phase, and end only when all enemies have fallen. It should be everyone's responsibility. It's a huge, crucial layer of depth and complexity to create strong team dynamics and sustain lasting interest in gameplay.
  • JustVineJustVine Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    For people who prefer to play the tanking role, do you enjoy holding threat as a prevalent part of combat? Would you prefer threat mechanics to be a part of combat initiation, or throughout the entire duration of combat?

    If there is no threat mechanic, then tanking is a lot more abstract in my opinion. I prefer threat mechanics. Not just as an occasional tank, but as any role. Particularly dynamic threat mechanics like tp that let the enemy react differently depending on how much damage is done to them at once that lets them do special abilities through out the fight like in FFXI. If hate isn't dynamic the game is too simple for my taste and tanking becomes very bland. You don't need fancy ai, just dynamic threat. We have a really old game that worked very well to prove it.

    I feel like I have a unique perspective, as I enjoy tanking in some games but not others. I don't like games where they make it impossible for me to tank in the scenarios that interest me in tanking as I tend to play classes that can easily spec into tanking. When I do tank I tend to prefer to either off tank (ie hold focus on a secondary add for part of the duration of the fight OR swap tank with with my primary tank for part of the duration) OR tank for specific types of enemies that are more about positioning, quickly adapting to an enemy, and mitigating certain types of adds. Usually these fights tend to be against spell casters, dragons, or really anything that does magic as main damage and requires a lot of spacing from the party.

    When I tank, I do not prefer to hold threat personally, I rather do it from a separate entity ie a summon. The reason I like tanking as a summoner is when the enemy is mainly magical in nature and requires a lot of mobility from the rest of the party. I prefer tanking such targets over my paladin because it frees them up to off tank more physical based adds, and frees up the party to focus on spacing. Usually I'm primary tank for these types of battles but need a secondary or off tank to help me mitigate adds or help me swap summons to switch to the right elemental resistance.

    Additionally summoners in another game I play are good at having their loyal summon tank. So when an enemy uses Charm I can continue tanking because my summon does not get charmed, even though my team can get charmed, and I am able to run away from the range of the charm in time. I usually am main tank for these types of battles.

    I love mitigation style abilities where I can swap threat between me and my summon. I love mitigation in terms of damage reduction, summoning temp hp buffering shields, and other forms of damage reduction. I love supporting my team with these as they lead to far more interesting and dynamic fights.

    To answer your key questions:

    Yes it should be part of combat initiation. Yes it should be throughout the entire duration of combat. Yes you can make threat pulling moves for tanks and hopefully as an augment. To make it work in PvP just make it force the targets reticle to focus on the activating player.
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  • NaughtyBruteNaughtyBrute Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    From the tank's perspective, I see threat handling as a 'dance' throughout the encounter by using abilities, not by dealing damage.
    But PvE encounters are much more interesting when the whole group is involved in managing threat.

    A couple of additional points for tanks:
    • Tanks are support classes and their DPS should be on par with the DPS of other support classes and significantly lower that the DPS of the worst DD classes. Therefore, I do not like when the main threat generation is dealing damage.. I prefer when other abilities are used for threat generation.
    • Tanks should NOT have pure threat generation abilities, because these are useless in PvP.. all threat generation should be additional to the main ability affect, e.g. interrupt + threat, weaken + threat, evade chance + threat, etc. This way, the abilities will be usable in PvE and PvP, where tanks can function as 'pests', a constant annoyance :)
  • i guess they should have many ways to protect their parties other than taunt, specially on pvp where people will know that tanks are not a priority
  • Song_WardenSong_Warden Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    Roofian wrote: »
    i guess they should have many ways to protect their parties other than taunt, specially on pvp where people will know that tanks are not a priority

    Tank did have a lot of hard cc. Useful in pve and pvp except when facing a green as a red tank. The reason taunt is mentioned is because tank lacked a taunt at all. The constant threat generation was too tank and spank. It meant even evasion tanks would have the boss glued to them.
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  • Throughout the duration of combat for sure. I would love to do more than just sit and face tank the enemy. Tank specific utility abilities that cover a wider variety of tasks than pure threat would help to make the character feel more fun as well. Like a wall ability as an easy example, things like that can make the class significantly more engaging for much much longer.
  • ObsidiasObsidias Member
    edited January 2023
    A good tank will generate high burst of threat early on to allow DPS to go ham. A great tank will know where to position the mobs, pull back strays, and over all protect and keep the pace of the party/raid.

    Common threat mitigation I hope to see is:
    1. Rush a mob generating high amount of threat opening the path clear for the party and positioning the mob(s) as needed.
    2. Pull mobs to the tank to allow for removing a single mob out of aggro range of other mobs.
    3. AOE maintain threat on a large group to keep from DPS pulling aggro from a single mob.


    Unique or new threat mitigation types I hope to see is:
    2. Multi-tank a skill used in combination with other tanks to hold and rotate threat to keep above the raid. This could be simple as a skill that always put the tank threat on top of the meters.
    3. Support threat generation from other classes such as a Bard boosting the threat of all tanks.
    • a. In my opinion it is important to make all tanks viable in a raid rather than always having a main tank and off tank scenarios. I have yet to see this done well in any rpgmmo.
    4. Shield threat generation. Some games now have this specific ability such as a “shield bash”. Give more use out of having a shield and making it more relevant as a tank gives the tank their unique place in the game.
    5. Weapon giving use of specific weapons that generate threat as they are used.
    6. Gear additives that generate threat when attacked or used. This could be by putting spikes on a shield and armor OR enchanting a weapon to generate more threat.


    I enjoy playing the tank in all rpgmmo’s and look forward to see the discussion and other ideas from the community.
  • BillzbubBillzbub Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    Regardless of how tanking is going to work, I think a critical thought to consider is how a tank performs their duties if they are under or over geared. For example, if tanking was based 100% on the amount of threat or damage the tank can generate versus the amount party members generate, then an under-geared tank would be unable to tank and an over-geared tank would have it too easy. Of course gear should have some effect, but so should timing, abilities, buffs, and teamwork.

    On an unrelated note, I think proximity might be an interesting mechanic for holding threat, especially for tanks with melee subclasses. The closer you are to the mob, the more threat certain (but not all) abilities generate. Of course this would have to be coupled with the ability to move around effectively on the battlefield so you can recover aggro when the mob runs off.
  • It would be nice if it was a toggleable stance IMO. So for example, you could go into 'threat generation' mode, where you do less damage, take more damage, have higher defense, block more often, AAAANNNNDDD attract mobs to attack you instead of your party/raid members. I think ALL your actions/attacks should build threat, not just hitting something, but your chants, area effects, damage over times, shouts, etc. they should all generate more than normal threat, otherwise what's the point?

    Then if you wanted to not be the tank, you could go into normal stance where you could use a 2h and do dps...
  • Hello everyone :).
    Please consider the Pet/Summons tanking as well. How a Pet should hold agro - by skills or by letting it attack
    first and getting some agression. That's also very interesting development for each tanking pet. The other thing to consider is if you don't have a tanking pet with tanking based abilites, can that pet manage to build up threath and be able to tank or the mobs will focus the main character!
    Thanks!
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  • Vaknar wrote: »
    Our design team has compiled a list of burning questions we'd love to get your feedback on ...

    Give me that list. I want to see it :smile:
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  • Lashing wrote: »
    My feedback on this is here.
    https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/comment/357275#Comment_357275



    TLDR I would like threat management to be fairly easy on the opening of a pull an progressively get harder as the fight goes on. With the tank having abilities that can preemptively prevent someone from pulling threat off them. In addition some mobs should have things they hate that makes them more likely to target a specific party member. Like a mob that hates healers or a mob that hates fire. That way the tank knows they need to focus on people with the negative affinity with their threat management skills. Please refer to my link for more details.

    Lashing, great feed back on your link. I agree with the majority of it. Bringing life to tanks in PVP is a concern and can easy be over come with cc / defensive hold the line or break through abilities that make them more viable.

  • I come from decades of playing mmos(starting with EQ), and what i am generally seeing is a bunch of people who are only fascinated with these new age instant gratification style mmos and in my personal opinion is that people need to slow down. Ashes of Creation is set to be a fantastic game with so many different and new things that are finally being brought to the MMO world but what players need to understand is that each class HAS ITS ROLE and that is how it always has and always SHOULD be.
    in my experience and in my wants as an MMO player whos main roles have always been DPS or Tank a tank should 100% be a threat mitigater. a tank should go into a dungeon with its role being to generate enough threat while being supported by cleric wizard sorceress ect. that the dps is able to do its job successfully. granted with AoC comes 64 subclasses which will of course bring incredible new ways to play an MMO but in the end a Tanks Job is TO TANK, you cant tank properly with out having the highest threat level . i dont believe a tank should just ALWAYS have the highest threat level either, as in games like NeverWinter threat is largely determined by who the enemy sees first and who is dealing the most damage so the tank should have abilities to generate threat or gear or enchantments that generate threat as well as pets that generate threat or tank a hit for the tanks every once in a while, which should all be available no matter if theyre a buffing tank and dps tank or a bastion tank ect. i understand that some people want tanks to be gods that cant be killed, or be a true dps with tanking abilities or a healer thats better than an actual healer just with tanking abilities and that just should not be the case ever.
  • AeranduilAeranduil Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    My one hard preference is avoiding one spam AOE threat skill. When Dark Knight first appeared in Final Fantasy XIV, the sound and effects of their threat AOE (now called “Unleash”) was cringe-worthy. I much prefer a 3-part AOE combo that generates enough threat on 3+ mobs and a provoke type skill if one happens to slip away.
  • I believe threat and mitigation should be a constant integral part of being a tank. It should be more than an after thought after initial pull IMO. It can be handled in many different ways for PvE and PvP when looking at each individual class of the Tank Category. Tank abilities have always been unbalanced when considering both PvP and PvE together, but separate it could be a huge positive and open up opportunities for the Tank role in general outside of being stuck flag carrying or spinning a flag in control maps. Some class crosses would be easy to cross over if the tank style is linear but for the ones that would not be I suggest;

    If you were to cross Tank into Ranger you will get Warden which would have caltrops to lay down. In PvE it would constantly slow and generate threat, but it PvP it slows and generates a dmg done reduction debuff. Both zone control and both useful in PvE and PvP, but separate from one another to allow tuning separate.

    If you were to cross Tank into Bard you will get Argent which you could instead of being a tank yourself you could project your song and defensive stats to another target. In PvE you could project that threat generation and defensive buff through someone else effectively allowing anyone to tank forcing the whole role of "tank" outside of the box completely. In PvP it would be similar but instead of threat generation you could reduce duration of CC or remove CC completely. To make it balanced maybe making it a channel to force the choice of priority in the players hands.

    At the end of the day the tank role is a support role, so keeping the support handshake from PvE to PvP I think should be the goal IMO. Adjusting damage numbers will always be tricky, but attaching threat generation to the specific subclass unique abilities should make each tank subclass fresh and clearly unique from each other. It will allow each playstyle in subclasses to approach the threat/mitigation problem in both PvE and PvP differently, but still hold that feeling of I'M A TANK!
  • I do not know about anyone else, but I would personally like to see combat in this MMO to be a push and pull between maximizing damage and preventing aggro from switching onto the DPS characters. To preface my comment for those that end up seeing this, I have not played a classic MMO in the past but rather grown fascinated and wanted to play an MMO that closely ties team aspects from roleplaying tabletop games like DnD. As such, I will focus my post mainly on the tank role in PvE instead of PvP because no one plays DnD to fight other players (imo).

    I would like to see high-end raiding/dungeon boss combat to involve the dynamic way output of DPS/threat gain from each character in determining which character(s) the boss is going to target. This will involve threat gain from tanks (or tank-like classes i.e. fighter) to have some higher value than that of the DPS classes that will be doing the majority of the damage to the boss (these classes could be ranged or melee damage classes). This means that I would prefer combat and threat management to be involved in all parts of the combat instead of just the initiation of the combat. I would hope that these values would be hidden and require high-end parties/raid groups that aim to complete challenges both fast and at arduous difficulties to have great communication lines and able to adapt to this dynamic combat environment.

    In terms of what I personally would like to do if I would play the tank class, I would like to feel like I am not just sitting AFK taking damage while being healed, have a bot to auto spam all of my threat gain/damage reduction skills off cooldown, and not need to communicate with my party based on the situation. I would like to feel that I am the frontline, the vanguard, keeping the boss at bay, shielding my party from attacks, and the need to move from one place to another to maximize my effectiveness based on the situation all the while my party is doing the damage to the boss. Have a skill that allows me to shield my party or redirect damage from them for a short duration on an ability that is only mastered through knowing the boss's attack pattern and communication with my party when I am needed the most.

    Most of my dream in terms of playing an MMO that could be the most immersive would be something similar to DnD, where the enemies are controlled by a person who can make intelligent plays in order to increase the difficulty, or Log Horizon, an anime that is based on a future MMO where high-end PvE raids/dungeons are not simply maximizing DPS and dodging AOE wipe mechanics, but dynamic fights that involve many different variables (key ability cooldowns, threat management between DPS output by damage classes and threat gain by tank classes, and unknown mechanics at the hardest of difficulty raids that are not portrayed as simple dodging or managing an item). I know that all of these things are a pipe dream for any game coming out in the next 10 years, maybe even 20. I just wanted to share some of my thoughts on this topic, I did not go into very much detail about the dynamic combat I would like to see since I honestly think my comment would not be seen by many people. If it does get a ton of traction, maybe I can another time.
  • prymortalprymortal Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One
    edited January 2023
    So specifically on the threat mitigation itself:
    In all regard Tanks need the initial hit to pull great aggro & from then on it needs to be harder to hold overtime with Crowd control skills from single pull to AOE pull depending on weapon design to recover aggro from being a, well crappy tank.

    I'd suggest a Tank Stance & a Damage Stance. Depending on how the skills work, Unfortunately it will be abused regardless.
    E.g. Tank stance = steal mobs. Damage stance = drop aggro mob kills players.
    If aggro is on the auto/main attacks only it'll feel dead to play. If its only specific skills only then you run the risk of well every MMO out there & bad tanks blowing there skill loads & not being able to get control till a near wipe.
    I hope you are looking into the more Elyon way even if it means a rework Skill "Banana" = Xdamage%(lower amount) PVE +skill effect (AOE/Dot/Aggro), Xdamage% (higher amount) PVP skills + no skill effect. ~ e.t.c./Vice Versa for the same Skills. that will at least help & remove the need for Stances.

    Tanks can't be the total package of God mode Block, God mode Damage, God Mode Aggro Control, God Mode Defense in every situation. Seen that before. Wet sponge, low damage, high aggro PVE, Dry sponge, balanced damage & limited defense & block PVP. Zero Speed buffs.

    But as your last live stream showed you already have something ready & don't actually care. Yes we were paying attention during it unlike others!
  • LinikerLiniker Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    edited January 2023
    For people who prefer to play the tanking role, do you enjoy holding threat as a prevalent part of combat?

    Main Tank here. Yes, threat should be a prevalent part of combat, it should be robust system and NPCs should have increased threat against Healers as well, the more they heal the more threat they generate making the Tank always necessary and making it near impossible for a Fighter to replace a Tank like we have seen on the latest cleric showcase.

    Would you prefer threat mechanics to be a part of combat initiation, or throughout the entire duration of combat?

    100% throughout the entire duration of combat. Threat needs to make the Tank be always necessary in group content, if not, people will just run with DPSes doing AoE farm like in classic WoW. ALL NPC packs should have CCs that prevent players from running away and they should target the healers getting increased aggro the more they heal not only getting threat from getting hit. Threat needs to be on a decay system that it lowers over time but it spikes if there is healing happening or if the mob gets hit (healing generates more threat tho) but Tank skills override those. There should also be taunt skills for PvP to force a player to lock on your target for a few seconds.
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  • One mechanic that I remember from the old Warhammer MMO was when the tank taunted a monster or player, they would only do 25% damage to anyone other than the tank that taunted them for a certain amount of time. I thought that was a really genius way to make the PvP Tank viable.
  • edited January 2023
    Q: For people who prefer to play the tanking role, do you enjoy holding threat as a prevalent part of combat?

    A: For me personally, i do indeed enjoy holding threat as a prevalent part of group combat, with things like passive hate generation with attack skill generating considerably more hate than they would otherwise based on its damage and active powerful threat skills that can force the enemy to attack you even if your threat isn't the current highest on it for short periods in important moments and to have such skills make enemies deal reduced damage to anyone else other than the source of the threat skill to make it so that even if the enemy uses AoEs the threat skill will still be effective in mitigating other party members received damage.

    Q: Would you prefer threat mechanics to be a part of combat initiation, or throughout the entire duration of combat?

    A: Certainly throughout the entire duration of combat!
    I want to see all types of threat mechanics, both from players and enemies:

    Skills that increases the threat generated by you or someone you choose(overtime or instantly),
    Skills that decreases the threat generated by you or someone you choose(overtime or instantly),
    Skills that transfer part of the threat you currently have or is generating to someone you choose,
    Skills that removes part of the threat you or someone else currently have.

    i expect such mechanics to exist inside the basic skillset of all classes if possible and see improvements around that aspect in a possible Tank Secundary Threat Augment school.

    As for bosses and monsters, i expect them to have skills that shuffle party members threat numbers around, straight up reset those numbers, randomly gain or remove threat points of random people in their vicinity and to have stats such as resistance to threat generation/diminishing skills.

    Overall, i expect threat mechanics to be deep and meaningful for every class in a group but especially for the tank, the ultimate threat manager.
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    Aren't we all sinners?
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