Right infront of our noses...

[Minowara]

Ok, before I start to tell you my ideas, let it be clear that this thread does not invole every aspect of class balance, only aggro. Also, it is just the start of an idea, not the finalized version. My points are mostly warrior specific because I really think that the aggro issue for warriors needs to be addressed in a seperate manner from the utility, discipline, etc. issues.

The vast majority of us here say that AE taunt is THE warrior defining AA. It allows us to snap aggro, not to mention, in a radius. Having recently aquired this AA myself, I can say that it is extremely useful in many group situations aswell as in raiding. Paladins need to have a fix, I'm not sure what, but that is not what my thread is about. My idea to bring the warrior's taunt up to speed with Paladins and SKs alike is with this:

The taunt button - many classes out there have a taunt button. The warriors, the masters of melee combat, should have more then just a weak old taunt button to press when Dumbass_01 doesn't watch his aggro, or Puller_02 gets an add by mistake. AE taunt works so damn well that it should be the basic taunt for warriors, we don't have a taunt button that refreshes every 7 or so seconds (No clue on actual time), we get a nice 'ol AE taunt button that works just like the niffty AA does, only that all warriors have it from level one and it operates on taunt's normal timer. Does this allow warriors to get aggro easily? Yes, AE taunt has never failed me. Does it make warriors more appealing in groups for terms of crowd control - I would say so. The only problem I have encountered is that I am not sure what would happen when you need to split tank certain mobs (Mostly raids), and you don't want to aggro mobs other people are tanking (that is where paladin aggro lock comes in..kinda), or when you want to taunt a target in close range of NPC's that you are trying to keep alive / don't care about (Like merchants, etc.).

Now you may be thinking, what happens to our AE taunt AA? Many people say the AE taunt AA is best used from switching tanks in raids, and establishing aggro at the start of boss mobs. Make a new ability for 5 AA:

Taunt of the Warmaster-
Single target, 1000 hate, 5.00 /65 stun. 15 minute refresh

The new AA would for the most part, garuntee aggro lock - even more so then AE taunt. It would replace AE taunt for tanking switching, and it would allow warriors to create solid aggro fast.

I know the ideas are rough, but thats why I brought them out. What do you guys think of these? Comments? Suggestions? Flames? Throw 'em at me.

[Gyrfalcon]

Warrior problems are not with taunt, but rather agro generation. The mechanics of taunt are such that it takes you to the top of the agro list plus a small amount of hate over (just enought that you lose agro if the caster you jut taunted the mob off of decides to sit down). Improving taunt is great and all, but give us tools to GENERATE agro besides procs. I can work with basic taunt with a limited amount of reliable agro generation that does not depend on RNG.

[Valeris]

Well put Gyr.

[Daemonwynd]

I been sayin that same thing for quite some time now, Gyr. Warriors need to be given some hate generation capabilities that do not rely on weapon procs.

[kiztent]

I think this has to be one of the most ridiculously unbalancing ideas I've ever seen posted on these boards. No fail taunt fron level 1? Put the pipe down.

[FulorianC]

Edit: I failed Reading Everything 101. NT!

[juraveil]

Originally posted by Minowara
AE taunt works so damn well that it should be the basic taunt for warriors, we don't have a taunt button that refreshes every 7 or so seconds (No clue on actual time), we get a nice 'ol AE taunt button that works just like the niffty AA does, only that all warriors have it from level one and it operates on taunt's normal timer. Does this allow warriors to get aggro easily? Yes, AE taunt has never failed me

Is what i think the person above replied to when they were talking about a lvl 1 taunt that never fails. Maybe it was you that failed reading comprehention 101.

[Friedrick]

AE Taunt can fail.

Low Health Aggro >>>> AE Taunt.

I lost a chanter once because of this. Mob one rounded the chanter to around 20% health on resisted slow. When AE taunt was used mob never even turned on me (even momentarily).

[proteg]

Great idea Minowara. kiztent, about your balance... Pallies get aggro lock at level 9 with their first stun, and you don't seem to be complaining about the class balancing.

Couple nights ago I was in a US group with a Pally MT. It was simply the easiest exp I have ever seen by a factor of 100. All he had to do was hit his "get aggro" button (you call it Stun) and then atk. Sit back and go watch TV.

Every time I MT, I have to have my eyes glued to the mob in case a robe pulls aggro, so I can hit my "please let me have aggro" button. We had a mage charming elementals, and every time the charm would break, the Pally would assist the mage, hit "get aggro" then resume attacking the main mob while the mage recharmed.

This is not game breaking how? What's the point of a game where you can play it while watching TV?

It's a tough corner to be in for Sony. Nerf Pallies and they go back to the uselessness of Kunark. They pay to have fun too, and thats not fair. For Warriors, you get to live with everyone joking about how shitty your aggro is and being the number three on the list of Tanks for exp groups, despite the fact by definition, youre ENTIRE pupose of your class IS to Tank.

Honestly, I vote they just start trying a few simple things out on Test Server. Try ten simple fixes that address the problem in some small degree, and start filtering them out as to which are good and which are bad.

[kiztent]

Originally posted by proteg
Great idea Minowara. kiztent, about your balance... Pallies get aggro lock at level 9 with their first stun, and you don't seem to be complaining about the class balancing.

I'm not a paladin either, but I see what you're getting at. I still think that AE taunt for warriors at level 1 with 7 second refresh is the single stupidest idea I've ever heard anywhere.

Ever try having a knight and warrior at the same level (and gear) tank the same mob (off tank on double pull say).

Try it sometime. You'll be really suprised.

[Shadowfrost]

For the aggro fix - and for the record, I don't think the warrior fix should be confined to aggro, dual wield DPS and straight damage mitigation also need to be examined - but for the aggro fix, I'm in favour of a new skill, perhaps to be purchased for a nominal 1aa, called "Low Blow". It uses the kick animation... *cough* I'm sure you understand. Anyway, knights are just too honourable to use it, but it certainly does annoy the critter.

It's a straight aggro boost, not a taunt; taunt is on a separate timer. Once you've used it, it's greyed out for about a minute.