This Thing You Call Aggro.

[Bolty]

Griz has the whole aggro thing down.  Fade ftw, rely upon the warrior for a taunt, and generally, everything is copacetic.  If the MT goes down, I'm probably fried because I've drawn a lot of hate in my attempts to keep the MT alive.  but the answer to this is pretty clear:  don't let the MT die.[right][snapback]78333[/snapback][/right]

One of the major things that makes Priests generally superior to Druids in healing duties is their ability to manage aggro like that. As Tal wrote, I enjoy playing the aggro game when we duo and there's no real threat of us dying - "Let's see Tal get aggro off THIS!" because I know I can always Fade and he can grab the aggro off me if we ever really get in trouble. This is also why I respect Druids so much - they can heal like Priests (sans Holy Word: Shield), but they lack the aggro control to keep things off them. Very challenging.

Playing a Rogue or Mage, as has been noted, is a different beast. As a Priest, you're automatically used to generally waiting at the start of a fight before healing, because there's no point to healing until people get hurt anyway. As a Mage or Rogue, though, you feel like you're not being useful when you act the same way. Your function is to obliterate. So if you're not obliterating, what good are you?

Nothing drives a main tank more nuts than seeing a Mage start casting Fireball or Frost Bolt the moment they engage an enemy. They're just starting to get enough rage for a Sunder and BAM! The mob goes zipping off to the squishies and the tank's off and running after it.

What's scary is that even level 60 mages don't get this (not referring to any Lurkers, just what I've seen in pickup groups). You'd think they'd learn eventually!

Blizzard modified Scorch recently to make it a more attractive use-early-in-the-fight spell. It builds power, doesn't draw much aggro, and lets you do something while the tank is busy annoying the foe. Ultimately however, you have to expect some time just waiting - something that comes naturally to a Priest but seems odd to a nuker.

Playing my Mage, that's not even the worst thing. The worst thing is watching a party member's health deteriorate and having absolutely no power to help them! I'm sure you know what I mean. Priest habits die hard.

-Bolty