This Thing You Call Aggro.

[bonemage]

Unless it's a hunter uncorking an aimed shot during the pull...
[right][snapback]78366[/snapback][/right]

Or a hunter sending in their soft, DPS heavy cat as part of the pull... Try grabbing aggro off a cat if you feel like an exercise in futility. Granted, the cat will really only hold aggro on one target, but he soaks up heals twice as fast as a warrior, and if he still goes down, the healer generated a LOT of hate trying to save him. Same goes for other DPS classes.

The way I treat my role as DPS or MT is this:

The tank's job is to aggro everything possible so that when he receives his heals, the mobs don't break for the healer. DPS classes need to show proper restraint and target selection to not pull aggro off the MT. If a DPS class peels someone off with nuking, it's that person's fault they receive damage, and it's risky to the whole party for the priest to exert a lot of effort trying to save that person. That's when things go well, but things go well so much more often if all classes understand and treat aggro this way.

I've refered to aggro management between a warlock and a voidwalker as a dance, but it's true for aggro management in general. What you can and can't do has a lot of factors to it, a lot of which is timing, but it's not just the DPS classes timing or the tanks timing. The mob level plays a factor in this too. That's why it's a dance, the moves of one affect the other (tank and DPS class in the example). However, the tank is usually generating hate as fast as he can, so it's really up to the DPS classes to make adjustments. Misses, resists, these can slow down the tank, so the DPS class must recognize this and slow down as well. The best way for the DPS classes to notice this (NO, not the combat log, yeesh!) is to learn and watch the debuffs. Anyone that plays with a warrior tank should recognize sunder armor and wait for it before doing anything. Experience is the best teacher for this, and experimenting is good. "I wonder if I'll get aggro if I do THIS?!" is a healthy question to ask and tinker with (outdoors preferably).

Rules of thumb that don't take experience for DPS classes:

- If you do get aggro, move closer to the tank and stop doing damage. DON'T RUN!

- I recommend AGAINST using frost nova (mages), you could aggro more than one mob, and this is a high threat spell, NOT something to use when trying to LOSE aggro.

- Recognize that the MT and healer are crucial to the party, moreso than DPS classes. If the MT or healer dies, a wipe is VERY likely. Sometimes the healer may have decided it was too risky to save you and may let you live with the consequences of you over nuking. Let it be a hard lesson and don't flame the healer.