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NPC Aggro on AOE totems?Follow

#1 Aug 13 2009 at 4:48 AM Rating: Decent
I just found out that NPC aggro and knock off almost instantly my Magma totem when I drop it with earthbind totem and this virtually render magma totem totally useless as it could not even proc once before its knocked off is this intended change?

It doesn’t seem to matter if I shoot NPC first with LB they still aggro my magma totem.

So Blizzard wants us to use AOE only combined with Stoneclaw totem that shield AOE totem with more hp? I assume that this is the case and our choices are more limited now then. So AOE totems build aggro once more.


Edited, Aug 13th 2009 8:51am by Jakerp
#2 Aug 13 2009 at 3:34 PM Rating: Decent
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I have had the same problem in the past, Magma seems to grab aggro right off of me or the tank as soon as I drop it. A mob will just turn around and one shot it, even if it's already been hit with something. (Thunderclap, Swipe, DnD tick, Consecrate, etc)

I think it has some kind of aggro that it makes soon as it's dropped, I'll try to look it up. In the meantime, Stoneclaw is the best bet to keep Magma alive.

Other than that, maybe a threat bug.
#3 Aug 13 2009 at 4:05 PM Rating: Good
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1,882 posts
When any mobs is rooted in place they'll ignore the threat table and kill it. Watch what happens when a mage frost novas a group and the healer stands next to one of the mobs. Even if the tank has 1 million threat on said NPC it will still attack the healer since the healer is closer.
#4 Aug 13 2009 at 11:21 PM Rating: Decent
Thank you for clarifying this as part of game mechanic. There is still chance use Magma and Earthbind together if I drop them in the way that mobs cant reach magma totem while they are rooted or use it without roots.
#5 Aug 13 2009 at 11:33 PM Rating: Decent
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514 posts
Drop them next to the tank :)
#6 Aug 14 2009 at 11:03 PM Rating: Good
I'm guessing that the question is referencing issues with Magma Totem threat while solo because I can't fathom the idea of dropping a Stoneclaw Totem in a group. As someone who has done a substantial amount of tanking in WoW, I do not want people via pets, totems, or sneaky gimmicks taunting mobs. When you start messing around with taunts and sticky threat and all kinds of other crazy shenanigans, the abbreviated life of your totem is a small price to pay for me to be able to keep the situation under control as well as to be able to generate mana/rage from soaking the hits that I'm supposed to be soaking. Magma Totem has the same effective radius as a Stoneclaw Totem, so if you're trying to use a Magma Totem to damage mobs that are being tanked and you're using it in conjunction with a Stoneclaw Totem, those same mobs are also being taunted off of the tank.

Not ideal.

The only time I've ever had issues with Magma Totem threat are when I've dropped my totems too soon. Since 3.2, I've come to treat the act of dropping my totems the same as any other attack...I sacrifice the lost dps from the GCD to drop them only after the tank has nabbed initial aggro. A Magma Totem only pulses 10 times and it's a frightful mana hog relative to other totems. I want to squeeze every last bit of damage out of it that I possibly can, and part of that is dropping it when the mobs are already clustered and contained by the tank. I suppose if we really wanted to get down to the nitty gritty of the situation we could debate the dps gain/loss from dropping your totems at certain different intervals relative to the time the mobs were engaged by the tank, but the bottom line is that any threat generated by dropping your totems is only going to be an issue with a substandard tank. The first pulse from your Magma Totem is only going to create problems for a substandard tank. Tanks these days are happily facerolling 3-4k tps in 5-mans, so unless your Magma Totem is critting for more than 5-8k/pulse, there's no reason a decent tank should have difficulty containing the mobs.

If you're waiting to drop your totems roughly the same length of time you'd wait to wind up your first attack and your Magma Totem is still getting trounced, your tank is not doing their job.

Edited, Aug 15th 2009 6:50am by AureliusSir
#7 Aug 15 2009 at 8:38 PM Rating: Decent
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As Aurelius said, the taunts from the tank from Stoneclaw is always complained about, as with Army of the Dead, etc.

Playing my DK tank, I don't see the problem. I PUG alot, and have people using Stoneclaw, Army (I use Army alot actually, for certain phases of certain bosses) and whatever else that does little taunts. I let whatever else tank it, then as soon as that thing dies or wears off, most of the time I get threat right back. It's just less work for the healer. The tank just has to keep their rotation going. At worse, Taunt it back.

As for the rooting mechanic, if you're Elemental and your Earthbind is talented for the roots, that's why they would be hitting your Magma, they're stuck.
#8 Aug 16 2009 at 3:06 PM Rating: Good
CestinShaman wrote:
As Aurelius said, the taunts from the tank from Stoneclaw is always complained about, as with Army of the Dead, etc.

Playing my DK tank, I don't see the problem. I PUG alot, and have people using Stoneclaw, Army (I use Army alot actually, for certain phases of certain bosses) and whatever else that does little taunts. I let whatever else tank it, then as soon as that thing dies or wears off, most of the time I get threat right back. It's just less work for the healer. The tank just has to keep their rotation going. At worse, Taunt it back.

As for the rooting mechanic, if you're Elemental and your Earthbind is talented for the roots, that's why they would be hitting your Magma, they're stuck.


DK tanks don't have to worry so much about mana returns (pally) or rage (warrior/druid). If I'm tanking with my pally and I'm trying to work a rotation on a mob or cluster of mobs aren't hitting me, the lion's share of my mana return options are cut off. I do have other options, and it's not the end of the world, but it's not necessary in most cases to transfer mob attention to minions/pets/totems and it usually tends to create more problems than it solves. Threat generated by Army ghouls and especially totems is taunt threat only, meaning that sticky threat rules apply and you could find yourself with a gibbed dps if they were riding the threat line, that threat was transfered to a minion/totem and that minion/totem gets roflstompted.

I'm not denouncing it as a "don't ever do it" thing, but it's best considered a last resort scenario, and definitely under no circumstances would I want a shaman dropping a Stoneclaw Totem with every Magma Totem. That's just narrow sighted silliness. That totem is not so important that it's worth the risk.
#9 Aug 16 2009 at 4:33 PM Rating: Decent
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1,094 posts
Well yes, in groups Stoneclaw isn't so hot. I thought were talking some solo as well, I had the problem in solo also.

They aggro on to Magma also if you haven't built any threat on them. You have 3 you're AoE'ing down, and accidentally pull another, than Magma will tick and get killed by the new one.

And yes, I see that now Aurelius. I'm used to my DK, so when Stoneclaw/Army is up I just make sure to cap my RP using abilities. I suppose as a Paladin you're losing potential mana, and Warrior/Druid isn't gaining or losing any rage.
#10 Aug 16 2009 at 9:41 PM Rating: Decent
Yeah I mend solo of course.
#11 Aug 19 2009 at 1:31 AM Rating: Decent
I thought they fixed this a while back? Like last december. I remember doing solo quests back in the day for Hodir. I'd gather up like 4 or 5 mobs and use magma totem to help burn them down (I was resto). Searing I would use on 1 or 2 mobs, where magma I'd use on 3+. I'm not sure if that's most efficient, but it's what I did. Everything seemed fine as long as I used chain lightning or a shock to damage them. Only time I ran into trouble was when the damage from magma exceeded the damage I did to that mob.

Note that some mobs just don't seem to like totems. Doing the daily quests up in Icecrown, those female vykrul seemed to like to slap down my searing totem, almost always. Where as other mobs just ignore it.
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