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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBuilt-in threat meter coming in future patch
by Eliah Hecht 
Feb 27th 2008 at 3:00PM
As time moves forward, so does WoW's built-in interface. Last patch we got some big additions in voice chat and guild banks (alright, that's not quite interface, but it's not quite gameplay either), as well as cursors and tracking for various types of objects and NPCs. There's not much in terms of interface news in patch 2.4, but Nethaera has just confirmed that a future patch will bring a big new feature: threat meters. (We first heard about this back at Blizzcon.)Required by many raid groups, two big threat meter add-ons have been available for a while: KLHThreatMeter (a.k.a. KTM) and Omen Threat Meter. They both work very well (and Omen's new version is going to have some shiny new features), but they share a flaw: they don't have direct access to the game's threat info, relying instead on databases of clever deductions and discoveries painstakingly built up over months. This means whenever a new patch comes out, the developers have to figure out what, if anything, has changed in terms of threat numbers, and how much. Presumably, Blizzard's threat meter will have direct access to the numbers. And hopefully when the threat meter is added to the game there will me methods added to the API for accessing the numbers, so KTM and Omen can become even better alongside the new official meter.
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Chuddy Feb 27th 2008 4:30PM
Eliah, Why would you want to do that to a group my friend?You have it but dont use it? It's not like it's something that's taking up a huge chunk of space in a 5 man and it's only purpose is to help. You must play in the most perfect wow environment where you always have CC, a good tank, and always guildies willing to run with you. On Crushridge you're lucky if half of your pug's dont completely fall apart before the first boss. /ginvite please!
Nick S Feb 27th 2008 4:31PM
i rarely leave the 90-100% range on threat as a mage. i regularly have to throttle my dps to avoid pulling a mob that can two-shot me in heroics... i just can't imagine life without it. i installed KTM on my first character ever at level 22, and i've never been without it since. i salute those with enough natural sense for the game to manage their own aggro without such an addon.
Eliah Hecht Feb 27th 2008 4:33PM
Chuddy: well, I used to not use it because I was on a low-powered machine and it lowered my performance. Now that I'm on a stronger system I have no real reason; just habit I guess.
And as to that /ginvite, if you come to Shadow Council I'll see what I can do ;)
Zhalseran Feb 27th 2008 4:34PM
A threat meter isn't required for any encounter in the entire game. Relying on an addon is not a good idea, but like bossmods, it provides information that can make group PvE significantly easier. Know how to play without addons, and then let them make your job easier.
jrodman Feb 27th 2008 8:51PM
To Eliah:
As a healer, I rarely ever need to consult meters. What I should do is simply not deependent on the meters. I have to heal my party members to keep them alive. If my threat is low, I have to heal. If my threat is high, I have to heal. There are fairly few situations where I care about threat at all.
My only real threat concern is the opening few seconds. As a druid healer, I often have to start healing earlier than other healers (hot focused, throughput limited). Bad tanks will drop the x on me every third pull. Worse thanks will give it to me every single pull. I have to explain that they need to apply single target threat to the x earlier, or move swipe, tclap, demo shout/roar, etc higher up in their rotations, and then i have to watch the threat on the x before I start healing.
But that's only with tanks who don't really understand their job yet, and are thinking threat-on-skull is the only part that matters. Mostly, you're right, the healer doesn't need a meter.
However, OTHER players need to see the healer's numbers. A hunter can FD to save himself if the next player on the list is the tank. But he shouldn't do this if the next player on the list is the healer. Nontanks who are trying to save a healer's butt like a rogue stunlocking or a warlock charging in with their felguard want to see relative threat on that mob attacking you so they know how to save you better.
It's true, you're the group member who needs it the least, and other people need your numbers the least. But it does help the group. Personally I find checking out the numbers helps me anticipate damage, which helps me be a better healer.
kenney Feb 27th 2008 3:58PM
Yay. I have issues with both KTM and Omen- hopefully this will either replace them, or allow them to address some of the issues I have.
Also- this makes me wonder if adding some kind of threat logging to the combat logs would be possible. That would be hot.
healinglight Feb 27th 2008 4:05PM
FYI. This is bit of old information.
During the 'Raid and Dungeon' panel in 2007 Blizzcon, dev. already mention 'We would like to put DBM or Threat meter like UI in-game'
Doffencrag Feb 27th 2008 4:19PM
Yeah, I guess that's why they linked to their own article that said that (the link that says "back at Blizzcon").
I'm guessing they are just putting it here because Nethaera posted it recently, and it might put the implementation timeframe in less nebulous terms (will it be in a patch? will it be in WotLK?). Also, people might have missed it the first time it was posted.
wyrd Feb 27th 2008 8:41PM
We would like to does not equal we are going to. Thus the new article when they say they are going to put it in.
AlmtyBob Feb 27th 2008 4:33PM
I'm tend to defend Blizz's actions but I really don't want to see this happen for several reasons. Seeing a group full of threat meters is a sign of a pretty good PuG and vice-versa. It shows they have some knowledge beyond the basics. Secondly, as a tank, I love the exact numbers and detailed info I can get from Omen and Recount regarding threat. If half the raid is using the built-in then they're not sending info to Omen through the data channel and therefore my info as a tank is going to be screwy unless I use the (necessarily) simplistic Blizzard one. Just look at Voice Chat; now it seems everytime I PuG and ask if anyone wants to my vent it's 2 people join, 1 person doesn't have a mic, and the last asks "why can't we use built-in?" Ugh.
zygote Feb 27th 2008 5:18PM
What's the advantage to Vent over VC?
Having used both, with voice chat I at least know who's asking for buffs, food, or screaming, "THE SHEEP BROKE AND, OH MY GOD, THE HUMANITY, WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! RUN FORREST RUNNNN!"
I guess if you're going to have multiple channels, and the control offered in a 25-man or 40-man group I could see it, but I've never run into any crippling VC limitations.
AlmtyBob Feb 27th 2008 5:45PM
The reason, at least for me, is I use a wireless headset with it's own sound drivers. If I wanted to use in-game VC I'd need to reconfigure both my windows sound and my in-game sound since I need to use Vent for raiding and general guild socializing. I've got a second monitor with my vent window in the corner so I don't have the issue with knowing who's talking (seriously, if you have $50 to spend, invest in a cheapy used monitor. It does wonders for the WoW experience). Also, at least once every week or two, someone gets disconned from WoW but stays in Vent. Helpful for knowing if someone is coming back a lot.
jrodman Feb 27th 2008 8:54PM
Off-topic: Vent vs Ingame voice
- Vent works reliably, ingame voice breaks often
- When disconnected, vent allows you to mention this to your party
- vent has better sound quality
but also
- Vent has fees for servers, ingame voice is free
- ingame voice reliably shows you who is talking, vent does not
- everyone has ingame voice installed, even if they have no mic
MVP Schwick Feb 27th 2008 5:14PM
Chances are it will come in 3.0: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=2968233433&postId=42238533414&sid=1#144
mattiasblomqvist.email Feb 28th 2008 7:29AM
Truth is everyone that doesn't use a threatmeter very often rely on others when it shouldn't be neccessary or doesn't dish out the damage they could have. Not that you always have to be at your best all time. Most times good is enough. There's always room for improvements though and threatmeters is one way to accomplish that. If the tank has to pick up a mob coming to you he sure does his job and thats fine. If the mob didn't come at you at all because you checked the threatmeter so much better. The tank can focus on other things, you can get back to doing damage earlier than if you had to wait for the mob running back, people to get themself together and the tank building new threat on the first mob. Same goes for healers. Especially priests that are cloth wearers i.e. easily dies if they have a mob onto them. Sure if you pass the tank on threat and the mob is moving towards you you can slap on a shield and fade but you shouldn't be in that situation at all unless you really had to save someones but at the same time (we all know that happens once in a while). Knowing exactly when to stop healing for a second and then get back to it fast in a tricky situation takes skill. Without a threatmeter too often this is not skill but just pure luck. Healers from other classes has a little more body and can survive these situations but they are still stealing time and focus from other players. Maybe this sound a bit harsch. I know people who play pretty decent without meters but I'm certain they would be tottally awsome with one.
Seeing how many players without threatmeters (and skill) has ruined groups I've been in I welcome a built-in. Even if Omen or others may be better forcing everyone to at least have one may save a group or two.
Calarius Feb 28th 2008 6:48PM
I'm going to be in the wait-and-see camp. I use Omen now, and it's right most of the time. However, i do have some concerns where specific threat placement is critical (Curator anyone?). I've seen people supposedly way below me on the threat table taking Bolts. Maybe seeing a threat table that's direct from the game rather than using a database and math to estimate threat might work well, as long as Blizzard remembers that there is still 40-man content in the game.
Kerfax of Darkspear EU Apr 6th 2008 11:47AM
IF Blizzard will ad a threat meter in a future patch, it has to be something really good, because it will replace mods and thus diminishing lag.
Now, the Threat Meter should work like Omen, and also be reported to the main tank, i.e. it has to be able to 'read' everyone's class and talent spec in order to 'decide' who is tanking, offtanking and so on. Also, it should give a private warning if you're close to pulling aggro, and if you already pulled it to give a global warning so that the healer and tank change their targets, i.e. one healer to keep you alive and one tank to get the mob off.
Now, if they could combine that with Damage Meter (DPS and Threat are somewhat correlated), it would be great... Too many times I have seen different dps reports...