No threat for Lifebloom
Lume the Mad has done the math (very thoroughly), and he's got the answer for Druids: the end healing burst of Lifebloom doesn't cause any threat at all, either for the caster or the recipient. He first pared the entire situation of casting Lifebloom down to its basic elements -- you've got a player who body pulls a mob, and a Druid healing them. He took out all possible reactive abilities that might cause threat, and then set up a situation where the Druid obtained threat, and cast LIfebloom on another player, with an opposing faction Shaman purging the spell early (so it could jump straight to the end heal), and the mob stayed on the Druid -- the big heal didn't cause threat for the recipient at all. Finally, Lum tested if the Druid was recieving aggro, and as you can see above, neither the Druid caster or the Warlock is affected by the end heal of Lifebloom -- just one point of damage can still pull the mob around.
There's been a lot of discussion about this already -- the HoT aspect of Lifebloom still does cause threat (for the Druid), and so you combine that with the fact that lots of people were testing under "unsecure" situations, and the whole thing got very confusing. But Lum's tests seem very clear: Druids can cast away knowing that they won't pull aggro with that burst of healing at the end of the spell.
[Thanks, Matticus!]
Filed under: Druid, Analysis / Opinion, Tricks, Raiding, Guides
Patch 5.2 interview with Dave Kosak
Inside an old alt's vault
The latest patch 5.2 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria news





Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Kyle Jul 28th 2008 3:47PM
How exactly does this translate to a resto druid being OP? I don't see a lot of people suggesting that resto is OP in PvE/Raiding, and threat isn't really an issue in PvP, so what's the problem?
Andrew Welch Jul 29th 2008 4:05AM
Everyone likes to call all the classes that they don't play overpowered... Its Human (Wow) Nature
LXj Jul 28th 2008 4:01PM
Well, it's about time. Someone still doesn't know that final bloom doesn't add threat to the druid? Come on, it was new in TBC, not in Wrath
Lume Aug 4th 2008 7:38PM
Except for the fact that it has been argued back and forth for a year and a half despite solid evidence suggesting it generates no threat. So the video serves no purpose other than to refine the results of other tests and provide videos that reinforce the issue.
Naix Jul 28th 2008 4:55PM
Because Druids have no threat dump all I can say is this is very welcome. Blizzard is very wise about putting in features that help each class. Druids get a non-threat heal.
Thanks Blizzard!
Sorcefire Jul 28th 2008 5:10PM
Just curious if Cower (in cat form) was an aggro dump? I've never really used it as yet, but would helpful knowing this. Thanks
Adaim Jul 28th 2008 5:20PM
The HOT portion of a lifebloom still gives off threat, it's only the bloom that does not. I don't know about you but I usually 3 stack my lifebloom and the 'bloom' at the end is less healing then 2 ticks (2 seconds) of the hot portion of the spell. Whether or not the bloom generates aggro is really only important in certain rare situations. I'm disappointed in this new information as I've always tried to time the 'bloom' so it hits just after the tank takes damage on a pull assuming it would be somewhat like a prayer of mending and give additional threat to the tank. I guess I was just wasting my time.
programmerchris Jul 28th 2008 6:32PM
A couple issues I have with the test, although it's certainly interesting.
1. Purging the lifebloom MAY not be the same, in terms of threat generation, as having it bloom naturally.
2. If the lifebloom was purged while it's target was already at full health, then of course no threat is generated for anyone.
Maybe both these issues are addressed in the video which I can't watch. :)
Shionia Jul 28th 2008 9:35PM
"I'm disappointed in this new information as I've always tried to time the 'bloom' so it hits just after the tank takes damage on a pull assuming it would be somewhat like a prayer of mending and give additional threat to the tank. I guess I was just wasting my time."
/seconded
Pzychotix Jul 29th 2008 12:26AM
Functionally there is no difference between a lifebloom that is purged off and a lifebloom that runs off. The Bloom is just a trigger that occurs when the HoT leaves the user. There'd be no reason for there to be "threat" off of a special case that won't even happen most of the time.
lawomous Jul 28th 2008 6:49PM
FF3, yep Adblock Plus was doing it since there was a doubleclick.net reference embedded.
Of course I turned it right back on afterwards though..
Pzychotix Jul 29th 2008 12:27AM
This is pretty old news. Any resto druid worth his weight knew this already.
Not to mention that no good resto druid would ever let Lifebloom bloom anyways.
Stupid Mage Jul 30th 2008 8:42PM
Wow, it's so sad that nobody knows who Lum the Mad is.