Threat and Taunt

How monsters choose who to attack, why Warriors hold aggro, and which pets can taunt.

Based on the game's monster AI code. Not yet tested in game.

There is no threat meter

Many games give each player a hidden threat number that grows with damage and healing. Whoa Adventure doesn't. A monster remembers only who hit it in the last 65 seconds. How much damage you dealt doesn't matter, and healing never draws attention.

Each time a monster decides what to do, it picks a target again, so targets can change in the middle of a fight.

How a monster picks its target

The monster goes down this list and stops at the first rule that finds someone:

1. Taunt. If it is taunted and the taunter is within 20 m, it attacks the taunter.
2. Recent attackers. Otherwise it attacks the closest enemy that hit it in the last 65 s. Most monsters consider attackers up to 100 m away, but some only look within 15 m.
3. Anyone nearby. Otherwise it attacks the closest enemy within about 15 m (50 m in raids).

With the recent-attackers rule, the closest attacker wins. It doesn't matter who hit first, who hit last, or who dealt the most damage. The monster doesn't stick to its current target either: every time it re-checks, it switches to whichever recent attacker is closest at that moment.

Example: a Mage hits a monster first. The Mage is its only attacker, so it walks toward the Mage. Meanwhile an Archer also hits it. As the monster walks, it passes closer to the Archer than to the Mage, so it turns on the Archer, even though the Mage pulled it. If a Warrior had taunted it, the monster would have gone for the Warrior instead.

Melee heroes standing next to the monster pull it away from ranged heroes, even if the ranged heroes deal more damage.

Taunt also affects a monster's skills. When a skill picks its targets, the taunter comes first. Only a few monster abilities ignore taunt.

Taunt

Taunt is a debuff placed on the monster that points it at the hero who applied it.

• It lasts until another hero's taunt replaces it, so the most recent taunt wins.
• The monster ignores it while the taunter is more than 20 m away, dead or untargetable, and goes back to the rules above.

Warriors

Warriors are the only class whose skills taunt:

Because Warriors re-taunt on almost every cast, they keep monsters on themselves without needing extra damage. Another Warrior taunting the same monster takes it over.

Intimidating Taunt (Warrior Specialization): while in the Rage Burst state, the taunt radius of the Warrior's Basic, Core and Tactics skills grows from 6.5 m by +60% (level 1, about 10.4 m) or +100% (level 2, 13 m). It changes only how far the Warrior's taunt reaches. It does not change the 20 m distance within which a monster keeps following its taunter, and it does not affect Ultimate taunts.

Pets that taunt

These pets taunt with their active skill, and the taunt points at your hero, so any class can use them to grab monsters:

Soulclaw is the strongest way to gather a large pack. A non-Warrior can use it to pull monsters together, but those monsters will then attack that hero.

Abilities that target by class

Some boss abilities pick their own targets by class, regardless of who is tanking. They are common in the Lantern Challenge. Examples:

These abilities are designed to hit specific classes, so expect them to land on the classes listed, not the tank. Non-Warriors should be ready to get out of the venom zone or break out teammates trapped in Water Prison.

Tips

• Tanking: stay close. Even without taunt, the closest recent attacker gets hit.
• Assassins: as the other melee class, you are usually the closest attacker, so you are the most likely to pull aggro. Keep moving until the tank has taunted the monster.
• Ranged heroes: keep your distance from monsters you are attacking. If you are the closest attacker, you become the target.
• Two Warriors: the one who taunted last holds the monster. Taking turns causes it to switch back and forth.