Aggro Aggro is an English slang word , probably originally derived from the words " aggravation " or " aggression " , and used since at least the 1960s . In MMORPGs , such as WoW , aggro denotes the aggressive interests of a monster / NPC . Some examples are " We ' ve got aggro ! " and " Go aggro that monster " . For example , you may read of a player who died while fighting one mob because she aggroed another mob — that is , another mob decided to attack her because she got too close to it , or for other reasons . See Aggro radius . Aggro is closely associated with the concept of threat . If a mob is under attack by more than one player ( or by a player and her pet ) , then the mob will aggro onto ( i . e . , will begin to attack ) the attacker with the highest threat . Aggro is understood to be the condition of a particular mob attacking a particular character , while threat is the numeric value that each attacker has towards each character on its threat list . The basic behavior of aggro is controlled by the rules outlined below . Some mobs will have secondary attacks which have different targeting procedures ; even for a normal creature , the target who has aggro is not necessarily the player highest on its threat list . Managing aggro is one of the most important aspects of grouping because it determines how much damage the group receives and where the damage ends up . Holding aggro is done by ( usually ) one person ( the tank ) who uses his abilities to make the enemy attack him and no one else . For hunters and warlocks , the pet usually operates as a tank in solo play . Aggro control is the art and work which is done by all members of a party to force the mob to attack the tank ( s ) . For a long time it was thought that players would never be able get a sound understanding of how aggro works because it was assumed that it is based on complicated AI algorithms which can ' t reasonably be deduced from the little information Blizzard has made available to us . Thanks to the work of some dedicated individuals , however , it is now known that this is not the case . Today there is a quite thorough theory on aggro which explains most of the factors involved in a mob ' s target selection . Overview . Attack - able mob s come in two varieties : neutral and hostile . Neutral mobs , which are most mobs near starter towns but many others as well , will attack only after you begin attacking ; these are surrounded by a yellow circle when you target them . However , most mobs are Hostile , displaying a red circle and will attack as soon as you get too close . The maximum distance at which a hostile mob will attack is known as a mob ' s aggro radius or aggro range , which is affected by both the mob ' s and the character ' s level ( some mob types , such as Wolves , may have a larger aggro radius than another mob of the same level ) . Aggro , Build , Grouping , and Survivability . Holding aggro and staying alive are the two main jobs of any tank ; while almost any class can accomplish the former , only specific class / spec combos can do the latter . When playing on your own , all mobs you attack will attack you back . However , in a party , the role of the tank is very important , especially in the higher level game . Monk , Warrior , Druid , Paladin and Death Knight all have specializations allowing them to act as tank in instances , if they have the right gear . The job of the tanks is holding the aggro of the mob while the rest of the party attacks or heals . This prevents the mobs from attacking the generally weaker , cloth or leather wearing damage - dealing and healing classes . Some advanced players and theorycrafters claim that other classes can be viable tanks as well , albeit only in the hands of expert players , or by use of tanking pets . Whatever the viability , this is widely considered a poor first choice ( except in solo play ) , and an irresponsible choice , full stop , in group play ; understanding a tank ' s strategy , determines the success of the healer , and thus the whole team ; " experimental " tanks ( including tanks in the correct spec but using incorrect , " experimental " or outdated gear and stat priorities ) therefore are widely regarded to be trolling or under - prepared / unfit for the role of tanking . Aggro - control in a party . Controlling aggro is not only a tank ' s responsibility . Each and every member in the party is responsible for aggro , and most classes have the ability to control the amount of threat they generate . For example , a priest has the Fade ability , which lowers the priest ' s threat temporarily and helps the tank hold aggro or break an aggro lock . Tanks can use taunt to pull back a mob ( or up to three mobs for a paladin tank ) if someone else aggroed it , but in the best groups a tank will only rarely need to taunt — though many still will just in case . ( The effectiveness of taunting a mob that is already focused on you is controversial . ) A tank can hold aggro without ever having to taunt if every class is aware of how aggro works . Pulling . The following conditions will cause a mob to attack a character if it isn ' t already attacking someone else : During the fight . In general , the more damage an attack does ( or the more healing a heal does ) , the more ' hate ' or threat it generates . Some abilities have added or lessened threat generation ( and that ' s often listed in the tool tip for that ability ) and there are talents you can take to decrease or increase your overall threat . Damage - or healing - over - time spells tend to generate less threat than a big , all - at - once nuke , and debuffs like Demoralizing Shout tend to generate threat greater than the damage they actually do . Who a mob attacks . Most mobs will go by the threat list or " hate list " or " aggro list " to determine who they are hitting , but some mobs have abilities that ignore or change this : Securing Aggro . Activity commonly performed by tanks . This is where other classes hold back DPS and healing until the tank has a certain margin of threat built upon one or more mobs . Frequently a tank would perform this by : Drawing aggro . The following conditions will cause a mob to attack a character if it is already attacking someone else : If healers / DPS draw aggro . If you do draw aggro , and you are not the tank , the first thing you should not do is run around . Stand where you are and use your threat reduction abilities : Fade , Feint , Feign Death , Invisibility , etc . Do not attack the mob if you want it to be pulled off of you quickly , and stop healing if at all possible . If the tank does not seem to notice it , type a quick ' help aggro ' ( or even ' agg ' ) into the chat . Remember : every point of damage that you do to it and every point of healing you do makes you more threatening , and when something unwanted is attacking you , the last thing you want to do is further entrench yourself on its hate list . If the tank is not nearby , help him to regain aggro by running " toward " him . If he has to come to you , it makes it harder to maintain aggro on the other targets . Get close to him , let him taunt it off you , then move away and use any threat reduction abilities to help him keep it . A hunter ' s pet ( especially a beastmastery hunter ' s pet ) is REALLY good for saving squishies who have drawn aggro . Turn on growl , and hit intimidation if you have it , and it should pull the mob right off ( remember to turn growl back off when you send the pet back to the main tank ' s target ) . For the tanks , if someone else draws aggro from you , you should use the following taunting abilities : Also , the shaman ' s Stoneclaw Totem and Earth Elemental Totem can taunt and hold aggro for a short time . Note : the Growl of a Hunter ' s pet and Torment ability of a warlock ' s Voidwalker are not actual taunting abilities ; they merely cause a substantial amount of Threat . When warrior ' s Taunt , druid ' s Growl , paladin ' s Righteous Defense / Hand of Reckoning , or death knight ' s Dark Command is used , three things happen : This only applies to Taunt , Growl , Hand of Reckoning and Righteous Defense . Mocking Blow , Challenging Shout and Challenging Roar do force mobs to attack you ( # 1 ) , but do not match threat or transfer aggro . Mocking Blow generates a pre - defined amount of threat ; Challenging Shout and Challenging Roar do not generate any threat at all ! Threat reduction . Threat reduction , sometimes referred to as " aggro dumping " , is the act in which a player uses an ability to remove some or all threat from a target or targets . Note : Fade , Feint , and Cower will not be useful in solo situations . Soulshatter will only work if the warlock ' s minion has accumulated sufficient threat . All classes :