Threat Threat is a measure of an NPC ' s aggression ( often called " aggro " ) towards a player . Each NPC has a threat table , and the character at the top of the list is usually the target of its aggression . In - game , this is known as having aggro from that particular NPC . The NPC will attack that character if possible , unless another character manages to change the NPC ' s target . The tanking role usually has to pay particular attention to threat and how to hold it . Changes to threat levels . Several abilities and effects increase a character ' s threat level against a mob . Note that the effective amount of threat generated can be modified by talents and spells . See the Threat Tables below for details . Basic NPC attacks on a player do not modify threat ; a character being attacked is neither gaining nor losing threat from it . However , some NPCs have special moves that affect threat . Damage is the most basic form of threat generation . Threat measurements are normalized so that 1 point of damage generates 1 point of threat . Many abilities generate additional threat that is not tied to their effect ( damage dealt , buffs , debuffs ) . The bonus threat values are listed below . Threat caused by beneficial effects is divided amongst all NPCs that are aware of the character . This global threat applies to heals , bonus threat from buffs ( such as Battle Shout or Arcane Brilliance ) , and power gains ( such as a Mana Potion or Rage Potion ) . Healing threat is global , and is normally . 5x of the amount healed . Healing effects cause no threat if the target is already at full health . Example : Player 1 is involved in combat with 5 mobs . Player 2 ( priest ) heals Player 1 for 1000 health , and has no threat reduction talents . A 1000 heal generates 500 threat , however that 500 threat is split amongst the 5 mobs . Each of the 5 mobs now has 100 threat towards Player 2 . If a power gain ( Rage / Mana increase ) shows up in the combat log , the effect usually counts as a buff with bonus threat attached to the event . There are no Energy - increasing effects that appear to cause bonus threat . Normal power regen does not generate threat . Normal health regen also does not generate threat . For debuffs and attacks , any bonus threat is divided amongst the affected targets . For example , the bonus threat of Cleave is divided between the 2 targets of the attack , while the bonus threat of Sunder Armor is applied directly to the target of the attack . Some attacks ( such as Thunder Clap and Searing Pain ) have a threat multiplier instead of a bonus threat value . Tank threat bonus . Classes that are designed to fulfill a tanking role now gain additional threat when they are in that mode . This mode is triggered by Death Knights with Frost Presence active , Druids in Bear Form , Paladins with Righteous Fury active , and Warriors in Defensive Stance . Bear form doesn ' t specify that it increases threat , but the threat increase is there . Catform also has the same reduced threat that rogues have , however it too is not listed on the tooltip . While in tanking mode , the character ' s threat is further multiplied by 1 . 43x . This was done in order to simplify threat modifying buffs , and allowed for the removal / change of Blessing of Salvation and Tranquil Air Totem . In - game threat values . With the release of v3 . 0 , WoW now provides the players with threat values on your target . These values are normalized differently : they are 100x damage done instead of 1 - to - 1 . This is most likely done to optimize for integer calculations , rather than slower floating - point math . For the purposes of this article , all the values shown still use the 1 : 1 normalization for simplicity . Threat tables per class . Threat auras affect the threat value of all abilities under their jurisdiction of effect that are used while the threat - modifying aura is active ( which is always , in the case of passive modifications ) . Threat - modifying abilities have a direct effect on the threat level of one or more characters . All damaging abilities generate threat equal to 100 % of the damage done ( before modifiers ) , so any threat listed for a damaging ability is assumed to be " bonus " threat on top of the baseline threat from the damage caused . An increase in threat by X % is equal to multiplying the current modifier ( which begins at 1 . 0 ) by ( 1 + X % / 100 ) ; for example , a threat increase of 20 % would be a multiplier of 1 . 20 . Likewise , a decrease in threat by X % is a multiplier of ( 1 - X % / 100 ) ; a threat decrease of 30 % would be a multiplier of 0 . 70 . Threat modifiers ( such as Defensive Stance ; not direct value changes , such as Feint ) stack multiplicatively when calculating the threat for an ability affected by more than one modifier . The final threat modifier for an ability is determined by multiplying all the active modifiers together ; if the previous two examples were active simultaneously , the total threat caused would be 1 . 00 ( baseline ) * 1 . 20 * 0 . 70 = 0 . 84 , or 84 % of the threat that you would have caused without multipliers . NOTE : The Threat system was heavily overhauled for Wrath of the Lich King and Patch 3 . 0 . 2 . The numbers in these tables have been updated to the extent of understanding that community research has achieved so far ; any pre - Wrath values that have not been verified or updated for the post - 3 . 0 game are currently " italicized " to indicate that their values may be incorrect or outdated . Also , be aware that many ability pages have not been properly updated for the post - Wrath values and may contradict the values in this table . Finally , note that the in - game threat meter ( introduced in Wrath ) does not use the decimal notation the table does ; instead , the baseline modifier is considered to be 100 . For example , causing 100 damage would cause ( 100 * 1 . 0 ) = 100 threat by this page ' s system . The in - game threat meter , however , would consider 100 damage as causing ( 100 * 100 ) = 10000 threat . Likewise , the 80 % threat modifier of Battle Stance would be 0 . 8x for all threat caused , while the in - game threat meter would consider all threat to be multiplied by 80 while in Battle Stance . Stacked threat auras . Threat auras stack in a multiplicative fashion . A common but wrong assumption is that due to this mechanic , threat reduction effects provide less benefit the more a player has ; in fact , threat reduction is always equally powerful , no matter how much a player has . Example : You are a Paladin casting a heal ( threat is normally . 5x healing done ) . For healing , Paladins also have an innate threat reduction ( . 5x ) . Consider that Righteous Fury is active ( 1 . 9x threat generated on Holy spells ) , which also means the game considers you in tanking mode ( 1 . 43x on all actions ) : Your healing threat would be : . 5 * . 5 * 1 . 9 * 1 . 43 = . 679x healing done . Videos . < youtube > EOIMvEVCtxU < / youtube >