Why is Taunt not used for aggro control

When I first saw it while playing Rev I thought that the raids will require tanks with the Taunt condition to control aggro. But instead toughness is used to aggro the boss.This seems kind of strange given how much of the game is based on dynamic combat and dodging. For me it seems like a wasted opportunity.

The theme behind GW2 is that everyone (class-wise) should be able to fill any role. So, if you tie taunt with tanking you then cut off other classes that don't have access to the condition from being able to tank or at the very least put them at a disadvantage when trying to hold aggro. Viable vs optimal aside, any class right now can be a tank simply by stacking toughness.

because Taunt is yet another CC condition and as always I think it's very poor choice of a name because it suggests typical aggro control mechanics which are absent in gw2

Its not a poor choice of name, on enemies without a breakbar it functions the same as in any other game, it forces them to attack the target. The only problem is in Taunt being considered a soft CC, therefore becoming meaningless on any enemy with a breakbar

@savacli.8172 said:The theme behind GW2 is that everyone (class-wise) should be able to fill any role. So, if you tie taunt with tanking you then cut off other classes that don't have access to the condition from being able to tank or at the very least put them at a disadvantage when trying to hold aggro. Viable vs optimal aside, any class right now can be a tank simply by stacking toughness.

Well giving it to all classes should fix the viable vs optimal. I've tried tanking couple of times and the current mechanic is just boring.With the current mechanic if a class in your party is learning the raid and needs more toughness to survive, your tank should stack more too.I don't mind how it is done now, it just seems that Anet was maybe going for aggro control with Taunt (given how it actually makes players and mobs attack you instantly) but decided to give up and just left the condition in the game.

"Taunt" might have a typical meaning in some games, but it means something else here. Just as in some games, poison (or disease) can be spread, burning can spread, and cleave/AoE causes 'friendly fire'.

Left up to me, I would have used a different name. Maybe, "sneer" or "insult"; it's a weak CC, but it does grab the attention of those foes with egos bigger than their breakbar.

@YoukiNeko.6047 said:

@savacli.8172 said:The theme behind GW2 is that everyone (class-wise) should be able to fill any role. So, if you tie taunt with tanking you then cut off other classes that don't have access to the condition from being able to tank or at the very least put them at a disadvantage when trying to hold aggro. Viable vs optimal aside, any class right now can be a tank simply by stacking toughness.

Eh, Taunt is just the extreme opposite of fear.

Fear makes your target run away from the source and do nothing but run: convenient if you want your target to run into something or walk off a cliffTaunt makes your target beeline for the source and auto-attack: convenient if you need to get your target into melee range or to reel them in if they're trying to run away

If I had to take a guess I don't think the intent for taunt was revolved around aggro-ing but rather it's a means of controlling your target's movements. Just like there are times you want push over pulls there are times where taunt works better than fear.

Toughness being the key to aggro, while not the greatest mechanic, is an easy choice when looking for something that is available to all classes. If taunt was indeed made to be an aggro holder then only classes with taunt could be a tank (assuming taunt replaces toughness) or each class would have to be given some sort of aggro-grabbing mechanic. While that works nice in practice with other MMO's I don't really see the point of having that in GW2 since toughness stacking or fixations are pretty straight forward.

@"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:"Taunt" might have a typical meaning in some games, but it means something else here. Just as in some games, poison (or disease) can be spread, burning can spread, and cleave/AoE causes 'friendly fire'.

Left up to me, I would have used a different name. Maybe, "sneer" or "insult"; it's a weak CC, but it does grab the attention of those foes with egos bigger than their breakbar.

"Offend me!" pretty cool shout skill

@Kheldorn.5123 said:

@"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:"Taunt" might have a typical meaning in some games, but it means something else here. Just as in some games, poison (or disease) can be spread, burning can spread, and cleave/AoE causes 'friendly fire'.

Left up to me, I would have used a different name. Maybe, "sneer" or "insult"; it's a weak CC, but it does grab the attention of those foes with egos bigger than their breakbar.

I actually wanted to suggest my favorite 'shout' from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but it probably won't pass muster for GW2's PG13 rating. Something like

I allow my noxious odors to slowly make their way to your general direction.Well, it's also a tad long for a "insta-cast" skill, too; takes longer to yell than the aftercast.

@Kheldorn.5123 said:because Taunt is yet another CC condition and as always I think it's very poor choice of a name because it suggests typical aggro control mechanics which are absent in gw2

Actually it suggest mod/ player control which is what it does.

I second this taunt should take over toughness aggro and be used as more efficient aggro control even in pvp/wvw.

Yeah, this is kind of needed. Nobody wants a fully rigid wow-style trinity, but taunt really should be more of a thing than it is in GW2.

Taunt suffers from the same things that would make necromancer useful.

The rationale is necromancer and core mesmer (not chrono) don't provide much in boons because debuffs are their offensive utility.

And then they went and made defensive debuffs like weakness completely obsolete despite the fact that weakness is already weaker than protection and protection does work on bosses.

The defiance bar crapped on a ton of combat depth. Mesmer can never fulfill the role of GW1 and its grandmaster trait Power Block is now obsolete thanks to the defiance bar.

Shutdown or debuffing in this game is dead, and boons are so lopsidedly strong compared to utility conditions outside vulnerability.

It would be as simple as removing the defiance bar for a few select skills that need to be "interrupted" just like in WoW or GW1. And by interrupt I mean the twitch interrupt, not that slow defiance bar wind up trivially dealt with by a group.

It's because taunt was added late into the game and the raid designers had to create an aggro mechanic with what they had

@Aceofsppades.6873 said:It's because taunt was added late into the game and the raid designers had to create an aggro mechanic with what they had

They were added at the same time with HoT

@Zenith.7301 said:The defiance bar crapped on a ton of combat depth. Mesmer can never fulfill the role of GW1 and its grandmaster trait Power Block is now obsolete thanks to the defiance bar.

Shutdown or debuffing in this game is dead, and boons are so lopsidedly strong compared to utility conditions outside vulnerability.

It would be as simple as removing the defiance bar for a few select skills that need to be "interrupted" just like in WoW or GW1. And by interrupt I mean the twitch interrupt, not that slow defiance bar wind up trivially dealt with by a group.

The same can be said of warrior which also has one of the highest duration lock-down combos in the game. Their CC trait is equally as lackluster in PvE due to breakbars as well. Would be really nice to see the breakbar concept / mob identity looked at. I get they don't want raid bosses CC chained to death, but CC needs to be more meaningful than just stopping a phase/special attack.

Id love it if every raid boss gained the fixated mechanic, and if on most bosses it just default fixated on tye person with the player with the highest toughness.

Now, for taunt, i wish it could force the foe to shift its fixation to the taunter. For bosses like sloth or mathias it would be nice to have the option to force their targeting if you profession has taunt. Definitely not something needed, just an extra option for such fights.