WoW dev confirms approach to AoE threat in Season of Discovery

The nature of World of Warcraft: Season of Discovery had left it open to more unexpected issues than Classic WoW. Now, one senior developer behind the game has confirmed that AoE is working closer to intended than some players may expect.

For those who are not particularly au fait with every facet of the popular MMO, AoE threat generation has proved to be a big deal. For the game’s Tanks and groups more generally, success in any dungeon or raid run has been hugely dependent on their ability to hold aggro.

AoE threat generation is a huge part of this, particularly when a boss spawns tons of extra mobs that need controlling. In Season of Discovery some players have voiced complaints that certain Tank classes are just not competitive in this area, when compared with their immediate peers.

In a continuation of the communication that has gone down so well previously, one of the game’s most senior developers has confirmed their intentions moving forward.

AoE nerfs could be on the way in Season of Discovery

In a post on Twitter/X, Senior Game Producer Josh Greenfield confirmed the development team’s approach to AoE threat up to now and moving forward.

To manage expectations here; we'd prefer that any version of vanilla not be a "gather everything up and AoE it down" fiesta at all times. There are other versions of wow for that. There are probably some classes that are too good at aoe threat already and that might be a problem…

— Josh Greenfield (@AggrendWoW) February 15, 2024

Essentially, Greenfield actually sought to temper expectations in this area, even suggesting that some classes are currently performing too well in this area at the time of writing.

This news may come as a shock to some, particularly those who play Tank classes like the Rogue. Rogues are widely seen as the weakest of the class choices right now, with their AoE threat generation a big part of that reputation.

Whatever does happen to Tanks in the future, the developers behind Season of Discovery have done an admirable job balancing an intrinsically chaotic formula. With plenty more to come before the seasonal experience enters its final stages, the landscape will likely change again before long.