Originally Posted by
Packetdancer
Brief digression, but I would actually disagree with this; I'd far rather see the off-tank at #2 on the list than #8 when it comes to aggro. I mean, obviously it's not necessary that the off-tank be #2 on the hate list in all fights, of course, but I feel like half of the trick of off-tanking well is making sure that you stay at #2 without ripping aggro away. Whether this is by toggling stance off sometimes to let the main tank maintain lead, or by Shirking onto the main tank periodically, or whatever.
Because if the main tank goes down, I feel like things should ideally fall to the off-tank naturally, rather than the boss stomping off to eat a healer or DPS before being Provoked back. Plus, there are mechanics (albeit generally only in higher-end content like extremes or savage) where things will target the first two on the aggro table for tankbusters; if #2 on the aggro list is a DPS when you hit one of those, that's a DPS who's probably about to have a very bad day.
The off-tank being at #2 on the aggro table is a habit that isn't always necessary, but generally won't be detrimental. Whereas the off-tank being at #8 on the aggro table is a habit that can lead to some Really Unfortunate Scenarios in certain fights.