PSA: Provoke and You.

[Maeka]

So, we just wiped three times in WoD on the 2nd boss and the duty was eventually abandoned because we had two newbie tanks who were just spamming provoke left and right even though we asked them to stop, and that brings to mind just how many tanks I see in dungeons not using Provoke properly.

So, how does Provoke actually work?

Well... it puts you at the top of the Enmity/Hate list, and then adds a small amount of Enmity, and...... that's it. That's all it does. It does almost nothing if the mob is idle, and it does pretty much nothing if the enemy is already attacking you. This is NOT Final Fantasy XI.

So please, stop spamming it. You're supposed to use Provoke when you need to tank a mob NOW and you don't have very much enmity on it, such as an OT picking up a boss after the MT dies, or to grab a mob some DPS pulled off of you.

Please don't:

1). Pull with Provoke. Use Tomahawk/Shield Lob/Unmend/That GNB ranged attack instead. People who pull with Provoke almost always immediately lose whatever they pulled to the first person who touches the enemy and then Provoke is on cooldown.

2). Macro it in with regular rotation abilities. No, you do not need to use Provoke every time you use Fast Blade, Heavy Swing, etc. This only ensures that your Provoke is on CD whenever you do need it, and it will only anger everybody else in a multi-tank group, such as an Alliance Raid or any 8-man fight.