Omen and Clarity

The merciless Brutallus of Sunwell Plateau was a great teacher.

Within the progressive knowledge of game mechanics, this particular pit lord was an enormous milestone for many damage dealers. While the mechanics were nothing new, it was the imperative gravity of threat--and all the notions associated with it--that received the spotlight.

Regrettably, many players did not get to experience this encounter and the intricacies it presented.

Brutallus was a gear-check as tenacious as Patchwerk was in Naxxaramas, 60. What set him aside [and above] from the abomination, was the fact that threat was a problem (and damage was raid-wide but that's not what I'll be focusing on.)

But why, with the myriad of simple tank&spank bosses in TBC, did this issue only surface at the end of the first expansion?

The sheer magnitude of DPS needed to down Brutallus was unprecedented. Many damage dealers sacrificed their profession to pick up Leatherworking so they could chain trigger Drums. Every acquirable buff was a necessity and raids were stacked to maximize the damage in hopes of beating the unforgiving enrage timer.

With all the scrutiny for the ultimate damage dealing setup a problem emerged: tanks were not outputting enough threat to maintain aggro against warlocks (and others.) The only feasible solution was a compromise between damage dealers and their Omen Threat Meter; the former having no option but to acquiesce to the proposed number:

129.

A warlock, at a range greater than that of melee, will not pull aggro from a tank until it surpasses 129.9-% of said tank's threat according to Omen. The Blizzard UI threat meter will convert the percentage regardless of range and present it in a scale that ranges from 1-100%.

Assuming you, as a competent warlock, can produce 6000 DPS, your tank would be required to output 4615.+ threat (assuming that 1 point of unmodified damage equates to 1 point of threat.)

After modifiers are applied--say 10% from Vigilance and 5% from 1/2 Destructive Reach--your tank will only need to generate 4000~ TPS.

But I digress. The moral of the Brutallus encounter was not the restrictions set by your tank's ability to generate threat. The moral presents itself in a new aspect wherein maximization plays a part yet again. In other words, to be the best warlock you can be your gear must be the best you can attain; your stats must be mathematically seamless; your talents must be optimal; your timing must be impeccable... and your threat must be at 129%.