Taunt Glyphs

So, I was on a long journey through the interwebs, trying to figure out if, as a good Bear Tank, I needed the Glyph of Grow, which gives +8% Hit to Growl (the Druid Taunt). I found out that Taunts are fully and completely spells. As such, they require 17% Spell Hit.

I finally tracked down a solid, coherent exploration of this at TankSpot by Jere. If you are a Tank, you really need to read what they have to say. He did all of the experiments I would have done to verify his observations.

The good news:

- The +3% from Misery and Improved Faerie Fire help because Taunt is a spell. So, our progression raid target should be 14%, like any regular caster.
- Hit Rating gives more % Spell Hit than % Melee Hit, so you may have more than you think

Example, Skindancer decides to cap his Melee Hit Rating with 267 Hit Rating. Because Spell Hit goes farther, he actually has a +10.18% to his Spell Hit. Add on the +3% from IFF/Misery and he has about a 4% chance to miss with a Taunt. Add a Glyph of Growl and that chance to miss goes away.

Taunt Glyphs Are Not For Dungeons and Raid Trash

Keep in mind that for a level 82 mob, you should only need 6% Spell Hit. That means most Tanks are hit-capped (or very near it) on Taunt for Heroics and Trash. A Tank would only need 158 Hit Rating to be capped on Taunts for Dungeon bosses and Raid Trash.

Closing Thoughts

I was surprised that I did not already know this. But I was less surprised when I saw how pervasive this lack of information is, as well as the misinformation about the topic. Jere did a great a great job on explaining Taunt mechanics and I highly recommend reading his post.

Moral of the story - if you are going to Progression Tank, consider getting the Glyph. You don't want to wipe on Heroic Gormokk because you missed a Taunt. If you have a fair amount of Hit on your gear, you can likely live without it, and it might cause a wipe, but it's probably not a *must have* Glyph unless you are frequently engaged in Gormok-like encounters.

My solution? Well, as of late, +Hit gear has been popping up a bit, so I am capping my Hit for melee and declaring success. More Threat and a more reliable Taunt, even if there is a 4% chance it will miss. If Taunt reliability becomes more crucial, I will be ready.

That said, I have a Glyph of Growl in my mail at all times...just in case.