Hey,
So one of the many things I was excited before the release of HoT was tautn. It seemed like an interesting condition that could really do interesting things. Sadly it is not that way. Currently it feels mostly useless.
First, there are only four ways to apply taunt in the game right now. Only one of these is a Utility Skill. The first way is the only utility skill that does taunt by default, Forced Engagement with dwarf legend in Revenant. The second way is the trait Beastly Warden for Rangers (F2=Taunt nearby foes). Then you have Eye for an Eye in Revenant again (disabled = taunt foe). Finally there is Bloody Roar trait for warriors (taunt when going zerk). That’s it.
However, the issues don’t end there. The only utility skill Force Engagement is very underpowered. It cost a significant portion of your energy, which can go towards better things. The elite that heavily reduces damage, the channel that reduces damage, heals, and deals damage. The AoE stability application. The heal. Every weapon skill. You get my point. It basically cost so much and does so little, there’s no viable way to use it.
The final big issue is its use. As it stands right now, it’s mainly pointless in PvE. The only time a taunt would be useful in PvE is against Elites (silver). Why? First normal and veterans a mainly no problem for a majority of classes, no matter their builds. I’ve never heard about anyone having trouble killing a normal mob or veteran. So that leaves Champions, Elites, and World Bosses. Well this is considered a CC condition, which means when you use it on something with a break bar it does nothing exception drain the break bar. Not a lot at that either.
It seems like if we really want taunt to come into more play, it really needs to start having an influence on things with break bars. Now I can understand it not working on something like Shatterer. But against champions/mobile mobs like that, it would be so useful.
The only time elites really appear is in group content (normally large) thanks to scaling. When that happens there is usually so many people around that Taunt doesn’t really make an impact in the battle. It’s better to use your energy on anything else.
Those are just my thoughts on the condition. Both new conditions Slow (mainly mesmer can apply this) and Taunt seem hugely underused. Especially taunt.