Game Mechanics Expanding Tanking

There are two parts to making a tank in an mmorpg: a Taunt and Mitigation.
Taunts are ways to gain aggro (or keep it) and Mitigation is a way to reduce their incoming damage.

Mitigation is further split into passive and active mitigation, ways to reduce incoming damage that add up over time with little input or after a skill press respectively.
Weaken Enemy, Defense/Agi/Hp, Devitalise, Distraction, Ivyroot Mamba (and arguably Murder Flock) are forms of passive mitigation. They reduce damage but players don't have to go out of their way to set them up in combat.
Mantle of the Bovemists and Chant of the Fanatic are examples of active mitigation. If you're fast enough they are rapid ways to block incoming damage being tied to one spell.
Arrow Shield, Dissolution, and Heal are interesting since they either need constant refreshing in combat but don't provide as much tank value (Vanish drops aggro completely) as other skills and spells.

However, we have only 2 taunts, Provoke and Delirious Gas.

We were very close to getting major ids that provide taunts with the introduction of +Taunt on Strobelight and Signal Flare, before it was changed to just buff provoke.
Just one small change: Can we please get a major id that can cause any class to force aggro on themselves by casting their 4th spell?
When it comes to which spell has the most ties to tanking it's the 4th one, whether it's the resistance buffs of Arrow Shield, War Scream, and Chant of the Fanatic (uproot); the taunt setters of Provoke (again war scream) and Delirious Gas (smoke bomb); or the target hindering by slows (ice snake, which can also devitalise with gust) and knockbacks (arrow shield again and uproot again).

I am aware that unlike other mmorpgs mitigation and taunts aren't as important because like yourself your opponents must aim and can miss their attacks. In addition, dps and skill-based movement is encouraged; given the increase in movement options, attack telegraphs, agility's nerf from 0 damage taken to 10%, and an increase in true damage attacks, but it would still be nice to be able to guarantee certain attacks don't go where you don't want them.
In the case of what happened back when whirlwind strike/lacerate provoke/luring +Taunt was used such as in TNA, I am not yet sure about how to address that problem.

 

always felt that warrior having a monopoly on aggro getting was unfair to the other classes

 

Assassin has an aggro ability aswell.
That being said, I guess it's time for me to actually post my suggestion XD

 

woopsies i always forget delirious gas

 

The problem with expanding the tank role is that tanks in Wynncraft are straightup useless in endgame content unless you have an actual premade team that knows your intentions and even then, pure damage is more versatile (ironically). And this is the fault of the way endgame is designed. The best way to expand the role of tanks is to make them actually useful in endgame such as raids.
I love the idea of having an extra optional mechanic in raid bosses that allows specifically tanks to be more useful.

One idea I personally have is in TCC, there could be an optional mechanic that combines the "wings" and "defend the Elder" mechanics of previous encounters to let you fly into the air and shoot high-damaging fire lasers at the extra mobs and the boss, but each shot takes up a lot of health (hence being useful for tanks), the boss would focus you with new attacks that you have to avoid, and after a while you'd fall back down and it would have to recharge. This would not only expand the tank role but make the fight more interactive.

 

I think ultimately tanks just need to be better at holding ground. It would give them purpose during those rooms in raids, and it would also let them create fall-back zones for allies. Of course, shaman already does this whether it's tank or not, so idk.