Taunt

This skill was removed from the game prior to the press event of July 2011. This is archived for future curiosity and reference. This page is not to be updated with current info; see the Barbarian skills page for current skill information.

Taunt is a Barbarian Tier 6 skill unlocked at level 20, which forces enemies around the Barbarian to attack him, and debuffs their damage dealt.

Background

Diablo III Active Skill [e]
Taunt
Used by:	Barbarian
Enabled at:	Clvl 20
Skill Description
Taunt monsters to attack you at close range for X seconds. Monsters do Y% less damage while taunted.
Type:	AoE Debuff
Resource Use:	Costs Fury
Skill Rune Effects
Alabaster rune:	Unknown
Crimson rune:	Unknown
Golden rune:	Unknown
Indigo rune:	Unknown
Obsidian rune:	Unknown

The Barbarian taunts his enemies, accusing them of being pathetic weaklings, thus lowering their morale and forcing them to retaliate.

Skill Design

The Taunt skill is a warcry, and as such, is made to help your character and his allies. The debuff will help Barbarians with high damaging monsters, making them less of a threat. It can also be used to to catch pesky monsters like the Fallen, if no Overseer is present. Also, it can be used to help allies if they are attacked by monsters which they cannot handle themselves.

It is unknown if it will affect bosses, and will it cause them to switch targets? It could also just lower the boss damage?

Skill Rank Table

• Rank 1: Cause monsters to attack the taunter at close range for 6 seconds. Monsters do 55% less damage while taunted.
• Rank 2: Cause monsters to attack the taunter at close range for 6.5 seconds. Monsters do 60% less damage while taunted. (A)
• Rank 3: Cause monsters to attack the taunter at close range for 7 seconds. Monsters do 65% less damage while taunted. (A)
• Rank 4: Cause monsters to attack the taunter at close range for 7.5 seconds. Monsters do 70% less damage while taunted. (A)
• Rank 5: Cause monsters to attack the taunter at close range for 8 seconds. Monsters do 75% less damage while taunted. (A)

(A) = Assumed

Trait Synergies

• No synergies with any of the traits are yet known.

Skill Rune Effects

• No rune effects for Taunt are known.

Development

Taunt was first introduced in the BlizzCon 2008 demo at Tier III on the Juggernaut Skill Tree. The original version would only force enemies to attack the Barbarian, without the damage debuff, making the usefulness of this skill questionable.

Damaged reduction was added by BlizzCon 2009, and the skill was moved to Tier IV, moving it out of reach in the gameplay demo. Flux discussed its usability:[1]

This version of Taunt seems fairly useful, since not only would it bring casters or ranged attackers in close (as it did in D2) but it would lower their damage while it was in effect. That makes it a potentially useful skill against bosses and other hard-hitting enemies, who would be in melee range anyway.

Aside from being moved to Tier 6 in the new tree-less skill system, Taunt seemed unchanged at BlizzCon 2010.

Previous Versions

See the Barbarian skill archive for more details on previous versions of Taunt and other Barbarian skills.

In Other Games

Taunt is almost identical to Diablo II's Taunt, which lowers the attack rating of affected monsters, as well as decreasing their damage.

Media

You can find pictures in the Diablo III screenshot and picture gallery:

• Diablo III screenshots and pictures
• Taunt specific gallery contents

References

• BlizzCon 2009 Full Barbarian Skill Trees and Stats
• Taunt in the Diablo 2 wiki.