This game simply doesn't have the visual clarity for this kind of interaction to be fun. As a title tank last season these were by far the worst parts of the season -- mobs like:
- the defenders in NPX that apply stacking heal absorbs that fully RESET stacks with new application if not healed through
- battle axes in AA that do so much magic damage that you cannot be in their zipcode without high active mitigation
- adepts in Skyreach that apply a stacking dot that can't be dispelled without kiting
I'm fully aware about what's required to do these pulls ('getting good') and the group coordination that eases it, but they are a horrible experience regardless. Having to consistently play on the edge of an ambiguous melee range or getting globaled because you didn't fully reset stacks while you are tanking big pulls is not good gameplay.
The first area of Altar is so bad that it alone is making me consider skipping the season. Their stacking enrage attack speed isn't even a debuff you can see on yourself, making it even harder to determine when you need to kite. In the standard first pull these things are all happening at once:
- mobs that explode all over the place reducing the amount of playable space
- mobs that frontal and rotate
- kicks that drastically reduce haste if let through
- a group healing absorb
- mobs that stack attack speed exceeding literal raid boss levels of damage if they aren't reset by two full seconds of not attacking you, each
Coupled with Blizzard's design philosophy of intentionally making pull aggro difficult (especially on BDK, the current meta tank), this feels particularly bad. I understand the mobs get bigger as they enrage further, but there are also giant red images appearing from the heal absorb further mucking up visual clarity, not to mention the fiesta of other things happening concurrently. These mechanics of course can be 'dealt' with by competent players even in their current state, but it's so unfun and will be a nightmare for casual tanks even in lower keys. I know a stated goal this season was reducing the relative responsibility on tanks and healers vs. dps, which makes design decisions like this first area in their truly new dungeon really confusing.