Threat

Threat is a mechanism in Dragon Age: Origins whereby enemies decide which characters in your party to attack.

Threat Level

Threat Level is the means by which a character's threat is deduced, and is often referred to as relating to "enemy hostility". Essentially, the higher threat level a character has, the more "hostile" or aggressive enemies will be towards that character, which will result in drawing more enemies to attack that character. The lower a threat level a character has, the less "hostile" enemies will be and the more likely an enemy will seek out a different target to attack.

Threat Mechanics in Combat

The strategic use of a party's varying threat levels is widely considered to be a key element of successfully overcoming the opposition, especially at higher levels of difficulty.

Drawing Threat

Drawing Threat is an important strategy for many party members, specifically if you want to spec them as "tanks" who will take the brunt of an enemy's attack. There are three ways to draw threat. The first (and most obvious) way is to deal massive amounts of damage, especially early in any combat scenario. Attacking first will always draw significant threat to that character, as will attacking repeatedly and vigorously.

The second way to draw threat is to activate special abilities specific to the Warrior talent tree. The sustained talent Threaten increases overall threat level, and the activated talent Taunt increases threat level significantly but for a limited time. The Reaver talent Frightening Appearance increases the threat level effect of this talent.

The third way to draw threat is to wear heavy armor. The heavier armor a party member wears, the more likely enemies are to be drawn to that member. As such, it's best to put Heavy or Massive armor on your main tank, and the lightest armor possible on other party members, such as leather or mage robes. For this reason, it's also unwise for mages that pick up the Arcane Warrior specialization to use heavy or massive armor until a few more talents in the Arcane Warrior line are picked up, such as Aura of Might or Shimmering Shield.

Reducing Threat

Reducing Threat is similarly a critical tactic for many party members, and is especially important for classes with low survivability, such as an Archer or a Mage. However, it is not unimportant for an off-tank or damaging-mage who will deal lots of damage but preferably not be swamped with enemies.

There are two main ways to reduce threat. The first is to rotate attacks in with non-damaging talents like heal, buff, etc. The less damage a character does the less threat he will incur. The second method is to equip items which reduce threat. This is especially handy for damagers who will then be able to spend more time back-stabbing, overpowering, etc.

Items known for reducing threat include: Bard's Dancing Shoes, Dalish Promise Ring, Amulet of Accord, Magister's Cinch

Common Threat Strategies

Tank & Range:Perhaps the most common use of threat in combat is to elevate the threat level of one (or perhaps two) specific Warriors in your party, often who are equipped with a weapon & shield. The high threat levels draw most of the enemies attacks to the Warrior with a high threat level. They act as a "tank" whose job it is to soak up massive amounts of damage while the other 3 party members either heal & buff, do back stabbing damage, do massive two-handed damage, deal high-octane magic damage, or use other ranged attacks.