From WoWWiki
"This ain't no patty cake game!"
Thunder Clap is a point blank
Area of Effect ability that causes physical damage and slows up to four enemies' attacks (that is, negative
Haste).
Functionality
Use
Talents
Investing in the Improved Thunder Clap talent reduces the Rage cost, multiplies the damage and increases the effect of the slowing debuff. Like all other attacks, Focused Rage when maxed decreases Rage needed by 3.
Notes
- Thunder Clap creates Threat equal to 1.75x damage done.
- Thunder Clap's damage is physical and is mitigated by the armor of the opponent.
- Thunder Clap is considered a spell: Its critical damage multiplier is 1.5 and the critical hit chance is gained from Spell Critical Hit bonuses. A warrior has a 0% spell critical chance regardless of Intellect score, which means that any critical hit chance has to come from bonuses from gear or buffs.
- Also, you cannot cast Thunder Clap while silenced. You can, however, cast Thunder Clap without having a melee weapon equipped.
- Thunder Clap dealt Nature damage when the game was first released. This was quickly changed.
Rank Table
| | Damage | Duration | Level | Cost |
|
| Rank 1 | 10 | 10 sec | 6 | 1 |
|
| Rank 2 | 23 | 14 sec | 18 | 30 |
|
| Rank 3 | 37 | 18 sec | 28 | 99 |
|
| Rank 4 | 55 | 22 sec | 38 | 1 80 |
|
| Rank 5 | 82 | 26 sec | 48 | 3 60 |
|
| Rank 6 | 103 | 30 sec | 58 | 5 40 |
|
| Rank 7 | 123 | 30 sec | 67 | 5 85  |
|
Tips and Tactics
- By slowing the enemies' attacks it effectively decreases the damage they inflict on you. This makes it especially useful when tanking.
- While it does cause more damage in Battle Stance than Defensive Stance, it doesn't create more threat in Battle Stance due to the threat modifiers in Battle Stance and Defensive Stance. An opening combination like
- Battle Stance → Charge → Defensive Stance (while charging) → Thunder Clap
- creates more threat than
- Battle Stance → Charge → Thunder Clap → Defensive Stance.
- However, this requires at least some points in Tactical Mastery or Improved Thunder Clap to use in a reasonable amount of time, and points in Focused Rage also help, and it might be harder to time correctly. If you are still lacking Rage, you can work in a Bloodrage after switching to Defensive Stance, which has the added bonus of a small threat boost.
- At level 70, Sunder Armor will generate 391 threat in Defensive Stance (without factoring in any Defiance bonus or damage inflicted by Devastate). A Thunder Clap will generate a maximum of 251 in Defensive (123*90%*175%*130%=251) and 172 in Battle Stance (123*175%*80%=172), though probably less, since the damage of the Thunder Clap is mitigated by enemy armor. In this respect, an untalented Thunder Clap can be considered "half a sunder".
- Spending talent points in 3/3 Improved Thunder Clap will double the damage it inflicts, which also doubles the threat generated. If specced for 3/3 Improved Thunder Clap, you can generate more than Sunder-level threat (max. threat in Defensive Stance: 123*200%*90%*175%*130%=502) on up to 4 NPCs for the cost of 16 rage (13 if you have Focused Rage) and a single global cooldown. It also slows the attacks of any opponents it affects even more than an untalented Thunder Clap, increasing your potential survivability against them.
- Be careful using this ability around crowd controlled mobs, as the damage it inflicts will likely break the crowd control effect. If possible it is best to apply Thunder Clap before crowd control, or to pull the mobs you wish to Thunder Clap away from the sheeped/sapped/trapped/etc. mobs. Also be careful of using this around a mob your group's Hunter is trying to draw into a Freezing Trap, as it may make it more difficult for the Hunter to establish aggro on the mob.
- Thunder Clap can be useful against melee PvP opponents, as it reduces their ability to inflict damage. Its AoE effect against up to 4 opponents makes it especially useful in large battles.
