Incapacitate

Incapacitate or Knockout, previously called Disorient, is a form of crowd control that render a player or NPC unable to move or act for a short period of time. Incapacitate differs from Stun in that Incapacitate effects always break on damage, while Stun effects don't. Incapacitate effects are also often harder to break free from; a mage can for example break a stun by using Blink, but will be unable to do so if incapacitated.

Example of Incapacitate effects:

• Rogue: Gouge
• Paladin: Repentance (Talent)
• Druid: Maim
• Engineering gizmo Goblin Rocket Helmet and most bombs and grenades.
• Horned Viking Helmet, a drop from Eric "The Swift", an elite dwarf only killable by Horde characters in Uldaman.

Counters

• Ways to remove Incapacitate effects:
  • The PvP trinkets
  • The Warrior's Berserker Rage
  • The Paladin's Divine Shield
  • The Hunter's The Beast Within (talent) and Bestial Wrath (talent for pet). Neither break Incapacitate already cast.

Patch Changes

• Patch 2.4.0 (25-Mar-2008): "Sap mechanic changed from "Incapacitate" to "Sap". This will allow more humanoids that were previously immune to Sap to be vulnerable to Sap, but still immune to Gouge. Note that anything that removed Sap previously will still remove Sap after the change. "
  
• Patch 2.4.0 (25-Mar-2008): "The stun caused by engineering Bombs and Grenades is now considered an Incapacitate effect and uses the appropriate Incapacitate diminishing returns."
  
• Patch 1.9.0 (03-Jan-2006): "All Disorient effects have been renamed Incapacitate effects. This includes Gouge, Sap, etc."