The WoW Medic, an Advanced Macro Guide! Part 2!
Posted 07-24-2008 at 03:18 PM by Cele
Continued from part 1!
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The Self-Cast
By far my most useful macro, I give thee "The Self-Cast". The self-cast is a macro in which I tell it to either cast a spell as an open cast or to cast the spell on myself. An "open cast" is just an expression for being able to cast a spell on a player either through targeting and then using the spell, or using the spell and then targeting a player's UI frame. This is actually something I'll cover in a soon-to-come blog on proper raid healing.
You are probably wondering, 'why would I want a macro to self-cast when Blizzard already provides a self-cast option'. Well, this is true -- there is a built-in self cast option in the game, however, it requires that you are not targeting a player that can be affected by your cast. This is rather limiting, especially if you prefer to cast healing spells by first selecting your spell and then clicking on the a player's UI frame. You simply cannot heal this way with the self-cast feature enabled. The proper way to heal (imo but fact :P) is by selecting your spell first, and then casting it on a player's party or raid frame. We do this so we can monitor an opposing player, mob, boss, etc to know the status of the fight. For instance, let's say you are in a raid as a shaman. Your raid group pulls a group of mobs and one of the mobs is a spell caster. Well, certainly we could interrupt spell casts as a shaman, so it would be beneficial to our raid if we do so. However, if we are constantly targeting friendly players to heal them, how will we be able to interrupt a mob that we aren't targeting? Well, the answer is that we don't need to heal via the target frame, and instead can keep that mob in our target the whole fight using "open cast" healing. This also allows us to monitor the health of a mob during a fight to gauge how much mana we can afford to use without running OOM (out of mana).
An example:
/cast [modifier:ctrl,target=player] Healing Wave; Healing Wave
Yes, we use a modifier here (I said they would be important :P). Knowing what we know about modifiers, we know that this macro will do two different things depending on whether we are holding down ctrl while using the macro. This is slightly different though, because now we have another flag in the conditional brackets. target=player. target=player is the same thing as targeting yourself. In the world of macros, 'player' is a definition for you, the player. The flag word 'target' can also point to several other things. We could do target=focus, in which case the spell we wanted to use would cast on the player in your focus frame (set using /focus). We could also do target=Bob, where Bob is the name of a player. In this case, the spell we want would cast on the player named Bob. In any case, we only need to know that if we hold down ctrl, the spell will cast on the player we've specified in the target=, and if we don't hold ctrl, then we are using open-cast with the desired spell. One thing to note: When using target= in a macro, it will automatically cast the spell on that player without having to physically put him in your target window. So you could have a mob targeted, and cast your macro on Bob, and Bob would receive your heal, but you would still be targeting the mob. That's why this is an important macro.
Here's an even more complex macro that ties into all of this:
/cast [modifier:ctrl,target=player] Healing Wave; [modifier:alt,target=focus] Earth Shock; Healing Wave
This uses the same principles we've discussed, however now we have two modifiers and two different targets. This macro says "Is ctrl down? If yes, cast spell on player. If no, go to end of line. New modifier detected, is alt down? If yes, cast an earth shock on our focus frame. If no, go to end of line. No modifier detected, so open-cast a Healing Wave."
So in one macro, we can achieve several different results with the use of modifiers and target flags. Hopefully you understand this, but if not, just ask me here or in-game!
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Down-ranking in Macros
Sometimes a caster does not have the mana to spare a full-rank spell. Other times, the caster may just want to save mana and cast a slightly weaker spell. For instance, when I play arena with my shaman, I prefer to use rank 1 of Earth Shock. Since earth shock's primary function is to interrupt an opposing player's cast, I can use any rank of earth shock to perform it's primary action. The only difference between a rank 1 earth shock and a top-rank earth shock is the damage done, but this doesn't really concern me since I'm mostly just trying to interrupt a cast. So, if I use a rank 1 shock compared to a top-rank shock, I'm saving myself alot of mana. In situations where mana cannot be expendable, like arena, use rank 1 spells as best practice. Another example is a priest who uses a rank 1 shadow word: pain spell to either proc a blackout stun or to keep a rogue from vanishing. The priest isn't intending to do ALOT of damage with his spell cast, but rather just keep something else from happening. Same goes for a druid's moonfire. A druid's rank 1 moonfire is a great tool because you can pop shaman totems, hit someone who's drinking, add another debuff to a player in which they would have to cleanse off, etc. So, as you can see, we are using very mana-efficient ranks of spells that have greater uses beyond dealing damage.
Example:
/cast Moonfire(rank 1)
This is simple. We just add the rank and # inside ( ). Just note that there is no space between the e of moonfire and the left (. if you put a space, it will not work.
A more complex macro
/cast [modifier:ctrl,target=focus] Moonfire(rank 1); Moonfire
This macro will rank 1 moonfire a focus frame player or will full-rank moonfire otherwise depending on the modifier.
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Some Tips on Targeting
Targeting is a very important aspect of the macro. The whole idea behind the macro is to reduce the amount of mouse involvement with your playstyle. We can further reduce mouse involvement if we specify targets and focus frames in our macros.
For instance, lets say I'm doing 2v2. My team is facing against a warlock and druid. both of these classes have spells which I want to interrupt so my teammate can be effective. With the use of the target and focus frames, I can basically monitor both opponents while my teammate resides in my party-frame. I can put the warlock in my focus frame by selecting the warlock and typing or using a macro that contains /focus. The warlock will now appear in my focus frame. I can then keep my target frame on the druid. Any time I need to interrupt either of their spells, I can use this macro:
/cast [modifier:ctrl,target=focus] Earth Shock(rank 1); Earth Shock(rank 1)
This macro allows me to interrupt the warlock in my focus frame by holding down ctrl when I use the macro. Else, if I need to interrupt the druid, I just cast without the modifier key and BAM the druid will get my shock.
Well, that's as far as I'm taking this guide right now. There are hundreds of general and class-specific macros available, and a search on www.wowwiki.com will give large lists for each class. I suggest checking it out and seeing if you recognize the parts I've discussed here.
GL!
---------------------------------
The Self-Cast
By far my most useful macro, I give thee "The Self-Cast". The self-cast is a macro in which I tell it to either cast a spell as an open cast or to cast the spell on myself. An "open cast" is just an expression for being able to cast a spell on a player either through targeting and then using the spell, or using the spell and then targeting a player's UI frame. This is actually something I'll cover in a soon-to-come blog on proper raid healing.
You are probably wondering, 'why would I want a macro to self-cast when Blizzard already provides a self-cast option'. Well, this is true -- there is a built-in self cast option in the game, however, it requires that you are not targeting a player that can be affected by your cast. This is rather limiting, especially if you prefer to cast healing spells by first selecting your spell and then clicking on the a player's UI frame. You simply cannot heal this way with the self-cast feature enabled. The proper way to heal (imo but fact :P) is by selecting your spell first, and then casting it on a player's party or raid frame. We do this so we can monitor an opposing player, mob, boss, etc to know the status of the fight. For instance, let's say you are in a raid as a shaman. Your raid group pulls a group of mobs and one of the mobs is a spell caster. Well, certainly we could interrupt spell casts as a shaman, so it would be beneficial to our raid if we do so. However, if we are constantly targeting friendly players to heal them, how will we be able to interrupt a mob that we aren't targeting? Well, the answer is that we don't need to heal via the target frame, and instead can keep that mob in our target the whole fight using "open cast" healing. This also allows us to monitor the health of a mob during a fight to gauge how much mana we can afford to use without running OOM (out of mana).
An example:
/cast [modifier:ctrl,target=player] Healing Wave; Healing Wave
Yes, we use a modifier here (I said they would be important :P). Knowing what we know about modifiers, we know that this macro will do two different things depending on whether we are holding down ctrl while using the macro. This is slightly different though, because now we have another flag in the conditional brackets. target=player. target=player is the same thing as targeting yourself. In the world of macros, 'player' is a definition for you, the player. The flag word 'target' can also point to several other things. We could do target=focus, in which case the spell we wanted to use would cast on the player in your focus frame (set using /focus). We could also do target=Bob, where Bob is the name of a player. In this case, the spell we want would cast on the player named Bob. In any case, we only need to know that if we hold down ctrl, the spell will cast on the player we've specified in the target=, and if we don't hold ctrl, then we are using open-cast with the desired spell. One thing to note: When using target= in a macro, it will automatically cast the spell on that player without having to physically put him in your target window. So you could have a mob targeted, and cast your macro on Bob, and Bob would receive your heal, but you would still be targeting the mob. That's why this is an important macro.
Here's an even more complex macro that ties into all of this:
/cast [modifier:ctrl,target=player] Healing Wave; [modifier:alt,target=focus] Earth Shock; Healing Wave
This uses the same principles we've discussed, however now we have two modifiers and two different targets. This macro says "Is ctrl down? If yes, cast spell on player. If no, go to end of line. New modifier detected, is alt down? If yes, cast an earth shock on our focus frame. If no, go to end of line. No modifier detected, so open-cast a Healing Wave."
So in one macro, we can achieve several different results with the use of modifiers and target flags. Hopefully you understand this, but if not, just ask me here or in-game!
---------------------------------
Down-ranking in Macros
Sometimes a caster does not have the mana to spare a full-rank spell. Other times, the caster may just want to save mana and cast a slightly weaker spell. For instance, when I play arena with my shaman, I prefer to use rank 1 of Earth Shock. Since earth shock's primary function is to interrupt an opposing player's cast, I can use any rank of earth shock to perform it's primary action. The only difference between a rank 1 earth shock and a top-rank earth shock is the damage done, but this doesn't really concern me since I'm mostly just trying to interrupt a cast. So, if I use a rank 1 shock compared to a top-rank shock, I'm saving myself alot of mana. In situations where mana cannot be expendable, like arena, use rank 1 spells as best practice. Another example is a priest who uses a rank 1 shadow word: pain spell to either proc a blackout stun or to keep a rogue from vanishing. The priest isn't intending to do ALOT of damage with his spell cast, but rather just keep something else from happening. Same goes for a druid's moonfire. A druid's rank 1 moonfire is a great tool because you can pop shaman totems, hit someone who's drinking, add another debuff to a player in which they would have to cleanse off, etc. So, as you can see, we are using very mana-efficient ranks of spells that have greater uses beyond dealing damage.
Example:
/cast Moonfire(rank 1)
This is simple. We just add the rank and # inside ( ). Just note that there is no space between the e of moonfire and the left (. if you put a space, it will not work.
A more complex macro
/cast [modifier:ctrl,target=focus] Moonfire(rank 1); Moonfire
This macro will rank 1 moonfire a focus frame player or will full-rank moonfire otherwise depending on the modifier.
----------------------------
Some Tips on Targeting
Targeting is a very important aspect of the macro. The whole idea behind the macro is to reduce the amount of mouse involvement with your playstyle. We can further reduce mouse involvement if we specify targets and focus frames in our macros.
For instance, lets say I'm doing 2v2. My team is facing against a warlock and druid. both of these classes have spells which I want to interrupt so my teammate can be effective. With the use of the target and focus frames, I can basically monitor both opponents while my teammate resides in my party-frame. I can put the warlock in my focus frame by selecting the warlock and typing or using a macro that contains /focus. The warlock will now appear in my focus frame. I can then keep my target frame on the druid. Any time I need to interrupt either of their spells, I can use this macro:
/cast [modifier:ctrl,target=focus] Earth Shock(rank 1); Earth Shock(rank 1)
This macro allows me to interrupt the warlock in my focus frame by holding down ctrl when I use the macro. Else, if I need to interrupt the druid, I just cast without the modifier key and BAM the druid will get my shock.
Well, that's as far as I'm taking this guide right now. There are hundreds of general and class-specific macros available, and a search on www.wowwiki.com will give large lists for each class. I suggest checking it out and seeing if you recognize the parts I've discussed here.
GL!
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