Welcome to the Macro-ing Thread. This is perhaps the biggest reference you will find on the subject.
By reading this topic, you will learn how to create your own macros from the beginning, up to advanced tips. Macros are very important for both pvp and pve(and specially for hunters). If you do not believe in the importance of macros, then you should ask around the 'good' players in your servers, and 'hopefully', they will tell you that they are useful.
I will also include the macros that I am using at the end of this topic. You are free to use them or modify them.
The topic is separated into multiple sections and subsections, because it is excessively long.
I will accept any suggestion(things I could add or tips to make the thread look better) and I will answer every questions.
What is a macro?(DO NOT SKIP)
Spoiler:Show Simply put, a macro is a list of commands to ease some tasks. You could, as an example, chain two spells in one button, since you always use x spell first and y next. You could also instantly stop attacking your target after you've used a crowd control(abilities restraining the opponent) to prevent you from breaking the effect. Or maybe you would like to combine your burst(abilities temporally increasing your damage) spells into one big macro so it uses them all on one click. This can all be done by macros.
Sadly, you can't write the instructions randomly and hope that they work. There's some general rules that your commands and macros must respect:
1)All commands must start by the slash character '/ ', the only exceptions to this rule are the meta commands.
2)Each statements must begin on a different line. Lines are created by pressing the enter button if you didn't know.
3)Your macros can contain no more than 255 characters. It is a good idea to try and minimize the size of your macros to be able to fit more things in, if possible. Some tricks will be explained here to do exactly this(including a trick to bypass the characters limit, see the Optimization Section).
4)The command should be valid(there will be a list explaining Most of the useful commands below)
5)ALL the statements are (nearly) executed AT THE SAME TIME! For your macro to work, you should be able to execute all these commands as if you hadn't used a macro. Look at the Action Commands section for more details about this rule.
6)To be more precise, the statements are executed in order, from top to bottom. If you do not put the commands in the correct order, problems might arise.
How to find the macro creation panel and which icon should you pick?
Spoiler:Show Opening the macro creation panel is extremely simple. To show it up, simply go in the game panel(Either by pressing Escape(Echap) or by clicking the button near the talents/inventory), the game panel being the place you go to logout or change settings. You should see a "Macros" button in there. Click that and that's it! It is also possible to open the panel by writing /macro in the chat. You can now begin creating your own macros.
You should see two tabs; General macros and character specific macros. The general macros can be seen by all the characters on your account, while the character specific macros will only be available on the character you create them on.
To create your macro, press the "new" button. This will bring up another interface that allows you to pick the name and the icon of your macro. If you do not want your macros to have text on them(like normal spells), then type a spacebar as the name.
You can select an icon, but I recommend not to do so; leave it as it is, with a question mark. The reason is that, if you do not place an icon, the macro will instantly show the icon of the spell used in them. You will also be able to change the icon of your macro depending on few select situations, for example, if you are holding the Ctrl key. (This will be seen in the meta commands sections). Only pick an icon from the list if you do not need to see your spell cooldowns.
Drag the icon once your done to place it on your action bars(or spells bar if you prefer).
The following is a list of commands that I judge are useful in your game-play. There is many more existing commands, but they are not as useful.
Spoiler:Show The Syntax(READ THIS BEFORE LOOKING AT THE COMMANDS LIST)
Spoiler:Show The green color is used to introduce or list a command. Every single statements you will see begin with a slash character, except the Meta commands. To use the instructions, you will have to simply copy it and then paste it into your macro. However, that's not all there is to it. You do not want to copy the text in teal color that follows a command. It is merely additional information about an instruction that I have added to help you.
The vertical bars(the | symbol) enclose what is called a parameter. A parameter is just something to specify what the command should do exactly. Sometimes they can be omitted, but doing so can possibly make the instruction useless.
The other piece of information is the presence of the asterisk (the * symbol) after the command name. When you see one, it means that the instruction is affected by which target you currently have. You will learn later how to modify that target.
An example should help you understand, so take a look at the Action Commands section.
Action commands
The action commands will allow you to use a spell or an item's ability. They are the most used commands in macros.
Spoiler:Show /use* |Action|
This is the first command on the list, and it is also the most used.
The /use instruction is used to utilize an ability, whether it's a spell or an usable item. As you can notice, there's an asterisk * after the name, and there is a parameter named |Action|. The |Action| parameter is basically the name of the item or spell you want to use. The asterisk tells you that your current target matters. In this case, it will use the spell or item on your target(Unless it's self cast!)
Here is an example of the use statement to launch the Arcane Shot spell:
/use Arcane Shot
The name of the spell must be written EXACTLY as it is written in your spell book. Notice the capital letters. Each parameter must be separated by a space, so don't forget to add a space between /use and the name of your spell!
Before you go and try to put all your spells in one macro, I have to warn you:A macro can only launch one spell at a time. You can only use multiple spells if they do not share the same global cooldown! As a hunter, I can't shoot both chimera AND arcane shot at the same time, for example.
If I do:
/use Chimera Shot
/use Arcane Shot
the macro will never use arcane shot since they(arcane and chimera) share the same global cooldown. It will get stuck on Chimera Shot even while it's on cooldown.
Whenever a macro is unable to execute a command, It will drop dead and stop reading the instructions ahead.
What I CAN do though, is use both rapid fire and chimera shot, Disengage and wing clip, kill shot and pvp trinket, arcane shot and aspect of the hawk and many more.
As long as you can normally use both spells at the same time, without a macro, it should be fine..
One hunter joke that I like to do is to use: Aspect of the Hawk, Arcane Shot, Master's Call, Rapid Fire, Burst Trinket, Disengage and Deterrence all at the same time, Since none of them share the same global cooldown!(Well for cataclysm that is.)
to utilize the ability of an equipped item, you must type a number Between 1-20. Just test each of them until it uses the desired item.
/use 13
Will use your first trinket. You can find a list online, but trying every numbers is fast so I'm not going to include it.
You can also use an item from a very specific bag slot. Like for equipment, you type a number(between 0 and 4) to precise which bag, and another number for the slot.
/use 0 10
This uses the 10th item from the first bag(the main backpack).
There exists another feature, using the exclamation mark symbol ' ! ' , also known as the non toggling operator. PRECEDING(BEFORE) the name of an ability with the exclamation mark symbol will change the effect a bit:
If the spell is a buff, it will cause it to be re-applied instead of toggling it on and off on every clicks. This is mostly useful for spammable buffs( like aspects for hunters).
If the spell is an aoe(area of effect) that you place using a green reticle(the green circle), then adding the exclamation mark before the name will cause it to stop toggling on and off the circle(the circle will stay active)
If the spell is casted, then pressing twice will not restart the cast(A small amount of spells restart the cast when you repress them)
So basically, if there's something that goes on and off, try adding an exclamation mark before it.
Few examples:
/use !Flare
/use !Aspect of the Hawk
One "mistake" that I see a lot, is that people take the /cast command instead of /use. while /cast does exactly the same thing, it takes one more character than /use. The space in macros is restrained(255 characters) so saving even 1 or 2 characters is a lot!
the next command is /castsequence* |Action..| .
This command allows you to line-up several spells. What I mean by this, is that on the first click, it will use the first skill, on the second click, the second skill, third click third spell.. All spells are separated by commas ' , ' . The two dots in the parameter only indicate that you can put many.Example:
/castsequence Chimera Shot,Arcane Shot
This will use Chimera shot on the first click and then Arcane Shot on the second click. Even if I waited for hours, the second click will always be Arcane Shot(Some exceptions apply, like re-logging). When the last ability of the sequence is used, it will restart and go back at spell one(in this case, chimera shot). Of course, you can put more than two spells. Just add another comma, and type in the spell name(as long as your macro fits 255 characters).
The sames rules as on the /use apply, so if you place multiple /castsequence in your macros, then the spells must not have GCD. If you place your spells in the right orders in your sequences, you won't have a problem. The Exclamation mark symbol can still be inserted to prevent toggling.
Like I've said before, a spell will not be skipped(the line-up will not advance/ go forward) unless you actually cast it. Using the previous castsequence as an example, if I were to be disarmed/stunned/not in line of sight after I've used chimera shot, I wouldn't be able to use the next spell(Arcane Shot), and the ordering wouldn't advance. It will stay at arcane shot until I actually cast it. Worry not, there exists another characteristic of the /castsequence that allows you to reset your sequence or, in other words, to allow you to make the sequence start back at the beginning by another condition.
Namely, these conditions are : target(reset=target) --Whenever you change your target , combat --whenever you leave/enter combat , number --whenever you stop pressing the macro for X seconds. , ctrl, alt, shift - whenever you press ctrl or alt or shift.
So in reality, the command really is:/castsequence* |reset||Action..|
To add a condition to a castsequence, add the reset= keyword followed by the name of the condition like this:
/castsequence reset=10 Chimera Shot,Arcane Shot
If I press once, it will use Chimera Shot. if I click another time after waiting 10 seconds, it won't use Arcane Shot but Chimera shot. If needed, you can add multiples conditions, simply separate them by slash characters.
example:
/castsequence reset=5/shift Spell 1, Other Spell, Some Item
Another thing is that you can make sequences that cannot reset except by your own condition. This is done by typing the name of a spell that you don't have:
/castsequence reset=1 Arcane Shot,b
Since castsequence resets when the last spell of the sequence is successfully cast, this trick will effectively stop it from reseting normally. The reason is that you can't cast the spell named b, because you don't even have it! So the only way for it to reset is by your own condition. In this case, you would have to wait 1 second without pressing the macro.Instead of b you could use _ or NULL or whatever. But I recommend to only use one character like b or _ .
There is a borderline exploit using castsequence to allow you to use two spells which are on the same global cooldown. This trick is performed by using 0 as one of your spell name. Look at this macro:
/castsequence reset=0.5 0,Chimera Shot
/use Arcane Shot
this macro will use Chimera Shot when it is not on cooldown and will use Arcane Shot otherwise(if you keep clicking the macro at a certain speed). You should understand the meaning of the 0.5 in there(hint: it's an amount of seconds). The reason why this trick works is that it tries using the ability of your equipment in slot 0. Since this does nothing it just goes to the next ability on the next click.
/userandom* |Action..|
This last action command allows you to use abilities randomly. Just like castsequence, separate each abilities by commas.
You cannot bypass gcd with it. Once you clicked the macro, userandom will select a spell randomly and will not select another one until you successfully cast the spell.
Replace /castrandom with /userandom in your macros.
Targeting commands
The targeting commands allow you to change your current target and focus.
Spoiler:Show /tar* |target|
targets an unit by name. /tar alpha will make you select the unit named alpha. It might also target someone who happens to have alpha in their name. The parameter simply is the name of the target to find. Replace /target with /tar in your macros.
/targetexact* |target|, This will target something or someone with a precise name unlike /tar.
/cleartarget, removes your current target.
/focus* |target|
Same as /targetexact but sets as focus instead. if you have a target, /focus will focus that target.
/clearfocus, removes your current focus.
/targetlastenemy , /targetlasttarget , /targetenemyplayer , /targetenemy
These will target the last enemy/target you had previously targetted.
Pet Commands
Pet Commands control the pet behaviors.
Spoiler:Show Pet movement:
/petattack* --Makes your pet attack the target.
/petfollow --Makes your pet follow you. Also stops it from attacking.
/petmoveto --Moves your pet manually with your cursor. Also stops it from attacking.
/petstay --Tells your pet to wait in place.Also stops it from attacking.
Pet stance:
/petdefensive --Puts your pet in defensive stance
/petpassive --Puts your pet in passive stance. Also stop it from attacking
Pet spell cast:
/petautocasttoggle |PetSpell| --Toggles the autocast of a pet spell(like right clicking)
/petautocaston |PetSpell| --Sets the autocast of a pet spell on
/petautocastoff |PetSpell| --Sets the autocast of a pet spell off
Equip commands
Spoiler:Show These commands will be detailed later
Misc. commands
Commands that fall under no category.
Spoiler:Show /cancelaura |buff| --Removes a buff
/cancelform --Removes your shapeshift form.
/stopattack --Stops auto-shooting
/stopcasting --Stops your current cast
/startattack* --Starts auto-attacking your target
Advanced commands
These are handy commands, but they can be difficult to use.
Spoiler:Show /stopmacro --Stops further execution of the macro. Useful when the same condition is repeated many times.
/click |button| --clicks a button on your screen
/framestack --Opens a panel that allows you the see the names of the buttons on your screen.
Meta Commands
Change your macros icons using Meta commands!
Spoiler:Show #showtooltip |Action|
This command changes the icon of your macro to the icon of the Action, and it will also change the tooltip(The text that describes an ability when you put your mouse over it). If you omit the parameter, It will take the icon of the first action being used in your macros(So check if it can be omitted to save space!)
#show |Action|
This one works just like showtooltip, but it doesn't change the tooltip. Personally, I prefer showtooltip.
Once you have learned how to properly handle the above commands, the next step is to get into the mechanic of conditions. A condition allows your macro to act differently depending on preset situations. For example, you might want to use an offensive ability if your target is an enemy, and a healing ability if the target is friendly.
Of course, you could try the following:
/use healing ability
/use attack ability
but that wouldn't totally work, because the macro would block since it cannot use both abilities. This is one of the many problems where conditions come in handy! Creating a condition is simple. Right after the command, you must add square brackets ' [ ] ' and you place your conditions inside them. Before I can show you an example, take a look at the following list of conditions :
Spoiler:Show Targetable conditional :
harm If the target can be attacked
help If the target is friendly
dead If the target is dead
exists if the target exists
State conditional:
combat If you are in combat
stealth If you are stealthed
spec:1/2 If you have a specified talent spec activated(spec:1 , spec:2 )
form:0/1/n If you have the current form activated
Only useful to: druid, priest, rogue, warrior, shaman, warlock
form:0 is no form at all
form:1 includes: warrior->Battle Stance Rogue->stealth druid->bear form shaman->ghost wolf priest->shadowform/spirit of redemption warlock->metamorphosis
form:2 includes: warrior->defensive stance rogue->vanish druid->cat form
form:3 includes: warrior->berserker stance rogue->shadow dance druid->travel form
form:4 includes: druid->moonkin form or tree of life
You can combine multiple forms with a slash like so= form:1/2
btn:1/2/n Checks if the macro was activated with the specified clicks(Button numbers 1-5 correspond to left, right, middle, button 4, and button 5. ) Example: btn:3 Can probably combine many buttons using a slash, like with form(not tested) btn:1/2
worn:x Checks if you have a specific ItemType or InventorySlot equipped.
Replace x with an ItemType or InventorySlotName
Refer to these lists= ItemType:http://wow.gamepedia.com/ItemType InventorySlotName:http://wow.gamepedia.com/InventorySlotName
mod
Checks if you have a modifier key pressed.
Modifiers include: Ctrl Shift Alt
You can also specify which to activate with a colon
mod:shift mod:ctrl mod:alt
you can specify multiple with a slash
mod:ctrl/shift
pet
Checks if you currently have a pet summoned.
You can specify the pet's name with a colon pet:Name
You can also check if the pet is from a specific family.
Here's the whole list of pet families:
Bat/bear/bird of Prey/boar/Carrion Bird/Cat/Chimaera/Core Hound/Crab/Crocolisk/Devilsaur/Doomguard/Dragonhawk/Felguard/Felhunter/Ghoul/Gorilla/Hyena/Imp/Moth/Nether Ray/Raptor/Ravager/Remote Control/Rhino/Scorpid/Serpent/Silithid/Spider/Spirit Beast/Sporebat/Succubus/Tallstrider/Turtle/Voidwalker/Warp Stalker/Wasp/Wind Serpent/Wolf/Worm
Each of these conditional can be preceded by the prefix "no" to reverse the meaning.
Examples= noharm same as help, but lengthier(so use help instead!)
noexists nopet nomod...
There is more conditionals, but these are the ones I deem useful for combat.
the ones I didn't list: actionbar|bonusbar|channeling, NOT casting|cursor|flyable|flying|group|party|raid|out doors|indoors|vehicleui|unithasvehicleui|swimming|
I didn't include these since they're not really useful for pvp, except maybe party.
Now that you, hopefully, took a glance at the list of conditionals, let's start using them in our macros!
Spoiler:Show As I've said earlier, to insert a conditional in your macro, you just add some square brackets right after a command like this:
/command [ ]
Inside these square brackets you put... your condition! It's that simple. When you use your macro, it will check if the condition within the square brackets is TRUE.
If it's true, it will activate the command associated with it.
/startattack [harm]
In the above command, It will check if the target is harmful(that's what the harm conditional do.). If it is, you will proceed by auto-attacking the target.
You are not limited to only one condition per commands. You can, in fact, put as many as you want, the only limit is the length of the macro.
To add more conditions, you use a comma ' , ' as a separator(you place it between the conditions).
/petattack [pet,harm]
What this will do is, check if I have a pet out(with the pet conditional) and it will check if my target is harmful then launch my pet on them if it is.
If the command has one or multiple parameters, the condition must be placed BEFORE them. Such as:
/use [harm,mod:shift]Scatter Shot
This checks if I am holding the shift key and whether I have an enemy selected. If both are true, it will use Scatter Shot on it.
Up there we did what we call an 'AND' gate. All the conditions listed must be true for the command to execute. But what if, instead, you'd like the command to
carry out if AT LEAST ONE circumstance is true, also called an 'OR' gate. One way to do this would be to plainly write the same command twice, but with a different
condition like the following:
/use [mod]Freezing Trap
/use [harm]Freezing Trap
This macro will use Freezing Trap if I am holding a modifier key(shift,ctrl,alt) OR if I am targeting an opponent.
Of course this method works, but it is rather inefficient. You have to double or even triple the amount of characters you use.
Fortuitously, there is a more compacted method to do exactly this! You merely have to open more square brackets, one for every conditions you want to create.
The previous macro could be shortened to this:
/use [mod][harm]Freezing Trap
That's much shorter isn't it?
The following only apply to commands with parameters(action commands,/target,/focus,/cancelaura,/click...):
what if you wanted to use a spell if something is true and otherwise(when it's false), use another ability(so use different parameters depending on different conditions)? You could write out two different lines for the two
different spells, and reverse every conditional with the 'no' prefix like so:
/use [mod]Disengage
/use [nomod]Chimera Shot
It will use Chimera shot if I am not holding a modifier(shift,alt,ctrl) and it will use Disengage on the other case(If I am holding a modifier).
As you've probably saw it coming, there is a better, compact way to do this. Just place a semi-colon between every spells, as shown here:
/use [mod]Disengage;[nomod]Chimera Shot
As you can see, I used a semi-colon( ; ) between Disengage and Chimera Shot(But before chimera shot conditional!). What this will do is check if a modifier is held, if there is then it will use Disengage. When no modifier is held it will look at the 2nd row which contains Chimera Shot.
You can make this macro even shorter! Logically, if mod is false, then nomod must be true! So [nomod] could be removed and it would still act the same:
/use [mod]Disengage;Chimera Shot
Another example:
/use [harm]Arcane Shot;Master's call
This checks if you have an enemy target. Use Arcane Shot if that's true, else use Master's call.
When harm is false, that means you are targeting a friend OR you have no target at all. If you want to make sure that you have a target selected, plug in the exists conditional in there just like this:
/use [harm]Arcane Shot;[exists]Master's call
Last example for this:
/use [mod][help]Healing ability;[dead]Resurrection ability
You can put as many semi-colons as necessary.
OPTIMIZATION TIPS
These are tips and tricks to reduce the size of your macros.
Spoiler:Show 1)If there is multiple commands that do the same thing, pick the shortest one. For example, instead of the /cast command, you should pick the /use command.
2)Check if you can write out your conditions in a better way, using the techniques shown.
3)If the same condition(like harm) is repeated Several times, see if using the /stopmacro command could make that macro smaller.
4)Use the @ symbol instead of writing out target= . You'll save a lot of space by doing that.
5)if the exact same commands are repeated in multiple macros, think about using the /click command. It's even possible to make macros that are more than 255 characters
by using that command. /click is followed by the name of the button you want it to click. You'll find the names by using the /framestack command, which opens a panel.
Move your mouse over the button that needs to be clicked, and the name of the button should appear. If you're not sure which one is the name of the button, then just try
them all. Just remember that this is case sensitive.
6)Instead of writing the full name of an item, use it's item Id(Unless the item Name is shorter..). You'll find how to do this in the Equip Commands section.
7)Avoid unnecessary spaces. The only times spaces are necessary is after a command(unless you can just create a new line),inside a spell/item name and after the reset=
from a castsequence.(Spaces are also necessary when making scripts, but that's another topic.)
8)You can sometimes replace the 'no' prefix from conditionals. Look at this example-> /use [nomod]Deterrence
This can be made smaller by using cleverness -> /use [mod];Deterrence
This checks if a modifier is held. If it's true, it won't use anything. If it's false(same as nomod) it uses Deterrence.Writing ; is smaller than no by 1 character.
"Exploits"
Spoiler:Show Now these exploits, even if they're not listed as such(Nowhere does it say that these are exploits, but personalty they are), are ALL script exploits(Although, there's a castsequence exploit which can be found in Action Commands).
This means there is a big chance that you will not be able to use them by yourself, unless you know how to program. BUT. Tell me how you would use these exploits and
I will make it for you(Or I will tell you that its impossible).
I am not responsible for any misuse of these "exploits".
All of these commands aren't really useful by themselves. Why bother then, you'd ask? The reason is that they are script commands. Script commands allow you to access the
game information, such as your opponent current Health,Mana, Buffs, your position in game, The dps you're doing and much more. Combine that information with these commands,
and they can do some powerful stuff.
1)The SummonRandomCritter() Exploit
What this command do is trigger the global cooldown. Perhaps the utility of triggering the global cooldown isn't obvious to you. You have to remember: You cannot use an ability
if it is currently affected by the global cooldown. There is situations where wasting a global is better than wasting a spell. Here's two examples that I can think of quickly: Dispelling. Say you press Tranquilizing shot, but there isn't anything to be dispelled on your opponent. You'd waste focus and a gcd. By using this exploit you'd only waste a gcd.
Another example is crowd control. Let's say you're teaming with a rogue, and you are ccing the healer. Just before his sap breaks from the healer, you go for a scatter trap combo. The problem? The rogue was faster than you and used his blind ability, thus you accidentally broke his blind by using scatter shot. By using the SummonRandomCritter() exploit, you could check if the healer already has a cc on him, and waste a gcd instead of wasting a gcd + breaking the rogue's blind in this case.
If you want me to create any of the two above examples say so. If you got ome other ideas for this, tell me too.
2)The SitStandOrDescendStart() Exploit
This works just like /stopcasting ,it will interrupt your current cast, but it's a script command.
Maybe this could be used to instantly stop casting whenever someone use an interrupt on you, so you don't get school locked.(I'm not sure about the speed)
I know that you could use this to instantly stop casting your heals when your target is already at full health.
If you got more idea about which occasions you would want to stop casting, tell me!
3)The PickupInventoryItem() trick
This command allows you to move your items around your backpack. Combine this with the /use command to utilise an item in a specific inventory slot.
For example, /use 0 1 would use the first slot in your bag. By using the PickupInventoryItem() command, you could move an item to that slot when you need to use it!
One way that this trick can be used is to make your interrupts always land(or nearly). To do this, you would move in and out your heartstone. Whenever the enemy is NOT casting,
you put the heartstone on the inventory slot, and the /use command makes you start casting it. Because you are casting heartstone, you can't use your interrupt and you don't waste it!
You can instantly stop casting heartstone right after, so you don't even waste a gcd. This one only work outside arenas since Heartstone is unusable inside. If you can find any casted item that is usable in arenas, you could do it.
Another use is to swap your weapons automatically for you. You get one weapon with a proc enchant and one with a permanent enchant. When the weapon has procced, you move the other weapon to the specified inventory slot and equip that one for you. That way, you can benefit from Both enchants!
If you find more uses, tell me!
This is the end of the tutorial. Below this line, you will find a list of macros that I created(cataclysm).
Spoiler:Show
These are the macros that I think are must-have.
Spoiler:Show
#showtooltip
/castsequence [nopet]reset=20 Call Pet 1,Call Pet 2,Call Pet 3;Dismiss Pet
/use [pet:wolf]Furious Howl;[pet:cat]Roar of Courage
/use [pet:wolf,mod][pet:cat,mod]Call of the Wild
/petfollow
/use Dash
A pet swapping macro. Use to buff yourself with both wolf and cat pets for 5% extra critical strikes and 549 agility for a remaining time of around 50 seconds. If you hold ctrl/alt/shift while using the macro, it will also use Call of the Wild. Go to a stable master to place your pets in this order: Cat(or wolf)/wolf(or cat)/The pets you normally use.
The order is from Top to Bottom. typing /use Call Pet 1 and /use Call Pet 2 should summon your wolf OR your cat. You can also use this macro to just dismiss your pet, too.
#showtooltip Scatter Shot
/stopcasting
/stopcasting
/castsequence reset=4 !Trap Launcher,!Freezing Trap
/castsequence [@focus,harm][@mouseover,harm][]reset=4 Scatter Shot,!Freezing Trap
/stopattack
A one button scatter trap macro! With only one button, you will be to launch a freezing trap! This is an edited version of my personal macro for those who only want the scatter part trap.
/run if yG==nil then yG=CreateFrame("frame") yG:RegisterEvent("LOOT_OPENED") end function yD(...) for i=1,GetNumLootItems() do if LootSlotIsCoin(i) then LootSlot(i) break end end end yG:SetScript("OnEvent",yD)
Automatic gold looting macro. Whenever you loot a corpse, this will automatically pick the gold! To use it, simply press it once on every login. To see if it worked, write /run print(yG) in the chat(with a capital G) and, if it does not say "nil", it will work(you should see Table:xxxxx instead). This is a script macro, so don't even try to understand it. A lua programming language tutorial would require a book to write.
Here's my personalised macros. How they work: All these macros will show offensive abilities at first, such as Arcane,Kill,Chimera,Steady,Widow shots. But when you hold either the shift or ctrl button, they will turn into defensive abilities(disengage,deterrence,silencing shot,scatter shot..)! This makes it really easy for me to pick which ability to use. Not only that, all these macros are linked to one big macro to increase the effiency.
Spoiler:Show /targetlastenemy [nomod,noexists]
/clearfocus [@focus,dead][@focus,nomod,help]
/cancelaura [mod];Deterrence
/stopcasting
/stopcasting
/castsequence reset=target !Aspect of the Hawk,_
/focus [@mouseover,mod,harm][@focus,noexists]
This is the main macro I was talking about. All the macros below are linked to it through the /click command, so you may have to edit that part so it matches with the button you put the macro on. I placed it on the button named MultiBarRightButton1 which is on the Top right corner of the screen, right below the minimap. Use the /framestack command to see the name of buttons. This macro will stop your current cast to allow you to use your instant ability(and removing deterrence for the same purpose). It will also put your Aspect of the Hawk on, instantly focus a target for you when you're using a defensive ability by holding shift/ctrl/alt and pointing to a target with your mouse(or when you got no focus). So remember:If you hold shift,alt,ctrl AND point a target with your mouse, your defensive abilities will be used on that target instead!
#showtooltip
/click MultiBarRightButton1
/petattack [mod:alt,@focus,harm][mod:alt]
/use [mod:Alt,@pettarget][mod:Alt]Growl;[mod]Disengage;!Flare
/use [mod:Alt]Dash;[@focus,harm,mod][@mouseover,harm,mod][mod]Wing Clip
/stopattack
Flare. hold shift/ctrl for disengage+wing clip. Hold alt to send your pet to attack. Don't forget to edit the /click part so it matches the position of the Main macro.
I use the "1" keybind for this macro.
#showtooltip
/click [nomod:alt]MultiBarRightButton1
/use [mod:alt]Dash;[mod];Kill Shot
/petfollow [mod:alt]
/petmoveto [mod:alt]
/stopmacro [nomod:shift]
/use [@focus,harm][@mouseover,harm][]!Bad Manner
/petattack [@focus,harm][@mouseover,harm][]
Kill shot. Hold shift/ctrl for Bad Manner. Hold alt to move your pet around or make it follow you. again, dont forget to edit out MultiBarRightButton1 so it matches the main macro's button(last time I'll remind you!).
I use the "2" keybind for this macro.
#showtooltip
/use [mod]Deterrence;Steady Shot
/use [mod]!Aspect of the cheetah;!Aspect of the Fox
/castsequence [mod,pet]Dismiss Pet;[mod]reset=60 Call Pet 4,Call Pet 5
/cleartarget
/targetlasttarget
/cancelaura [nomod]Deterrence
/stopattack [nomod]
Steady Shot(hawk while standing,fox while moving). Hold shift/ctrl/alt to use deterrence, giving you aspect of the cheetah if you plan on moving, or dismissing your pet if you plan on standing still(To allow you to reset pet cooldowns!). The cleartarget and targetlasttarget is a clever way to restart the castsequence in the main macro(so you only use the Hawk Aspect when you need to, instead of these spamming macros!Professionals can use this feature to swap to aspect of the cheetah and still be able to shoot.).
I use the "3" keybind for this macro.
#showtooltip [mod]Scatter Shot;Widow Venom
/click MultiBarLeftButton1
/castsequence [mod]reset=4 !Trap Launcher,!Freezing Trap
/castsequence [nomod]Widow Venom;[@focus,harm][@mouseover,harm][]reset=4 Scatter Shot,!Freezing Trap
/stopattack
Widow Venom. When holding ctrl/shift/alt, this turns into a scatter trapping macro.
I use the "4" keybind for this macro.
#showtooltip
/click MultiBarRightButton1
/use [@focus,harm,mod][@mouseover,harm,mod][mod]Silencing Shot;[@mouseover,harm][]Tranquilizing Shot
Tranquilizing shot. Hold ctrl/shift/alt for silencing shot. Nothing special about this macro, really(except that, this time, tranquilizing shot can be used with mouse over too).
I use the "5" keybind for this macro.
#showtooltip [mod]Master's Call;Arcane Shot
/click MultiBarRightButton1
/use [@focus,help,mod][@mouseover,help,mod][mod]Master's Call;Aimed Shot!
/use [@focus,harm,mod][mod]Wing Clip;Arcane Shot
/stopattack [mod]
Arcane Shot. Hold ctrl/shift/alt for Master's call+Wing Clip. This macro will also use Aimed shot when it becomes instant because of the talent.
I use the "R" keybind for this macro.
#showtooltip [mod]Concussive Shot;Chimera Shot
/click MultiBarRightButton1
/use [mod];Aimed Shot!
/use [@focus,harm,mod][@mouseover,harm,mod][mod] Concussive Shot;Chimera Shot
Chimera Shot. Hold ctrl/shift/alt for Concussive Shot. Also use Aimed shot when its instant because of the talent.
I use the "F" keybind for this macro.
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Member
Macro-ing tutorial
Welcome to the Macro-ing Thread. This is perhaps the biggest reference you will find on the subject.
By reading this topic, you will learn how to create your own macros from the beginning, up to advanced tips. Macros are very important for both pvp and pve(and specially for hunters). If you do not believe in the importance of macros, then you should ask around the 'good' players in your servers, and 'hopefully', they will tell you that they are useful.
I will also include the macros that I am using at the end of this topic. You are free to use them or modify them.
The topic is separated into multiple sections and subsections, because it is excessively long.
I will accept any suggestion(things I could add or tips to make the thread look better) and I will answer every questions.
What is a macro?(DO NOT SKIP)
Spoiler:Show
How to find the macro creation panel and which icon should you pick?
Spoiler:Show
The following is a list of commands that I judge are useful in your game-play. There is many more existing commands, but they are not as useful.
Spoiler:Show
Once you have learned how to properly handle the above commands, the next step is to get into the mechanic of conditions. A condition allows your macro to act differently depending on preset situations. For example, you might want to use an offensive ability if your target is an enemy, and a healing ability if the target is friendly.
Of course, you could try the following:
/use healing ability
/use attack ability
but that wouldn't totally work, because the macro would block since it cannot use both abilities. This is one of the many problems where conditions come in handy! Creating a condition is simple. Right after the command, you must add square brackets ' [ ] ' and you place your conditions inside them. Before I can show you an example, take a look at the following list of conditions :
Spoiler:Show
Now that you, hopefully, took a glance at the list of conditionals, let's start using them in our macros!
Spoiler:Show
OPTIMIZATION TIPS
These are tips and tricks to reduce the size of your macros.
Spoiler:Show
"Exploits"
Spoiler:Show
This is the end of the tutorial. Below this line, you will find a list of macros that I created(cataclysm).
Spoiler:Show Edited: June 9, 2015
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Member
Did Anyone read this yet?
If you did, what do you think about it so far?(is there a part that seems more difficult to understand?)
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Member
Nice guide sonic. Unfortunally hunter forum is suffering from a pet fever right now and they flood the forum so fast that i coudnt see your post until now. Got some nice stuff i didnt knew yet here. Gz.
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Member
I need help on my macro for pet.
So this is my macro
#showtooltip Spell Lock(Rank 2)
/cast [no modifier] Spell Lock(Rank 2)
/cast [target=focus, modifier:shift] Spell Lock(Rank 2)
How can i put cast sequence for seduction for sucubus.
Basically i need macro to recognize when my sucubus is summoned and when my felhunter is summoned for silence. But i need modifiers for focus to stay on same macro.
thx
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Member
Awesome guide! Macros are a colossally complex topic that aren't intuitive to the average player. A guide like this will no doubt prove tremendously helpful - not least because both PVE and PVP hunters seem to have to use a monstrous number of macros for optimal game-play.
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Member
Looks like some people Did read this thread;
Time for Updating then!
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Member
bump for the dump. :P
Anyone knows???
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Member
Something like this?
#showtooltip
/cast [no modifier, pet:Succubus] seduction
/cast [target=focus, modifier:shift, pet:Succubus] seduction
/cast [no modifier, pet:felhunter] felhunter_silence
/cast [target=focus, modifier:shift, pet:felhunter] felhunter_silence
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Member
Yeah something like this, but problem is in #showtooltip, it doesnt show coresponding icons of spells, when sucubus is summoned
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Member
Do you use that exact macro? Does it show icon and tooltip with felhunter? (if so, check your suCCubus spelling)
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Member
Yeah it is showing only fellhunter silence, not showing seduction when succubus is summoned. I never type my spell i always shift+click on spell book to import correct name.
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Member
Could you post your macro here on forum?
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Member
#showtooltip
/cast [no modifier, pet:Succubus] seduction
/cast [target=focus, modifier:shift, pet:Succubus] seduction
/cast [no modifier, pet:felhunter] felhunter_silence
/cast [target=focus, modifier:shift, pet:felhunter] felhunter_silence
First thing I want you to notice is how you could shrink your macro:
1)replace cast by use
2)replace target= by @
3)Use conditionals to their full extent
4)modifier is the same thing as mod
The macro above could be shrinked to:
#showtooltip
/use [@focus,mod:shift,pet:Succubus][nomod,pet:Succubus]Seduction;[@focus,mod:shift,pet:Felhunter][nomod,pet:Felhunter]Spell Lock
This version has 143 characters while yours has 242 characters. So a grand total of 99 characters less! You could also remove :shift unless you use Ctrl or alt with the same keybind.(I'm basing the macros on Cataclysm) I could probably do less using /stopmacro.
If the above doesn't work, then try to specify the tooltip like this:
#showtooltip [pet:Succubus]Seduction;Spell Lock
/use [@focus,mod:shift,pet:Succubus][nomod,pet:Succubus]Seduction;[@focus,mod:shift,pet:Felhunter][nomod,pet:Felhunter]Spell Lock
---------Also updated the guide to be more comprehensive.
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Member
Thx it works perfectly :D. Good guide btw :D
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Member
I did not know you can combine spells like this. That would make my mount macro better (able to fit more mounts), thanks! (maybe you could add something about combining multiple spells with different conditionals to your guide)
#showtooltip
/castrandom [flyable] Brutal Nether Drake, Invincible; [mod:shift] Traveler's Tundra Mammoth; [swimming] Sea Trutle; couple of ground mounts
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