ISBoxer: Multi-Mode FTL Targeting.

[ZorbaTheGeek]

After a two year break, I’m back and ready to box my way through two expansions. I downloaded Keyclone and started to configure my old “Target-and-Hold, Leaderless, Focusless” system and decided it was a complete pain. I had read about ISBoxer and decided to give it a try, a free 7 day trial from Lax and I’m a convert.


Here’s why:


ISBoxers wizard setup of FTL is quite simply superb, it takes zero effort from the user and just plain works. The only limitations, for me, are limitations of the Targetless, focusless system itself. While FTL is good for levelling, everything dies so fast that building threat is immaterial, it lacks the level of control I enjoy when playing a Tank + 3 (or 4) DPS. I’ve never really got on with Focus based systems as I prefer more automatic slave targeting.


Now I’m sure I am not the only person to implement “Sticky targeting” in ISBoxer but I hope this multimode system adds enough to be of interest to other users.


Creating Assist Keymaps

• Start off by making a copy of the “FTL Assist Me” keymap in “General” and rename it to “FTL Assist”
• Copy your new “FTL Assist” keymap, naming it “T&H Assist”
• And finally, copy “T&H Assist” to “Focus Assist”
• So we don’t forget, go into Step 1 for each of these new keymaps and give them a unique Key combination from the drop down.

Re-Configuring “FTL Assist Me”

• Click into the original “FTL Assist Me” keymap and select Step 1
• Delete the “Assist Me -> all other” action
• Create a new “Key Map Action” -> ”New Do Mapped Key Action” and leaving “Target” empty select key map “General” and Mapped Key “FTL Assist”

Back where we started, but at least if you decide to play everything will still work =P


Configuring Target and Hold

We need part of the FTL functionality for this mode, the easiest way to get it is to /click our FTL macro. To make this possible select the “Assist Me -> all other” action of “FTL Assist” and at the very bottom of the window check the “Name for use with /click” box and type “FTLAssist”.

• Select the “Assist Me -> all other “ action in “T&H Assist”, un-check the “But first” box in the “Targeting helper” pane and type in the following macro.

/stopmacro [harm, nodead, exists]
/click FTLAssist

That’ll work, eventually.


Configuring Focus Assist

I’m not a big user of focus targeting as I use focus for crowd control with a mage group and tend not to think of it. I’ve modified the Focus targeting macro here to have a fall-back into Target and Hold when the focus target does not exist or dies. To set it up:

• Select the “Assist Me -> all other “ action in “Focus Assist”, un-check the “But first” box in the “Targeting helper” pane and type in the following macro.

/target [@focus, exists]
/stopmacro [harm, nodead, exists]
/click FTLAssist

You can always remove the last two lines if you prefer a more straightforward focus assist.


The Mode Switch

Having three assist macros is all very well, but we don’t want three keys for every spell. I’m using ISBoxers “Keymap Virtualization” to remap “FTL Assist Me” in game, and on the fly. To do this we need to create a three step mode keymap.

• In the “Control” Keymaps, create a new mapped key and name it “FTL Mode”
• Give it a Hotkey binding of choice.
• Create three steps.

Step 1

• Create new action: “Key Map Action” à “New Mapped Key Virtualization Action”
• Leave “Target” empty and select “FTL Assist Me” in “General” keymap in the box labelled “When performing this Mapped… etc”
• Click the “Do this mapped key instead” radio button
• Select “T&H Assist” in “General” for this new action.
• Add a second action, a “New Popup Text Action”. Set the target as “Window:Current” and the text “Target and Hold Mode On”

Step 2

As above, but the remapped key is “Focus Assist” in “General” and “Focus Assist mode on” for the popup text


Step 3

See the pattern here? “T&H Assist” in “General” and a suitable message.


Assist Button.

And finally, add a hotkey to the "FTL Assist" keymap as a standard assist button which will work correctly in any mode.


Why? Because I can.

It’s easy to use, cycle through the targeting modes with your hotkey and IS will tell you, on screen, which mode you are in. Best of all, because we are remapping the original FTL assist key, none of ISboxers other keymaps need to be altered for the extended targeting modes to work. But obviously, due to the in game macros which the ISBoxer addon is automatically setting up for us, this will only work in World of Warcraft.

I hope someone finds this interesting if not useful. Go turn some live stuff into dead stuff.

[Owltoid]

Nice writeup, and I agree that would be a good system to implement. I'm sure something like this will be a good way to tackle the Cata dungeons before outgearing.

[Slats]

I love this concept. I think I will build it in.

I'm doing a toggle aoe DPS on and off state as well.

[Toned]

If you want to make your focus targeting a little more flexible use this as your FocusAssist macro

/target [@focus, exists, harm]
/assist [@focus, exists, help]
/stopmacro [harm,nodead, exists]
/click FTLAssist

This way if you set your focus to a friendly your chars will assist off them, and if you set the focus to an enemy your characters will nuke it.

[ZorbaTheGeek]

Toned, I like that macro and it got me thinking. Focus and Target-and-hold type macros are really useful when taking out groups of Elites in instances so I thought about using a similar macro for target queueing.

/stopmacro [harm,nodead, exists]
/target [@focus, exists, harm]
/stopmacro [harm,nodead, exists]
/click FTLAssist

Before pulling a group set the first to die as target on all DPS, set second to die as the Focus on all DPS. Once both initial target and Focus target are down the macro reverts to Target and Hold for the remaining mobs.

The setup is easy to achieve in practice, target second to die on master, assist & set focus for all, target first to die, assist and engage.

This one is replacing my focus target keymap for teams without crowd control abilities.

[Slats]

Now this is why I come to these forums. People coming up with creative ways to do new things rather than the same old, same old.

Going to give this a crack today as well as implementing my CC system for my shamans which will involve toggling whether they are using bind elemental or hex.

[Slats]

OK so I set this up tonight and it works perfectly. I used TOned's focus macro.

I have also rebuilt my follow macro so it now checks for a helpful focus that exists and will follow them when I hit my follow key. If they are an enemy target it will follow me instead.

this means I can attach my shamans to another player and assit of them/follow them and leave my tank or healer as effectively solo.

[Toned]

OK so I set this up tonight and it works perfectly. I used TOned's focus macro.

I have also rebuilt my follow macro so it now checks for a helpful focus that exists and will follow them when I hit my follow key. If they are an enemy target it will follow me instead.

this means I can attach my shamans to another player and assit of them/follow them and leave my tank or healer as effectively solo.

That's exactly what I did Reprisal and I team up and pwn stuff once in awhile I like being flexible. We've taken down Uld, 3D zerg, VOA, ICC 10 up to RotFace (Hopefully he dies tomorrow almost had him).

I wanted to be able to have my shamans assist off him on fights where it is needed etc etc...

[Toned]

Now this is why I come to these forums. People coming up with creative ways to do new things rather than the same old, same old.

Going to give this a crack today as well as implementing my CC system for my shamans which will involve toggling whether they are using bind elemental or hex.

I did something similar haven't bothered making it completely generic which I will.

My latest was making a totally generic 5 box profile. I have buttons to toggle the slot on/off for repeating, change if the slot is a melee (for IWT passing), caster, healer, or tank. I have so many characters and like to change characters/setups on the fly and it works great long as the Tank is always static, but this way I'm trying to make it so any slot can be swapped out at any given time. However, I'm still working out the kinks with FTL. The Focus targeting and Focus Sticky Targeting are working.

I'll post an update once I get around to finalizing everything.

[Slats]

Yeah I pretty much lokoed into this setup because myself and Viak have been doing some ICC, some Onyxia and OS3D. We got OS3d to 1% but essentially we need the ability for a tank to pickup the drake but for the shamans to never lose their target ever.

The 2 or 3 second delay and the initial fight for aggro against my own shamans I get by trying to grab the drake, face it away so I have enough threat to keep it off the healer spamming the MT and FTL kicks in and my shamns all nuke the shit out of the drake and waste the DPS on the drake.

I am going to use Focus to achieve it this time since Sarth will always be up till we kill him.

I am also of the mindset to totally rebuild my setup. I dont really play more than 1 team but I alternate tanks a bit as tanking is my favorite class to play. I've just purchased a X-Keys 58 Key USB for $300 AU delivered (thank you aussie dollar) and I want to print out all my labels and get all the keys setup perfectly with lots of addd toggles and keymaps as I write specific stuff just for various boss fights.