Totem sequences

[Kyudo]

Well my shammy 4x group hit 35 and I'd like some advice on totem sequence if anyone has any. I read through the great guide on twenty totem's website. But does anyone have cast sequence macros they could recommend?

[Vyndree]

1) Identify all totems you have for each element that are actually useful (lol windwall), in order of priority
2) Count the number of shaman in your group
3) ???
4) Profit!


Hint, step 3 involves something along the lines of /castsequence WaterTotem, AirTotem, EarthTotem, FireTotem


Personally, I used castsequences for laying totems in the past, and I didn't like it. I now use 1 button per totem type.

Shammy1, button1: Windfury Totem
Shammy2, button1: Grace of Air Totem
Shammy3, button1: Nature Resist Totem
Shammy4, button1: Windlol Totem

Etc...

And put searing totem, magma totem, grounding totem, fire nova totem, and tremor totem on the same button as well since I only use them during specific times.

This prevents the problem of castsequence coming un-sync'ed between computers, not resetting properly, and/or you only need one type of totem and don't care about the rest (waste of mana to lay the rest).

[Feehza]

Aebox posted his Totem-Layout ages ago:


3 healing
1 mana
1 poison cleanse
4 grounding
1 wrath of air
3 tremor
1 earthbind
1 stoneskin
5 totem of wrath

[Boom]

A few quick tips:

Try to drop "offensive" totems last. As you never know when one will be close enough to start "shooting off at the mouth" to the nearest mob.

When choosing your sequence, add reset modifiers for "combat", so it starts over after you leave combat. Then you can add a 5th button press, to renew totems that typically get eaten up in combat by mobs, or simply run out before combat is over.

Here's an example.

Press 1. Drop a few Stoneclaws to help CC on big pulls, or even to distract pathers who always seem to drop by even when uninvited.

Press 2. Drop your buffing totems

Press 3. Drop backup totems (maybe an earthbind in case mobs run)

Press 4. Offensive (damage) totems

Press 5. Renew 2 Stoneclaw and 2 Fire totems

Press 6. Renew 2 others Stoneclaw and Fire totems

Press 7. Renew Healing/buffing Totems


Normally, in most pulls you'll hit the button 4 times, run the fight, and it will automatically reset.

The only reason a fight would go long, would be because you got unexpected adds. That's what the additional button presses would be useful for.

While I haven't needed to yet, I could see setting up a different rotation for Boss fights end game, and maybe even for specific bosses.

I'd love to write my macros outside of WoW and move them in someway. I have trouble using the WoW macro interface because 4 of my 5 WoWs are squished vertically with maximizer, which makes text hard to read sometimes.

Anyone know how to import macros written outside of WoW?

Boom

This is a good question btw, and I plan to tackle it in depth in an upcoming blog post.

[Kyudo]

Thanks for the replies guys.

When I'm writing outside wow Boom, I just do whatever in notepad, highlight it, then Ctrl+c, Ctrl+v into the macro script box.

[Boom]

Thanks for the replies guys.

When I'm writing outside wow Boom, I just do whatever in notepad, highlight it, then Ctrl+c, Ctrl+v into the macro script box.

*looks around for the mage that made him suddenly feel so sheepish*

lol. No idea why I didn't think of that. Thanks!

Boom

[Vyndree]

Thanks for the replies guys.

When I'm writing outside wow Boom, I just do whatever in notepad, highlight it, then Ctrl+c, Ctrl+v into the macro script box.

*looks around for the mage that made him suddenly feel so sheepish*

lol. No idea why I didn't think of that. Thanks!

Boom

Or edit your C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\WTF\Account\<AccountName>\<Realm>\<CharacterName>\macros-cache.txt

The reason why I don't use Castsequences, Boom, is that if one Shaman gets stunned/CC'ed/etc it throws the whole sequence off by one until you enter combat again.

This truly sucks in PvP.

[Xzin]

I agree on that Vyn. What is a good alternative that doesn't leave your fingers in knots or you casting the same totems? Just set each totem to a different button per totem so you cycle through?

[Boom]

I agree on that Vyn. What is a good alternative that doesn't leave your fingers in knots or you casting the same totems? Just set each totem to a different button per totem so you cycle through?

I've seen the crazy xkey setups on here, and while they're great looking, I don't want to ever have to look down to cast a totem.

I use an N52, and Bartender3 to layout my buttons on screen, just as they are on the Nostromo. I use Shiftykeys (buried in Marsbars) that allow me to assign a button on the nostromo that shifts to a different action bar only while held down.

This allows me to visually see my Nostromo on screen, and see what the buttons change to when I hold down shift. But I have yet to get this to work through keyclone.

Eventually, If I can get 3 easy to reach shifts going on, I can assign a button to each totem. We'll see.

Cast Sequence doesn't give me any problems in PvE for obvious reasons... sounds like it's time for me to start PvP'n with my boys. They're all in the 40s now... and last night I got them each a mount.

I'll let you know what works for me... keep making suggestions!

Boom

[Vyndree]

I agree on that Vyn. What is a good alternative that doesn't leave your fingers in knots or you casting the same totems? Just set each totem to a different button per totem so you cycle through?

I use
ctrl+1 for Water Totems (3 healing, 1 mana)
ctrl+2 for PvE Earth totems (str, stoneskin, 1 tremor, and stoneclaw)
ctrl+3 for PvE Air totems (windfury, agi, NR, windwall)
ctrl+4 for 4x grounding totems. This makes sense to me, because I have earth shock bound to "4"
ctrl+5 for 4x tremor totems
ctrl+6 for Totemic Call
ctrl+7 for 1x disease cleanse, 1x poison cleanse
6 is Searing Totems x4
7 is Magma Totems x4
8 is Fire Nova Totems x4

(I use a split keyboard so it's very easy for me to find the 7 key as it's on the opposite side of my keyboard)

my spammable dps button (1) lays a Totem of Wrath(41 pt ele talent) if not in combat, then lightning bolts away.
/castsequence [nocombat] reset=combat/120 Totem of Wrath, Lighting Bolt; Lightning Bolt

my earth shock button (4) works along the lines of (this one is simplified):
/castsequence reset=6 Earth Shock, Grounding Totem, ,
/castsequence reset=6 Grounding Totem, Earth Shock, ,
/castsequence reset=6 Grounding Totem, , Earth Shock,
/castsequence reset=6 Grounding Totem, , , Earth Shock


My typical button presses pre-pull in PvE?
Hold ctrl
Hit 1
Hit 2
Hit 3
Release ctrl
OPTIONAL: If there are many casters, replace "hit 3" with "hit 4" for grounding totems)

My typical button presses in PvP?
Ctrl+5 if a lock is around
spam 4 if a spellcaster is around (automatically casts grounding)
If I have time to lay totems pre-pull in PvP, I'm ganking someone. ANd I'm not the ganking type.

[Xzin]

Don't you want to stagger grounding totems, tremors etc?

Boom, that is what I do - layout on screen that dynamically changes upon modifier keys held down. I never look at my keys either as they are arranged logically around a "home" position.

[Vyndree]

Don't you want to stagger grounding totems, tremors etc?

Boom, that is what I do - layout on screen that dynamically changes upon modifier keys held down. I never look at my keys either as they are arranged logically around a "home" position.

I don't stagger grounding totems, personally. With the totem farm that i have already, it's plenty hard for people to find all 4 grounding totems. With a 15 second cooldown, I want them up for as long as possible.

As for Tremor, as long as I spread them out (spread out macro, then press tremor), I've had no problems breaking fear. I think castsequencing them is a waste of GCD's and will give me joint problems in my fingers. ;)

[Boom]

1st press: 2x grounding, 2x tremor
2nd press: +2x gounding, +2x tremor

So you're at least a little staggered on the "ticks". And keep your grounding button as well, for when you need to drop more.

I dig this Furs. I would assume there are several groups that could benefit from this type of "toon" staggering in PvP.

Boom

[Diamndzngunz]

Also Twentytotems has a good post on his blog.
http://twentytotems.blogspot.com/2007/11/stackable-totems-guide.html
Lets who know what totems stack ETC.

[dniem]

You dont need totem, you kill everything one shot. :P Well at least I do. :)

Suggestion: Put it down on paper, knwo what totem stacks and what doesnt. For instances, just know your encounters and what you need, I dont use castsequence for instances because I want to change stuff too much. I use F G C V for my totems on all of em. But for pvp, I'll use cast sequence.

[Ellay]

Mix around the sequence between the characters so it is staggered.

PvP macro

/castsequence reset=15 Tremor Totem, Grounding Totem, Poison Cleansing Totem, Searing Totem

[Remote]

I have a PvP castsequence macro and a PvE one.

As an example: First wave of PvP macro is 4 Grounding Totems and 1 Tremor totem, since those are my top priority in PvP.

I also have some totems bound to buttons for when I want all five to drop a particular totem. Examples would be Magma Totem, Fire Nova Totem and Grounding Totem.

[Toned]

I have a pvp and pve castsequence for my 4 elements... Then I all cast stoneskin, magma, wrath, and fire nova.

[Boylston]

I've been mulling this over some, and I think I'm going to try something like what Vyn does except stagger the elements/totems so that I get the timer benefits.

Basically, for a given setup, I'll have 4 button presses, and they'll trigger a variety of totems.

Button 1: 1-Poison Cleansing, 2-Tremor, 3-Grounding, 4-Searing
Button 2: 1-Earthbind, 2-Grounding, 3-Tremor, 4-Healing Stream
Button 3: 1-Wrath of Air, 2-Healing Stream, 3-Healing Stream, 4-Grounding
Button 4: 1-Searing, 2-Searing, 3-Searing, 4-Tremor

Instead of doing an element per key, I will just map the icons on each character to their assigned Button X responsibility. Get some of the benefits of the castsequence macro without the reset problems, perhaps?

This is a PvP loadout, obviously, and I'd have separate Fire Nova/Grounding All-at-Once type totem keys too.