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WOW!!!
I just found this post in the macros forums
http://www.dual-boxing.com/showthread.php?t=18539
I'll be doing major rework on all my cast macros. This solves so many problems I've had trouble hurdling when it comes to spells that have a cooldown or dot timing.
The one thing I still haven't fully worked out is using spells like the warlock Conflagarate. The spell hangs if there is no ability to consume so I hesitate to ever add it to a castsequence because immolate might get resisted causing my lock to stand there like a moron for at least some period of time.
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Build a warlock /click macro.
It will attempt to execute every spell in the click at once.
With a priority system, Immolate will fire off before Conflagrate attempts to.
Baring resists, you will never attempt to Conflagrate, without Immolate being up.
Similarly, the fall through Incinerate will always have Immolate up too.
While leveling, maybe 2 or 3 mobs in 100 will resist any given cast.
So you're not really losing all that much.
And once you are 80, hit gear is fairly easy to come by.
You don't need a whole lot of it, to be hit capped for heroics.
And if you can do heroics with your team (you will with tank + heals + dps), you can get hit capped for raids, if you want to raid.
Once you are hit capped for your content, your spells will always land every time.
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http://www.dual-boxing.com/wiki/inde...ck#Destruction
While my warlock macro was a little different the only thing you really should do is change this line:
Code:
/castsequence reset=combat Immolate,,,,,,,,,{etc}
to
Code:
/castsequence reset=combat/ctrl Immolate,,,,,,,,,{etc}
Changing the reset to include some sort of modifier means you have the ability to re-attempt the Immolate cast if you don't land it.
All sorts of click macros in the wiki http://www.dual-boxing.com/wiki/inde...ro:Using_Click
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Team still sitting at the lvl 30 mark. I ran SM graveyard tonight with my 3 rolled characters (Druid, Priest, Warlock) all still with basically the same macros they've had since level 20. It was a fine run and a good opportunity to find areas of my interface and macro/keybind strategy that are weak or all together missing.
I payed special attention to noticing my approximate keypress rate on my DPS spam macros.
After the run, I went to work implementing the /click macro setup and I think I'm really happy with the result. Let me outline some of what I came across.
Timing is much easier
First thing I noticed was that adjusting the timing of my macros was much easier. Previously, I used a single, LONG cast sequence which required careful planning, and a 'Least Common Multiple' approach to ordering abilities based on cooldowns and how long dots lasted. A major problem with this method was for things that don't ever need to be re-applied to a target since cast sequences will tend to cycle eventually.
Now, I can notice that my Curse of Agony is being refreshed sooner than it needs to be and just jump in and add 4 more commas to the end of the delay section. Same for if something isn't being refreshed fast enough.
Things are modular
This setup makes things module. I've made my own click macro for targeting, so if I adjust my stock targeting line, I don't have to do it across 3-4 macros anymore. It also makes constructing new DPS macros with slightly altered spell contents easy. If I decide I want to take 'Devouring Plague' off the lineup for whatever reason, I just remove the /click for that macro or construct a new one quickly without that line.
I no longer need to sift through my long cast sequence and manually remove each instance of a spell to remove it from the overall macro.
Adding Modifiers is great
There are some great things that can be done by adding [modifier:ctrl] or something similar to one of your clicks. I've done so on my warlock life tap so that rather than having a separate key for lifetap, I simply hold control while I click my DPS macro and he life taps.
Other Updates
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Wanted to post an update to my team's status.
I'm currently running 3 teams of 3. I've got a brand new iMac in the works that should be here in a few weeks but until then I'm on my macbook pro which runs well with 3 clients. Teams are as follows.
Primary
- Druid (resto) - lvl 39
- Priest (shadow) - lvl 39
- Warlock (destro) - lvl 39
This team has been played with a friend of mine on a paladin as my tank. We finished Cathedral tonight, after doing all the other wings of Scarlet Monastery. We've 4 manned everything so some runs have been a bit slower than they should. My priest has the most mana problems of the two. I think I have some more tweaking to be done on the click macros and my overall targeting to squeeze some more mana efficiency out of both of them.
Auxiliary
- Paladin (??) - lvl 20
- 2 x Shaman (elemental) - lvl 20
I began this team today with the arrival of the $19.95battle chests I ordered over thanksgiving. The Paladin and Shaman(s) are meant to be added in to my primary team at later levels to form a self contained 5 man group for when I don't have friends online to play with. The added shaman is more of a 'why not' type of thing. Leveling 2 is the same as leveling 3 with my current setup.
Fun Team
- 3 x Mages (fire) - lvl 26
This team was begun just to screw around one day but as it turns out, I loved playing them so much I just kept going. Everything dies fast, they never need to buy water. I can pull a bunch and AOE them to death. It's great.
Long Term Plans
Assuming all 3 teams hit 60, I'll have a large number of granted levels to hand out. I'll likely add 2 x more shamans and 1 x more mage for sure, allowing me to have 2 x 5 man single class teams I can play around with. My goals have never been to PvP or do too much hardcore stuff so gearing up 2-3 full 5man teams doesn't bother me. The hardest part will probably be taking them from lvl 60-80/85, as I know that once RAF is gone the leveling process is going to feel a lot more daunting.
I'm hoping that Outlands goes by relatively quick. I'll enjoy revisiting all the instances I did so long ago but I'm mostly looking forward to experiencing wrath content. I haven't been in the game since Wrath was released so it's all going to be new for me. I'm really looking forward to it.
Technical - Click Macro Comments
The switch to click macros was the single best adjustment I've made for my setup. It's eased my macro adjusting and tweaking process immensely and incorporating new abilities is easy, where it used to take time and effort. If you haven't done so already, I really recommend checking out if click macros are right for your setup. They aren't perfect for everything but they sure are great for a lot of things.
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Boosting FTW
Friend of mine broke down and xfered his lvl 70 mage from BC over to the server we're playing on. Had him run auxiliary team (paladin + 2xshamans) through RFK. Went from lvl 20-22 with 2 full levels worth of XP in a single clear. It was not the cleanest run since it was his first time back on the mage in a year with a sloppy talent spec and hastily placed action bars.
Really convenient and fast leveling that way. Wishing we had a paladin to do it with but the mage is sufficient for now. Also finished lvl 4/10/20 (earth, fire, water) totem quests for my 2 shamans and I officially hate them. Really the worst quest lines ever. I have fond memories of vanilla wow but I think I'd loath going back and actually playing it again.
Team Zaj out.
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Team Status
- Druid - Restoration - Level 59 - Armory
- Warlock - Destruction - Level 58 - Armory
- Priest - Shadow - Level 58 - Armory
Dinged 58+ on my team last night. Tanaris -> Hinterlands -> Western Plaguelands felt like cake from level 50-58. I'm not the fastest or most efficient leveler but it all went pretty smooth and felt pretty fast.
Regarding Macros
I found out about Click Macros when my characters were about level 30 and they have been the single best improvement I've made to my team's setup. The simplicity click macros lend towards rewriting and revamping macros is simply amazing. I think the term I've used before is modularity. Timing is separated into a spell by spell basis so you can tweak spell rotations in a much more controlled method.
I still have some residual problems to work out that maybe someone out there has tackled.
First would be easy AOE. I have a few AOE spells at my disposal right now, primarily Hurricane, Holy Nova, Rain of Fire, and Hellfire. Hurricane and Rain of Fire are both area targeted spells, while Nova and Hellfire center around the caster. With the removal of map ping targeting these require manual targeting unless someone has devised a slick method to handle this. Nova and Hellfire are decent but require my guys to be in the middle of the fray, AND, Hellfire requires a chunk of healing to maintain. I'm just not sure the best way to acomplish easy to dish out AOE without it being clumsy.
Second, my rotation on my priest is also not as perfect as I'd prefer. I don't like having my DOT refreshes interupt mindflay but I can't figure out a way around it. The [nochanneling] modifier is nice but it prevents my click macros from progressing through the timing commas.
A lot of my problems stem from laziness. I've intended on really fleshing out my action bars for a long time. Currently I don't have much going on on my druid if I shift to kitty or bear and those macros could use some real love. Same with my priest and her ability to heal at all. All the spells are littered on bars but I don't have any setup to allow me to quickly swap to my priest for backup healing. The housekeeping that goes along with mboxing is daunting sometime when you just want to hop on and play. It's part of what I love about it, but there are times that it grates on me.
What's Next
I've got 2 teams of 3, one with 3xMages, and one with 2xShamans + 1xPaladin that I'm about to start boosting to lvl 60. When all teams are lvl 60, I'll do some level granting madness to fill in each team of 3 to a 5man team. Current plans are as follows
Team A - Paladin - Druid - Priest - Warlock - Shaman
Team B - Paladin - Mage - Mage - Mage - Priest
Team C - Paladin - Shaman - Shaman - Warlock - Warlock
I'll be sure to spread the classes out in such a way that no account has 2 of the same class which allows some mixing and matching.
I've got my new iMac on the way which should arrive around Xmas/New years at which point I'm hoping to be ready with 3 full 5man lvl 60 teams ready to start grinding through outlands and then northrend someday when I actually get there. I'll likely do them 1 team at time since a single lvl 80 team will be very beneficial to lower level teams.
How's your team doing? Any suggestions?
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Forgot to mention that I'm going to try and incorperate Jamba-Macro into my setup at the next revamp. I requested the feature way back when Jamba first got released and I'm not even using it now. I haven't needed it since my teams have been so static, but now that my leveling is gonna slow down a bit and I'll be mixing and matching a bit more, I'd like the mix/match process to be smoother.
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I created a presentation to explain my targeting system to anyone interested. Let me know what you think. I also posted this under the macros forum in my "Sticky Targeting" thread, so sorry for the double post.
http://docs.google.com/present/edit?...wY2Q0Yzc&hl=en
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Thanks for the post and the nice little presentation. I may try this method out for my next 5 man group. :)
