I understand the basics of click macros, but I'd like to discuss how to go about tweaking them to maximize DPS.

Just for the sake of example, let's talk about a survival hunter rotation, and assume a click speed of twice per second.
And assume a spec/gear where cooldown times are as follows:

Black arrow cooldown - 26 seconds
Explosive shot cooldown - 6 seconds
Aimed Shot cooldown - 10 seconds
Serptent Sting cooldown - 21 seconds

/castsequence reset=combat/target Black Arrow,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,, ,, (52 commas)
/castsequence reset=combat/target Serpent Sting,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,, ,, (42 commas)
/castsequence reset=combat/target Explosive Shot,,,,,,,,,, ,, (12 commas)
/castsequence reset=combat/target Aimed Shot,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,, (20 commas)
/cast steady shot


Ok. Now that the preliminaries are out of the way, and you go up to the heroic test dummy and do your damnest to keep your spam speed at a nice even 2 clicks per second. Perhaps you even have a metronome, software or hardware to help you keep that rhythm.


And then let's imagine you notice that Black Arrow is not being reapplied when it falls off, and is in being reapplied four or five seconds later. In the heat of a real combat situation perhaps your spam speed changes, but in a controlled environment and with some practice and repetition that seems like an unlikely explanation. So what is happening? Or is there a good way to figure out is happening? And what's the best way to address it?


My first question is -- if you make an adjustment to the Black Arrow macro, by subtracting a few commas, should that also require subtracting commas from the other /click macros? Again, assume the click spam rate is staying constant. That is, even if you aren't at exactly 2 clicks per second, assume the spam rate stays constant.


My second question is -- does some allowance need to be made when their are abilities with cast times in the DPS rotation? That is, Steady Shot has a cast time, and the others do not have cast times. Does that require some adjustment?

My third, and related question is -- I think I understand the formula that determines how many commas should be inserted at the end of a castsequence ( # of commas = Clicks per second * spell cooldown in seconds), but is that an oversimplifcation? Even though commas dont' trigger the GCD is there some "lag" generated by pinging the system so frequently? Does having a longer set of click macros trigger some lag on its own?


Anyway, I've been trying for awhile to optimize a hunter macro, but it seems like macros that shouldn't be related to each other are related, and that changing the timing on one macro will upset the timing on others.

Any thoughts or assistance would be greatly appreciated, thanks.