Currently in arenas and shuffle, I’m using @arena 1, 2, 3 with shift and control modifiers for @arena 2, and @arena3, while pressing the macro without modifiers always be used on @arena1. This works well, but it would be nice to just use my abilities on what I’m targeting, but instead I have to memorize every enemy players position during matches, and it’s even more fun during shuffle when every round it switches the arena frames. So let’s say the healer was arena1 the first round of the shuffle, the next round that same healer is now positioned at arena3, so now I’ve got to press control to silence them, when the first round I didn’t have to use any modifier. So my question is this, do you guys prefer using macros, or key binding arena1, 2, and 3? If I were to go the key binding route, it wouldn’t be as quick as pressing a macro that instantly does it’s job, but I’d be able to focus more on the game then having to memorize the constant player frame swaps. Anybody prefer one over the other? What do you have your arena target key binds set to? Keybinding arena 1,2, and 3 would free up a ton of keybinding for me as well. I use 1-6, A, S, D, F, Q, E, R, T, Z, X, C, B, Mouse wheel up, Mouse when down, with shift and control modifiers on every single one of those buttons, and even F1-F4 as well, because I have no more room, especially when I’m playing heals. Then there’s classes like Havoc DH, which are a joke with how little abilities that you have that you can just throw toys on your action bars, lol. Appreciate any advice that someone can throw my way, thanks in advice!
Essentially you want 4 options
- Target (if one exists) and this one has highest priority if no modifiers are selected
- arena1 no mod
- arena2 with shift mod
- arena3 with ctrl mod
Honestly, I’m not sure what your “priority list” is supposed to be, so if that isn’t the logic you want you can change what you want.
#showtooltip
/cast [@arena3,harm,nodead,mod:ctrl][@arena2,harm,nodead,mod:shift][@target,harm,nodead][@arena1][]ATTACK_ABILITY
You can also use multiple mod keys. I personally like using ctrl-shift and alt-shift. Alt is sometimes a bit tricky because Alt-tab is a windows hotkey and you’re screwed if you hit that by accident. Also depending on your keyboard layout if the alt is next to the windows key, hitting that screws you over.
Because WoW evaluates the macro lines left-to-right and “stops” on the first “TRUE” option clause, you have to put ctrl-shift or alt-shift before others on the line. For example, if you use ctrl-shift for arena1
#showtooltip
/cast [@arena1,harm,nodead,mod:ctrlshift][@arena3,harm,nodead,mod:ctrl][@arena2,harm,nodead,mod:shift][]ATTACK_ABILITY
The [] means “always true” and it will cast normally on a target if you have one.
I do remember watching a youtube video by some guy who was on one of Method’s arena teams at the time where he used dedicated keys for arena1, arena2, and arena3, and would use the different modifiers to cast different spells at that arena target.
Effectively he would have 3 nearly identical macros that only differed by which arenaX they targeted. For example,
#showtooltip
/cast [mod:ctrlaltshift,@arena1]Ability1;[mod:ctrlshift,@arena1]Ability2;[mod:ctrlalt,@arena1]Ability3;[mod:altshift,@arena1]Ability4;[mod:shift,@arena1]Ability5;[mod:alt,@arena1]Ability6;[mod:ctrl,@arena1]Ability7;[@arena1]Ability8
Then he would have an “@arena2” and another “@arena3” version
Personally I use a Razer Naga Trinity gaming mouse with 12 side buttons for the thumb. It took a while to develop the muscle memory so my thumb could quickly find the right button without looking but now I find it way easier than using the keyboard
My current macro works just like this, the only problem I have with it is that it doesn’t prioritize my current target first, but if you set up the macro to do just that, the modifiers don’t work. I would post the macro that I use, but unfortunately I’m still at work for a couple more hours and not near my computer. I’ll post it as soon as I get home to see if there’s a way around it. Thank you for the response!
Alright, here’s the macro I use.
#showtooltip
/cast [mod:shift,@arena2,harm] [mod:ctrl,@arena3,harm] [@arena1,harm][@mouseover,harm,nodead] [] Vampiric Touch
As previously stated, this macro functions exactly how it’s supposed to, but it doesn’t cast at what I’m targeting, it prioritizes the modifiers first. Since arena1 is a no modifier, it will always cast on that target first. I don’t think there’s a way to get what I want without adding another modifier. Since shift is arena2, and control is arena3, I’d have to create a macro with alt or something, which could be very tricky since like previously stated alt+tab is a windows hotkey. I have shift and control both keybinded to my mouse, so I use my thumb to use my modifiers, fortunately.
#showtooltip
/cast [mod:shift,@arena2,harm] [mod:ctrl,@arena3,harm] [@mouseover,harm,nodead] [harm] [@arena1,harm] [] Vampiric Touch
Mods > mouseover > target > arena1
Thanks, Elven!