Meowrs 
After being away from the game for two years due to the inability to play properly, I’ve finally been able to return to the game, but am now facing serious issues with combat effectiveness and survival.
It used to be that all I needed to do in order to get the tab targeting I need to function was to use the TargetNearestUseNew 0 CVAR once per login (putting it into the config.wtf file does not work as it is nuked on every logout). This prevented me from targeting myself when trying to cycle through mobs. All was fine with that.
But now even with that in place, I can’t cycle through to anything at all once I’m in combat. The contextual combat lock is preventing me from being able to use Target Nearest/Previous keybinds (forward/reverse tab targeting), and it’s getting me killed. A lot. I can’t cycle through mobs to DoT them, and thus am missing out on essential damage and healing.
An example scenario: There are five mobs close together running as a pack. Prior to entering combat I can cycle through them with the Target Nearest/Previous Enemy keybinds, regardless of whether or not all mobs are initially hostile or some are “neutral”. But once I DoT one of them, the rest become untargetable until I click somewhere in the viewport that isn’t part of the UI. Only then can I target, and even then, once locked onto the target I’m back where I started - I can’t cycle any further until I click on a blank area again.
I do not have Sticky Targeting enabled. I disable that immediately on every character I create.
Is there any way to disable the contextual target locking? It shouldn’t be using it when using the pre-7.2 tab targeting scheme, but it is, and I can’t play like this. Being unable to cycle through targets, especially as a DoT class, is beyond debilitating. And in group play would get me kicked in no time flat.
This was working in the last 8.3.7 client that I tried in before the pre-patch, but is now forced on and is ruining my ability to do, well, anything without dying.
Haven’t heard of that issue, even with the new targeting options, unless the mobs are completely out of your camera view. That said, install AdvancedInterfaceOptions; it has a CVar browser so you can easily mess around with whatever settings you want to fiddle with.
https://www.curseforge.com/wow/addons/advancedinterfaceoptions
I already have AIO installed. Had to back when I first started needing to quickly change the TargetNearestUseNew CVAR on every login.
I’ve narrowed the culprit down to the UI itself, with or without addons (addons folder moved out temporarily since simply disabling doesn’t work). All of the action bar buttons, mini-bar buttons, and bag button/icons are causing tab target cycling to not function. The moment I move my cursor out from behind one of those icons, it works again, at least as far as I can tell.
Here’s the problem: I can’t keep my mouse cursor over the game field. I use a controller in my left hand to move, open the primary backpack, strafe, and target party members. I use the mouse with my right arm, which is deformed (the reason I use a controller and not the keyboard, as doing so is ultra painful). This makes me a clicker by necessity. So the problem is, I need to click abilities to attack, but while I’m doing so I can’t cycle through targets. Something in the base UI is causing issues with targeting.
You’re not the first person to report that since the patch. I wonder if bar addons will treat it differently than the default ui or vice versa.
Not sure if it this setup will work for you but have you ever tried using a gamepad + mmo mouse?
eg
https://www.razer.com/gaming-keypads/Razer-Tartarus-V2/RZ07-02270100-R3M1
https://www.razer.com/gaming-mice/razer-naga-pro/RZ01-03420100-R3U1
It’ll give you a mini-keyboard + analog stick and some other stuff for your left hand and 12 thumb buttons for your right that are bound to the top row (1 through =) by default. There’s also a left-handed edition of the Naga if that might work better.
Alright did some testing and it appears that Bars are now eating mouse interactions just like UnitFrames have been.
If you have Target Nearest Enemy bound to a keyboard key then it’s not interfered with but if you have it bound to a mouse interaction (I tried mouse wheel down) then the bars eat them.
[added]
There’s a possibility you could get around this limitation with an addon like Clique
Because of my deformed right arm, I can’t use one of those gamepads. It’d have to sit on my leg (and wobble like hell and almost certainly fall many times). I hold the controller with my hand resting on my left leg so I can freely position my right arm for the mouse. It’s the only way to avoid pain.
As for the MMO mice, there are two separate issues. First, my hands are just too bloody small. I can’t reach most of the buttons, and even if they could, I need more than twelve buttons and can’t use modifier keys to extend those buttons since I’m holding the controller in my other hand and all reachable buttons there are mapped to essential functions (movement, backpack open/close, character sheet open/close, left strafe, and party 1-4 select via DPad. L3 is my PTT button for voice chat.
Believe me, if I could have used a gamepad, I’d be using my n52 TE right now.
So this is definitely a bug then with the base UI. I figured as much since it happened with addons fully removed and only started with the prepatch. And who knows if it’ll be fixed anytime soon. Massively crippling.
As for why I haven’t used Bartender or ElvUI, it’s because when taint occurs, the action bar buttons lock up and can’t be clicked, or their functionality is ignored. I get a taste of this every so often when taint happens and my tooltip macros on the righthand action bar fail to re-enable tooltips after a taint event, forcing me to /reloadui. Taint + locked buttons = death for a clicker.
I wish. Clique would still rely on modifier keys, which I can’t use. I couldn’t even make use of Clique’s other functionality when I last used it. Shame too since it had great potential for a healer.
This is going to severely suck for a while. 
I meant use Clique to enable using mouse interactions for TargetNearestEnemy while moused over the action bars, not for healing or anything else.
Not quite sure how I’d go about that to be honest. Embarassing too since I’m a master at tech support, but flat out of my league with issues like this. 
I don’t personally use Clique so take this with a grain of salt but it should be as simple as…
- Installing the addon
- Either creating a macro
/targetnearesenemy or binding the function some other way to the Global binding set of Clique
- Binding it to the appropriate key
This is 2020. Should hasn’t happened and the entire world is broken. 
I’ll have to try it anyway since my only other option is to repeatedly die to multiple mob pulls because I can’t target while clicking abilities. I’m really curious as to why mouse interactions are borked with the base UI when the cursor is over any button. That seems like pretty gamebreaking stuff for a lot of players.
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One other addon, somewhat related to this, that you might want to look into, assuming you’re not already using it, is Gnome Sequencer. It should vastly simplify the physical actions you need to take during combat.
Thanks, but part of the allure of WoW’s combat is that I can make my own choices at any given time. I tend to cluster frequently used abilities in one area for physical reasons, but I do prefer to not rely on macros where possible, especially cast sequence macros. Sure I lose some efficiency, but I gain more skill and enjoyment.
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