Post by Domm on Nov 6, 2011 17:55:48 GMT -5
I get a lot of questions about my Warrior tanking builds and macros. And it's certainly my pleasure to help my guildies in any way I can. However, this presents me with three issues:
1. My builds and macros evolve literally every week as I acquire new gear, try new techniques and face new challenges. So my current builds suit me at this point in my game play, but they may not suit others if they're ahead or behind me in their progress through the game.
2. I don't pretend to be an expert on builds and macros. I give them a lot of thought and experiment all the time, but the reality is that I'm discovering new things every day, and constantly tuning, so I still have a lot to learn. As a result, I'm a bit uncomfortable giving advice.
3. The thing I like best about this game is the fact that I have 5 builds and three soul trees in each, giving me infinite build options. In other games, when I saw someone of the same class and role as myself, I knew exactly what build and macros they were using. Here, we can truly personalize our toons. So if everyone ends up running the same cookie-cutter Warrior tanking spec, I think we've taken a huge step backwards.
Having said all that, this thread is an attempt to kill two birds with one stone. I'm going to share my current favorite build (the one I play 90% of the time atm) and all of my combat macros for that build. And I'm also going to explain in (painstaking) detail how I arrived at my macros. My hope is to empower others to build macros for their favorite builds.
Before I get started, I'd better make it clear that this thread is only targeted at Warrior tanks that will be dedicating more than one build to tanking. If you only want one tanking build, then your build and macros already exist on the internet. Simply visit this site:
forums.riftgame.com/rift-general-discussions/classes-telara/warrior-discussion/187080-mitigation-3-0-build.html
You'll find a build that provides the highest possible damage mitigation and corresponding macros. That build can be used against all trash and bosses in game. It was arrived at by a large group of the game's Warrior tanks over months of trial and error, and the build includes hundreds of posts that document the evolution of the build. Having said that, although I use this build when I need maximum mit, I don't enjoy playing it. And as this is a game, I think enjoyment is important. So I have a favorite build, plus the above build, plus two other special purpose builds. And I'm currently reserving one last build for either off tanking or PvP, I haven't decided which yet.
And finally, I want to make it clear that my builds, macros, play style and preferences reflect my personal choices. They are not "good" or "right" or "better than someone else's", they are simply what I choose to play at this time. I'm just pulling back the covers so you can have a peek. If you don't like what you see, that's more than fine. If you see something that you think could be improved, I'd be delighted if you posted your thoughts. If you have a question about why I did something a certain way, I'd be happy to explain my reasoning. But I'm only doing this for guildies that have been asking about my setup, and I'm hopeful that this post will be received in the same spirit of sharing as it is being offered.
Why Macros?
In my opinion, combat macros aren't "nice to have", they are absolutely essential. Here are just a few of their many benefits:
- they "enforce" your optimal rotation
- they consolidate your entire inventory of abilities into a managable number of macros and abilities that can then be mapped to keys (this post isn't going to even touch the subject of mapping macros to keys, because that boils down to personal preference)
- they reduce your choices, and thus simplify your decisions and speed up your reactions
- they make it possible to focus on what's happening in your encounter, rather than the mechanics of operating your character
- most importantly, they force you to truly think through and understand your abilities...when I was new to MMOs, I saw people in chat saying "know your class" and "learn your class" all the time, and if asked I would've said I was as expert as anyone else re my class...but when I started building my macros, it forced me to learn things that up until that time I didn't truly appreciate
- they allow you to measure certain aspects of your performance with a 3rd party meter (your damage, which relates to your threat, and your self healing) and to tune those aspects of your performance (making it possible for example to determine if one weapon, enhancement or ability is better than another)
When I was introduced to the concept of macros years ago, my first thought was that I was going to end up nothing more than a mindless "bot". The reality is just the opposite. Simplifying the mechanics of using my abilities allows me to better focus on what's happening in an encounter.
I was also concerned that macros would make me inflexible, and that I wouldn't be equipped to deal with unusual situations. But as you'll see by the end of this post, my approach ensures that I don't lose even a tiny bit of flexibility.
Can Everyone Build Macros?
In a word, no. Some people can build them with little difficulty, whereas others find it simply impossible. I think it's a left brain, right brain thing. If you're one of those people that can't build macros, don't despair, simply skip to the end where you'll find my macros. Feel free to copy them. And for those of you that want to build your own macros, hopefully this post will provide you with the tools and enthusiasm necessary to begin the process of crafting your own macros, specific to your builds.
The Build
Your macros are specific to your build. The following link will take you to the build I'll be using for this tutorial:
rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=1cAhg.Euqthzzz0o.EhRhosVo0bz
This is my current favorite build. I use it 90% of the time, in T1 raids, T1 and T2 expert dungeons, and in all other parts of the game. This build is fun to play because it generates very high single and multi-target threat, making it easy for me to manage aggro (I should add that this build is also fun for my dps comrades, because they can be more aggressive with their damage). It has decent mitigation, some automatic self-heals, a temporary protection buff for my party and multiple effect cleanses (to keep me from being feared, etc.). For situations where I need the highest possible mit, I switch to the build I mentioned earlier. I also have a build for bosses that can knock back. And a build that splits the difference between my max aggro build and my max mit build.
Macro Basics
The first thing that you need to know about Rift macros is that executing a macro can only cause one of your abilities to cast. So, if your normal combat rotation involves a sequence of seven abilities, a macro that automates your combat rotation will need to be executed seven times to complete one cycle through your abilities. In other words, you will be spamming your combat macro over and over and over. And if your rotation includes abilities that don't use the global cooldown timer, you will be spamming your macro as frequently as you can (rather than once every 1.5 second global cooldown).
The second thing that you need to know is that when you execute a macro, it will automatically skip over any abilities that can't be cast at that instant (perhaps because they are cooling down, or the ability is melee and you are still a distance from the target, or you don't currently have enough energy for that ability).
The third and final thing that you need to know is that in addition to casting an ability, a macro can also display a message. And by a message, I mean a /say, /emote, /yell, /party, /raid or /rw (or /guild or /tell, but I can't quite picture the value of either of those in combat). The implication is that you could create a macro that combines your res ability with a message telling everyone who you are reviving. Or a macro that interrupts a caster and tells your raid that you just used your interrupt, so that someone else can interrupt the next cast while your interrupt cools down.
The Anatomy of a Macro
All macros take the following form, more or less:
line 1: #show <insert name of ability here>
line 2: suppressmacrofailures
line 3: cast <insert name of ability here>
line 4: cast <insert name of ability here>
...
line x: cast <insert name of ability here>
line x + 1: say Macro executed!
Line 1 does two important things, it gives your macro the same icon as the ability that you specify. And it gives your macro's icon the same "characteristics" as the specified ability's icon. So, for example, if the first ability in your combat rotation is a ranged attack, specifying that ability in line 1 will make the macro icon in your action bar look like the ranged attack, and by watching the macro's icon in your action bar you'll know when you're in range and the ability can be cast.
Line 2 is required in any macro that includes two or more casts. So, in other words, almost all macros. It will suppress the error message that would otherwise be displayed when the macro engine executes a cast and then encounters a second cast that could also be executed.
Lines 3 through x are the various abilities that you want the macro to cast. When you execute your macro, the macro engine will determine if the ability in line 3 can be cast. If so, it will be cast and the macro is done (except for any message you may have included in the macro). If the ability in line 3 can't be cast (you might be out of range, the ability may be on cooldown, etc.), then the engine moves on to line 4 and the process continues.
Please note that lines 3 thru x can also contain a "condition". However, I personally haven't yet found a way to take convenient advantage of this "condition", so it isn't featured prominently in this explanation, nor does it appear in any of my macros. The "condition" is any one of the Alt, Ctrl or Shift keys being held down. In other words, a line containing "cast [alt] Blood Fever" would only cast Blood Fever if the Alt key was being held down when the macro was executed. Since I don't want to involve an extra finger in executing macros, I don't make use of conditional casts. But that may change in the future as I experiment with special purpose input devices.
Line x + 1 contains a message (a /say, /yell, /party, /raid, etc.). Please note that this line need not be at the bottom of the macro, it can be in any line after line 2. Also please note that it will ALWAYS work, even if the macro casts nothing! So it isn't a good idea for any macro that you'll be spamming, but there are plenty of special purpose macros where it is very useful, as you'll soon see. And finally, there is no point in including more than one line of this type in a macro, because only the first one will work.
Note - Macros can also include "use <insert name of item to be used>" lines. These lines work in exactly the same way as cast lines (meaning you can only use one item in a single execution of a macro, and it will skip "use" lines that can't be executed). However, as I don't include any of these in my current macros, I won't be saying any more about them.
Creating Macros
I'm not going to say too much about the mechanics of creating macros, that's not really the point of my post. You access the window used to create and edit your macros via clicking the Main Menu button and then selecting Macros. When entering cast lines in your macros, you can type the name of an ability, or (preferrably) have your Abilities window open and drag the ability's icon to the macro line, where the name of the ability will appear without the danger of a typo. Make sure that you always click the Save button after creating or editing a macro, as the game doesn't remind you to save and your work can easily be lost.
My Macro Repertoire
I have pretty much the same set of macros for every build. This means that each of my builds plays (mostly) the same, in terms of my macro execution sequences. The following is a list of all my (combat) macros:
- multi-target combat macro
- single-target combat macro
- multi-target emergency macro
- single-target emergency macro
- interrupt caster macro
- cleanse effects from myself macro
- res fallen comrade macro
My multi-target combat macro is the one I use most (by far) and it's used by spamming it over and over. It is used to gather up multiple targets, typically starting from a distance and then closing to melee range, and is used from the beginning of an encounter right through to the end. It can also be used on single targets. And as you will soon see, it isn't a single macro (I wish it was, but no can do). It is in fact three macros plus a few non-macroed abilities, used in rotation.
My single-target combat macro is the same as my multi-target combat macro, except that I've removed the multi-target abilities. It isn't necessarily my first choice when attacking a single target (my multi-target macro is typically better because it contains more abilities). But it serves three important purposes. I use it to pull in crowded areas where a multi-target ability could potentially also pull adds. I also use it in multi-tank raid encounters when my multi-target macro could cause me to accidentally pull a beasty off the other tank. And I use it whenever I need an instant aggro/damage cast, because my multi-target combat macro begins with Plague Bringer (a temporary buff, and intended to be used immediately before engaging the enemy).
My multi-target emergency macro is something I use if I ever lose the aggro of multiple targets, or when multiple targets add. It consists of AoE abilities centered around me. To use it, I position myself in the middle of the rampaging targets and execute it (once or more than once, depending on the severity of the emergency). I might also use this macro to help burn down a group of beasties more quickly, but at the risk of knowing that if an emergency arises in the next few moments, the macro's abilities will still be cooling down.
My single-target emergency macro is something I use if I ever lose aggro on just one target (perhaps one of my dps comrades got over-excited and nuked a beasty early in the encounter) or if a patrol joins the encounter. It is ranged, so I simply target the offending beasty and execute the macro once (it may be a taunt or a threaten/root/stun, and I'll normally follow use of this macro with one or two uses of either the multi-target or single-target combat macro before I shift my focus back to the targets I was previously dealing with).
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Note - My multi and single-target emergency macros are reliable because I don't use any of the abilities in either of these two macros in any other macros. If any of these abilities did double duty, they might be cooling down when an emergency arises, and I'd be out of luck. So they are reserved exclusively for emergencies.
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My interrupt caster macro is just one ability, since all interrupt abilities in all of my builds share the same cooldown. You may be wondering why I need a macro to cast a single ability. The answer is, to combine the ability with a message. Normally the message is a /yell informing my comrades that I've interrupted the caster. But against a boss that needs to be interrupted frequently, I change the yell to indicate which of my comrades is responsible for interrupting the next cast.
My cleanse effects from myself macro casts one of this build's two abilities that eliminate a bad effect (such as a stun or fear).
And my res fallen comrade macro simply casts my res ability and adds a message indicating who I'm reviving, so that someone else doesn't waste time reviving the same person.
Starting the Design of My Multi-Target Combat Macro
This is (by far) the macro that took the most thought, and is the macro that I'm going to focus on moving forward. Once you understand my reasoning re this macro (actually three macros and a few non-macroed abilities used in rotation), the other macros are pieces of cake.
Lets start with one of many possible multi-target combat rotations, based on the abilities provided by this build:
Plague Bringer
Light's Decree
Necrotic Wounds
Soul Sickness
Infestation
Blood Fever
Aggressive Block
Pacifying Strike
Ravaging Strike
Sweeping Strike
Vicious Cleave
Also, work Scales of Justice, Dire Blow or Reverent Protection (depending on the situation) into the rotation each time that 3 attack points are accumulated, and work Paladin's Reprisal, Disarming Counterblow or Retaliation into the rotation after every successful block.
You might think (quite reasonably) that my multi-target combat macro simply needs to list the above abilities in the order indicated (although the abilities that depend on attack points or a successful block may be a bit of a mystery). Sadly, that's not the case. In order to decide what my macro should look like, I build an abilities table, as indicated below:
Ability---------------------------Range----Energy----CD----------Pre-reqs---------Importance
Plague Bringer------------------NA--------10--------10-----------none-------------high (makes DoTs multi-target)
Light's Decree------------------20m-------25-------12-----------none--------------high (instant threat)
Necrotic Wounds---------------20m-------10--------0----------- none--------------high (multi-target DoT w/extra
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------threat, generates attack point)
Soul Sickness-------------------20m-------10-------15---------- none---------------high (multi-target DoT
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------w/threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------generates attack point)
Infestation ----------------------20m------- 30-------60---------- none-------------low (threat if timed
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------right, high energy cost)
Blood Fever---------------------melee------10-------0----------- none--------------high (multi-target DoT
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------w/threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------generates attack point)
Aggressive Block---------------melee-------20-------15---------none---------------high (temp block buff,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------single-target threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------generates attack point)
Pacifying Strike-----------------melee-------20--------0---------none---------------high, particularly against bosses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(temp target debuff,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------single-target threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------generates attack point)
Ravaging Strike----------------melee--------20--------0---------none---------------high, particularly against bosses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(temp target debuff,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------single-target threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------generates attack point)
Sweeping Strike----------------melee-------25--------15--------none---------------low (just 3 targets,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------damage but no threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------high energy cost,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------does generate attack point)
Vicious Cleave------------------melee-------25--------0---------none---------------low (just 3 forward targets,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------damage but no threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------high energy cost,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------does generate attack point)
Scales of Justice----------------melee-------15--------8---------3 attack pts------medium, particularly against
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------groups (6 targets,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------low energy cost,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------damage but no threat)
Dire Blow-----------------------melee-------10--------0----------3 attack pts------medium, particularly against
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------bosses (single-target,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------low energy cost,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------damage but no threat)
Reverant Protection-------------NA---------15--------180------- 3 attack pts-----high (can prevent a wipe)
Paladin's Reprisal---------------melee------15--------60---------block-------------high (10 targets.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ damage plus threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------low energy cost,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------instant)
Retaliation-----------------------melee------10--------6----------block--------------high, particularly against bosses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(single-target,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------damage plus threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------low energy cost,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------instant)
Disarming Counterblow----------melee-----10--------30---------block-------------high, particularly against bosses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(single-target,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------damage plus threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------temp target debuff,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------always lands,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------low energy cost,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------instant)
Analyzing the Abilities Table
The exercise of creating the table forces me to come to terms with some weaknesses in the proposed rotation. Given their low importance, Infestation, Sweeping Strike and Vicious Cleave are only candidates for my macro if I don't run into energy starvation issues during testing.
It also makes me think through the value of attack points. Clearly, Reverant Protection doesn't belong in my combat macro, since it is very situational. Perhaps a bit less clear is the fact that neither Scales of Justice nor Dire Blow belong in my macro either. If they were in the macro, two bad things would happen:
1. They could cast when just 1 or 2 attack points have been accumulated, resulting in less than optimal damage.
2. They would make it impossible for me to manage my attack points. As a result, I could find myself suddenly needing Reverant Protection and not having the ideal 3 attack points available. Worst case, I might have no attack points at that moment, meaning Reverant Protection isn't even available to me.
And of most interest, Necrotic Wounds, Blood Fever, Pacifying Strike, Ravaging Strike, Vicious Cleave and Dire Blow all have no cooldown. Given that a macro containing multiple cast lines only casts the first ability that can be cast, I have a special challenge when dealing with abilities that have no cooldown. These abilities will (almost) always be castable (since they never need time to cool down), so the macro will never get past the first no-cooldown ability, casting that same ability over and over! This guarantees that Vicious Cleave is gone from my rotation. And it means that I must give very careful thought to the other five no-cooldown abilities.
As a basic rule of thumb, a no-cooldown ability should only appear as the last cast in a macro (because if it appears any earlier in the macro, abilities listed below it will never be cast). The only time you can get away with breaking this rule is if the no-cooldown ability has "special" requirements. It might, for example, need more energy than the abilities listed below it, and as a result, when your energy is low, it will be skipped and subsequent abilities will cast. Or the ability may be melee, and if you are at a distance, the ability will be skipped. Or there may be some other prerequisite that is only satisfied in some circumstances.
My Multi-Target Combat Macro
To make a long story short, I use the following combination of macros and non-macroed abilities to (in rotation) serve the purpose of my multi-target combat macro.
Macro #1 - Plague Bringer, Light's Decree, Soul Sickness, Necrotic Wounds, Blood Fever, Aggressive Block (and a few other abilities)
Macro #2 - Scales of Justice (and a few other abilities)
Macro #3 - Dire Blow (and a few other abilities)
Necrotic Wounds
Pacifying Strike
Ravaging Strike
My rotation works as follows:
I open an encounter with Macro #1, and I continue to spam Macro #1 over and over, just sprinkling in the other macros and non-macroed abilities when the following conditions arise:
- when I accumulate 3 attack points, I use either Macro #2 (if I'm dealing with multiple targets) or Macro #3 (if I'm dealing with a single target)
- when Necrotic Wounds (initially cast once by Macro #1, but never cast again by that macro unless I leave melee range) is close to timing out on my target, I use non-macroed Necrotic Wounds to refresh it
- if I'm dealing with a single target (particularly a boss), I work non-macroed Pacifying Strike and Ravaging Strike into my rotation every 15 seconds to establish and subsequently refresh their debuffs
If I'm feeling particularly lazy, I do nothing but spam Macro #1 til all targets are dead.
You may notice that Reverant Protection is missing from the above. I simply use it (non-macroed) on the (hopefully) rare occasions when the need arises.
And finally, what do I mean by "and a few other abilities" in each of my macros? In Macro #1, the other abilities are the three abilities only available for a few brief seconds after a successful block (Paladin's Reprisal, Disarming Counterblow and Retaliation). In Macro #2, the other abilities are Aggressive Block (to keep my block buff up) and the three abilities only available after a block. And in Macro #3, the other abilities are Aggressive Block and the two single-target abilities only available after a block (Disarming Counterblow and Retaliation).
Since Macros #2 and #3 include multiple abilities, they may need to be executed multiple times to get the desired result. I know that I'm done spamming either of these two macros when the attack points under my portrait disappear.
At this point, you may be wondering why I don't create macros much like my Scales of Justice and Dire Blow macros for Necrotic Wounds, Pacifying Strike and Ravaging Strike. The truth is, I did at one point. And they were nice in the sense that they ensured my Aggressive Block was never ever down, and I never missed an opportunity to pop a special post-block ability. But they also created a problem. It was hard to tell when I could stop spamming any of these three macros (I'd have to watch my target's portrait like a hawk for the tiny icon to appear). Since I want to focus on the encounter rather than the portrait, I retired these macros early on and went with non-macroed abilities. I suppose I could do the same with Scales of Justice and Dire Blow, but I've left them as macros because it's so easy to see when my attack points disappear.
My Single Target Combat Macro
My single-target combat macro is (much like my multi-target combat macro) actually 2 macros and a few non-macroed abilities used in rotation.
Macro #1 - Soul Sickness, Necrotic Wounds, Blood Fever, Aggressive Block (and a few other abilities)
Macro #2 - Dire Blow (and a few other abilities)
Necrotic Wounds
Pacifying Strike
Ravaging Strike
My rotation works as follows:
I open an encounter with Macro #1, and I continue to spam Macro #1 over and over, just sprinkling in the other macros and non-macroed abilities when the following conditions arise:
- when I accumulate 3 attack points, I use Macro #2
- when Necrotic Wounds (initially cast once by Macro #1, but never cast again by that macro unless I leave melee range) is close to timing out on my target, I use non-macroed Necrotic Wounds to refresh it
- if I'm dealing with a boss, I work non-macroed Pacifying Strike and Ravaging Strike into my rotation every 15 seconds to establish and subsequently refresh their debuffs
And if I'm feeling lazy again, I do nothing but spam Macro #1 til my target is dead.
Reverant Protection is used (non-macroed) on the (hopefully) rare occasions when the need arises.
What do I mean by "and a few other abilities" in each of my macros? In Macro #1, the other abilities are the two single-target abilities only available for a few brief seconds after a successful block (Disarming Counterblow and Retaliation). And in Macro #2, the other abilities are Aggressive Block (to keep my block buff up) and the two single-target abilities only available after a block.
Since Macros #2 includes multiple abilities, it may need to be executed multiple times to get the desired result. I know that I'm done spamming this macro when the attack points under my portrait disappear.
Testing/Monitoring Macros and Maintaining Flexibility
How can I tell if a macro that's supposed to cast a sequence of abilities is actually doing what it's supposed to be doing? As it turns out, it's incredibly easy, and rather satisfying. And as a bonus, my approach guarantees that I never lose access to individual abilities should an unusual circumstance arise.
If I don't have any empty action bars, I create one. Then I open my Abilities window. I drag each of the abilities listed in my macro to the action bar, in the order that they are supposed to be cast by my macro. Then I go visit a combat dummy. I attack the dummy as I would any beasty, and start spamming my macro as I stare at the action bar containing my sequence of abilities. I expect to see them fire, one after another, in the correct order. Watching 6 or 8 or 10 abilities cast as intended is a beautiful sight! All of those abilities remain there in one of my action bars forever, never touched but always flashing like Christmas tree lights, reassuring me that my macro is working perfectly. And should I ever need a particular ability in the sequence on its own for some strange reason, well, its right there in one of my action bars where I can get at it.
A List of My Combat Macros and Non-Macroed Abilities
This build provides me with dozens of combat-related abilities. But, with macros and my rotations, I'm able to limit my combat repertoire to the following 13 macros and non-macroed abilities:
Multi-Target Combat Spam Macro
Single-Target Combat Spam Macro
Scales of Justice Macro
Dire Blow Macro
Multi-Target Emergency Macro
Single-Target Emergency Macro
Necrotic Wounds Ability
Pacifying Strike Ability
Ravaging Strike Ability
Reverent Protection Ability
Interrupt Caster Macro
Cleanse Effect From Myself Macro
Res Fallen Comrade Macro
A Snaphot of My Macros
The following are all of my macros for this build, pasted from the game directly into this post, along with a few final notes. Please feel free to copy them.
Multi-target Combat Spam Macro
Note - At distance, the first execution of this macro skips past the first four casts (since they are all melee range) and casts the Plague Bringer buff. The second execution casts Light's Decree, which immediately creates threat with multiple targets. The third execution casts Soul Sickness, which adds more multi-target threat. The fourth execution casts Necrotic Wounds (provided that I haven't already moved to melee range) , which adds yet more multi-target threat. After that, assuming I'm in melee range, subsequent executions cast Aggressive Block and Blood Fever (and since Blood Fever has no cooldown, the macro never casts Necrotic Wounds again unless I leave melee range). Paladin's Reprisal, Disarming Counterblow and Retaliation get worked in after a block. After Blood Fever is cast, there is little point spamming this macro any longer until one of the other abilities has cooled down (so it's a great time to spend my attack points on Scales of Justice or Dire Blow, or debuff the target with Pacifying Strike or Ravaging Strike...and if I got into melee range before Necrotic Wounds was cast, this is also a great time to use that ability).
#show Soul Sickness
suppressmacrofailures
cast Aggressive Block
cast Paladin's Reprisal
cast Disarming Counterblow
cast Retaliation
cast Plague Bringer
cast Light's Decree
cast Soul Sickness
cast Blood Fever
cast Necrotic Wounds
Single-target Combat Spam Macro
Note - This is a clone of the above macro, with the multi-target abilities removed.
#show Soul Sickness
suppressmacrofailures
cast Aggressive Block
cast Disarming Counterblow
cast Retaliation
cast Soul Sickness
cast Blood Fever
cast Necrotic Wounds
Scales of Justice Macro
Note - This macro gets executed one or more times, until Scales of Justice is cast (indicated when my attack points disappear).
#show Scales of Justice
suppressmacrofailures
cast Aggressive Block
cast Paladin's Reprisal
cast Disarming Counterblow
cast Retaliation
cast Scales of Justice
Dire Blow Macro
Note - This macro gets executed one or more times, until Dire Blow is cast (indicated when my attack points disappear).
#show Dire Blow
suppressmacrofailures
cast Aggressive Block
cast Disarming Counterblow
cast Retaliation
cast Dire Blow
Multi-Target Emergency Macro
Note - This macro gets executed one or more times, depending on the severity of the emergency. I move in amongst the targets that I want to aggro prior to execution (the abilities aren't ranged, they are AoEs centered on me).
#show Weakening Essence
suppressmacrofailures
cast Paladin's Reprisal
cast Weakening Essence
cast Creeping Death
cast Judgment
cast Incite
Single-Target Emergency Macro
Note - This macro gets executed once per single ranged target (unless Paladin's Reprisal triggers, in which case it gets executed twice), and is immediately followed by a few executions of either my single or multi-target spam macro to gather in the stray beasty. You might be surprised to see that it begins with Paladin's Reprisal, an instant AoE (only available immediately after a successful block). Even though this is my "single-target" emergency macro, I will most often use it in the middle of a multi-target encounter. So, I pop Paladin's Reprisal first (if it's available), to make sure the beasties I was dealing with don't wander away while I gather in the stray.
#show Grim Lure
suppressmacrofailures
cast Paladin's Reprisal
cast Grim Lure
cast Light's Hammer
Interrupt Caster Macro
Note - This macro only casts one ability. I use a macro for this because I want a message to appear every time I interrupt a caster.
#show Face Slam
suppressmacrofailures
cast Face Slam
yell Interrupting %t.
Cleanse Effects From Me Macro
Note - This macro casts one of my two cleanse abilities. It simply eliminates one choice from my repertoire.
#show Paladin's Devotion
suppressmacrofailures
cast Paladin's Devotion
cast Tempered Will
Res Fallen Comrade Macro
Note - Like the Interrupt Caster macro, this macro only casts one ability. But it also tells my comrades who I'm in the process of reviving, so they don't waste time reviving the same person.
#show Life's Grace
suppressmacrofailures
say Bringing %t back from the plain of death.
cast Life's Grace
A Pic of My Action Bars
I thought it might help if you could see my action bars, illustrating my macros, my rotations, and my monitoring of macros, so I've included a pic in the post that follows.
Good hunting!
Domm
1. My builds and macros evolve literally every week as I acquire new gear, try new techniques and face new challenges. So my current builds suit me at this point in my game play, but they may not suit others if they're ahead or behind me in their progress through the game.
2. I don't pretend to be an expert on builds and macros. I give them a lot of thought and experiment all the time, but the reality is that I'm discovering new things every day, and constantly tuning, so I still have a lot to learn. As a result, I'm a bit uncomfortable giving advice.
3. The thing I like best about this game is the fact that I have 5 builds and three soul trees in each, giving me infinite build options. In other games, when I saw someone of the same class and role as myself, I knew exactly what build and macros they were using. Here, we can truly personalize our toons. So if everyone ends up running the same cookie-cutter Warrior tanking spec, I think we've taken a huge step backwards.
Having said all that, this thread is an attempt to kill two birds with one stone. I'm going to share my current favorite build (the one I play 90% of the time atm) and all of my combat macros for that build. And I'm also going to explain in (painstaking) detail how I arrived at my macros. My hope is to empower others to build macros for their favorite builds.
Before I get started, I'd better make it clear that this thread is only targeted at Warrior tanks that will be dedicating more than one build to tanking. If you only want one tanking build, then your build and macros already exist on the internet. Simply visit this site:
forums.riftgame.com/rift-general-discussions/classes-telara/warrior-discussion/187080-mitigation-3-0-build.html
You'll find a build that provides the highest possible damage mitigation and corresponding macros. That build can be used against all trash and bosses in game. It was arrived at by a large group of the game's Warrior tanks over months of trial and error, and the build includes hundreds of posts that document the evolution of the build. Having said that, although I use this build when I need maximum mit, I don't enjoy playing it. And as this is a game, I think enjoyment is important. So I have a favorite build, plus the above build, plus two other special purpose builds. And I'm currently reserving one last build for either off tanking or PvP, I haven't decided which yet.
And finally, I want to make it clear that my builds, macros, play style and preferences reflect my personal choices. They are not "good" or "right" or "better than someone else's", they are simply what I choose to play at this time. I'm just pulling back the covers so you can have a peek. If you don't like what you see, that's more than fine. If you see something that you think could be improved, I'd be delighted if you posted your thoughts. If you have a question about why I did something a certain way, I'd be happy to explain my reasoning. But I'm only doing this for guildies that have been asking about my setup, and I'm hopeful that this post will be received in the same spirit of sharing as it is being offered.
Why Macros?
In my opinion, combat macros aren't "nice to have", they are absolutely essential. Here are just a few of their many benefits:
- they "enforce" your optimal rotation
- they consolidate your entire inventory of abilities into a managable number of macros and abilities that can then be mapped to keys (this post isn't going to even touch the subject of mapping macros to keys, because that boils down to personal preference)
- they reduce your choices, and thus simplify your decisions and speed up your reactions
- they make it possible to focus on what's happening in your encounter, rather than the mechanics of operating your character
- most importantly, they force you to truly think through and understand your abilities...when I was new to MMOs, I saw people in chat saying "know your class" and "learn your class" all the time, and if asked I would've said I was as expert as anyone else re my class...but when I started building my macros, it forced me to learn things that up until that time I didn't truly appreciate
- they allow you to measure certain aspects of your performance with a 3rd party meter (your damage, which relates to your threat, and your self healing) and to tune those aspects of your performance (making it possible for example to determine if one weapon, enhancement or ability is better than another)
When I was introduced to the concept of macros years ago, my first thought was that I was going to end up nothing more than a mindless "bot". The reality is just the opposite. Simplifying the mechanics of using my abilities allows me to better focus on what's happening in an encounter.
I was also concerned that macros would make me inflexible, and that I wouldn't be equipped to deal with unusual situations. But as you'll see by the end of this post, my approach ensures that I don't lose even a tiny bit of flexibility.
Can Everyone Build Macros?
In a word, no. Some people can build them with little difficulty, whereas others find it simply impossible. I think it's a left brain, right brain thing. If you're one of those people that can't build macros, don't despair, simply skip to the end where you'll find my macros. Feel free to copy them. And for those of you that want to build your own macros, hopefully this post will provide you with the tools and enthusiasm necessary to begin the process of crafting your own macros, specific to your builds.
The Build
Your macros are specific to your build. The following link will take you to the build I'll be using for this tutorial:
rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=1cAhg.Euqthzzz0o.EhRhosVo0bz
This is my current favorite build. I use it 90% of the time, in T1 raids, T1 and T2 expert dungeons, and in all other parts of the game. This build is fun to play because it generates very high single and multi-target threat, making it easy for me to manage aggro (I should add that this build is also fun for my dps comrades, because they can be more aggressive with their damage). It has decent mitigation, some automatic self-heals, a temporary protection buff for my party and multiple effect cleanses (to keep me from being feared, etc.). For situations where I need the highest possible mit, I switch to the build I mentioned earlier. I also have a build for bosses that can knock back. And a build that splits the difference between my max aggro build and my max mit build.
Macro Basics
The first thing that you need to know about Rift macros is that executing a macro can only cause one of your abilities to cast. So, if your normal combat rotation involves a sequence of seven abilities, a macro that automates your combat rotation will need to be executed seven times to complete one cycle through your abilities. In other words, you will be spamming your combat macro over and over and over. And if your rotation includes abilities that don't use the global cooldown timer, you will be spamming your macro as frequently as you can (rather than once every 1.5 second global cooldown).
The second thing that you need to know is that when you execute a macro, it will automatically skip over any abilities that can't be cast at that instant (perhaps because they are cooling down, or the ability is melee and you are still a distance from the target, or you don't currently have enough energy for that ability).
The third and final thing that you need to know is that in addition to casting an ability, a macro can also display a message. And by a message, I mean a /say, /emote, /yell, /party, /raid or /rw (or /guild or /tell, but I can't quite picture the value of either of those in combat). The implication is that you could create a macro that combines your res ability with a message telling everyone who you are reviving. Or a macro that interrupts a caster and tells your raid that you just used your interrupt, so that someone else can interrupt the next cast while your interrupt cools down.
The Anatomy of a Macro
All macros take the following form, more or less:
line 1: #show <insert name of ability here>
line 2: suppressmacrofailures
line 3: cast <insert name of ability here>
line 4: cast <insert name of ability here>
...
line x: cast <insert name of ability here>
line x + 1: say Macro executed!
Line 1 does two important things, it gives your macro the same icon as the ability that you specify. And it gives your macro's icon the same "characteristics" as the specified ability's icon. So, for example, if the first ability in your combat rotation is a ranged attack, specifying that ability in line 1 will make the macro icon in your action bar look like the ranged attack, and by watching the macro's icon in your action bar you'll know when you're in range and the ability can be cast.
Line 2 is required in any macro that includes two or more casts. So, in other words, almost all macros. It will suppress the error message that would otherwise be displayed when the macro engine executes a cast and then encounters a second cast that could also be executed.
Lines 3 through x are the various abilities that you want the macro to cast. When you execute your macro, the macro engine will determine if the ability in line 3 can be cast. If so, it will be cast and the macro is done (except for any message you may have included in the macro). If the ability in line 3 can't be cast (you might be out of range, the ability may be on cooldown, etc.), then the engine moves on to line 4 and the process continues.
Please note that lines 3 thru x can also contain a "condition". However, I personally haven't yet found a way to take convenient advantage of this "condition", so it isn't featured prominently in this explanation, nor does it appear in any of my macros. The "condition" is any one of the Alt, Ctrl or Shift keys being held down. In other words, a line containing "cast [alt] Blood Fever" would only cast Blood Fever if the Alt key was being held down when the macro was executed. Since I don't want to involve an extra finger in executing macros, I don't make use of conditional casts. But that may change in the future as I experiment with special purpose input devices.
Line x + 1 contains a message (a /say, /yell, /party, /raid, etc.). Please note that this line need not be at the bottom of the macro, it can be in any line after line 2. Also please note that it will ALWAYS work, even if the macro casts nothing! So it isn't a good idea for any macro that you'll be spamming, but there are plenty of special purpose macros where it is very useful, as you'll soon see. And finally, there is no point in including more than one line of this type in a macro, because only the first one will work.
Note - Macros can also include "use <insert name of item to be used>" lines. These lines work in exactly the same way as cast lines (meaning you can only use one item in a single execution of a macro, and it will skip "use" lines that can't be executed). However, as I don't include any of these in my current macros, I won't be saying any more about them.
Creating Macros
I'm not going to say too much about the mechanics of creating macros, that's not really the point of my post. You access the window used to create and edit your macros via clicking the Main Menu button and then selecting Macros. When entering cast lines in your macros, you can type the name of an ability, or (preferrably) have your Abilities window open and drag the ability's icon to the macro line, where the name of the ability will appear without the danger of a typo. Make sure that you always click the Save button after creating or editing a macro, as the game doesn't remind you to save and your work can easily be lost.
My Macro Repertoire
I have pretty much the same set of macros for every build. This means that each of my builds plays (mostly) the same, in terms of my macro execution sequences. The following is a list of all my (combat) macros:
- multi-target combat macro
- single-target combat macro
- multi-target emergency macro
- single-target emergency macro
- interrupt caster macro
- cleanse effects from myself macro
- res fallen comrade macro
My multi-target combat macro is the one I use most (by far) and it's used by spamming it over and over. It is used to gather up multiple targets, typically starting from a distance and then closing to melee range, and is used from the beginning of an encounter right through to the end. It can also be used on single targets. And as you will soon see, it isn't a single macro (I wish it was, but no can do). It is in fact three macros plus a few non-macroed abilities, used in rotation.
My single-target combat macro is the same as my multi-target combat macro, except that I've removed the multi-target abilities. It isn't necessarily my first choice when attacking a single target (my multi-target macro is typically better because it contains more abilities). But it serves three important purposes. I use it to pull in crowded areas where a multi-target ability could potentially also pull adds. I also use it in multi-tank raid encounters when my multi-target macro could cause me to accidentally pull a beasty off the other tank. And I use it whenever I need an instant aggro/damage cast, because my multi-target combat macro begins with Plague Bringer (a temporary buff, and intended to be used immediately before engaging the enemy).
My multi-target emergency macro is something I use if I ever lose the aggro of multiple targets, or when multiple targets add. It consists of AoE abilities centered around me. To use it, I position myself in the middle of the rampaging targets and execute it (once or more than once, depending on the severity of the emergency). I might also use this macro to help burn down a group of beasties more quickly, but at the risk of knowing that if an emergency arises in the next few moments, the macro's abilities will still be cooling down.
My single-target emergency macro is something I use if I ever lose aggro on just one target (perhaps one of my dps comrades got over-excited and nuked a beasty early in the encounter) or if a patrol joins the encounter. It is ranged, so I simply target the offending beasty and execute the macro once (it may be a taunt or a threaten/root/stun, and I'll normally follow use of this macro with one or two uses of either the multi-target or single-target combat macro before I shift my focus back to the targets I was previously dealing with).
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Note - My multi and single-target emergency macros are reliable because I don't use any of the abilities in either of these two macros in any other macros. If any of these abilities did double duty, they might be cooling down when an emergency arises, and I'd be out of luck. So they are reserved exclusively for emergencies.
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My interrupt caster macro is just one ability, since all interrupt abilities in all of my builds share the same cooldown. You may be wondering why I need a macro to cast a single ability. The answer is, to combine the ability with a message. Normally the message is a /yell informing my comrades that I've interrupted the caster. But against a boss that needs to be interrupted frequently, I change the yell to indicate which of my comrades is responsible for interrupting the next cast.
My cleanse effects from myself macro casts one of this build's two abilities that eliminate a bad effect (such as a stun or fear).
And my res fallen comrade macro simply casts my res ability and adds a message indicating who I'm reviving, so that someone else doesn't waste time reviving the same person.
Starting the Design of My Multi-Target Combat Macro
This is (by far) the macro that took the most thought, and is the macro that I'm going to focus on moving forward. Once you understand my reasoning re this macro (actually three macros and a few non-macroed abilities used in rotation), the other macros are pieces of cake.
Lets start with one of many possible multi-target combat rotations, based on the abilities provided by this build:
Plague Bringer
Light's Decree
Necrotic Wounds
Soul Sickness
Infestation
Blood Fever
Aggressive Block
Pacifying Strike
Ravaging Strike
Sweeping Strike
Vicious Cleave
Also, work Scales of Justice, Dire Blow or Reverent Protection (depending on the situation) into the rotation each time that 3 attack points are accumulated, and work Paladin's Reprisal, Disarming Counterblow or Retaliation into the rotation after every successful block.
You might think (quite reasonably) that my multi-target combat macro simply needs to list the above abilities in the order indicated (although the abilities that depend on attack points or a successful block may be a bit of a mystery). Sadly, that's not the case. In order to decide what my macro should look like, I build an abilities table, as indicated below:
Ability---------------------------Range----Energy----CD----------Pre-reqs---------Importance
Plague Bringer------------------NA--------10--------10-----------none-------------high (makes DoTs multi-target)
Light's Decree------------------20m-------25-------12-----------none--------------high (instant threat)
Necrotic Wounds---------------20m-------10--------0----------- none--------------high (multi-target DoT w/extra
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------threat, generates attack point)
Soul Sickness-------------------20m-------10-------15---------- none---------------high (multi-target DoT
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------w/threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------generates attack point)
Infestation ----------------------20m------- 30-------60---------- none-------------low (threat if timed
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------right, high energy cost)
Blood Fever---------------------melee------10-------0----------- none--------------high (multi-target DoT
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------w/threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------generates attack point)
Aggressive Block---------------melee-------20-------15---------none---------------high (temp block buff,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------single-target threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------generates attack point)
Pacifying Strike-----------------melee-------20--------0---------none---------------high, particularly against bosses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(temp target debuff,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------single-target threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------generates attack point)
Ravaging Strike----------------melee--------20--------0---------none---------------high, particularly against bosses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(temp target debuff,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------single-target threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------generates attack point)
Sweeping Strike----------------melee-------25--------15--------none---------------low (just 3 targets,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------damage but no threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------high energy cost,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------does generate attack point)
Vicious Cleave------------------melee-------25--------0---------none---------------low (just 3 forward targets,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------damage but no threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------high energy cost,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------does generate attack point)
Scales of Justice----------------melee-------15--------8---------3 attack pts------medium, particularly against
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------groups (6 targets,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------low energy cost,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------damage but no threat)
Dire Blow-----------------------melee-------10--------0----------3 attack pts------medium, particularly against
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------bosses (single-target,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------low energy cost,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------damage but no threat)
Reverant Protection-------------NA---------15--------180------- 3 attack pts-----high (can prevent a wipe)
Paladin's Reprisal---------------melee------15--------60---------block-------------high (10 targets.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ damage plus threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------low energy cost,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------instant)
Retaliation-----------------------melee------10--------6----------block--------------high, particularly against bosses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(single-target,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------damage plus threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------low energy cost,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------instant)
Disarming Counterblow----------melee-----10--------30---------block-------------high, particularly against bosses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(single-target,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------damage plus threat,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------temp target debuff,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------always lands,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------low energy cost,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------instant)
Analyzing the Abilities Table
The exercise of creating the table forces me to come to terms with some weaknesses in the proposed rotation. Given their low importance, Infestation, Sweeping Strike and Vicious Cleave are only candidates for my macro if I don't run into energy starvation issues during testing.
It also makes me think through the value of attack points. Clearly, Reverant Protection doesn't belong in my combat macro, since it is very situational. Perhaps a bit less clear is the fact that neither Scales of Justice nor Dire Blow belong in my macro either. If they were in the macro, two bad things would happen:
1. They could cast when just 1 or 2 attack points have been accumulated, resulting in less than optimal damage.
2. They would make it impossible for me to manage my attack points. As a result, I could find myself suddenly needing Reverant Protection and not having the ideal 3 attack points available. Worst case, I might have no attack points at that moment, meaning Reverant Protection isn't even available to me.
And of most interest, Necrotic Wounds, Blood Fever, Pacifying Strike, Ravaging Strike, Vicious Cleave and Dire Blow all have no cooldown. Given that a macro containing multiple cast lines only casts the first ability that can be cast, I have a special challenge when dealing with abilities that have no cooldown. These abilities will (almost) always be castable (since they never need time to cool down), so the macro will never get past the first no-cooldown ability, casting that same ability over and over! This guarantees that Vicious Cleave is gone from my rotation. And it means that I must give very careful thought to the other five no-cooldown abilities.
As a basic rule of thumb, a no-cooldown ability should only appear as the last cast in a macro (because if it appears any earlier in the macro, abilities listed below it will never be cast). The only time you can get away with breaking this rule is if the no-cooldown ability has "special" requirements. It might, for example, need more energy than the abilities listed below it, and as a result, when your energy is low, it will be skipped and subsequent abilities will cast. Or the ability may be melee, and if you are at a distance, the ability will be skipped. Or there may be some other prerequisite that is only satisfied in some circumstances.
My Multi-Target Combat Macro
To make a long story short, I use the following combination of macros and non-macroed abilities to (in rotation) serve the purpose of my multi-target combat macro.
Macro #1 - Plague Bringer, Light's Decree, Soul Sickness, Necrotic Wounds, Blood Fever, Aggressive Block (and a few other abilities)
Macro #2 - Scales of Justice (and a few other abilities)
Macro #3 - Dire Blow (and a few other abilities)
Necrotic Wounds
Pacifying Strike
Ravaging Strike
My rotation works as follows:
I open an encounter with Macro #1, and I continue to spam Macro #1 over and over, just sprinkling in the other macros and non-macroed abilities when the following conditions arise:
- when I accumulate 3 attack points, I use either Macro #2 (if I'm dealing with multiple targets) or Macro #3 (if I'm dealing with a single target)
- when Necrotic Wounds (initially cast once by Macro #1, but never cast again by that macro unless I leave melee range) is close to timing out on my target, I use non-macroed Necrotic Wounds to refresh it
- if I'm dealing with a single target (particularly a boss), I work non-macroed Pacifying Strike and Ravaging Strike into my rotation every 15 seconds to establish and subsequently refresh their debuffs
If I'm feeling particularly lazy, I do nothing but spam Macro #1 til all targets are dead.
You may notice that Reverant Protection is missing from the above. I simply use it (non-macroed) on the (hopefully) rare occasions when the need arises.
And finally, what do I mean by "and a few other abilities" in each of my macros? In Macro #1, the other abilities are the three abilities only available for a few brief seconds after a successful block (Paladin's Reprisal, Disarming Counterblow and Retaliation). In Macro #2, the other abilities are Aggressive Block (to keep my block buff up) and the three abilities only available after a block. And in Macro #3, the other abilities are Aggressive Block and the two single-target abilities only available after a block (Disarming Counterblow and Retaliation).
Since Macros #2 and #3 include multiple abilities, they may need to be executed multiple times to get the desired result. I know that I'm done spamming either of these two macros when the attack points under my portrait disappear.
At this point, you may be wondering why I don't create macros much like my Scales of Justice and Dire Blow macros for Necrotic Wounds, Pacifying Strike and Ravaging Strike. The truth is, I did at one point. And they were nice in the sense that they ensured my Aggressive Block was never ever down, and I never missed an opportunity to pop a special post-block ability. But they also created a problem. It was hard to tell when I could stop spamming any of these three macros (I'd have to watch my target's portrait like a hawk for the tiny icon to appear). Since I want to focus on the encounter rather than the portrait, I retired these macros early on and went with non-macroed abilities. I suppose I could do the same with Scales of Justice and Dire Blow, but I've left them as macros because it's so easy to see when my attack points disappear.
My Single Target Combat Macro
My single-target combat macro is (much like my multi-target combat macro) actually 2 macros and a few non-macroed abilities used in rotation.
Macro #1 - Soul Sickness, Necrotic Wounds, Blood Fever, Aggressive Block (and a few other abilities)
Macro #2 - Dire Blow (and a few other abilities)
Necrotic Wounds
Pacifying Strike
Ravaging Strike
My rotation works as follows:
I open an encounter with Macro #1, and I continue to spam Macro #1 over and over, just sprinkling in the other macros and non-macroed abilities when the following conditions arise:
- when I accumulate 3 attack points, I use Macro #2
- when Necrotic Wounds (initially cast once by Macro #1, but never cast again by that macro unless I leave melee range) is close to timing out on my target, I use non-macroed Necrotic Wounds to refresh it
- if I'm dealing with a boss, I work non-macroed Pacifying Strike and Ravaging Strike into my rotation every 15 seconds to establish and subsequently refresh their debuffs
And if I'm feeling lazy again, I do nothing but spam Macro #1 til my target is dead.
Reverant Protection is used (non-macroed) on the (hopefully) rare occasions when the need arises.
What do I mean by "and a few other abilities" in each of my macros? In Macro #1, the other abilities are the two single-target abilities only available for a few brief seconds after a successful block (Disarming Counterblow and Retaliation). And in Macro #2, the other abilities are Aggressive Block (to keep my block buff up) and the two single-target abilities only available after a block.
Since Macros #2 includes multiple abilities, it may need to be executed multiple times to get the desired result. I know that I'm done spamming this macro when the attack points under my portrait disappear.
Testing/Monitoring Macros and Maintaining Flexibility
How can I tell if a macro that's supposed to cast a sequence of abilities is actually doing what it's supposed to be doing? As it turns out, it's incredibly easy, and rather satisfying. And as a bonus, my approach guarantees that I never lose access to individual abilities should an unusual circumstance arise.
If I don't have any empty action bars, I create one. Then I open my Abilities window. I drag each of the abilities listed in my macro to the action bar, in the order that they are supposed to be cast by my macro. Then I go visit a combat dummy. I attack the dummy as I would any beasty, and start spamming my macro as I stare at the action bar containing my sequence of abilities. I expect to see them fire, one after another, in the correct order. Watching 6 or 8 or 10 abilities cast as intended is a beautiful sight!
All of those abilities remain there in one of my action bars forever, never touched but always flashing like Christmas tree lights, reassuring me that my macro is working perfectly. And should I ever need a particular ability in the sequence on its own for some strange reason, well, its right there in one of my action bars where I can get at it.A List of My Combat Macros and Non-Macroed Abilities
This build provides me with dozens of combat-related abilities. But, with macros and my rotations, I'm able to limit my combat repertoire to the following 13 macros and non-macroed abilities:
Multi-Target Combat Spam Macro
Single-Target Combat Spam Macro
Scales of Justice Macro
Dire Blow Macro
Multi-Target Emergency Macro
Single-Target Emergency Macro
Necrotic Wounds Ability
Pacifying Strike Ability
Ravaging Strike Ability
Reverent Protection Ability
Interrupt Caster Macro
Cleanse Effect From Myself Macro
Res Fallen Comrade Macro
A Snaphot of My Macros
The following are all of my macros for this build, pasted from the game directly into this post, along with a few final notes. Please feel free to copy them.
Multi-target Combat Spam Macro
Note - At distance, the first execution of this macro skips past the first four casts (since they are all melee range) and casts the Plague Bringer buff. The second execution casts Light's Decree, which immediately creates threat with multiple targets. The third execution casts Soul Sickness, which adds more multi-target threat. The fourth execution casts Necrotic Wounds (provided that I haven't already moved to melee range) , which adds yet more multi-target threat. After that, assuming I'm in melee range, subsequent executions cast Aggressive Block and Blood Fever (and since Blood Fever has no cooldown, the macro never casts Necrotic Wounds again unless I leave melee range). Paladin's Reprisal, Disarming Counterblow and Retaliation get worked in after a block. After Blood Fever is cast, there is little point spamming this macro any longer until one of the other abilities has cooled down (so it's a great time to spend my attack points on Scales of Justice or Dire Blow, or debuff the target with Pacifying Strike or Ravaging Strike...and if I got into melee range before Necrotic Wounds was cast, this is also a great time to use that ability).
#show Soul Sickness
suppressmacrofailures
cast Aggressive Block
cast Paladin's Reprisal
cast Disarming Counterblow
cast Retaliation
cast Plague Bringer
cast Light's Decree
cast Soul Sickness
cast Blood Fever
cast Necrotic Wounds
Single-target Combat Spam Macro
Note - This is a clone of the above macro, with the multi-target abilities removed.
#show Soul Sickness
suppressmacrofailures
cast Aggressive Block
cast Disarming Counterblow
cast Retaliation
cast Soul Sickness
cast Blood Fever
cast Necrotic Wounds
Scales of Justice Macro
Note - This macro gets executed one or more times, until Scales of Justice is cast (indicated when my attack points disappear).
#show Scales of Justice
suppressmacrofailures
cast Aggressive Block
cast Paladin's Reprisal
cast Disarming Counterblow
cast Retaliation
cast Scales of Justice
Dire Blow Macro
Note - This macro gets executed one or more times, until Dire Blow is cast (indicated when my attack points disappear).
#show Dire Blow
suppressmacrofailures
cast Aggressive Block
cast Disarming Counterblow
cast Retaliation
cast Dire Blow
Multi-Target Emergency Macro
Note - This macro gets executed one or more times, depending on the severity of the emergency. I move in amongst the targets that I want to aggro prior to execution (the abilities aren't ranged, they are AoEs centered on me).
#show Weakening Essence
suppressmacrofailures
cast Paladin's Reprisal
cast Weakening Essence
cast Creeping Death
cast Judgment
cast Incite
Single-Target Emergency Macro
Note - This macro gets executed once per single ranged target (unless Paladin's Reprisal triggers, in which case it gets executed twice), and is immediately followed by a few executions of either my single or multi-target spam macro to gather in the stray beasty. You might be surprised to see that it begins with Paladin's Reprisal, an instant AoE (only available immediately after a successful block). Even though this is my "single-target" emergency macro, I will most often use it in the middle of a multi-target encounter. So, I pop Paladin's Reprisal first (if it's available), to make sure the beasties I was dealing with don't wander away while I gather in the stray.
#show Grim Lure
suppressmacrofailures
cast Paladin's Reprisal
cast Grim Lure
cast Light's Hammer
Interrupt Caster Macro
Note - This macro only casts one ability. I use a macro for this because I want a message to appear every time I interrupt a caster.
#show Face Slam
suppressmacrofailures
cast Face Slam
yell Interrupting %t.
Cleanse Effects From Me Macro
Note - This macro casts one of my two cleanse abilities. It simply eliminates one choice from my repertoire.
#show Paladin's Devotion
suppressmacrofailures
cast Paladin's Devotion
cast Tempered Will
Res Fallen Comrade Macro
Note - Like the Interrupt Caster macro, this macro only casts one ability. But it also tells my comrades who I'm in the process of reviving, so they don't waste time reviving the same person.
#show Life's Grace
suppressmacrofailures
say Bringing %t back from the plain of death.
cast Life's Grace
A Pic of My Action Bars
I thought it might help if you could see my action bars, illustrating my macros, my rotations, and my monitoring of macros, so I've included a pic in the post that follows.
Good hunting!
Domm
