Due to the number of PMs I have received as of late on this topic and to save myself repeating again Iam creating this guide
to help those interested in tuning the macros to better suit their own characters. Macro authors also may find some tidbits of insight
here also in helping them create macros. Note this guide does not go into detail on macro creation itself just the methods I use to obtain information to improve what im creating to suit my own characters specifically.
For those that cannot grasp macro scripting, performing the steps below and obtaining the information required can go a long way for
other to assist you, rather than complaining on the forums like “ my character sims X dps but I only do Y can you fix.
You should be able to identify where a macro is lacking and ask for specific requests like hey is there any chance your macro can increase the use of X ability etc.
The Things You NEED:
- A DPS meter that can display combat information like the add-on Details
- Be able to Sim your character via raidbots or Simcraft
- free time
this process can take a lot of time, and why many authors like myself do this only for mains they use and sometimes seem to ignore requests.
however like al lthings the more time you are willing to invest the more rewarding the result.
Lets begin:
TheI’m processes work for every class im using my Death knight as an example and for ease.
First thing is to sim your character, when doing so we need to eliminate as many variables as possible.
set your sim to perform the following,
Target Dummy, 1 boss, 3-5 min length you decide
uncheck In Zuldazar, and turn ALL raid buffs off
Finally check Detailed SimC Report
Run your Sim
While your sim is running, go wack a test dummy for the same amount of time with no buffs, etc.
then open the details breakdown in game to show all the abilities you cast during that time and make a note
in this pic you can see I cast scourge strike 53 times in that 3 minutes.
but you need to do this for all of the abilities the macro you are tuning uses
next we need some detailed sim info. to get this
click on Full HTML Report and you will get this…
scroll down the page untill you see this table. it shows you how many time s each ability was used by the sim
via the EXECUTE column
here it shows me the sim uses Scourge strike 58 times
going through each ability you will start to see any areas for improvement.
Its up to you what tolerance you allow for, for me my 55 vs 58 is fine. for perspective
when I started tuning this my strikes were half of what the sim was doing and other abilities
were double of what the sim was doing.
Remember its not an exact science as some classes rely on RNG or procs more than others
so you have to decide what’s acceptable and doing aim to mirror exactly just close as you can.
Now at this point you should be able to see what the macro is lacking and can start
adjusting the macro and repeating this process until you get it.
For this DK I fiddled wit the macro increasing Scourge strike frequency and reduced Festering strike usage
until I was happy.
Most only need to stop at this point, and only need continue on below if the have nailed the first part and are still not satisfied
FYI at this point I was about 1-1.2K below the sim results.
To Squeeze that little Extra:
So atthis point you have your ability usage close to par with the sim but wants that little extra.
so lets go back to Sim craft
you need to scroll down untill you see a green heading called “Action Priority List”
clicking on it opens a drop down that lista the class abilites and conditions to trigger thier use
But what we after is at the bottom of that which shows a new heading called “Sample Sequence Table”
clicking on that show what is basically the combat logs for the sim, studying this like any combat log you can
see WHEN things were cast, combine that with the info in the last two colums Resources and Buffs you can see
WHY.
omething else to look at if curious or want to consider when making macros is the
box above the sample sequence table called sample sequence. this shows every ability cast
and what order, the tables above that inform you what each letter is. in the example
M = Scourge Strike O=Festering Strike etc etc.
you can use this to look for a constant patten and make a /castsequence. (bet you are clicking to how some of my macros now work)
Anyway so studying this what did I learned with my DK
the red is the sim the yellow is the macro (a rough approximation)
by analyzing the logs I notice that the sim would intentionally hold off using
my RAGE Trinket and UH frenzy untill Apoc was off CD, and would then pop the Frenzy
then Trinket then Apoc each time. which was causing the DPS spikes.
knowing this I went back and modified my Macro which I had them (except Apoc) used on cooldown
to now fire them in a modifier with Apoc. while it added a more human error chance to the macro
I closed the gap to my Sim to within 500 damage on a perfect run about 1k if I derped it.
at this point I stopped as im content with the results. I also know due to macro limitations I cant get much better
mainly because I cant get the macro to identify when to scourge strilke and when not to. ie using scourge strike with no
stacks on festering is a dps loss.
That is something you have to understand with macros, some classes have it worse like Rogues if the Rogue procs a bonus combo
the macro cant identify that and adjust. you just have to find a happy medium. or do more things manually.
Well that’s a brief rundown of how I go about things. realize this does take a lot of time to undertake but if you keep at it you can
get that extra performance out of your character.
