(Words in GREEN are clickable sending you to the appropriate websites)
FIRST AND FOREMOST:
Many thanks to:
@lutechi for creating and maintaining this website.
@TimothyLuke for this amazing Picaso-like Addon.
(Please give Lutechi and Timothy Luke some love in subbing to their respective Patreon accounts here and here. And their Twitch channels here and here.
Past (R.I.P. BeefWellington (aka Beef) and Gween), present and future macro creators!
About me and little bit of insight to where I’m coming from:
Hi! I’m Deezyl Fizzlepop and I’ve been maining Hunters for 13 years-mostly Beast Master, some Marksman with very little Survival specs. Right now I’m maining Marksman because it’s all about the best DPS for Hunters.
I’ve used the original GS when the developer semlar published it on WoWInterface.com in 2014 before Timothy Luke took it and made this remarkable Addon what is today.
Due to my disability that gives about 20-25% feeling in my left hand I dare not use a keyboard for WoW anymore except for typing which I’m slow and sloppy as hell and use Razer’s Tartarus v2 Keypad and Razer Naga Pro mouse for movement and macros.
I read each and every new post on this site. Why? Maybe to help someone out or maybe to glean a little bit of information that’ll help me out because you never know…
I’m a Guild Leader for over 10 years now and in the Legion expansion our Guild was #3 on our server in progression Raiding. It was kinda hardcore and I sure do miss those days competitively Raiding. But like almost any progression Guild, it fell apart so now you can call me “casually hardcore”. So you kinda have to know your stuff.
DISCLAIMER
Macros are NOT one-size-fits-all. They’re not cookie-cutter. What works for the macro creator, you or me WILL be different-unless you have the same playstyle, gear, Talents, etc.By all means there are probably other ways to get better results in less time or more effectively but this what I’ve been sticking with for years.
I DO NOT release any of my macros to the public because they’re tailormade for me, my playstyle, gear, latency, etc.
Let’s begin:
A good macro is the one you make and tailor to your needs. It takes a while but it’s worth it in the long run. As your gear changes towards possible soft/hard caps for a stat(s) so will your macro DPS/HPS numbers. And that needs to be changed in order reflect it for best DPS/HPS output.
Testing:
I start out by testing all macros I can find one at time taking out all redundant and unnecessary spell/abilities unbuffed in front of a non-raid Training dummy (you can use a raid training dummy-but all I care about is the highest number aka total average of the macro when used four times at five minutes each). Each pass is five minutes in length and I do this four times for one macro to account for variables.
Next, I record four passes for each macro on Notepad with the macro name and take the highest/best overall number out of all of them (if some are close then just get the average that macro) from my Details! Damage Meter Damage Done logs.
If they’re very, very very, close, just average them out and go with the highest numbers. If the numbers are exactly the same I choose the one that gives me the highest opening burst. Also, it’s very acceptable to mix and match macros, i.e. ST, AoE, Healing ST, Healing AoE, etc. from other users.
Example:
HurpaDurp's macro: Single target: 2.2, 2.3, 2.1, 2.2 AoE: 3.5, 3.4, 3.4, 3.5
oMg BeSt mAcRo EvA: Single target: 08, .08, .09, .07 AoE: .03, .02, .02, .02
Rotation and Tuning:
First, I sim myself UNBUFFED and NO BLOODLUST at Raidbots to check which spells are taking priorities due to my gear setup in their Damage Breakdown chart.
Next, I use Details! Damage Meter actually see how the better macro that I’ve tested performs by the percentage of each spell/ability. As an alternative, there’s the GSE Debugging feature in GSE (as @TimothyLuke demonstrated in his GSE University Twitch videos ) which does pretty much the same thing.
After testing all macros starting at 100 ms (I cannot stress this enough) then play around with the speeds in increments of 10+ ms while recording your results up to say around 200 ms (my Single Target, AoE and Openrer/Burst sweet spots are set at .224 ms). And, yes, if it’s too fast (say below 100 ms) you can cause a macro to skip over spells/abilities-which COULD be lifesaving or Raid/Dungeon wiping, victory or defeat, become random casts and flag those users for pressing a button at inhuman speeds which COULD POSSIBLY be grounds for a BAN from Blizzard. Then in comes the “ZOMG! BlIzZ bAnNeD mE fOr uSiNg gSe!”.
(Trying to get close to the % of what should be casted and when is the hardest part in Raidbots. But sadly as our gear changes your macro should change as well if there’s a drastic Stat increase/decrease and that means more testing (if it’s a few % points, I won’t bother. I’m NOT anal and plus I don’t think it’d make much of a difference). Haste is the hardest part because it affects your in-game ms if there’s a spike big enough.)
SAVE ALL OF YOUR RECOREDED RESULTS TO NOTEPAD! Because if someone comes out with a new macro or an updated one you can try it out and compare the differences.
TL;DR: If you didn’t want to do all of that I mentioned then just test out every macro for your Class/Spec via the Training dummy, record your results and go with the one that gives you the highest or best average.
Make things easier on yourself:
Know your Class and spec. I’m a firm believer in constantly reading Icy Veins. Read up on how we play, function, what’s good, what’s bad, etc. Everything we need to know is right there.
Sim your toon:
Simming gives you a good idea of how your character should be performing under perfect conditions. It lets you see if an item will give you a numerical advantage if you use it correctly. Raidbots is the best place to do it and “provides many different tools for simulating your character, allowing you to quickly and easily assess different factors, whether it’s stats, gear, talents or more. That doesn’t necessarily make it less useful, however, as it is still the fastest way to create a simulation report for analysis.”
Your stats don't matter. Use Raidbots Top Gear and forget everything else. Do not ever run a Stat Weight sim in your life ever again. Oh, and also, please uninstall Pawn.
“bloodmallet offers DPS simulation data for everyone for World of Warcraft. Comparing different setups often requires simulations. To ease this need for information bloodmallet.com offers a wide range of prepared simulation data. This way you can get your overview a lot quicker and get back into the action faster. As with all prepared information, the exact context of your character is missing and that can change the outcome. Therefore make sure to regularly simulate your character yourself.”
Addons: If you don’t play WoW on a potato then get some:
GSE needs no explanation.
Details! Damage Meter as I mentioned above.
If your gonna sim your toon the only addon you’re gonna need is Simulationcraft.
If you not using ELVUI you’re doing it wrong.
Icy Veins has recommendations for class specific Addons, too (with macros!).
Weak Auras are a must with wago giving you a ton of options to go along with them and much, much more.
And please, please, please keep them updated-hint: try WoWUP or Ajour.
(Bonus Points: Here’s the UI from BrutallStatic that I use and love immensely. It has pretty much all the Addons and WA’s you’ll ever need.)
Discord: There are Community Discord Servers for every Class out there and every ASPECT to WoW. Plus, our very own WLM Discord for GSE (invite link). In there if you’re not sure or are intimidated, just tell people that your new or having trouble with something and nine times out of ten you’ll get a reply in that channel…but might not be the one you wanna hear…
Read, learn and expand your mind. Don’t be lazy. This site is WoW Lazy Macros-NOT WoW Macros for Lazy People.
PS: If you’re a MACRO CREATOR and you’re gonna release something to public:
TRIPLE CHECK YOU’RE SPELLING.
MAKE THE MACRO(S) EDITABLE AND NOT READ ONLY.
QUADRPLE CHECK WHAT TALENTS YOU HAVE POSTED because most users here will follow blindly to whatever Talents they see (or better yet post what Talents you’re using) without looking at Icy Veins or gasp simming them.
"WHAT MS ARE YOU RUNNING AT?" Mention it as one of the first things you type.
hElP! mOdZ kEyZ nO wOrK!!one!oNe!1!:
Do yourself a a favor if you’re using things like [mod:ctl] or [mod:alt], etc… and post the in opening thread that in GSE Options that there’s a box you can click to undo Keybinds (Clear Keybinds box).
And:
Please use the CORRECT gear, gems, enchants, etc. for EACH spec you create a macro for because you’re cheating yourself and others out of a potentially awesome macro because it’s NOT performing correctly due to different Stat Priorities and the rest being skewed., i.e. Maining Feral and creating Druid macros for every spec in Feral gear. (I have a feeling that’s what a lot of macro creators are/have been doing)
In closing, if you have any questions or comments or thoughts at all please don’t hesitate to get a hold of me here via this Thread, in PM’s, Discord: Deezyl#3253 or add my BattleTag: Deezyl#11651.
-Deezyl