I want to take a second to word vomit some of my thoughts/struggles with this macro. My hope is that by laying this out you as the user have a better understanding of the thought process I go through in writing the macro, I also hope that by putting my thoughts into writing I can better navigate my way through my own thoughts.
Right now my primary internal struggle is that there are multiple viable talent choices for Feral and can vary based on a number of things. I can work my way through some of those choices in a single macro using conditional talent selection [talent:x/x] or [notalent:x/x] and this is infact what you will see a lot of in the current offering. There are inherent limitations to this method and inconveniences. It adds additional checks and thus reduces the macros efficiency, each check is very minor but I do believe that they add up. I know I can write a macro that focuses on 1 specific set of talents that will out perform my “all in one” and as such I can write several macros that cover each build, but then your left with a mess of individual macros that you would need to have taking up macro slots on your toon and that you would need to drop onto your bars each time you swap talents. I could also write each one and place them within different version tabs of a single macro and you would have to select the active tab based on talent choice (it would make a single macro extremely long). From my persepctive I would need to maintain/update all of these versions individually which sounds daunting
To add to the number of needed individual macros is that there really needs to be a difference between single target and AOE, and there is no way to split that out in a single version of a macro. So in effect we double the number of versions from the above section of talent choices.
Lets talk Druid and talent choices first and then maybe this will make more sense:
Level 15:
[talent:1/1] Predator = Good choice for questing and world content. Also viable choice for Dungeons but not viable in Raid.
[talent:1/2] Blood Scent = This is the go to talent for Raid and or Dungeons
[talent:1/3] Lunar Inspiration = Weakest of the 3 but is situationaly good as it gives you a ranged attack (and when used correctly is competitive with the other 2)
So after level 15 we are left with 2 possible branches in terms things that affect how we write the macro = Either you have taken Lunar Inspiration or you have not.
3,?,?,?,?,?,?
1/2,?,?,?,?,?,?
Level 30:
[talent:2/1] Renewal = Decent self Heal but generally the weakest choice of the 3
[talent:2/2] Displacer Beast = Probably the best choice in most situations
[talent:2/3] Wild Charge = Viable option
While any or all of the level 30 talents can be included in the macro or left out, they do not affect the choices and any or all can easily be incorporated. So we are still at 2 branches from the first tier.
3,X,?,?,?,?,?
1/2,X,?,?,?,?,?
Level 45:
[talent:3/1] Balance affinity = The only choice in this tier that can affect DPS and is the normal goto talent
[talent:3/2] Guardian affinity = Decent second choice for the added defence
[talent:3/3] Resto affinity = Worst choice in the tier
None of these choices affect us from a macro standpoint. So we are still at 2 branches from the first tier.
3,X,X,?,?,?,?
1/2,X,X,?,?,?,?
Level 60:
[talent:4/1] Mighty Bash = Good Single target stun
[talent:4/2] Mass Entanglement = Good AOE CC
[talent:4/3] Typhoon = Knock back
None of these choices affect us from a macro standpoint. So we are still at 2 branches from the first tier.
3,X,X,X,?,?,?
1/2,X,X,X,?,?,?
Talent 70:
[talent:5/1] Soul of the Forest = Weakest choice in the tier never taken unless your using the ring.
[talent:5/2] Incarnation:King of the Jungle = The typical goto in the tie, great for burst. (I don’t like questing with it though).
[talent:5/3] Jagged Wounds = more consistent damage and a better questing option but is very much viable in all situations.
Incarnation and Jagged Wounds add an addition 2 paths in terms of macro choices leaving us at 4 paths:
3,X,X,X,2,?,?
1/2,X,X,X,2,?,?
3,X,X,X,3,?,?
1/2,X,X,X,3,?,?
Level 90:
[talent:6/1] Sabertooth = Not very viable in most scenarios but is still occasionally talented
[talent:6/2] Brutal Slash = Always should be taken in every fight other than pure single target
[talent:6/3] Savage Roar = Only take when there is literally only one mob to hit for the entire fight
Level 90 introduces all 3 choices that affect the macro and thus 3 additional paths.
3,X,X,X,2,1,?
1/2,X,X,X,2,1,?
3,X,X,X,3,1,?
1/2,X,X,X,3,1,?
3,X,X,X,2,2,?
1/2,X,X,X,2,2,?
3,X,X,X,3,2,?
1/2,X,X,X,3,2,?
3,X,X,X,2,3,?
1/2,X,X,X,2,3,?
3,X,X,X,3,3,?
1/2,X,X,X,3,3,?
Level 100:
[talent:7/1] Moment of Clarity = This is a very close choice. (I prefer this talent as it is easier to manage, but you should really sim your toon to choose here as they are very close)
[talent:7/2] Bloodtalons = Likely the strongest choice here but is difficult to take advantage of in a macro
[talent:7/3] Elune’s Guidance = Weakest choice in the tier by far, but if taken drastically changes the rotation
Level 100 introduces all 3 choices that affect the macro and thus 3 additional paths.
3,X,X,X,2,1,1
1/2,X,X,X,2,1,1
3,X,X,X,3,1,1
1/2,X,X,X,3,1,1
3,X,X,X,2,2,1
1/2,X,X,X,2,2,1
3,X,X,X,3,2,1
1/2,X,X,X,3,2,1
3,X,X,X,2,3,1
1/2,X,X,X,2,3,1
3,X,X,X,3,3,1
1/2,X,X,X,3,3,1
3,X,X,X,2,1,2
1/2,X,X,X,2,1,2
3,X,X,X,3,1,2
1/2,X,X,X,3,1,2
3,X,X,X,2,2,2
1/2,X,X,X,2,2,2
3,X,X,X,3,2,2
1/2,X,X,X,3,2,2
3,X,X,X,2,3,2
1/2,X,X,X,2,3,2
3,X,X,X,3,3,2
1/2,X,X,X,3,3,2
3,X,X,X,2,1,3
1/2,X,X,X,2,1,3
3,X,X,X,3,1,3
1/2,X,X,X,3,1,3
3,X,X,X,2,2,3
1/2,X,X,X,2,2,3
3,X,X,X,3,2,3
1/2,X,X,X,3,2,3
3,X,X,X,2,3,3
1/2,X,X,X,2,3,3
3,X,X,X,3,3,3
1/2,X,X,X,3,3,3
That leaves us with 36 possible variations on the macro based on talents so if we make a ST and an AOE version for each now we are at 72
There are other outside influences like Legos, Tier bonuses (3 potential tier set bonuses at this point), and Trinkets all of which can add additional rotation options we can easily end up with over 100 macros or versions. Now I understand that most of these variations are not as mainstream or viable but they are still things that drastically change the approach of the macro.
Now in terms of cramming everything into one button without Modifiers:
I have already covered the need for separate ST and AOE versions, but I’ll touch a bit more. Pure ST you should not Thrash and you should not Brutal Slash talented or not and Shred becomes the staple of combo point building. In AOE you should Thrash to maintain the dot (Thrash on CD if your using Luffa wraps) Brutal Slash on CD and alternate Swipe/Shred to build combo points.
The entire basis of Feral is to build combo points (builders) and spend combo points (spenders) while maintaining dots (Rake:builder)(Rip:spender) and maintaining 100% uptime of Savage Roar if talented. The rate at which Combo points are built varies greatly each pass through the rotation based on a number of things. Sometimes 2 builders can result in a full 5 combo points and sometimes it requires 5 builders to get 5 combo points. Since a macro cannot perform actionX if ScenarioY happens (in other words you cannot say “Use Rip when I have 5 combo points”) it is extremely difficult to guess when to spend combo points. It is a huge loss in almost every case to use a spender with less than 5 combo points, and it is also a huge loss to cap 5 combo points and continue to use builder spells and that is why choosing when and what to spend (either with modifiers or separate buttons) will always outperform trying to have the macro guess when to spend.
Same logic applies to CD’s (especially long ones like incarn). You look pretty silly popping Incarn on the lasts couple of trash mobs just prior to pulling a boss, and your DPS is going to suck on that boss (compaired to if you had incarn available).
The more variations I offer in a single macro the less efficient
The more consolidated (one button macro) the less efficient
I know I said alot here without really saying alot, but I hope it gives you all some insight as I struggle to develop a foundation for how I want to write these macros to provide the best performance that I can to you all (and myself) while maintaining a level of user friendliness that is acceptable. But at the end of the day you as the user need to understand that if you want “super duper easy press one button and pew pew, change your talents at will” your not going to be #1 Dps in your Raid group (unless they are pretty bad players) or the other end of that spectrum of “I want to be #1 DPS or near the top of my tier, I don’t give a Crap how many buttons I have to press” then it’s going to be complicated (But if it is complicated there should be a payoff, it needs to perform) Right now its complicated and for me personally the payoff is not there and that is why my mental musings of trying to make a better macro(s).
