EQ2Flames Forum - View Single Post - Macroing in EQ2, guiding your blades (part 1/2)

Packrat · 02-03-2007, 10:56 PM

by Psixakias from the Newbie Yard

Following is an extended guide on how to create macros in EQ2 to advance your playing to the most. Written in Dec 2004.
Making a macro in EQ2 is a great way to enhance your playing abilities and give your char some style. The devs have equiped the game engine with quite an easy way to create macros and everyone should take a min to set their own.
First, to access the macro window press O and choose the macro tab. From there you need to click and edit a macro slot. In the new window that pops up you can enter the Name of the macro you are making, choose the Icon of it and lastly write the actual string of it. To edit a previously made macro, right click on it...
Name: can be anything you want, is up to you, has no actual effect but to remind you what it does
Icon: not many in there yet, again choose anything you like
String: what this guide is about

What to type as the actual macro!
Well, you type any command you like, being a simple "/say Hello there and well met stranger" to more advansed strings that use multiple commands...
Some simple macros are:
/say Hello (makes your char say Hello in the general chat)
/g INC %t (sends in group chat the msg INC YourCurrentTarget)
/r INC %t (same as above but for the raid channel you might have formed)
Now for the more juisy stuff. To include more than one command in a macro you need to separate it with a ; . What you need to be aware of is to include a space before and after the ; key. Examples:
/bow ; say hello (makes your char bow and say Hello in the general chat)
/point ; g INC %t (emotes "Yourname points to yourcurrenttarget" and sends in group chat the msg INC YourCurrentTarget)
NOTE 1: on the above format you use the slash ONLY at the begining of the string. you dont need and must not use it for the rest of the commands that follow the first.
NOTE 2: any msg you need to send MUST be to the end of the string, else the program thinks that everything following is part of the text of the say or g command!!! (this might change inthe future)

Ok, after you experiment a bit with the above lets try put a spell or attack or ability in the above. The key command here is the /useability spell name one. Things to note about this command:
1) the "spell name" part MUST include the whole name of the spell, including any spaces or ' in it.
2) you use the same command for either spells, attacks or abilities.
Simple examples:
/useability Taunting Blow ; g INC %t (uses the attack taunting blow to pull and sends inc msg to grp chat)
/useability Veil of the Unseen ; g %t is Invisible (invis for your grp mate by announsing it too)
However, if you try the above you will notice they dont work!! The solution is to use a : to open the string (emote works too but is annoying and spamming). So, what to do is use the null char at the begining of the macro, put a semicomma and then use all the above w/o the slashes. Thus the correct format is:
: ; useability Taunting Blow ; g INC %t
: ; useability Veil of the Unseen ; g %t is Invisible
From here, the sky is the limit for your macroing. You can combine as many commands as you like, as far as you dont reach the max character limit of the macro box.

BUT..........

...there are some restriction...

You can use up to 2 spells/attacks/abilities in one macro because of the queue, using more than two will make the program pass the middle ones and use only the 1st and que the last. For example, if you put attack 1, then debuff, then attack 2 and last attack 3, the program will start casting attack 1, then will queue the debuff, then, w/o waiting for the debuff to be cast, will queue attack 2 and cancel the queue of the debuff, and following will queue attack 3, canceling previous queued action. The result is that with that macro you will do attack 1 and attack 3 and miss the debuff and the attack 2.
So,in a macro you can only include 2 attacks/abilities/spells if you want all to be excecuted.

HOWEVER, only exception to the above rule is the HO starter action. Becauce of the HO starter being instant, it doesnt Queue the folloing action but excecutes it asap, thus enabling a third action to be included in the macro.
This is great for solo/one person macros!!! In one macro you can include the HO triger, the HO advanser and the HO completer!! Example follows:
: ; useability Lucky Brake ; useability dirty tricks ; useability Quick strike
The above is an amazingly fast HO-enable attack that starts the HO of the scout, advances to wheel with the debuff and does a fast attack to complete the wheel and enable the benefit of the HO. (the names are from memory, some mistakes in the names of the abilities might exist, so if you copy/paste it might not work)
The above macro in general format is as follows:
: ; useability NameOfYourClassesHOtriger ; useability NameOfYourHOadvanser ; useability NameOfAttack
NameOfYourClassesHOtriger is the ability you click for the HO to start blinking
NameOfYourHOadvanser is the spell/ability you use to advance your blinking HO to a wheel (usually a debuff)
NameOfAttack is the attack you will use to finish the wheel. Use your most common one poping out (and fastest!)

With the above macro you can do and complete a single person HO by clicking one key only. In the case of a resist of the last attack, just use another, in the case of mages/priest with variety on ending spell type, you do the simple nuke of the macro and then conclude with the apropriate spell. Try it, it rocks

(Sidenote: the extra dmg of the HO that is trigering isnt influensed by the attack you use. Me, as a dirge, i finish my HO with the lvl 1 scout attack because it needs min recasting time, almost always hits and uses min power. at lvl 24, the attack does like 10 dmg and the HO does ~80 dmg. Ofcource this is only me and my playstyle and choices, you can use anything.)
Update jan 6th: As of the new big patch the macro window has 3 lines instead of one. This doesnt exclude the above, mutlicommand format but instead of using the above for 3 command macros, you could type the 3 commands one in each line (dont forget to use the slash / tho, each line is like a new macro). Again, you can still use both styles, especially if you need more than 3 commands in a macro.

Another usefull command is the /assistone. Trick here is that you need to change the name of the group member you assist as you change groups. Also, instead of a plain toggle on auto meele attack, you can use your basic attack that you usually start fight with. You save time this way and if the mob is far, you are put in autoattack mode too. The macro is:
: ; assist TankNameHere ; toggleautoattack
or
: ; assist TankNameHere ; useability YourCommonAttackOrSpell

NOTE: if you want to use a ranged attack for pulling, the command is togglerangedattack and you insert it in the macro w/o the useability one, is a standalone command. eg: : ; togglerangedattack ; g INC %t
UPDATE 26/1/05: was mentioned that if you use the toggle command combined with the assist to change targets to another mob of the grp you are fighting, the attack while it was on, goes off (thanks markdecox for pointing that out)... a solution is to use : ; assist %t ; autoattack 1 which keeps your char in attacking mode if he/she is already in one (thaaaank you FamilyManFirst)
-------
If the macro you are making doesnt work, check the below:

1) the : must be ahead in order for it to work
2) use ; AND two spaces, one before and one after it to separate commands
3) any say command MUST be at the end of the macro, cause the stupid prog thinks that everything following is a text msg
4) the ability name MUST BE in full name, with spaces and ' if in the name of the original spell, else the prog wont find it
5) if you use / other than the very begining, erase all but first

-------
To put some spice in yout msgs you can also use the below trigers:
%M – Returns the character’s pet's name (when they have a pet)
%T - Returns the current target.
%S - Returns the subjective gender-specific pronoun for the target (He, She, It).
%O - Returns the objective gender-specific pronoun for the target (Him, Her, It).
%P - Returns the possessive gender-specific pronoun for the target (His, Her, Its).
%R - Returns the race of the target (only works on Player characters - Sorry.
%G - Returns the gender of the targe

Also, for all of you pet owners the following commands i was told they work in macros (havent tested tho).
/pet attack: pet will attack your current target
/pet backoff: pet will cease attacking its target
/pet stayhere: pet will stop following you and remain where it is
/pet followme: pet will follow you
/pet report: pet will announce his health in a percentage
/pet guardme: pet will guard and follow you
/pet guardhere: pet will guard its current location
/pet who: pet will announce its master
/pet getlost: pet will disappear

-------

02-03-2007, 10:56 PM	#1 (permalink)
Packrat Keeper of cheese, useful things, and lost buttons Posts: 37	Macroing in EQ2, guiding your blades (part 1/2) by Psixakias from the Newbie Yard Following is an extended guide on how to create macros in EQ2 to advance your playing to the most. Written in Dec 2004. Making a macro in EQ2 is a great way to enhance your playing abilities and give your char some style. The devs have equiped the game engine with quite an easy way to create macros and everyone should take a min to set their own. First, to access the macro window press O and choose the macro tab. From there you need to click and edit a macro slot. In the new window that pops up you can enter the Name of the macro you are making, choose the Icon of it and lastly write the actual string of it. To edit a previously made macro, right click on it... Name: can be anything you want, is up to you, has no actual effect but to remind you what it does Icon: not many in there yet, again choose anything you like String: what this guide is about What to type as the actual macro! Well, you type any command you like, being a simple "/say Hello there and well met stranger" to more advansed strings that use multiple commands... Some simple macros are: /say Hello (makes your char say Hello in the general chat) /g INC %t (sends in group chat the msg INC YourCurrentTarget) /r INC %t (same as above but for the raid channel you might have formed) Now for the more juisy stuff. To include more than one command in a macro you need to separate it with a ; . What you need to be aware of is to include a space before and after the ; key. Examples: /bow ; say hello (makes your char bow and say Hello in the general chat) /point ; g INC %t (emotes "Yourname points to yourcurrenttarget" and sends in group chat the msg INC YourCurrentTarget) NOTE 1: on the above format you use the slash ONLY at the begining of the string. you dont need and must not use it for the rest of the commands that follow the first. NOTE 2: any msg you need to send MUST be to the end of the string, else the program thinks that everything following is part of the text of the say or g command!!! (this might change inthe future) Ok, after you experiment a bit with the above lets try put a spell or attack or ability in the above. The key command here is the /useability spell name one. Things to note about this command: 1) the "spell name" part MUST include the whole name of the spell, including any spaces or ' in it. 2) you use the same command for either spells, attacks or abilities. Simple examples: /useability Taunting Blow ; g INC %t (uses the attack taunting blow to pull and sends inc msg to grp chat) /useability Veil of the Unseen ; g %t is Invisible (invis for your grp mate by announsing it too) However, if you try the above you will notice they dont work!! The solution is to use a : to open the string (emote works too but is annoying and spamming). So, what to do is use the null char at the begining of the macro, put a semicomma and then use all the above w/o the slashes. Thus the correct format is: : ; useability Taunting Blow ; g INC %t : ; useability Veil of the Unseen ; g %t is Invisible From here, the sky is the limit for your macroing. You can combine as many commands as you like, as far as you dont reach the max character limit of the macro box. BUT.......... ...there are some restriction... You can use up to 2 spells/attacks/abilities in one macro because of the queue, using more than two will make the program pass the middle ones and use only the 1st and que the last. For example, if you put attack 1, then debuff, then attack 2 and last attack 3, the program will start casting attack 1, then will queue the debuff, then, w/o waiting for the debuff to be cast, will queue attack 2 and cancel the queue of the debuff, and following will queue attack 3, canceling previous queued action. The result is that with that macro you will do attack 1 and attack 3 and miss the debuff and the attack 2. So,in a macro you can only include 2 attacks/abilities/spells if you want all to be excecuted. HOWEVER, only exception to the above rule is the HO starter action. Becauce of the HO starter being instant, it doesnt Queue the folloing action but excecutes it asap, thus enabling a third action to be included in the macro. This is great for solo/one person macros!!! In one macro you can include the HO triger, the HO advanser and the HO completer!! Example follows: : ; useability Lucky Brake ; useability dirty tricks ; useability Quick strike The above is an amazingly fast HO-enable attack that starts the HO of the scout, advances to wheel with the debuff and does a fast attack to complete the wheel and enable the benefit of the HO. (the names are from memory, some mistakes in the names of the abilities might exist, so if you copy/paste it might not work) The above macro in general format is as follows: : ; useability NameOfYourClassesHOtriger ; useability NameOfYourHOadvanser ; useability NameOfAttack NameOfYourClassesHOtriger is the ability you click for the HO to start blinking NameOfYourHOadvanser is the spell/ability you use to advance your blinking HO to a wheel (usually a debuff) NameOfAttack is the attack you will use to finish the wheel. Use your most common one poping out (and fastest!) With the above macro you can do and complete a single person HO by clicking one key only. In the case of a resist of the last attack, just use another, in the case of mages/priest with variety on ending spell type, you do the simple nuke of the macro and then conclude with the apropriate spell. Try it, it rocks (Sidenote: the extra dmg of the HO that is trigering isnt influensed by the attack you use. Me, as a dirge, i finish my HO with the lvl 1 scout attack because it needs min recasting time, almost always hits and uses min power. at lvl 24, the attack does like 10 dmg and the HO does ~80 dmg. Ofcource this is only me and my playstyle and choices, you can use anything.) Update jan 6th: As of the new big patch the macro window has 3 lines instead of one. This doesnt exclude the above, mutlicommand format but instead of using the above for 3 command macros, you could type the 3 commands one in each line (dont forget to use the slash / tho, each line is like a new macro). Again, you can still use both styles, especially if you need more than 3 commands in a macro. Another usefull command is the /assistone. Trick here is that you need to change the name of the group member you assist as you change groups. Also, instead of a plain toggle on auto meele attack, you can use your basic attack that you usually start fight with. You save time this way and if the mob is far, you are put in autoattack mode too. The macro is: : ; assist TankNameHere ; toggleautoattack or : ; assist TankNameHere ; useability YourCommonAttackOrSpell NOTE: if you want to use a ranged attack for pulling, the command is togglerangedattack and you insert it in the macro w/o the useability one, is a standalone command. eg: : ; togglerangedattack ; g INC %t UPDATE 26/1/05: was mentioned that if you use the toggle command combined with the assist to change targets to another mob of the grp you are fighting, the attack while it was on, goes off (thanks markdecox for pointing that out)... a solution is to use : ; assist %t ; autoattack 1 which keeps your char in attacking mode if he/she is already in one (thaaaank you FamilyManFirst) ------- If the macro you are making doesnt work, check the below: 1) the : must be ahead in order for it to work 2) use ; AND two spaces, one before and one after it to separate commands 3) any say command MUST be at the end of the macro, cause the stupid prog thinks that everything following is a text msg 4) the ability name MUST BE in full name, with spaces and ' if in the name of the original spell, else the prog wont find it 5) if you use / other than the very begining, erase all but first ------- To put some spice in yout msgs you can also use the below trigers: %M – Returns the character’s pet's name (when they have a pet) %T - Returns the current target. %S - Returns the subjective gender-specific pronoun for the target (He, She, It). %O - Returns the objective gender-specific pronoun for the target (Him, Her, It). %P - Returns the possessive gender-specific pronoun for the target (His, Her, Its). %R - Returns the race of the target (only works on Player characters - Sorry. %G - Returns the gender of the targe Also, for all of you pet owners the following commands i was told they work in macros (havent tested tho). /pet attack: pet will attack your current target /pet backoff: pet will cease attacking its target /pet stayhere: pet will stop following you and remain where it is /pet followme: pet will follow you /pet report: pet will announce his health in a percentage /pet guardme: pet will guard and follow you /pet guardhere: pet will guard its current location /pet who: pet will announce its master /pet getlost: pet will disappear -------