Hey guys,

I have just respeced to feral and am planning to be atleast off tanking in kara. I was wondering what marcos you use, and any tanking specific add ons (like for targeting) you use.

Thanks

I use a couple of macros for tanking...

1) One that lets me use the same button for FF (caster version) and FFF (cat or bear) regardless of form. Not a big deal. I don't have the code with me now.

2) And "/cast [target=mouseover] Lacerate". I have it mapped to a side button on my mouse. This let's me cast a lacerate or two on nearby mobs when I'm tanking more than one at a time (typically trash). All while I continue to do white damage, mauls, mangles and non-mouseover lacerates to my primary target via key bindings.

I use a unit frame addon (Pitbull) that has a separate frame for mouseover so I can easily see how many, if any, lacerates I have on the current mouseover'd mob. Once I have done a lacerate or two on the non-primary mob(s), I switch to using swipe to hold the non-primary target(s).

Besides threatmeters and pitbull I avoid most addons. I've read that some folks use Aloft which makes targeting via mouseover easier. But I haven't tried it yet. Instead I use the built-in "V" (or is it ctrl-V) function when tanking multiple mobs. It puts a health bar above their heads, which makes selecting them for mouseover a bit easier.

I use x per unit frames and Omen for threat but past that i don't use alot of addons also.

Useful Tank Macro:

"Insta-Heal"

/Cancelform
/use Master Healthstone
/use Super Health Potion
/cast Bear Form

Just a thought on the heal macro there. I would consider starting with a barkskin. Any reason that would be a disadvantage?

Just a thought on the heal macro there. I would consider starting with a barkskin. Any reason that would be a disadvantage?Does barkskin cause a global cooldown? If so, you'd be left in caster form.

Test have shown (I think in the EJ feral mega thread) that you are in caster form for less than 0.2s, so the chances of getting hit in caster form are small. It is possible. Someone had 9 mobs hitting them at one time and used the macro. Something like one out of 5 tries resulted in a hit. But with less than 5-6 mobs, a hit was never registered.

Yeah, Barkskin would use the GCD and leave you in Caster Form and you'd be hit a few times.

The macro I posted is "instant".

FWIW, I use this version...
#showtooltip
/cancelform [stance:1]
/use [nostance] Super Healing Potion
/use [nostance] Master Healthstone
/cast [nostance] Dire Bear Form
/stopmacro [nostance]
/cancelform [stance:3]
/use Super Healing Potion
/use Master Healthstone
/cast Cat FormIt works in both cat (Cat-->Pot-->Stone-->Cat) and bear (Bear-->Pot-->Stone-->Bear) form. If you start in caster form, you will switch to bear form after using the potion and/or stone.

You might (depending on how you cut-n-paste) have to remove (and then re-add) returns at the end of each line to make it fit. As this is very close to the macro 255 char limit.

Ah okay. I wondered if you would end up in caster form too long but wasn't sure about the GCD at work. Shucks. Thanks for the ideas.

#showtooltip
/cancelform [stance:1]
/use [nostance] Super Healing Potion
/use [nostance] Master Healthstone
/cast [nostance] Dire Bear Form
/stopmacro [nostance]
/cancelform [stance:3]
/use Super Healing Potion
/use Master Healthstone
/cast Cat Form


This is 2 macro's right?

Cause if you use the whole thing, won't it shift you to caster, use your healing stuff, shift you to Bear then shift out AGAIN and try to use the heals, therefore leaving you in Caster form for a second before switching you finally to Cat?

Or am I missing something...?

Nope. One macro.

If you are in cat form it will keep you in cat form after using the potion/stone. If you are in bear form, it will keep you in bear form after you use the potion/stone. If you are in caster form, it will use the potion/stone and shift you into bear form.

Basically, it is a single macro that allows you to use a potion/stone while in cat or bear form. The caster to bear function is more of a side-effect that I don't believe has all that much real-world use (PvP?).

The modifiers [the stuff in brackets] are the key to how the macro works. The first cancelform will only be executed if you are in bear form [stance:1]. The lines that contain [nostance] are called if you are in caster form. The line that contains [stance:3] is only called if you are in cat form.

Ignoring the comment line (#showtooltips), if you start in cat form, the first 5 lines of the macro are skipped. The 6th line /cancelform [stance:3] will cause you to shift out of cat form. The rest of the macro will make you use a potion/stone and shift you back into cat form.

If you start in bear form, the first line /cancelform [stance:1] will shift you into caster form, and the next 2 lines will make you use a potion/stone and the 4th line will shift you back into bear form. And the 5th line, /stopmacro [nostance] will abort the rest of the macro.

If you start in caster form, the first line is skipped, but the next 3 are not, so you end up in bear form. And the 5th line aborts the rest of the macro.

I belive the key is that the 5th line works because the server no longer acknowledges shifts. So, it still thinks you are in caster form. None of this could be done without the changes in 2.3.

It does work. I use it all the time. In both cat and bear forms.

Sweet, I'm replacing my macro with that one.

Thanks.

I use this macro when tanking. It's usually the first button I press when I'm picking up a mob.

/startattack
/cast Mangle(Bear)

This simple macro will mangle if you have the rage for it, and starts auto-attacking if you don't. This prevents mobs from running past you while you stand there like a tool, spamming the mangle button with 0 rage. :P
Use it instead of your normal Mangle(Bear) button.


-Annikk

I need to use that one. So, often after the first target is killed, I find myself looking at the next mob doing nothing but dodging hits. So, I usually end up starting melee combat with a lacerate (no cooldown, though the lack of rage could still be an issue).

I don't quite understand this behavior, as on my hunter you can switch targets while in combat and autoshot continues without issue. This does not appear to be true with melee combat.

There is a box you can check/uncheck in Interface Options, something like "stop autoattack on target change".

However I prefer to keep it off, as sometimes if I tab I might have tabbed onto a sheep. In which case I often dont want to hit it :> The macro is much better as you can be very deliberate about what you hit.


-Annikk

I use this macro when tanking. It's usually the first button I press when I'm picking up a mob.

/startattack
/cast Mangle(Bear)

This simple macro will mangle if you have the rage for it, and starts auto-attacking if you don't. This prevents mobs from running past you while you stand there like a tool, spamming the mangle button with 0 rage. :P
Use it instead of your normal Mangle(Bear) button.


-Annikk

This is a great macro but wouldn't for me in the post 2.3.3 world. I created the following macro that does the same thing. I also like to conserve macro slots so I incorporated cat form mangle as well.

#showtooltip [stance:1] mangle (bear)(); [stance:3] mangle (cat)()
/startattack
/cast [stance:1] mangle (bear)()
/cast [stance:3] mangle (cat)()

Just trying to add to some great threads that have helped me wrap my head around the class.

I like this one:

/script local gcd=GetSpellCooldown("Dire Bear Form"); if gcd==0 then CancelPlayerBuff("Dire Bear Form") end;
/stopmacro [stance:1]
/use Master Healthstone
/use item:32905 #bottled nethergon vapor
/use item:32784 #red ogre brew
/use item:28100 #volatile healing pot
/use item:22829 #super healing pot
/cast Dire Bear Form

(without the comments)

Basically, this will shift you and drink pots only if the GCD is down. If it is not, it does nothing at all. If it is, it'll drink whatever pots it can find in the above order and then instantly switch back. It does trigger a GCD.

You can do a similar thing for powershifting to cat, so that you can spam it without worrying abotu the GCD.

/cancelform [stance:1]
/use [nostance] Super Healing Potion
/use [nostance] Master Healthstone
/cast [nostance] Dire Bear Form
/stopmacro [nostance]



I am using this now for potion and stone use in Bear form.


However i want to add another line.

/use fel blossom (http://thottbot.com/i22795)

This item is on a 2 minute cooldown(same as a potion) , but does not cause global cooldown. Would be like another 750-1250 heal in the damage shield. However i have been unable to make it work. Granted i tried setting up the macro in the middle of a raid, so i may have mispelled something. Any help would be appreciated.


Edit: Nevermind, I just saw posts that said it shared a cooldown with healthstones, seems when i tried it last night that it didn't show a cooldown though.