Autocast bugs and other animal in wotlk

PetAggroandTanking

InPetTankingnews,Ihavegoodnewsandbadnews:ThegoodnewsisthataTenacityPetcandosomeprettyserioustanking.Thebadnewsisthattheaggroofsomefamiliesisstillverydicey,andyou'llhavetoworkextrahardtokeepfrompullingaggrooffofthem.Whetherthischangesat80,Ican'tsayforsure,butfornow,givenanormalgrowlanddamagerotation,IfindmyselfhavingtothrottlemyDPStomakesuremypetBoarcankeeptheattentionofthestuffwe'refighting.

Ofcourse,itis,onceagain,possibletouseafewhandymacrosandabitofplanningtogetaroundthat.Misdirection'scooldownisupprettyswiftlynowadays,whichgivesyouagoodexcusetouseit.CreatingaspecializedMisdirectionMacrofocusonyourpetcandowondersforlettingyourpetkeepthemonster'sattention.Here'sanexample:

/target(yourpet'sname)
/castMisdirection
/targetlasttarget

Thiswillquicklytargetyourpet,giveitMisdirection,thenswitchbacktoyouroriginaltargetsoyoucanstartunloadingthethreatimmediately.Ofcourse,youcanstreamlinetheprocessquiteabitmore.Here'samoreinvolvedmacrofromWoWWiki:
#showtooltipMisdirection
/cast[target=focus,help][help][target=pet,exists,nodead]Misdirection

Ifyouhaveafocusedtarget,thismacrowillautomaticallycastonyourfocus.Ifyoudon't,itwillcastonyourpet.Ifyoudon'tuseyourfocusforkeepingtrackofenemies,settingyourfocusonthetankcanbehelpfulinkeepingMisdirectionflowingintherightdirection.

Inthegoodnewssection,there'sstillawholelotoftankinggoingon.IfyougrabaTenacitypetwithafamilyabilitymoresuitedforgainingaggro,suchasaGorillaoraWorm,and/orifyoukeepMisdirectiongoing,youcantankstuffprettywell.MyBoarhaspersonallytankedtheHeadlessHorseman6timesinarowwhilebackbyaHolyPaladin,andsolo,I'vemanagedtosololevel66-68eliteswithabitofmendpet.JustunloadwiththeIntimidationandBestialWrathupfrontandkeepthatMisdirectiongoing,andyourpetshouldbeabletograbalargeenoughchunkofaggrothatyoucanstaycomfortablybehindher.

MyPethasSkills

AsImentionedearlier,thereisonemoreproblemthat3.0.2hasboughttotheworldofHunterpets:theoverflowofskills.Justwithasimpleferocitybuildat70,youmighthaveskillslikeCalloftheWildandHeartofthePhoenixthatyou'dliketobeabletotriggeratwill.Unfortunately,bythetimeyoufitGrowl,Cower,Bite,Claw,orSlap,andyourpet'sfamilyskillonthepetbar,youhavenoroom.

Luckily,thereisasolution,ifyouhavesomeextraroomforanothermacro.Thenyoucanjustwriteasimpletwo-linemacro:

#showtooltip
/castCalloftheWild

Voila.Younowhaveaccesstotheskillevenifyoudon'thaveroomforitonthepetbar.Youcandothiswithanyotherpetskillaswell,ofcourse.

OtherRandomObservations

AlwaysremembertoswitchoutofAspectoftheViper.GainingmanaisnowamuchmoreinvolvedprocesssinceAspectoftheViperlowersyourDPS.Ofcourse,ifyouneedartificiallythrottleyourDPSabit,suchasifyou'reovertakingyourpetonthreat,itgivesyouagoodexcusetoswitchoutofViper.JustmakesureyouswitchbackintoHawkbeforetheboss.Pettankingisstillnotquiteimba,exceptmaybeforGorillas.Level70eliteswilldefinitelystillbruiseyourpetsomethingfierce,evenifyouarechaincastingMendPet.ButwithskillslikeBloodoftheRhino,agoodhealershouldbeabletokeepaTenacitypetupagainstyourbasicelite.Disengagingyourselfoffthesideofacliffisactuallyprettyhilariousinhindsight,butnotsomethingyouwanttomakeahabitof,probably.

AvoidingtheAutocastBugout

SothisisaproblemIknowsomeofyouhavetoldmeyou'vebeenhaving:Youthinkyouhaveaskillonautocast,say,HeartofthePhoenix,anditdoesn'ttriggerwhenitshould.Or,youtakeaskilloffautocast,andittriggersanyway,andwhenyoucheck,it'sbackonautocast.

Thisisabugthatseemstopopupprettyfrequentlyeversincethetalentchange,ontheBeta,onPTRs,andnowliveservers.No-one'squitehammereddownhowthebughappensthatI'vebeenabletofindout.Itmayhappenwhenyoulogout,whenyouenteradungeon,orevenwhenyourpetautomaticallyattacksamonster.Luckily,there'safewwaystodealwiththis.

Thefirstistoputtheabilityonyourmaincastbar.Theabilitiesinthose4slotsgenerallykeepthestatetheirinandwillautocast(ornotautocast)properly.Ofcourse,theproblemwiththisisthatwiththenewpettalentsandfamilyskills,chancesareyouhavemorethan4abilitiestokeeptrackof,whichbringsustoournextoption.

Thenextoptionistouse/petautocastoffand/petautocastoninmacrostomakesureyourabilitiesareworkingright.Youcanjustcreateastraightupmacrothatyoucanpressperiodicallytoresetyourpreferredcastandautocastabilities,oryoucanweavethemintoanotherusefulmacro.Here'saverysimpleexample:

/castHunter'sMark
/petattack
/petautocastoffCower

Thisisasimpleattackmacrothatmarksyourtarget,sendsyourpetintoattack,andmakessurethatCowerisoffautoattack.Thisisveryusefulwhensoloingforsure.Ofcourse,evenwiththesetwooptions,thisisstillaveryannoyinglittlebug,andhopefullyBlizzardwillsquashitsoon.

Tags:WoWWiki