Have trouble remembering when it’s time to restock on reagents? The following quick and easy changes to them will make your current reagent count display in place of the buff icon!

Rebirth:

#showtooltip Flintweed Seed
/cast [combat] Rebirth; [nocombat] Rebirth (Rank 1)
/rsay This combat resurrection is brought to %t by www.resto4life.com and the letters A, G, R, and O.

The above macro selects the rank of Rebirth to cast based on whether you’re in combat or not (as previously mentioned in Downranking Rebirth to save money). Additionally, the #showtooltip line specifies that it should display the Flintweed Seed tooltip, along with the number you presently have in your inventory. The let’s you monitor at a glance how many times you can cast the spell before needing to Refill. And yes, my guild does get to see my blog address every time I combat rez. Although maybe I should change that link to my article on Handling Threat…

Mark of the Wild and Thorns:

#showtooltip Wild Quillvine
/castsequence [target=mouseover,modifier:ctrl] Gift of the Wild;[nostance] reset=target Mark of the Wild, Thorns

This is a nifty macro I developed to help me quickly buff my teammates in Arenas. In an Arena match, you want to throw as many buffs as you can on teammates before the match starts which means both Mark of the Wild and Thorns. Back when I was playing in 5v5, casting ten buffs, topping members off with a Lifebloom, and getting into Cat Form and stealthed was cutting it close in the minute before a match started. This button casts Mark first then follows with Thorns the second time it’s pressed as long as your target hasn’t changed. As an added benefit, you can use this to quickly buff your group tank in PvE by clicking it twice instead of once. Hold down the CTRL key to cast our group spell, Gift of the Wild. Like the Rebirth macro above, this macro includes a #showtooltip to indicate how many Quillvine you have remaining.

Related Posts

• Downranking Rebirth to Save Money
• Useful User-Submitted Macros
• Heal Self by Default

Belkin International, Inc. recently announced plans to release an updated version of the product that mostly put them on the map: the acclaimed Nostromo n52 Speedpad. With more responsive controls, a revised design for the analog gamepad, on-board memory for multiple changeable profiles, and delicious blue backlighting, the new n52te (Tournament Edition) is on the top of my shopping list for November. At $70 and with two gamers, we may be doing an early Christmas!

• Official Web Site for the n52te
• Official Press Release from Belkin
• Why I recommend the n52 Speedpad

Related Posts

• The Belkin Nostromo N52 TE
• Hibernating via Focus Target
• /cancelform to Work like /dismount in Patch 2.3

While Terestian Illhoof is considered an “optional” boss within Karazhan (tucked away behind a “Suspicious Bookcase” on the way to Aran), tell that to any Feral in your guild and you’re likely to get your butt Shredded. You see, Illhoof drops Terestian’s Stranglestaff, the best meow-meow staff available until … well … for a long time. I won’t go into the details of the entire encounter here, as there are several superior guides available (Karthis from Teeth and Claws recently released one from the standpoint of a Feral Druid), but he presents the perfect opportunity for adding a new skill to your retinue: preemptive healing via Focus Target.

One of Illhoof’s key abilities — especially from the viewpoint of a Healer — is Sacrifice. Every so often, he will wrap a random target (other than the main tank) in “Demon Chains,” an effect which causes 1,500 damage per second until the chains are “broken” by enough damage (they have around 13,000 health). 1,500 damage/sec can be a lot to keep up with, even for multiple healers, especially if people are slow to react and switch their heal target. Which is where the Focus and Focus Target frames come in.

You may be familiar with the concept of “Focus” but, just in case, a Focus is a “stored” target that you can easily return to at any time and — with the right unitframes addon — can monitor the status of despite otherwise switching targets. Although there are several addons that will allow you to display Focus and Focus’s Target windows, I use and recommend Pitbull. (For information on setting up Pitbull, visit this thread over at WoWAce.com.)

Once you have a unitframes addon set up to display Focus and Focus’s Target windows, you should set Illhoof as your Focus using the command /focus (you can also bind a command to set focus through the Keybindings options).
Throughout the fight, keep your eye on the Focus’s Target window. When you see it change to someone other than your tank, the person targetted is likely about to become the victim of Sacrifice. Noticing this as soon as it happens can generally buy you 1-1.5 seconds to begin casting a fast casting Heal (I recommend either Regrowth or Rejuvenation in anticipation of Swiftmend). And if you happen to be the only healer in your raid using this technique, you can call out the Sacrifice target over voice chat sooner — and more audibly — than any Boss Mod addon can announce (just make sure your raid knows you’ll be doing so beforehand).

While I’ve used the Terestian Illhoof fight to demonstrate this technique, it can be helpful for several encounters where the boss changes targets frequently. Most immediately, it can be applied to the Shade of Aran fight, where he randomly switches targets to cast Arcane Missiles, Frostbolt, and Fireball. Combining Focus Target with mouseover healing can give his selected victim precious seconds while other, less observant healers catch up.

Related Posts

• Debuffing Your Focus Target
• Hibernating via Focus Target
• Leveraging Insect Swarm as a Healer

Druids who shapechange are likely familiar with a host of problems which often plague us when attempting to do so. I know that I have often mashed my “turn into a bear and equip my armor staff” macro fruitlessly while being pummelled by a Rogue or Warrior. Good news is coming in Patch 2.3, however, as the “/cancelform” command will be changed to be as responsive as “/dismount.”

I didn’t read through the entire thread so this has probably been suggested, but any chance on getting /cancelform to be recognized instantly like /dismount is currently?

Yes, this is coming in 2.3

This means that one fewer button press will be required for any macro that shifts you out of form since the response should be instantaneous. Some of the more practical implications for this change include:

• Potion from Bear Form with a single click of the mouse.
• Shift instantly from Travel Form to Bear Form and vice versa.
• Nature’s Swiftness + max rank Healing Touch from Tree of Life.

Related Posts

• Useful User-Submitted Macros
• Patch 2.3 Cometh
• Hibernating via Focus Target

Welcome back!
That’ll be 50 silver.
Porlin of Terenas asks an interesting question on the official forums today, wanting to know how to write a macro that will subjectively choose a Rebirth rank based upon whether or not the caster is in combat. The highest rank of Rebirth requires a 50 silver Flintweed Seed, making it the most expensive reagent-driven spell in the game. Rank 1 of the same spell only requires a Maple Seed, costing around 7 silver 2 silver. If you have an inventory slot to spare (and sometimes make use of your combat resurrection spell out of combat), this technique could add up to a signficant savings over time:

/cast [nocombat] Rebirth(Rank 1); Rebirth;

Related Posts

• Macros for Reagent-Driven Spells
• Price Gouging by Reagent Merchants
• Rebirth Bugged (or Nerfed)