2011-08-03, 02:47 PM
My guide to focus macros
Spoiler
***What is focus and why is it useful?*** - Focus, in shortest terms, is a second target. It allows a player to watch two targets at the same time. Not only does it allow you to watch two targets, it allows you to use spells on multiple targets without actually targeting them. As you progress in arenas, or even exceptional players using it in PvE, focus becomes very important and makes tasks much easier.
***How to use focus ***- The way to do it without a macro is to right click someone's portrait and select "Set Focus" from the drop down menu. This is very inefficient so the first thing you want to do is set up a way to make your focus target without using the drop down menu. I use this macro and bind it to the "~" key next to 1.
/clearfocus
/Focus [target=mouseover, exists]
This macro sets whatever target you have moused over as your focus when you hit that button. If you use that button without a mouseover it will clear your focus. This is great for battlegrounds when you aren't able to use an arenafocus macro.
***Using focus and focus CC in arenas ***- The biggest benefit of a focus target isn't watching a second target, it's being able to use spells on your focus without changing your current target. The easiest way to do this and make good muscle memory habits is to make your spell, and the focus macro for that spell, on the same button.
For example, my gouge is bound to 4, and my focus gouge is bound to shift + 4. Binding gouge to 4 and focus gouge to shift + 1 just wouldn't make any sense.
There are a few ways to set up a focus. Continuing to use Gouge as my example, I could bind gouge to 4 and then make a separate keybind for shift + 4 and put my focus gouge macro there. This uses up 2 keybind slots but can sometimes be useful when you have a complicated macro already. For gouge, I also have
/cast Premeditation
/cast [stance:1/3] Ambush; Gouge
bound into it as well to help reduce bar switch lag when I use shadow dance. So I use a separate keybind for focus gouge because sometimes it bugs out if I have my focus gouge added into it.
Another way to use focus is to add a shift modifier into the macro. The macro would look like this
/cast [mod
hift, target=focus] Blind; Blind
The problem with using this macro is that you can not forget to unbind that key if it has a bind already!!! . For example, shift + V is for toggling character nameplates. If I bound shiv to V and used a focus macro for shiv, shift + V would not use focus shiv, but would instead toggle my character nameplates. You must unbind shift + v if you put a shift modifier focus on v.
***Using Focus in Arenas*** - This is probably the most useful place in the game to use a focus macro. A lot of people will use Gladius to set a focus by right clicking a target on Gladius. I prefer to use macros and keybinds. On my rogue, shift + mouse scroll up sets the first enemy player in the arena match to focus, shift + mouse scroll down sets the 2nd player, and middle click sets the third. The macros I use look like this
/focus [@arena1]
/focus [@arena2]
/focus [@arena3]
Binding these to keys allow you to switch focus quickly and use your CC much more effectively on different targets.
***What is focus and why is it useful?*** - Focus, in shortest terms, is a second target. It allows a player to watch two targets at the same time. Not only does it allow you to watch two targets, it allows you to use spells on multiple targets without actually targeting them. As you progress in arenas, or even exceptional players using it in PvE, focus becomes very important and makes tasks much easier.
***How to use focus ***- The way to do it without a macro is to right click someone's portrait and select "Set Focus" from the drop down menu. This is very inefficient so the first thing you want to do is set up a way to make your focus target without using the drop down menu. I use this macro and bind it to the "~" key next to 1.
/clearfocus
/Focus [target=mouseover, exists]
This macro sets whatever target you have moused over as your focus when you hit that button. If you use that button without a mouseover it will clear your focus. This is great for battlegrounds when you aren't able to use an arenafocus macro.
***Using focus and focus CC in arenas ***- The biggest benefit of a focus target isn't watching a second target, it's being able to use spells on your focus without changing your current target. The easiest way to do this and make good muscle memory habits is to make your spell, and the focus macro for that spell, on the same button.
For example, my gouge is bound to 4, and my focus gouge is bound to shift + 4. Binding gouge to 4 and focus gouge to shift + 1 just wouldn't make any sense.
There are a few ways to set up a focus. Continuing to use Gouge as my example, I could bind gouge to 4 and then make a separate keybind for shift + 4 and put my focus gouge macro there. This uses up 2 keybind slots but can sometimes be useful when you have a complicated macro already. For gouge, I also have
/cast Premeditation
/cast [stance:1/3] Ambush; Gouge
bound into it as well to help reduce bar switch lag when I use shadow dance. So I use a separate keybind for focus gouge because sometimes it bugs out if I have my focus gouge added into it.
Another way to use focus is to add a shift modifier into the macro. The macro would look like this
/cast [mod
hift, target=focus] Blind; Blind The problem with using this macro is that you can not forget to unbind that key if it has a bind already!!! . For example, shift + V is for toggling character nameplates. If I bound shiv to V and used a focus macro for shiv, shift + V would not use focus shiv, but would instead toggle my character nameplates. You must unbind shift + v if you put a shift modifier focus on v.
***Using Focus in Arenas*** - This is probably the most useful place in the game to use a focus macro. A lot of people will use Gladius to set a focus by right clicking a target on Gladius. I prefer to use macros and keybinds. On my rogue, shift + mouse scroll up sets the first enemy player in the arena match to focus, shift + mouse scroll down sets the 2nd player, and middle click sets the third. The macros I use look like this
/focus [@arena1]
/focus [@arena2]
/focus [@arena3]
Binding these to keys allow you to switch focus quickly and use your CC much more effectively on different targets.