Endgame huntering often requires repeated MDing to different tanks over the course of a single fight. Tanks trading hit for mitigation and ICC’s threat mechanics both push hunters into this role of MDing often and to changing targets. We should wonder about the ways we can make this job easier. What we want to avoid are methods of MDing that cost us any more dps than what is unavoidably lost by spending a global cooldown on MD. Misdirect techniques that require us to stop targeting the boss, search for a player or use several sequential keystrokes or clicks should not be used. The options provided below all allow a hunter to MD a desired tank without stopping autoshots or wasting time. Some methods, though, are better than others, as is discussed at the end of the post. This piece assumes a basic familiarity with macros, addons and standard MD techniques.
Hard Coding
In a hard coding MD macro you write the tank’s actual name into the macro before the fighting starts. To accommodate multiple tanks, you need either one macro per tank or a macro with conditions that distinguish different tanks:
/cast [@Jimmy] Misdirection
and
/cast [@Timmy] Misdirection
or
/cast [mod:shift, @Jimmy] Misdirection; [mod:ctrl, @Timmy] Misdirection
Note that you don’t need a modifier for both tanks in this last macro. Having a modifier only for the first one and having the second be the unmodified default target works fine too.
The advantage of this kind of setup is that your MDs always go to a tank and it needs no addons to work at its best. The disadvantages include a relatively lengthy setup time (typing in the names) and significant potential for user error (the more times you have to change a macro, the more opportunities there are for typos or forgetting updates).
Target of target
If you are always Misdirecting to your current target’s target (assumedly a tank), an @targettarget conditional can work well.
/cast [@targettarget] Misdirection
This way of targeting MDs is nice because it is simple, very low maintenance and generally effective. Consider, though, how little control it affords you over target selection. This macro will be of no help when you want to MD an add off a non-tank, or when you need emergency threat sent to a particular tank when the boss is targeting a someone else. I also worry about those seconds during a fight when bosses retarget for special abilities. I’ve been targeted by a ToT (not always a bad thing) by mistake before because the rogue was using an @targettarget macro and the boss was targeting me for some ability. This makes me question the reliability of this kind of conditional. While it’ll work fine most of the time, it does have the potential to screw things up badly by sending threat to an Omen-topping mage instead of the tank who needs it. This lack of reliability and control causes me to avoid this method of targeting.
Focus Switching
You can maintain the standard @focus MD macro if you are instead able to switch foci over the course of the fight. Yet, focus switching is accomplished in a lot of the same ways that you can switch MD targets: mouseovers, click casting, target+/focus+/targetlasttarget, etc. It therefore can seem like adding an unnecessary middle man. You change the focus and MD, rather than just MDing. Yet, this extra step has the same advantage it has always had in that it makes repeated MDs to the same target quick and easy. Once the focus is set on a tank, no more manual targeting for MDs is necessary so long as you still want to MD to that tank. If it is a fight like Festergut where tanks trade off only a few times, focus switching instead of manual-targeting all your MDs can save you a good chunk of concentration.
Mouseover
Mouseover macros allow you to cast on whatever unit your mouse cursor is currently hovering over. If you display tank unit frames (typically health bars of those identified as tanks in the raid window), this sort of macro can provide for both excellent flexibility and speedy reaction times.
/cast [@mouseover] Misdirection
Mouseovers really only work if you use keybinds. You cannot both click on a macro and be hovering over a unit frame at the same time. Also, if you mouseover to MD every cast, it means you have to find the correct tank frame before every cast. The great flexibility of mouseover macros has the cost of requiring more attention on the hunter’s part.
Click Casting
Some unit frames addons (like VuhDo) and addons designed to work with unit frames (like Clique) allow you to cast spells or abilities at a target merely by clicking on that target’s unit frame. Healers often use this method of play but even consumate facerollers like ret paladins find click casting useful for abilities like Hand of Salvation. It works for MD (and Master’s Call) too. I think it helps to assign a scroll click or a mod+click activation for MD click casting so that you don’t MD to someone when you merely want to target or inspect them. You can also have click cast MDs only apply to certain raid frames (like only the tank frames), making left or right clicking fine.
A critique of mouseover macros also applies here: you have to find the tank frame you want to MD to every time with click casting, which can be a substantial source of distraction if you have to MD a lot over the course of the fight.
Combinations
The alternatives above are the most elemental means that I could think of for easing MDs on changing targets. These techniques can, of course, be combined. You can click cast macros with some addons. You can also combine macros:
/cast [mod:shift, @mouseover] Misdirection; [@focus] Misdirection
The above macro sends a Misdirect to whomever you are mousing over if you hold down shift and to a default location (your focus) if you are not holding shift. This combines the flexibility of a mouseover macro with the dependability of having a default tank target.
Conclusions
Though all of the methods presented in this post will allow for MDing to different tanks in a single fight, some methods are better than others, at least judging by the following criteria: low maintenance, reliability, speed and control. When used with tank frames, mouseover macros and click casting meet these standards. Target of target macros and hard coding (as discussed in the post) do not.
Unfortunately, click casting and mouseovers move us away from the easy “set and forget” quality of single focus or target of target methods. There’s something to be said for not having to manually select an MD target every single cast. My recommendation for MDing to more than one target, then, is this: have more than one way to MD. I use click casting and a focus default. It lets me use a focus MD without thought on non-taunt fights like Marrowgar and gives me great flexibility for fights with tank cycling and threat mechanics like heroic Deathwhisper. I think that having both a flexible and a “set and forget” way to MD is helpful in the current endgame.
If you have any additional tips for making Misdirects on multiple tanks easier, please leave them in a comment below.
Long time no post! Thanks so much for this info; it’s great! I’ve always found it to be a giant pain to go between multiple MD targets. MD tank, search for other players to MD them, then back to tank, then to off-tank, etc.
Well said; I appreciate your discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods. Yet another post on hunter macros wouldn’t have been nearly as useful or insightful.
I use healbot for this. Just set the spell to my right click and mark the tanks in the interface, so easy.
But of course one must always be aware of who is taking what, so you don’t say, misdirect the thing the MT is tanking to the OT.
I also have a unit frame ui(nUI+) that allows me to easily find and click on my tank but since misdirecting after a taunt switch isn’t usually an issue I am able to use this particular macro at least 95% of the time I’m playing. This is just something I wrote up for a hunter guide on my guild’s site:
#showtooltip
/cast [target=focus, help] Misdirection
/cast [target=focustarget, help] Misdirection
/cast [target=target, help] Misdirection
/cast [target=targettarget, help] Misdirection
/cast [target=pet, nodead, exists] Misdirection
I like this macro because of its extensive use of If-Then scenarios. Basically it goes down the list trying to decide who to cast misdirect onto until it finds a valid target:
1. If you have a friendly target focused it will cast misdirect on them.
2. If you have an enemy target focused it will cast it on whoever it has targeted.
3. If you have a friendly targeted it will cast it on them.
4. If you have an enemy targeted it will cast it on whoever it is targeting.
5. If the only active member of your group is a pet then it will cast it on your pet.
Essentially how I use it is I either select my tank and then activate the macro which fires off at step 3 or I select the enemy and wait for the tank to pull before I use the macro which fires it off at step 4 and misdirects the tank since he pulled. But when you are using macros you must be very careful otherwise you could put misdirect onto the wrong party member. Example: the spiders that are amongst the trash in ICC’s first wing will web up random party members regardless of aggro. This means if you cast this macro on the spider while he is webbing someone then it will cast misdirect onto whoever it it was webbing. Thus you should be very careful with something like this.
@ Stoutbeard
Yes, I agree. It can help to display not just tank frames but also their companion target frames for just that reason.
@ Camdin
The @focustarget condition seems like it could run into the same problems as @targettarget.
I use 2 maros. The first is a combination mouseover, targettarget, focus macro like this.
/cast [mod:shift, @targettarget] Misdirection; [mod:ctrl, @ mouseover] Misdirection; [@focus] Misdirection
I set my focus to the main tank, then I have a hard coded macro for the off tanks
/cast [mod:shift, @Jimmy] Misdirection; [mod:ctrl, @Timmy] Misdirection
This give me the flexibility to quickly MD to any of the 3 tanks directly, plus for fights where the tanks switch a lot a simple way to MD to the current tank. I probably use the mouse over least
I use Grid + Clique. Just mouseover the person I want to MD and hit my 5th mouse button.
@eidotrope
You are correct that @focustarget and @targettarget both have the same POTENTIAL problems in them. However if you are paying any attention to what abilities the mob you are fighting has and when they are using them, then it shouldn’t be a problem, things like the spiders in the first wing of ICC have a dead giveaway when they’re webbing someone for instance. The only other issue would be if another dps managed to pull aggro just before you popped it but then that would be their own fault for pulling aggro in the first place. As we all know it is the basic job of all dps to NOT pull aggro from the tanks.(sorry for the caps, I would have preferred just an underline to emphasize my point ^_^)
All-in-all there is room for caution when using a macro like this but so long as you stay aware and understand what kinds of problems it is capable of causing then its pretty easy to prevent them. I have been using this macro since they changed Misdirect to the 4 seconds of aggro instead of 3(or was it 4) shots and I haven’t had any issues since I was first getting used to it.
As you say, @targettarget and @focustarget methods require the player to check who the enemy is targeting before every cast in order to work without error. These approaches seem to me to be as complicated if not more complicated in terms of player attention than merely moving a mouse to a desired tank frame. At the same time, they are less flexible owing to having set targeting pathways. Lastly, they are categorically more prone to significant error in that they retain the possibility to target dps/heals, while tank frame targeting methods by definition do not.
Put another way, click casting and mouseovers on tank frames are bounded in their possible targets but unrestricted in which of that finite set of targets they can select. Targettarget methods are the opposite: they are limited in how they select targets but those targets can be, at varying chances, anyone in the raid.
Ultimately, both methods are better than nothing and preference boils down to which small (but not all equally small) risk you like better. I prefer risking clicking on the wrong tank frame to risking MDing to a clothy.
I use a mix. If I am raiding with my guild, I use hard-coded macros with the tank’s names. If I am pugging, I have Tauntmaster configured for left click MD. I have missed one yet!
No matter how we do it, we are always subjects of circumstances.
Personally i rather take the time before a raid to set the macro up with names; one for each tank. That way i am always 100% i sent the mob/boss to the correct player.
/r **Sending %t to **
/cast misdirection
/targetlasttarget
Just to clarify, %t inserts the target’s name into the text output. Here Ixh uses it to name an already selected target, announcing it to the raid.
Hard coding works for me.
/target tankname
/cast Misdirection
F1 = MT, F2 = OT. Simple, quick, intuitive. Breaks attacks (no targetlasttarget) so I dont accidentally begin MD’ing. Can switch between MD’ing MT and OT easily. Don’t have to use the mouse for anything.
I agree, hard coding is very nice after the setup. I gave up on it in my early days of huntering because every raid I was in, even guild raids, had different tanks and all the macro updates got annoying. I imagine that if you run with the same tanks all the time that setup times, typos and forgotten updates almost disappear.
I personally use a focus macro to set my target first, looking roughly like this:
/focus [@mouseover][]
Basically it focuses my mouseover and if i dont have one it focuses my target. If i have neither it just clears the focus.
For 5 mans for example i just target the tank at the start, set focus and i dont have to touch it again.
In raids where you swap between tanks, I can mouseover the other tank and change the focus in case of variable enemies (dreamwalker), or just focus the boss in case of tank swaps (saurfang / festergut)
The reason i don’t just make a mouseover misdirect is that, especially in a raid or a chaotic fight (think dreamwalker where you’re running around a lot) the chance of a miss target is quite big. Miss target focus is annoying but doesn’t hurt.
Anyway with focus set i simply use a:
#showtooltip Misdirect
/cast [target=focus, help] Misdirection
/cast [target=focustarget, help] Misdirection
/cast [target=pet, nodead, exists] Misdirection
Nearly the same as Camdin’s; only i prefer to not include the target ones. It might be convenient, but I just found it annoying when i wanted to MD the pet, and i prefer to keep MD control with focus.
What I do is set the Main Tank to my Focus, and my Misdirect macro (MDs to tank, pet if no Focus is selected) is keybound. I also pull out an individual raid frame for each tank and put them alongside the MT frame and use a Clique command for MD (Shift-right click) so I just click on the frames when I need to MD to a non-MT.
I used to just set focus and then cast as needed, but it wasn’t great for switching. Have recently switched to using Vuhdo , so that I can clock to set focus and cast misdirect together, much quicker).
I still have the normal misdirect spell on my actionbar so that I can throw in another misdirect to the currently set focus in case I start creeping up the table again.
Uxul
pretty easy way to do it here
I have 3 macros , one for each of our guilds tanks
/tar Tankname
/use Misdirect
/targetlasttarget
i do not have to switch targets and I can get my MD off to whoever needs it on whichever mob I need.