Being able to quickly throw a blind or kick onto the enemy you don’t have targeted is a trick that needs to be mastered. It’s possible to manually switch targets through either tabbing or clicking, but when you’re trying to interrupt a fast spell, this can take too long (or even mess up completely).
The best way of doing this is with focus macros. Firstly you need to focus the enemy that you plan on controlling. The most basic way of doing so is by binding a key to the ‘Focus Target’ ability in your WoW keybindings page. While this works fine, it can waste time (especially if the target you want to focus starts the game in stealth). If you need to change your focused target during the fight, you will have to go through the process of targeting/focusing the correct enemy.
A much smoother way of doing this is by using the arena1 arena2 arena3 notation. If you create a macro containing “/focus arena2″, when you press it your focus will automatically change to the second enemy target (use either Gladius or the ingame arena frames to see the order of your opposition).
Once you have sorted out a way of marking a target to be focused, you need to change your spell macros to take advantage of this. The syntax for casting on your focused target is;
/cast [target=focus] SPELLNAME
You may want to create focus macros for the following abilities – sap, blind, kick, dismantle, maybe even gouge if you have the space.
So, that’s another four buttons you need to bind to keys, several more if you include the /focus arena1 etc buttons. The least confusing way of binding these macros to keys is to bind them onto the same key as the non-focused versions, but using a modifier key. If your kick ability is set to ‘4′, then bind your focus-kick macro to shift+4 (you could use alt/ctrl instead, but shift is easier to hit with your little finger).
If you want to save space on your action bars, you can combine both the non-focus and focused spells into the same macro. Going back to the idea of using ‘4′ for kick, swap your kick spell for the following macro;
#showtooltip kick
/cast [mod:shift,target=focus] kick; kick;
“Mod:shift” refers to using the shift key as a modifier – replace ’shift’ with ctrl or alt where needed (or even rctrl/rshift/ralt for the version of the keys on the right-hand side of your keyboard).
I use shift+F1 for /focus arena1, shift+F2 for arena2 and shift+F3 for arena3. Not only does this let you continue to use the F-keys to select members of your own group, but it also lets you swap to a new focus then quickly blind them, without having to take your finger off the shift key.
You may want to experiment with using focuses in battlegrounds first. While focus techniques do offer a large advantage over manually targeting players, they do take a while to get used to. However, don’t let this put you off – it’s an invaluable tactic that will really make things easier for you. As well as being able to quickly interrupt/blind targets, you’ll also be able to see your targets cast bar, giving you a better idea of what’s going on around you.
I spoke to a rogue a while back who was using focus to let him ‘easily’ put Tricks of the Trade onto whoever he was doing arenas with. No no no no, please don’t! Create a macro targeting your partner through their name – such as “/cast [target=Lylla] tricks of the trade” – and use your focus for greater control of the opposition.
Nice post.
I’ve taken the F[1-12] ages ago for trinkets etc, so I don’t use that as targeting anymore.
Left click Gladius to target
Right click Gladius to focus target
You can even use it to mod-key-click on Gladius to cast blind etc which is what I do sometimes as well.
But I understand this post was more on focusing which you have pretty much covered all on.
It’s now possible to use ‘@’ instead of ‘target=’ and you can substitute ‘cast’ with ‘use’. This shortens your macros a bit and you might be able to squeeze another condition into it (if you need of course).
‘/cast [target=focus] SPELL’ -> ‘/use [@focus] SPELL’
Btw: awesome page layout!
Thanks, didn’t know about the new @ format, looks useful
This is a bit random but…. any ideas on how to break habits when it comes to keybindings? I’ve had to move dismantle to ‘F’, but I still keep pressing ‘Q’. Luckily ‘Q’ is still bound to dismantle for the time being but I really need to start using ‘F’ instead. I swapped the Q spell for a macro that does “/p stop pressing the wrong dismantle key!; /cast dismantle” but after a night of arenas I think it might now be annoying my partners
Hehe sounds familiar.^^
Hmm, I would take out the “/cast dismanlte” because that way ‘Q’ is still working as intended well with a spammy text.
Another thing you could try is placing something important there like the insignia. That way you would actually punish yourself for pressing the wrong button with a wasted cd.
I wouldn’t recomend that in arenas but for training in BGs it might work.
Well the downside could be that you would get used to the insignia on ‘Q’. ^^
Btw: Where is the fourth (probably fifth when this is posted) comment?
Errr I have no idea lol, looks like something’s a bit buggy there :/ I’ll have a look at the code and see what’s messing up. Yeah good idea, I’ll take out the /cast dismantle, and make it whisper me instead
Thanks alot for the post, I have not pvp’d in ages and just geared out my daggers so I figured it’s a good time to start. Any ideas on other sites and such? I already see this will be a key site to becoming a 2k+ rogue again.
Any advice will help, thank you