Spammable Arcane Missiles

Spammable Arcane Missiles This macro prevents you from interrupting an Arcane Missiles cast by recasting too early.
/cast [nochanneling:Arcane Missiles] Arcane Missiles

Your First Macro

Your First Macro

First, select "New" to create a new macro. Another window will pop up with a field for the macro's name at the top. The name of the macro should be as short and descriptive as possible because its name will be displayed on the icon itself. The macro's name will be visually truncated on the icon if it's too long. Thus, abbreviations and acronyms are good candidates for a macro name. It's actually possible to display no name if you enter a blank space as the macro's name. For the purposes of this example, let's use "Greet."



Below the name field is a scrollable grid of available icons for the macro. Here are some general guidelines for picking an appropriate icon:

• The question mark icon found in the upper left slot automatically assigns an icon that corresponds to the first ability or spell in the macro. We'll go into more detail on this later. In general, this is a good default icon to pick, especially if you don't feel like poring over the huge list. You may find yourself creating a macro on the fly to adapt to whatever situation you're in, and so time may be of the essence!




• Pick an icon that is distinctive so that you will quickly identify and process what it does. An icon that reminds you of the macro's purpose helps for easy identification in the heat of combat. Even abstract connections can serve this purpose. For instance, if you're looking for an icon for the popular "Assist" macro, you could select an icon of a sword, a shield, or a humanoid figure - whatever helps you remember.




• If you pick an icon that matches another spell in your arsenal, the resulting overlap could lead to confusion. However, the macro will display its name in its icon so that you can still distinguish between your regular Pyroblast and your trinket/Arcane Power/Pyroblast macro.

For now, pick the question mark icon. Note that the question mark icon may appear to be highlighted already. Nevertheless, you must actually click the icon to enable it as your choice. Now you should see the macro in the top left slot in the window. The currently selected macro is highlighted, and its text is displayed in the command window below. This macro does nothing at the moment: its command window is empty. Without any text, the macro is just an empty shell waiting for instructions. Let's enter some text and give this macro a purpose! Click anywhere in the "Enter Macro Commands" window.



Enter these commands on two separate lines:



/greet

/say Hello all!



After you're done typing these commands, you don't have to confirm or manually save: the macro is updated in real time. The next time you return to the Create Macros menu, the window will be as you left it, with the last selected macro and its text displayed.



Drag the icon down to an empty slot in your action bar. You should see the icon with its "Greet" name displayed. Again, this name would have been truncated if it had been too long to fit in the icon. The icon should remain a question mark, since there are no spells or abilities in the macro. That's just fine for now.



Now for the moment of truth: click the macro! You should see your character give a cheerful greeting to everyone in the area, or to the specific person you have targeted, both verbally and non-verbally. Woot!

Creating a Macro

Creating a Macro

• Type /macro, /m, or click on the Macros button in the Main Chat Menu. A box will appear with your current macros. You should have no macros to start.
  
• Click on "New" at the bottom of that box. Another box will pop up, with a place to enter the
  macro name and a choice of an icon for the macro.
  
• You can select the tabs at the top to pick whether your macro will be a general macro for all of
  your characters or a macro just for your specific character.
  
• Name your macro. Select a name that will make sense to you when you see it again. For example, "Assist".
  
• Select an icon. Let's pick a sword.
  
• Select "Okay" - You should now see the icon you selected (sword) along with your icon name in your current macros box (assist).
  
• Now Left-Click on the assist icon to highlight it. There is a button there to change the name or icon for your macro if you later decide to rename it or select a different icon.
  
• Once your assist icon is highlighted, move your mouse pointer into the "Enter Macro Commands" box. This is where
  you can type what you want the button to do when you press it. You will need to add a "/" in front of the
  command, if it is a slash command, just as you would enter in your text entry box.
  
• Type "/Assist Nebu".
  
• Move your mouse pointer back over the sword icon (assist) and left-click and hold down the button over the icon.
  
• Now, drag the icon over to an empty slot on your action bar.
  
• To use your new macro icon, press the number associated with that action button, or right-click on the button itself.
  
• You now have a macro button that will assist another player (Nebu) in their attack.
  
  When Nebu attacks a player or monster, press your Assist macro button and
  you will automatically select the same target Nebu is attacking.
  

Finishing Macros

When you are done editing or creating macros, click the "x" in the top right-hand side of the box to close the macro window.

Editing Existing Macros

Type /macro then left-click on the macro button you wish to change. You can now make changes in the "Enter Macro Commands" box. Click the "x" to close the macro box when you are done.

Macro Limit

There is a character limit for each macro you create. If your message is too long, make it shorter!

Macro Suggestions

Use any slash commands

Here are other possible uses for macros:

repeat text you don't want to type again

repeat text for online auctions

make a funny saying

perform a list of commands such as:

/leave 1
/leave 2 (to leave channels 1 and 2)

/join wowtraders (joins channel wowtraders)

/g Hello everyone! (says hello to your guild chat channel)

Random Information

• You can use "%t" in your macro text to insert the targeted monster, creature, player that you
  wish to be inserted in your sentence. For example, "/say Hi %t" will say "Hi Nebu" if you have the player Nebu selected.
  
  
• /cast allows you to cast spells by name. Type /cast (spell subtext) - Example: "/cast Fireball(Rank 1)". To add spell casting to a macro you can
  type it manually, or shift-click a spell in your spell book to add the proper /cast line to the macro.
  
  
• Commands added in patch 2.3.0: /targetlastenemy, /targetlastfriend
  
• Patch 2.3.0: New macro command to target by entire name: /targetexact
  
  

The Macro Window

Now that we've established what a macro is, let's take a look at how to create one. That's the most straightforward way to illustrate some of the macro's basic attributes.

Macros have their own submenu in the Options window. Hit Escape or click the computer icon on the far right of your bottom main menu bar, and then click on the Macros button. The Create Macros window should appear. You can also type "/macro" or simply "/m" to bring up this window.

The window has two tabs, one for general macros and one for character-specific ones. You can have up to 18 general macros that can be accessed by any of your characters, whereas the 18 character-specific macros can only be used by one specific character. The character-specific macro slots are therefore best used for class- or race-specific ability macros. Macro slots can be overwritten at any time, so feel free to experiment with various macros. All macros are stored on your computer: keep this in mind if you play your account on multiple computers.

Under the slots is a window that displays the text of your current macro. A single macro can have up to 255 characters (including spaces) in its text field. A "Change Name/Icon" button is normally under this window, displayed next to the macro's icon. However, if you're creating your first macro, there isn't a "Change Name/Icon" button at the moment because there aren't any macros saved. Let's change that!

Making a macro

First, open up the macro window. You can do this either by opening the main menu and selecting Macros, or by typing /macro (/m) in the chat box. At the top of the window, you'll see two tabs: General Macros and Yourname Specific Macros. General macros are stored on an account-by-account basis and are shared by all your characters. Character specific macros are, well, I think you can figure this one out yourself. :P Immediately under the tabs is a grid of 18 boxes where the macros are displayed. Under those, there is a single box which displays your currently-selected macro with a Change Name/Icon button next to it. Below that is the edit box where you actually type the macro. Finally, at the bottom you have a number of self-explanatory buttons.
To create a macro, click the New button at the bottom of the window. This brings up another small window off to the side where you choose the icon and type a name for the macro. If you choose the question mark icon (), WoW will automatically pick an icon for your macro based on what spells or items are listed in the macro. Once you have chosen an icon and a name, click the Okay button.
A few notes: You can control what icon is shown in place of the question mark with the #show commands. Although you can name two macros the same, it is better to avoid this since some functions of addons or even certain macro commands reference macros by name. You can also add custom icons to the list (see the Part III).
Now you will notice that the macro icon you chose has been added to the 18 boxes mentioned earlier (as much of the name as will fit is also displayed on the icon). The newly created macro will also be selected so now it's time to start writing your macro. Click in the edit box of the macro window to start typing.
Note: Macros have a 255 character limit. Rumor has it that this is because they intend to store macros on the servers some day. For now, though, see Part III below for information on getting around this limit and also preserving your macros among multiple computers.
When you are done typing your macro, simply drag its icon from the grid and place it on an action button. The macro will be automatically saved when you first try to use it or when you close the macros window. Click the button, and there you have it!

Bestial Wrath and Intimidation

This macro will cast Bestial Wrath and Intimidation.
/cast Bestial Wrath
/cast Intimidation

Night Elf Hunter Rest

This macro will cast Freezing Trap followed by Shadowmeld and Prowl ( for your pet cat) while allowing you to drink and eat./cast Freezing Trap
/use Filtered Draenic Water
/use Sunspring Carp
/cast Shadowmeld
/cast Prowl