Zen Sphere Macro

[Notter]

Thanks for the macros and ideas, I'll definitely try them out when the patch comes out.
two questions:

1. is there a situation where chi wave is better than chi sphere?
2. is it possible to make a macro to just use chi sphere on the target closest to you?

[Adaren]

ps: I hate you a little bit for making this brain-dead mashable. I like complexity dammit.

Using two different keybinds to cast on two different targets isn't complex. It's just extra buttons on my already-loaded bars.
Using a mouseover macro + raid frames to swap between targets isn't complex. It's just extra mouse movement and UI elements that my role doesn't normally have to worry about (occasionally, perhaps, but this is every 10 seconds).

There are plenty of examples of talents that add good gameplay complexity without feeling burdensome and inconvenient. Zen Sphere, unfortunately, isn't one of them, so I wouldn't feel too guilty in trying to streamline tasks that are cognitively simple yet mechnically annoying due to UI limitations.

It's also true that macros with set targets are also suboptimal. If your focus is forced to go out of range then you'll lose damage, and the healing is wasted on yourself if you're already at full health. So, if you really want to min-max, you're still justified in going macroless.

That said, thanks for the alternate macros!

[Infective]

It will still swap back if you mash after the cast succeeds, but clever

I didn't realise you could programatically change stance bars - which means you can just check buffs.

Using jab, because it guarentees you will mash it at least once while the buffs are out even if you don't mash the ZS key, meaning the pages will update before your next cast. You could add it to your BoK key too, to cover the scenario of "no jabs for >10sec during a ZS>serenity>ZS", but you should be jabbing after ending serenity anyway before you ZS dps-wise anyway.

--page 2 macro for some filler (I picked jab)
/run if UnitAura("player", "Zen Sphere", nil, "HELPFUL") ~=nil then  then ChangeActionBarPage (2) end
/cast jab

--page 1 macro for ZS
/cast [@player] Zen Sphere

--page 2 macro for some filler (I picked jab)
/run if UnitAura("player", "Zen Sphere", nil, "HELPFUL") ==nil then  then ChangeActionBarPage (1) end
/cast jab

--page 2 macro for ZS
/cast [@whoever][@you][@like] Zen Sphere

ps: I hate you a little bit for making this brain-dead mashable. I like complexity dammit.

psps: you can merge it all into just the ZS macro if you want, but you may need to mash after the spell is cast for it to successfully update, putting the swap on a filler spell just removes the need.

for some reason this one wasnt working for me, then i caught the "then then" in the if statement. works fine after i corrected that.

[rijn dael]

Thanks for the macros and ideas, I'll definitely try them out when the patch comes out.
two questions:

1. is there a situation where chi wave is better than chi sphere?
2. is it possible to make a macro to just use chi sphere on the target closest to you?

zen sphere* :P

1) Only when you don't have another target guarenteed standing near things you want killed - ie, solo, or (probably) pvp with ranged teammates.
2) No, but the macros before reduce it to a 1-button mash spell. Which is stupid, but you can't really do it wrong when it requires no more skill than chi wave.

[Infective]

rijn have you been able to get your macro set to work while in combat? works perfectly for me when testing out of combat but wont actually change action bar pages while in combat

[Prokasa]

As much as I hate to be the bringer of bad news, many of the scripts commands are blocked by the wow client once you get in combat, and im pretty sure ActionPaging is one of them. I heard theres a way to work around it using dominos though.

[rijn dael]

rijn have you been able to get your macro set to work while in combat? works perfectly for me when testing out of combat but wont actually change action bar pages while in combat

Oh, I am at work - hence the 'then then' typo - I just freehand coded that based off the post above mine saying that programmatic stance swaps worked.

If they are locked down while in combat, I am mildly delighted :-)
You can still use it to pre-pull macro mash I guess!

Using two different keybinds to cast on two different targets isn't complex. It's just extra buttons on my already-loaded bars.
Using a mouseover macro + raid frames to swap between targets isn't complex. It's just extra mouse movement and UI elements that my role doesn't normally have to worry about (occasionally, perhaps, but this is every 10 seconds).

There are plenty of examples of talents that add good gameplay complexity without feeling burdensome and inconvenient. Zen Sphere, unfortunately, isn't one of them, so I wouldn't feel too guilty in trying to streamline tasks that are cognitively simple yet mechnically annoying due to UI limitations.

It's also true that macros with set targets are also suboptimal. If your focus is forced to go out of range then you'll lose damage, and the healing is wasted on yourself if you're already at full health. So, if you really want to min-max, you're still justified in going macroless.

That said, thanks for the alternate macros!

I kinda disagree, but I also absolutely adore feral gameplay where I rejuv / HT the raid whilst playing kitty - it lets me shine because I have the attention to do it (and apparently most ferals don't) - but it isn't broken in any way.

To me this is fun design - if you can pull off a higher complexity playstyle, you are rewarded, if you can't, you take the simple option that does 1% less - neither is make-or-break. I get that monks already have a ton of keybinds, and most people will probably just macro this to ToT or a specific @player1,@player2 style macro, but being able to mouseover cast stuff at the right person appeals to the obsessive in me.

[Weriik]

It's true, I feel stupid not even testing the macro while in combat.

The first one I mentioned still works, but doesn't solve the problem for button mashing. If you were to use it you would want to not mash zen sphere to avoid messing up the sphere rotation between you and your focus.

If anyone finds out a way for it to work in combat using an addon or another trick let me know.

[Hugme]

The current trouble with the ~=zen sphere buff on the macro is that if there's another monk in the raid who uses ZS, it's broken. You virtually can only use this macro if there's no other monks zen sphering.

[Jks]

how much is zensphere better then chiwave in terms of SingleTarget?

[Orion Antares]

Thanks for the macros and ideas, I'll definitely try them out when the patch comes out.
two questions:

1. is there a situation where chi wave is better than chi sphere?
2. is it possible to make a macro to just use chi sphere on the target closest to you?

You could make a mouseover macro to hit a different target or to mouse over a near by target.

[Bodakane]

I freely admit, I'm dumb.

Is there two charges of Zen Sphere now? I'm so very confused.

[Adaren]

I freely admit, I'm dumb.

Is there two charges of Zen Sphere now? I'm so very confused.

One charge, but 10s CD + 16s duration + explosion only if it expires means that you would want to try to keep it up on two targets.

[Weriik]

It has a 10s CD and gives a 16s buff duration, so you can have it on two targets at once for 6 seconds at a time before one detonates.

[Bodakane]

One charge, but 10s CD + 16s duration + explosion only if it expires means that you would want to try to keep it up on two targets.

It has a 10s CD and gives a 16s buff duration, so you can have it on two targets at once for 6 seconds at a time before one detonates.

ahhhhhhhh. Thank you.

[rijn dael]

The current trouble with the ~=zen sphere buff on the macro is that if there's another monk in the raid who uses ZS, it's broken. You virtually can only use this macro if there's no other monks zen sphering.

Oh, that macro has been proven to be no help in combat, but if you wanted to use it for braindead ooc spam you can check for "Cast by me" if you change "HELPFUL" to "HELPFUL|PLAYER".

(ie, its a buff and it was cast by the player)

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, something I hadn't thought of till I actually got to play it on live.. and then I facepalmed.

Just macro to peoples pets...

They take pratically zero damage, avoid mechanics, and you can be assured they will be on the boss...

Ideally hunter pets preferred - cause warlocks have a habit of killing theirs occasionally through soullink.

/cast [@playername-pet,exists,help,nodead][some other safe targets] Zen Sphere

[Deleted]

I honestly can't get above jab macro to work. It just refuses to do anything other than jab.

/run if UnitAura("player", "Zen Sphere", nil, "HELPFUL") ~=nil then ChangeActionBarPage (2) end
/cast jab

Surely that should swap to page 2 when you already got Zen Sphere on you? It doesn't.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I noticed it's the same problem as someone wrote above. It doesn't work in combat.
Do we have a solution for that, or is it simply a Blizzard "fu" statement?

[rijn dael]

I honestly can't get above jab macro to work. It just refuses to do anything other than jab.

/run if UnitAura("player", "Zen Sphere", nil, "HELPFUL") ~=nil then ChangeActionBarPage (2) end
/cast jab

Surely that should swap to page 2 when you already got Zen Sphere on you? It doesn't.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I noticed it's the same problem as someone wrote above. It doesn't work in combat.
Do we have a solution for that, or is it simply a Blizzard "fu" statement?

Yeah, you can't programmatically change stances while in combat.
You can use it to make a really nice macro for mashing while OOC if you want - ie, 1 button ZS+expel, but thats about it.

I just assumed when someone posted an example using code that it worked, so I improved the logic - but you can't use code at all :P

[Radio]

I just use a typical mouseover>friendly target>self cast:

#showtooltip
/cast [@mouseover, help][@target, help] Zen Sphere;Zen Sphere

I like putting the healing somewhere where it counts.

[Shamburger]

I just use a typical mouseover>friendly target>self cast:

#showtooltip
/cast [@mouseover, help][@target, help] Zen Sphere;Zen Sphere

I like putting the healing somewhere where it counts.

I agree with this but that 15k healing over 15 seconds can barely make a difference. Plus what happends if the melee you choose has to run out before the detonation? Casting on a pet means you're always get the detonate and the splash heal on melee (since both them and the pets should be behind the boss anyways)

(I thought I was the only one who put it on a hunter pet lol!)