help: how to make macro to cast arcane missiles only after it finished casting/or AB

[missilemacro]

stop any casting and begin channeling Arcane Missiles only if Arcane Missiles is not already being channeled

if you get fancy with it you can also add a condition that Arcane Missiles may only start if Arcane Missiles AND Evocation aren't being channeled, to prevent any accidental mana loss as well





the following is a description of an apparently impossible macro, so don't bother unless you're a macro magician




ok, basically I'm trying to build a very neat arcane mage macro, but need someone who knows macros to help me

it's a perfect macro for arcane mages who wanna make sure they don't miss a tick of arcane missiles by starting to cast a new spell before it finished casting, it's got a few elements though
basically i want it to cast Arcane Missiles if Arcane Missiles is available, but it should not start channeling if the previous Arcane Missiles hasn't finished channeling OR if Arcane Missiles is not available again by the time it finished channeling - cast Arcane Blast instead

i have only figured out this part, but im not sure how to add all the other elements to it
/cast [nochanneling:Arcane Missiles] Arcane Missiles




PS
the purpose of this macro is not at all to make a 1 button arcane spam, in fact spamming this button will not provide high dps at all, this macro will replace the Arcane Missiles button only, so you will still need to use Arcane Blast manually when you're in burning phase or when you just wanna get 2-4 stacks of AB without casting AM. this macro will eliminate the following:
1. loss of mana ( for example, when you finish casting your 3rd AB and you know you don't want to cast a 4th AB because it will cost you too much mana, BUT you don't know whether you will have Arcane Missiles available until you're already casting the next AB; you end up with 2 options - queue up the next AB by spamming the AB key at the end of your cast, so that the 4th AB starts casting immediately after, this way you only find out whether your 3rd AB had procced Arcane Missiles while casting the next mana-expensive AB and you will be able to start casting Arcane Missiles only after it has completed, but you will have wasted valuable mana OR if you found out Arcane Missiles had procced after starting to cast the next AB - you can cancel casting AB and begin casting Arcane Missiles, but you lose the time you could have already been casting Arcane Missiles

2. downtime between spells - because you will not have to lose time you could have been casting Arcane Missiles after you decide not to cast a mana-expensive AB(explained above)

3. loss of dps from cutting off arcane missiles too early, which happens to a lot of people because they don't know their exact latency at every moment

[Faemn]

You don't need to make your spec any more simple to be honest, try to struggle a little and have fun doing it, that's what the game is all about.

[Fizzleshot]

/cast [nochanneling:Arcane Missiles]Arcane Missiles
/cast [nochanneling:Arcane Missiles]Arcane Blast

In the same macro. Might be affected by latency, but if you are able to cast AM, then it will cast that because it's listed first and the nochannel part in the AB will stop you interrupting.

Edit: Dps rotation is alread ysimple enough anyway as arcane, only mana management needs to be mastered.

Not only that, but it might be a dps loss to cast AM as soon as it procs. Granted I'm no arcane expert, sometimes you'll want to cast 3 or 4 AB even if AM procs, so this idea is pretty silly.

[ice216]

I don't personally have a mage so I can't test this but I think because arcane missiles has a gcd that theres no way for it to choose AM or AB for you, you will need to manually make that choice.

[adezero]

that macro won't work. you can't link two GCD invoking skills in the same macro.


AND

the type of macro the OP is suggesting is impossible. that type of macro is against blizzard design philosophy. they don't want people spamming one button with one hand while eating their tv dinner with the other.

[zazuch]

I don't personally have a mage so I can't test this but I think because arcane missiles has a gcd that theres no way for it to choose AM or AB for you, you will need to manually make that choice.

On top of this its also not beneficial to just cast AM when ever it is up.

Get something like quartz or a cast bar addon. I use quartz because it shows when to start channeling/casting by a red block that accounts for latency.

[lawomous]

Using nochanneling macros is a bit of a dps loss. They will prevent you from casting long after you're done channeling since the client has to check with the server that you're done casting then check back with the client to let the macro work again. Kind of like castsequence but to an extreme.

[missilemacro]

that macro won't work. you can't link two GCD invoking skills in the same macro.


AND

the type of macro the OP is suggesting is impossible. that type of macro is against blizzard design philosophy. they don't want people spamming one button with one hand while eating their tv dinner with the other.

i edited my post, this is not at all a 1 button macro, you still need to use Arcane Blast individually or you will never do high dps
but if my macro is impossible, than how do i make a macro that will stop any casting and begin channeling Arcane Missiles only if Arcane Missiles is not already being channeled?

[Pfeff]

that type of macro is against blizzard design philosophy. they don't want people spamming one button with one hand while eating their tv dinner with the other.

Yea, that's why Arcane has TWO buttons not one

[missilemacro]

On top of this its also not beneficial to just cast AM when ever it is up.

Get something like quartz or a cast bar addon. I use quartz because it shows when to start channeling/casting by a red block that accounts for latency.

^ this guy knows what he's talking about.
yeah, that letency indicator is the best choice, unfortunately

---------- Post added 2011-09-22 at 05:53 AM ----------

guys, since my initial macro is impossible, can anyone help me make this macro:
stop any casting and begin channeling Arcane Missiles only if Arcane Missiles is not already being channeled

[Deleted]

#showtooltip Arcane Missiles
/stopmacro [channeling:Arcane Missiles]
/stopcasting
/cast Arcane Missiles

[restoxpresso]

that type of macro is against blizzard design philosophy. they don't want people spamming one button with one hand while eating their tv with the other.

fix'd it for you.

[missilemacro]

#showtooltip Arcane Missiles
/stopmacro [channeling:Arcane Missiles]
/stopcasting
/cast Arcane Missiles

im guessing there's no way to make it /stopcasting only if arcane missiles are available?

[lawomous]

No, macros cannot make decisions based on the presence of buffs/debuffs.

[missilemacro]

#showtooltip Arcane Missiles
/stopmacro [channeling:Arcane Missiles]
/stopcasting
/cast Arcane Missiles

also, i tested the macro and it works fine if you have to interrupt an AB for Arcane Missiles, but if you spam it while channeling Arcane Missiles - it might cut off 1-2 ticks, is there any way to fix that or do i have to use 2 different macros, one for spamming Arcane Missiles if I can and need to cast 2 in a row, which I believe is:
#showtooltip Arcane Missiles
/stopmacro [channeling:Arcane Missiles]
/cast Arcane Missiles

and another, the stop casting macro, seperately?
#showtooltip Arcane Missiles
/stopmacro [channeling:Arcane Missiles]
/stopcasting
/cast Arcane Missiles