/petattack macro

[Maniac2]

Im using /petattack macroed with AS with Bm spec for 5mans. But after clearing pack of trash, my pet charges to other pack (yes, pet is on defensive) which i didnt even target and therefore ninjapulling. How do i avoid that?
If I remove /petattack, my pet keeps attacking my 1st target whole time, even if its immune until adds are killed (1st boss throne of the tides). Same happens with my UH DK pet.
Yes, im new with pet classes, so any help would be appreciated...

[XAmsterdamX]

The reason why you're ninjapulling is probably because you press Arcane Shot while your target is already dead. One way to prevent this is to stop casting earlier, but otherwise use the following macro for all your shots (this is an example for AS):

#showtooltip Arcane Shot
/stopmacro [@playertarget, noexists]
/cast Arcane Shot

If you want to add /petattack to that it's your choice, but I wouldn't. Personally I have it together with Hunter's Mark, which makes much more sense to me.

Another thing: in dungeons put your pet on passive, not defensive.

[Koumaru]

I use a simple technique that really makes pet management a snap.

[Ctrl+1] is /petattack
[Ctrl+2] is /petfollow

Every pet is almost always on Passive, except for my turtle, who's usually on Defensive (so he can AoE tank properly).

Ta da! The pet just does what you tell it to! You switched targets? Tell your pet to attack your target. You need to call off your pet? Call off your pet.

Seriously, automation can often be a bigger pain in the ass than it's worth.

[Zauber]

I use something like

/petattack
/petdefensive
/petautocastoff Call of the Wild
/petautocastoff Cower
/petautocastoff Roar of Recovery
/cast Charge
/cast Dash
/cast Swoop
/cast Kill Command

on mouse wheel up (yeah I know it's chaotic but it works fine) and

/petstay
/petpassive
/cast Dash
/cast [@mouseover, party][@player] Intervene

on mouse wheel down. So my pet obeys even my most slight gestures

[Ninjamoo]

I use something like

/petattack
/petdefensive
/petautocastoff Call of the Wild
/petautocastoff Cower
/petautocastoff Roar of Recovery
/cast Charge
/cast Dash
/cast Swoop
/cast Kill Command

on mouse wheel up (yeah I know it's chaotic but it works fine) and

/petstay
/petpassive
/cast Dash
/cast [@mouseover, party][@player] Intervene

on mouse wheel down. So my pet obeys even my most slight gestures

Holy... what the....

yeah...


Just do what Koumaru said with CTRL 1 and 2. You'll get used to it.

[Cyph3r]

I use something like

/petattack
/petdefensive
/petautocastoff Call of the Wild
/petautocastoff Cower
/petautocastoff Roar of Recovery
/cast Charge
/cast Dash
/cast Swoop
/cast Kill Command

on mouse wheel up (yeah I know it's chaotic but it works fine) and

/petstay
/petpassive
/cast Dash
/cast [@mouseover, party][@player] Intervene

on mouse wheel down. So my pet obeys even my most slight gestures

Yeah, the macro appears chaotic, but that's actually pretty elegant pet control. I do something similar, just not quite as automatic. I have a button that when left clicked, puts the pet in "raid mode" (turns off growl/cower, etc), and right clicking it puts it into "solo mode" (turns growl and dash back to autocast, etc.). I also use a razer naga, so I have 2 of my mouse buttons set to petfollow and petattack, plus I use a pretty standard petattack/hunter's mark macro.

To each his own really, there's a million ways to exert some fine control over your pet. It's definitely something every good hunter should practice though, and it's smart to experiment with different macros and setups until you find what's comfortable for you.

[jkfremin]

I have /petattack and /patdefensive macro'd to Steady Shot or Cobra Shot, since I almost always start out pulls with one of those, for the extra snap aggro coupled with Misdirection. I have /petfollow and /petpassive macro'd to my mount binding. So I cast Steady/Cobra shot to get the pet to begin attacking, and then whenever I want him to stop, I just hit my mount. And it's nice for PvE, since the attack binding forces the pet attack my new target when I switch targets as well. Wouldn't be so great for PvP, but I assume we're talking about dungeons/raids here.

[Koumaru]

What I really don't like about macros that bind /petattack to your own attacks is what that does to you in situations where you want to be attacking a different target than your pet.

Sure, that's a highly situational gripe outside of PvP (where "pet on healer, hunter on someone else" is fairly common), but when that situation arises, your ability to micromanage your pet is crippled by your macro. Think of what that automation will do to you on Atramedes during the air phase. Instead of chomping on the adds with the melee while you shoot at the boss, your pet is standing under Atramedes with a trickle of drool coming out of the side of its mouth...

Automation is convenient a lot of the time, but it hinders your ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

[Deleted]

PvE wise, I have /petattack macroed into Hunter's Mark.

Whenever I'm going to be switching targets long enough for it to be worth moving my pet, I'll be casting HM on it.

[Zauber]

Holy... what the....
yeah...
Just do what Koumaru said with CTRL 1 and 2. You'll get used to it.

Yeah. Get that pet pull another pack or be at his own just because you don't strech fingers to ctrl+X as fast as I scroll wheel Like I said I works just fine, you may try

[Herecius]

I kindof prefer keeping it on passive and macroing /petattack into serpent sting. Anything worth really killing is going to get a serpent sting on it from me, whereas if I'm turning around to target a random low-health add or something, I'd rather not have my pet zooming across the entire room as I drill a couple arcane shots into it or something.

[redsunrising15]

I keep my pet on passive and just use T as my keybind for pet-attack.

It's default for that anyway so easy peasy

[Ninjamoo]

Yeah. Get that pet pull another pack or be at his own just because you don't strech fingers to ctrl+X as fast as I scroll wheel Like I said I works just fine, you may try

You do realize that your pet (when on defensive) will just come back to you without attacking another group right? It's not going to magically run off and start killing things unless you have petattack macro'd into your shots....

[y02mustang]

Alternately, add [nogroup] after your /petattack in your macro, so that line reads:

/petattack [nogroup]

This way he will only autoattack your AS target if you are solo.

If it still doesn't do the trick, be ready for a quick Ctrl+2 (or whatever keybinding you have) to pull your pet back to your side. As long as you aren't attacking something, even if he's on defensive that will call him back.

---------- Post added 2011-03-10 at 02:14 PM ----------

Wanted to add: You should get comfortable controlling your pet's targets. If you start to pull aggro on one mob when solo'ing, Ctrl+1 to have your pet focus that one before you pull it by aggro. Pets should generally ignore cc'd targets unless specifically told to do otherwise - if you use your AS petattack macro on a second target, will your pet switch to that new one? If not, please post your macro as it sounds something might be off.

And if you have a Fox pet or other pet with an AOE ability, be aware (unless they fixed it) they used to take off after any mob that was hit with their Dust Cloud thing, including critters. If your pet is one of those, might be an issue where he takes off after a Dust/Thunderstomped cockroach and gets too close to another mob group.

Either way, keep your pet control keys at the ready.

[Kuldrad]

Im using /petattack macroed with AS with Bm spec for 5mans. But after clearing pack of trash, my pet charges to other pack (yes, pet is on defensive) which i didnt even target and therefore ninjapulling. How do i avoid that?
If I remove /petattack, my pet keeps attacking my 1st target whole time, even if its immune until adds are killed (1st boss throne of the tides). Same happens with my UH DK pet.
Yes, im new with pet classes, so any help would be appreciated...

If you are using /petattack macro'd to your shots, then your pet needs to be on passive. Hell, your pet needs to be on passive regardless!

[Zauber]

You do realize that your pet (when on defensive) will just come back to you without attacking another group right? It's not going to magically run off and start killing things unless you have petattack macro'd into your shots....

Yes in theory. In practice there are different situations.
Anyway I disliked those queer default ctrl binds since 2.4.x when I started playing WoW. I was like "Wth, I am to press those for every goddamn mob out there? Where do I change it, halp". Plus except for ergonomy I have 2 other spells linked with pet managment.
I just don't get it, you don't use macros or you are a fan of default settings?

[Koumaru]

I just don't get it, you don't use macros or you are a fan of default settings?

I personally use a whole laundry list of macros. Sometimes I even write a new macro in the middle of a fight and then begin to use it right away, only to delete it a few minutes later. I wuv me sum macroz!

But I'm an even bigger fan of micromanagement. And with even the slightest bit of practice, it's damn near effortless. The only issue I have is the unconscious tendency always to hit Ctrl+1 as I'm commencing an attack on a target. On my druid. Or my mage. Rogue and shaman, too. Oh well.

[Zauber]

I personally use a whole laundry list of macros. Sometimes I even write a new macro in the middle of a fight and then begin to use it right away, only to delete it a few minutes later. I wuv me sum macroz!

But I'm an even bigger fan of micromanagement. And with even the slightest bit of practice, it's damn near effortless. The only issue I have is the unconscious tendency always to hit Ctrl+1 as I'm commencing an attack on a target. On my druid. Or my mage. Rogue and shaman, too. Oh well.

And here the simple and short question "Why?" or a bit longer "What for?" stuns you. If you can make it easier.

[MrHappy]

pet defensice - win with your macro

[Koumaru]

And here the simple and short question "Why?" or a bit longer "What for?" stuns you. If you can make it easier.

Because, at least for me, macroing /petattack to Hunter's Mark or Serpent Sting doesn't make anything easier. Hunter's Mark is bound to Ctrl+F, with Ctrl+1 ordering my pet to attack, so holding Ctrl with my pinky while hitting "F" with my index finger and "1" with my ring finger a split second later accomplishes the desired goal of marking the target and sending in the pet.

But, more often than not, I don't want to perform both tasks simultaneously. I'll mark the target at the start of the pull and send in my pet a couple seconds later so he doesn't run past the tank. So instead of waiting both to mark the target and send in my pet, I'm already off the GCD from HM and sending in my pet as my first misdirected Aimed Shot is in the air.

Your mileage may vary. Maybe juggling 2 or 3 actions at a time manually isn't your cup of tea. Maybe I'm stringing together too many idioms in those two sentences.

I don't have anything against macroing /petattack to Hunter's Mark, though. My only issue is with macroing it to a spammable attack like Arcane/Cobra/Steady Shot. You don't always want to be on the same target as your pet.