/target=focus target VS /assist focus

[Dzonatan]

If there was a thread like this then sorry. Please link me to it if it happens to have an awser im looking for.

Since I started MBing I tend to use

/Focus Dzonatan (my main)
/assist focus
/follow focus

but everyone in a while I bump into a problem with is that sometimes I need to press that macro in order to make all of my slaves target designeted NPC or mob. Since then I was wondering if /target=focustarget is somehow superior towards /assist focus or is it just some sort of latency problem? If not that can some experienced user could explain in details with of those macro's commands differ?

[Solon]

Most of us have [target=focustarget] in our macros so we can cast certain abilities on our focus' target without switching the current target. It also helps to avoid that irritating "why did dumbass just hit that other mob when I'm busy with these 7?" It also allows for followthrough commands.

/cast [target=focustarget,help,nodead][target=focus,help,nodead][target=player] flash of light

casts FoL on your focus' target if it is friendly and not dead, if those conditions don't exist (no focus, focus has no target, focus' target is dead or enemy), it will cast on the slaves' focus unless those conditions don't exist, where it will cast on the slave (this last can be eliminated if you have self-cast checked in interface tab).

[ElectronDF]

Here are my thoughts. I was scared of just using /target CharName. It just seemed a little messy, since guess what right after that you have to use /assist. Why not just put in /assist CharName. Then I started a second team and realized, I didn't want names in my macros. Also, I didn't want targets in my macros either, since an alt would accidentally attack a mob that attacked it if its main target dies. So I switched to [target=focus-target] for DPS and [target=focus-target-target] for heals. No thinking, no guessing, no button mashing, no nothing, just attack and heal. Your alts can never attack a random mob. They can't have pets go run off and pick up adds. They just do only what the main tells them. Also, no mob on the main, no attack. Which to me is nice. What if I accidentally pick a friendly on my main and then /assist, oops, all my alts can now, not attack. What if I pick a totem (destroyable item) on my main, the alts kill it, but then they have no target to attack. In my mind I would spend about 10-20% of the fight actually having to worry about what my alts have targeted. With [target=focus-target], I don't even think about it. Just attack and go.

Everyone has their own playstyle. One way is probably not better than the other. It is just waht you are used to. Things that can affect your targeting, latency, time from when you pick a target on your main until you push an attack button, and if your macros have too many conditions (harm, dead, etc). In real terms, you probably only change targets 2-4 times in a fight, about 8 secs apart. So that isn't changing targets that much, just give it time for your main's choice to get registered by Blizzard and sent back to your alts (like 1 sec or so).

[Ughmahedhurtz]

but everyone in a while I bump into a problem with is that sometimes I need to press that macro in order to make all of my slaves target designeted NPC or mob. Since then I was wondering if /target=focustarget is somehow superior towards /assist focus or is it just some sort of latency problem? If not that can some experienced user could explain in details with of those macro's commands differ?

Those two commands are functionally identical. So is /cast [target=focustarget] <spell>. They all use exactly the same targeting mechanics and have the same latency when switching targets. The only difference, as Solon noted, is that /cast [target=focustarget] <spell> allows you to specify certain spells to be targeted at your main's target regardless of what your alt's current target is, so you can use targeting for something else, like CC or healing.

[Ualaa]

Just for arguements sake, I'll break assist methods down to two categories.

Type A:
#show
/cast [target=focustarget] Lightning Bolt

#showtooltip
/cast [target=party1target] Lightning Bolt

#show
/cast [target=focus] Lightning Bolt

#show
/cast [target=targettarget] Lightning Bolt

#show
/targetlastenemy
/cast [target=party1target] Lightning Bolt
/cleartarget



Type B:
#show
/assist [target=focus]
/cast Lightning Bolt

#show
/assist [target=party1]
/cast Lightning Bolt

#showtooltip
/tar [target=focus]
/cast Lightning Bolt

#show
/assist
/cast Lightning Bolt

#show
/targetlastenemy
/assist [target=party1]
/cast Lightning Bolt
/cleartarget


Not a whole lot of difference between any of these. Each uses the assist method of your choice.
In the type A examples, your slaves cast at the target of your choice without ever selecting that target.
In the type B examples, your slaves are targeting whatever you have chosen them to cast at.

Type A is generally very useful in PvE to ensure before a pull they're on the right target.
Type B is generally better for PvP, as the opposition has no clue what you're going for next.

[Dzonatan]

Thanks for those usefull posts. Im slowly thinking of changing my macro from

/focus main
/assist focus
/follow focus

to

/focus main
/target=focus-target
/follow focus

[DrChaos]

I had a macro at one time that im sure i found here that would let me click on the target on my main, hit one key and they would target it to. then after the fight i would hit the same key to make them follow again. The key here was that I only had to hit the key once to set everyone to the target i was gonna kill. now i have to hit the button twice to get everyone to target. I think im using

/assist main
/follow main

[elsegundo]

Thanks for those usefull posts. Im slowly thinking of changing my macro from

/focus main
/assist focus
/follow focus

to

/focus main
/target=focus-target
/follow focus

These do essentially the same thing. it doesnt really matter which. what is more important is how they are used in combat. some of the above posts have pointed this out. i hope you're not missing those gems of information.

[Ualaa]

The macro's are similar, but very different on one point.

If you assist a toon, party leader or focus, your slaves are visibly targeting something.
If you just cast at a toon's target, the leader's target or the focus's target, the slaves don't need to target anything.

The first case is a lot easier to debug having a slave accidently pull something you didn't want.

The second case is a ton stronger in PvP, because opponents cannot see what you're attacking unless they target the brain toon. You can have all of the slaves target the priest, but the main targets the druid. They might put pain suppression on the Priest. The second is much more deceptive from pvp point of view.

[Coltimar]

But you still need to have a target for things like wanding and channeling spells, right? I didn't see anything come down the pike that changed this.