How to target efficiently on green ?

[Kubotai]

Hello everybody,

I just restarted a few days ago with a chanter (been playing a shaman on blue till lvl 60 years ago) and i have watched videos of streamers on youtube.
It seems that most people don't use the mouse but play almost with keyboard which seems very uncomfortable to me (i must be a noob but i always cliked on my spells gems though i know you can hotkey them).

Also, and this was the title of this post, targeting using nearest npc hotkey seems the only thing you can do on this server (you can't cycle the last 10 targets anymore right ?), so i was wondering how those players streamers switch so fast on mobs with only this hotkey and without hiting the wrong mob with your spell (like mez .. !). When i use this hotkey, i have trouble targeting the desired mob. For example, if i got two mobs in front of me with the same name, i'm confused which one i'm on..targeting. If i got two mobs aligned in front of me, i don't see how you can target the one behind without the mouse

So to conclude, i was just wondering if some people had advice on using clever interface, hotkeys, macros to improve my poor gameplay skills (or maybe i should roll another class .. !).

See you all in Norrath and please forgive the bad english of this post (not being my first langage).

[DMN]

Are you sure those videos are actually on green and not a different P99 server? The other servers have/had cycling on the targeting. There is no fast and easy way to do it on green. One thing you can do is root/mez and then move the pack of mobs a little bit away from the CC'd mob and repeat.

There are other tricks and tips but nothing all that generally effective. If you know the room/pull that's coming and the mobs all have mostly different names you can setup a couple targeting macros before the fight. Quite a PITA though.

[Kubotai]

Yeah i'm sure its on green, in this video :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YalrF2KEkcI

At 18 min (and others times), you can see him root 2 Tesch Mal that are really close together (not using mouse ).

[Zephire]

One thing you can do is root/mez and then move the pack of mobs a little bit away from the CC'd mob and repeat.

This is something a good tank should be doing. Let the chanter rez, move the mobs so chanter can retarget.

It also allows the tank to set an "order" when they break mez on next target.

[Porcoa]

It goes by your center of vision. So just aim at it in first person.

EDIT: And in the video you can't see his cursor so he's clicking between them, I think.

[Kubotai]

It goes by your center of vision. So just aim at it in first person.

Yeah, i just realized that its true and works quite well. However if you and 2 others mobs are on the same line you can't target the farthest one without mouse in this case i believe .. ?

EDIT: And in the video you can't see his cursor so he's clicking between them, I think.

I noticed that too, how it's possible to play without the cursor ? And i don't understand how it can help you. How is he cliking them if he got no cursor then ?

Thanks for your advice !

[ewjax]

The "Toggle Last Two Targets" key works. So what you may be seeing is people target A, then target B, then use the Toggle key to flip back and forth.

Need to watch your pet and target health and keep track of both?
I have a macro that looks like this:
/pet target
/assist

First line targets your pet (like F1 F1), second line assists pet and ends up on the target.

So, get your pet fighting, then hit this key, leaves you targetted on the mob, and you can use the Toggle key to flip back and forth between target and pet.


Time to break charm?
F1, F1, F1, Start Casting IVU, ToggleLast. Do the ToggleLast even while IVU still being cast, because IVU will still land on you, even though you will be targetted on your pet when it finishes casting. IVU lands on you, charm breaks, you are targetted on the ex-pet, ready to root it and blast it. Extra credit for clicking your GCD reset item after IVU lands so you can immediately start casting root.


Need to calm a room?
Invis, Move into room, Click Target A, Click Target B. Move back out of room. Cast Calm (doesn't need line of sight), ToggleLast, Calm. You get 2x mobs calmed per invis'd entry. Beware the critical resist though.


So yes you'll still use TargetNearest or MouseClick for initial target selections, but then there are useful things you can do with keyboard too.

[Porcoa]

I noticed that too, how it's possible to play without the cursor ? And i don't understand how it can help you. How is he cliking them if he got no cursor then ?

Thanks for your advice !

The software he is using to record isn't recording the cursor would be my guess

[A1551]

The "Toggle Last Two Targets" key works. So what you may be seeing is people target A, then target B, then use the Toggle key to flip back and forth.

Need to watch your pet and target health and keep track of both?
I have a macro that looks like this:
/pet target
/assist

First line targets your pet (like F1 F1), second line assists pet and ends up on the target.

So, get your pet fighting, then hit this key, leaves you targetted on the mob, and you can use the Toggle key to flip back and forth between target and pet.


Time to break charm?
F1, F1, F1, Start Casting IVU, ToggleLast. Do the ToggleLast even while IVU still being cast, because IVU will still land on you, even though you will be targetted on your pet when it finishes casting. IVU lands on you, charm breaks, you are targetted on the ex-pet, ready to root it and blast it. Extra credit for clicking your GCD reset item after IVU lands so you can immediately start casting root.


Need to calm a room?
Invis, Move into room, Click Target A, Click Target B. Move back out of room. Cast Calm (doesn't need line of sight), ToggleLast, Calm. You get 2x mobs calmed per invis'd entry. Beware the critical resist though.


So yes you'll still use TargetNearest or MouseClick for initial target selections, but then there are useful things you can do with keyboard too.

quality post on a frustrating topic on green, thanks ewjax!

[Kubotai]

Greet advice indeed ewjax thanks to you and all others !