Stopcasting in 2.3: A Return to Button-Mashing

New readers, please note! This post was based on theorycrafting from an old build of the patch 2.3 PTR. Button mashing is not viable in WoW 2.3. Instead, remove /stopcasting from your old macros, keep Quartz, and continue to try to start your next cast as soon as you enter latency phase. If you hit your button too early, it will not cause your current cast to fail (as it did in 2.2), but it may cause you to incur a global cooldown penalty.

GMW readers know I've talked about using /stopcasting macros with Quartz before, but with the PTRs up, it's time to take a look forward at how spell casts will be changing in patch 2.3. Here's the relevant portion of the patch notes:

"Client spell cast requests are now sent to the server even if your player is already casting another spell. This eliminates the need for /stopcasting in macros to compensate for latency."

How is this different from how casts in WoW work now?
Right now, casters who aren't using /stopcast macros lose cast time to lag on any spell which takes longer than the global cooldown to cast. Quartz is a cast bar mod with a built-in latency indicator which can currently be used to time when to hit a macro so that the client (your end) will let you force-stop your old spell and begin casting a spell before it heard back from the server saying that the spell was complete. Timed correctly, spell #1 would complete and spell #2 would start with minimal time lost due to your own lag or server latency. This requires a caster to carefully watch her cast bar and then hit her macro one time once the cast reaches the safe zone.

What does this mean for casters after the patch?
The change in 2.3 means that your client won't have to wait for a “go ahead” from the server in order for you to be able to start casting a new spell. The client will no longer lock you out of starting a new cast, which means that you'll be able to repeatedly hit your cast button until the server knows your last cast has finished. The first attempted cast which reaches the server after it registers your last cast as completed will go through. In essence, the effect will be like having v2.2 /stopcasts already macroed into all your spells. In practice, it means that we'll all get to go back to mashing our buttons instead of perfectly timing a single tap of our macros.

In spite of this change, Quartz will remain a useful tool, because it gives you a visual readout of when your spell should be finished. You can use the Quartz cast bar to spam your cast button just before the cast bar reaches the “safe zone.” Here's a look at the difference in the two approaches:

Summary
In 2.3, /stopcast macros will only be useful for interrupting spells (i.e., stopping your fireball cast to counterspell your target), and not for decreasing cast lag. Old macros which served the second function may now cancel your casts if used, so you should delete or alter them accordingly to remove /stopcast. To maximize your spell casts in 2.3 and beyond, get a cast bar with a latency indicator, and spam the button for your next spell when your cast bar approaches the latency phase.

WoW + Facebook = Rupture.com

We all love the Armory, and many of us use Facebook. Although there's at least one widget out there that will show your characters' Armory data on your Facebook page, up until recently there was no real social networking site devoted to World of Warcraft. Rupture.com is that site -- a Facebook for WoW players.

The site design is quite similar to Facebook, except that in addition to your personal page, you also get profile screens for each of your characters, where you can friend guildies or pvp teammates, or upload your favorite screenshots. (The image above is the Rupture page for Spoh, a druid on the WSVG circuit.) Most of the data about your character is pulled from the Armory, but Rupture also has its own WoW add-on that will record and upload your /played time, your bank and bag inventories, your gear sets, tradeskill patterns, which add-ons you are using, and even the outcome of every battleground or arena match you play. You can even post to your character's Rupture blog from inside WoW itself by typing /rupture blog -- the next time you log out of game, your post will be automatically posted the next time your profile syncs. To read more about it or to download the Rupture profiler, visit their site.

The Five Raiding Addons You Need

Karthis at Of Teeth and Claws has a nice post up about the four types of addons that every raider needs, with examples of each. I thought I'd share which mod I use for each of his categories, plus one bonus addon that I consider essential for casters.

Encounter Adviser - the mod that tells you when a boss will do what
I'm currently using Deadly Boss Mods on my mage, but some recent comparisons with my fellow guildies have me almost convinced to switch back to BigWigs.

Enhanced Raid Frames - the mod that shows the status of your fellow raiders
Since I'm a dps caster, I really like the condensed view of the raid that Grid provides - in the addon world, it's the raid frame mod with phenomenal cosmic power... and itty bitty little living space.

Statistics Gathering - the mod that lets you review your leet skillz after the fight
My raid leader uses WoWWebStats, which means I don't have to install an addon like Recount. More FPS for me!

Threat Meter - the mod that lets you - OMG I HAS AGGRO! *invis*
I use Omen for this, and highly recommend it over KLH Threatmeter.

Bonus Category for Casters:
Modular Cast Bar - the mod that helps you reduce the effects of casting delay caused by lag
So far, Quartz is the only worthwhile mod in this category. Quartz provides a new cast bar that will show you how much of your cast is longer than necessary due to latency issues, allowing you to shave off some of this time with /stopcasting macros. Here's an example of a /stopcasting macro for fireball:

#showtooltip
/stopcasting
/cast Fireball

If you hit your /stopcast macro in the red latency phase of the Quartz cast bar, it will allow you to begin casting your next spell immediately, but by the time the signal to stop casting gets from your computer to the server, your first cast will already have been completed. Thus, combining Quartz and /stopcasting can greatly increase heal speed and caster dps, especially on spells with long cast times.