Hunter Macro Guides for Cataclysm 4.3

One of the most frequent questions hunters ask is where to find information regarding macros. This WoW hunter macro guide gives a basic introduction to macros and lists several PvE macros useful in raiding. We provide links to several good detailed macro guides and to more extensive lists of specialized hunter macros for PvE and PvP.

A macro is a group of slash commands grouped together into a file that can be executed with a single mouse click or keystroke. Warcraft allows each character to have 36 general macros (available to all characters on your account) plus 18 character-specific macros for a total of 54 available macros per character.

How to Create a Macro

  1. Open the macro editing window by typing /m.
  2. Click “New.”
  3. Choose a name. It’s best to choose a unique name for each of your macros.
  4. Choose an icon.  If you pick the default question mark as your icon, WoW will automatically assign an icon corresponding to the first spell in your macro. However, if you place a “#showtooltip Explosive Shot” statement at the beginning of your macro, for example, WoW will display the icon, mouseover tooltip, and grey-out cooldown wheel for Explosive Shot on your action bar.
  5. Enter your macro in the text box
  6. Click “Save”.

Raiding Macros

Here are a few examples of macros that I find the most useful for raiding on my hunter:

Normal Arcane Shot Macro

In addition to casting Arcane Shot, this macro cancels Deterrence and Hand of Protection. It tells your pet to cast Rabid (included because of the Rabid auto-cast bug) and if you have a wind-serpent it will tell it to cast Lightning Breath (included because of the pet ranged attack auto-cast bug with Ultraxion). You can use the same macro structure for all of your damage shots by just substituting the name of the shot for “Arcane Shot”.

#showtooltip Arcane shot
/cancelaura Deterrence
/cancelaura Hand of Protection
/cast Rabid
/cast Lightning Breath
/cast Arcane Shot
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear()

Blow Cooldowns

This macro casts Rapid Fire and Call of the Wild. If you have the Kiroptyric Sigil trinket equipped (for Spine of Deathwing) it will activate it. If you have a Potion of the Tol’vir in your inventory you will consume one. If you’re an engineer you can add a line to activate your Synapse Springs (/use 10).

#showtooltip Rapid Fire
/cast Rabid
/use Potion of the Tol'vir
/cast Rapid Fire
/cast Call of the Wild
/use Kiroptyric Sigil
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear()

Multi-Shot AoE Macro

I use this macro for AoE. It will acquire a new target for you if your current target dies.

#showtooltip Multi-Shot
/targetenemy [noexists][noharm][dead]
/cast Multi-Shot

Pet Macro

If your pet is not active, this macro will call it. If your pet is dead, it will be revived. If your pet is active and you left click, it will cast Mend Pet. If your pet is active and you right click, your pet will be dismissed.

#showtooltip
/cast [nomod,nopet]Call Pet 1
/cast [nomod,@pet,dead]Revive Pet
/cast [nomod,@pet,button:1]Mend Pet
/cast [nomod,@pet,button:2]Dismiss Pet

Misdirection Macro

If you have a player as your focus, you will md to them. If you don’t have a focus, it will md to your pet.

#showtooltip Misdirection
/cast [@focus,exists,nodead] Misdirection; [@pet,exists,nodead] Misdirection

Macro Guides and Resources

See these guides for additional information about hunter macros.

  • Hunter 101: Macros! at Aspect of the Murloc. Zanbon‘s guide goes over the basics of creating macros and lists useful hunter macros.
  • Hunter Macros Guide at Warcraft Hunters Union. Frostheim‘s collection of hunter macros. There are also many reader-contributed macros in this post at WHU.
  • Hunter Macro Compendium at Huntsman’s Lodge. Garwulf  has assembled a large collection of hunter macros.
  • Hunter Macro Guide thread on the Battlenet Hunter Forum, maintained by Strlder. This thread has an extensive collection of hunter macros.
  • Making a Macro WoWWiki‘s basic guide to creating macros for Warcraft.
  • My Hunter Keybinds at Kal’s Corner. Kalven illustrates how to organize hunter keybinds according to function: rotation, cooldowns, movement, etc.

Hunter Soloing Macros

Hunter PvP Macros

Hunters who PvP require many specialized macros and keybinds.

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