WoW Forever Mouseover Macro Heal: Syntax and Class Examples

A WoW Forever mouseover macro casts a spell on the unit under your cursor when you put a condition such as [@mouseover,help,nodead] before the spell name. An empty [] or a [@player] clause at the end sends the spell to your target or to yourself when nothing suitable is hovered. The example macros below cover priest, paladin, shaman, mage, druid, warlock, rogue and warrior, but their authors had not tested each one in Forever.

Mouseover macro syntax

Each condition sits in square brackets before the spell. @mouseover selects whichever unit the cursor is over, help and harm test whether that unit accepts beneficial or damaging spells, and nodead demands that the unit still be living. Most conditions can be reversed by adding "no" in front of them.

The game evaluates clauses from left to right, and the earliest clause that matches is the one applied. The fallback chain is what makes one button safe to press with nothing hovered: a heal macro can check the hovered unit, then your target, then yourself. A common form is [@mouseover, help, exists][help][@player], and the [@player] clause makes the heal land on you instead of doing nothing when there is no target. Clauses after a semicolon in a /cast line are spell choices, and the first matching one runs.

A modifier key can switch the spell. The mod: condition accepts shift, ctrl and alt.

Some players say that help and harm mouseover conditions let one button heal or harm depending on the target, which frees up bar space.

For years, playing mistweaver in high rated RBGs, I would have macros for Tiger Palm/Vivify, Blackout Kick/Enveloping Mist, and Rising Sun Kick/Renewing Mist.

— one player

The built-in mouseover cast option can hit the wrong unit. One creator said that if the cursor drifts onto another unit while you try to heal yourself, the built-in option casts on that unit instead, and dedicated macros with a self fallback avoid it.

How to create a mouseover macro

1. Enter /macro in the chat box, or pick Macros from the game menu.
2. Choose New, then give the macro a name and an icon. Selecting the question mark icon allows the game to choose one of the spells included in the macro for you.
3. Write the macro text, move its icon onto an action bar, and assign a key to it.

Starting the text with #showtooltip sets which spell's tooltip the button shows. A macro can be up to 255 characters.

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Class examples

Priest

#showtooltip Power Word: Shield
/cast [@mouseover,help,nodead][help][@player] Power Word: Shield

This shields the hovered friend, then your target, then you. A Discipline priest can also bind Penance as /cast [@mouseover,exists,nodead] [] Penance, which heals a hovered living ally or damages a hovered living enemy, and falls back to your target. One creator reports that the channel lasts about 2 seconds and needs the Discipline talent.

Paladin

#showtooltip Flash of Light
/cast [@mouseover,help,nodead][help,nodead][@player] Flash of Light

This heals the hovered friend, then your friendly target, then yourself.

Shaman

#showtooltip Lesser Healing Wave
/cast [@mouseover,help,nodead][help][@player] Lesser Healing Wave

The shaman version uses the same fallback chain as the priest and paladin macros.

Mage

#showtooltip Polymorph
/cast [@mouseover,harm,nodead][] Polymorph

This polymorphs the enemy under the cursor, and with nothing hovered it falls back to your target. For a focus target, the same guide sets the focus first with /focus and casts /cast [@focus,harm,nodead][] Polymorph.

Druid

#showtooltip Rejuvenation
/cast [@mouseover,help,nodead][help][@player] Rejuvenation

Warlock

#showtooltip Bane of Agony
/cast [mod:shift] Curse of Weakness; Bane of Agony

Holding Shift casts Curse of Weakness and the plain press casts Bane of Agony, which the guide names as the Forever name of Curse of Agony. A mouseover version reads /cast [@mouseover, harm, nodead][harm, nodead][@targettarget, harm, nodead] Bane of Agony.

Rogue

#showtooltip Cheap Shot
/cast [stealth] Cheap Shot; Kidney Shot

From stealth this casts Cheap Shot, and once you are out of stealth it casts Kidney Shot. For Gouge, a mouseover version reads /cast [@mouseover, harm, nodead][harm, nodead] Gouge.

Warrior

#showtooltip Charge
/cast [stance:1] Charge; [stance:2] Taunt; [stance:3] Intercept

One button casts Charge in Battle Stance, Taunt in Defensive Stance and Intercept in Berserker Stance. In Warrior macros, stance 1 is Battle Stance, 2 is Defensive and 3 is Berserker. A Taunt that hovers over a loose enemy uses /cast [@mouseover, harm, nodead][harm] Taunt from Defensive Stance.

Pet attack on mouseover

Pet attack macros need no #showtooltip line, because /petattack is not a spell. The macro shows a red question mark otherwise, so you pick the icon yourself in the macro window. A mouseover pet attack reads /petattack [@mouseover, harm, nodead][harm, nodead][@targettarget, harm, nodead].

A hunter version uses a right-click recall as the fallback: /petattack [btn:1,@mouseover,harm,nodead] [btn:1,harm,nodead], and it needs a hunter pet. One creator reports that it sends the pet at a hovered hostile enemy without changing your hard target.

Mouseover pet macros help because the pet attacks only the unit under the cursor, a point a few players make, and it also helps with warlock pet abilities. For more hunter setups, see WoW Forever Best Hunter Macros: Setups and How to Write Them.

Mouseover cast option in the UI

The game has a built-in mouseover cast option that needs no macro. One creator says you can find it in the game's options, and another places it under Options > Interface / Keybindings. Players on the official forums report that turning it on casts spells on the cursor target without a macro.

We'd use the built-in option if you cast from keyboard keys, and write macros if you heal with mouse buttons. The built-in option cannot bind mouse side buttons, which register as keyboard inputs in click casting, and the Clique addon has compatibility limits on Forever.

Limits of mouseover and conditional macros

• Health and cooldowns: a macro cannot choose a spell from health percentages, cooldown timers or remaining buffs.
• Global cooldown: a macro cannot fire two spells on the global cooldown in one press.
• Failed spells: a failed spell does not move the macro to the next semicolon branch.
• Downranking: spells cast without a rank use your highest known rank. One creator says downranking has been nerfed in Forever.

What players report

• Built-in option: two players found that enabling it casts spells on the cursor target without any macro.
• Omitting the rank: two players found that macros with no rank use the highest rank they know.
• Hidden action bar: one player reports that /click macros on a hidden action bar, using the spellbook version of a buff, get around the lack of automatic downranking.
• Low-level targets: two players report that a macro buffing or healing a low-level player in the open world gives a too-low-level error, because macros do not downrank automatically.
• Keyboard only: three players say the built-in option only works with keyboard hotkeys, so mouse-button healers still need macros or addons.

See also: WoW Forever Best Hunter Macros: Setups and How to Write Them