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(If you need tech support for this add-on, most evenings I can be found either on the Horde side of Smolderthorn (pop in and /w me if you are having issues) or use TeamSpeak and connect to www.bloodkings.com, I'll be there grinding away up to level 60.)
Thanks for looking into the LockBox! LockBox is a warlock-specific add-on that will seriously uncomplicate the day-to-day level grinding required to reach endgame content.
Generally speaking there are four classes of spells that a 'lock might throw in combat.
1. Curses 2. DOT's 3. Direct damage/heals/mana 4. Direct damage w. a cooldown (Soul Fire, etc)
The LockBox allows you to choose which of the various spells (and in which order) you want your 'lock to throw. Simply binding a key and then repeatedly pressing it will cycle through your chosen list of spells. If a curse is already running on the target you will not cast it again, but simply move on to the next spell in the list. If a DOT is still running, same thing. Also, if a DD spell has a cooldown that is still running the LockBox will not attempt to cast that spell, but move on to another. This is a very simple concept that is very powerful.
The LockBox uses a single string variable (LB_SpellString) to control what spells your 'lock is throwing. You edit this string from the config menu (/lbx) to alter what gets thrown. Edit the string according to the abbreviations in the section below.
NOTICE: MAKE SURE EACH FOUR LETTER ABBREVIATION IS SEPARATED BY A SPACE
ABBRV SKILL LVL NOTES ======================================================================================== PETA - Pet Attack (all) Send in the pet with a basic attack if one is out SKIN - Demon Skin/Armor (all) Cast either Demon Skin or Armor (if you are over 20), either works the same HEAL - Check Health (all) Check your health and Drain Life (14+) or use a healthstone if one is available MANA - Check Mana (6+) Check mana and either Life Tap or Drain Mana (24+) WAND - Wand (all) Start autocasting an equipped wand MATT - Melee Attack (all) Hit something with a stick IMMO - Immolate (all) Cast Immolate if the target doesn't already have it SHBO - Shadow Bolt (6+) Cast Shadow Bolt COWK - Curse of Weakness (4+) Cast Curse of Weakness if the target doesn't already have it CORR - Corruption (4+) Cast Corruption if the target doesn't already have it LTAP - Life Tap (4+) Cast Life Tap converting some of your health into mana (Same code as MANA but w/o the Drain Mana) COAG - Curse of Agony (8+) Cast Curse of Agony if the target doesn't already have it SOUL - Drain Soul (10+) Drain the target's soul if 1)their health is below 35% and you have less than 20 stones CORK - Curse of Reckl. (14+) Cast Curse of Recklessness if the target doesn't already have it DIEU - Curse of Reckl. (14+) This function will change out the curse for CoR if the target is about to die, preventing runners. PAIN - Searing Pain (18+) Cast Searing Pain AMPC - Amplify Curse (20+) (talent) Cast Amplify Curse if the cooldown is up BURN - Shadow Burn (20+) (talent) NTFL - Nightfall (25+) Check for Nightfall and immediately cast Shadowbolt COTN - Curse of Tongues (26+) Cast Curse of Tongues if the target doesn't already have it and is a mana user COEX - Curse of Exhaustion (30+) (talent) Cast Curse of Exhaustion if the target doesn't already have it COEL - Curse of Elements (32+) Cast Curse of Elements if the target doesn't already have it CNFL - Conflagarate (40+) (talent) If Immolate is running, cast Conflagarate COIL - Death Coil (42+) Cast Death Coil COSH - Curse of Shadows (44+) Cast Curse of Shadows if the target doesn't already have it FIRE - Soul Fire (48+) Cast Soul Fire TOPS - Top Up (all) Use Life Tap and HealthStones to top up Mana/Health once the battle's over. SIPH - Siphon Life (30+) Cast Siphon Life if the target doesn't already have it PACT - Dark Pact (40+) Cast Dark Pact until your pet has 100 mana points or you have 75% mana
Generally speaking you should setup your string like this...
Curse, DOT's, Health, Mana (reverse those two if you want to), DD's with cooldowns and then finally a single DD that will be your default attack once the target is fully cursed and DOT'ed.
So let's take the basic string, it goes like this...
First this will send in the pet, if one is out. Then it checks Curse of Agony, Immolation and Corruption. It applies each of those if they are missing. Once that's all done, it checks your health then your mana. If all of that has been done it will cast a shadowbolt and once the target is down you can hit the bound key a few more times to toss off Life Taps until mana is back up.
Let's say you also had the talent for Nightfall, you could do this to insert a nightfall check at the beginning of the run...
As long as Nightfall wasn't affecting you, Lockbox would pass over that section of the string, but once it was there, BAM, instant shadowbolt. As you can see, you have a lot of options in how you setup your string. Keep in mind that any spell that leaves a debuff on the target will only be cast if the target doesn't currently have that debuff, and that simple DD spells (like shadowbolt) should be at the end of the string.
You can access the config screen by typing '/lbx' at a command prompt. The screen allows you to enter 4 different spellstrings. You can also access keybindings and bind actions for cycling through your list of strings or simply directly editing one. Keep in mind that LockBox will ignore any empty SpellStrings and skip on to the next one in the list.
One more thing... if you want to trigger LockBox via a macro as opposed to a keybinding make a macro like this:
/script LockBoxAction();
FEAR KITING: You will also notice a keybinding for Fear Kiting. Bind this to something convenient then select any hostile target and hit the key. If the target is not feared you will fear it. If it is feared you will hit it with Curse of Recklessness 1 which will cancel the fear and bring the critter back to you. Hit it again and the Recklessness will be over written with Curse of Agony 1 which sends the critter fleeing. Neat, eh?
So is LockBox good for PvP? Absolutely, especially if you happen to play a sissy alliance warlock on Smolderthorn! :^) Otherwise, I wouldn't really rely on it in a PvP situation beyond the bare basics. PvP is too chaotic and LockBox counts on most of your PvE encounters being pretty much the same. Cast the curse, Cast the DoT, etc., etc.
CREDITS: I need to thank two ppl specificaly: Dustin J. Wilson, creator of LockTools, which I borrowed from substantially. Dustin, you da man! Sure I could possibly have written LockBox without your addon, but it woulda been hella harder. Thanks! And also Graguk, who's stickied macro posting in the Warlock forums really got me started on creating this. Of course I also owe a great debt to all the other mod writers, many of whose addons were drug up onto the operating table to find out how they worked. Thanks folks! Oh, and a special thanks to the code monkeys over at Blizzard who allow us to play in their sandbox.
