It's "Ask the Experts Time" from a complete newb

well… since it appears to be a NEW hunter, my only recommendation would be to do it on MG.  :-p

Seriously, this is my Idiot's Guide to PVPing:

Go to  https://huntsmanslodge.com/staging/macros/ and copy paste the macros into the MACRO area of your WoW UI (there are instructions on how to do that right in that page.)

Drag and drop the macros onto your 1 through 0 keys.  Practice strafing and moving forwards and backwards.  I don't use a fancy keyboard either. Dance in Org, preferably naked, to get the rhythm down right.  Now, 

Get out there and start using them, to see what they do.  

I'm a Do It kinda gal; i can theory craft and understand things with the best of them, but if I don't have them breathing in my face and adrenalin running, then it doesn't actually get under my skin, if that makes sense.  

I use modifiers to handle everything…the problem is, you're going to have to memorize just exactly what you put into your buttons.

And I have memory problems.

Personally, what I did was unbind Tab, Q, E, F, V, T and G. You can unbind R if you want but I left it in to address the tells I get every now and then. Then I bound my hotkeys onto them as follows.

F = 4

Q = 5

E = 6

T = 7

G = 8

V = 9

Tab = 0

Buttons - and = are my panic buttons, so I make sure I couldn't simply press and waste the cooldowns bound to those buttons…having grown up in the arcades, I'm a twitch gamer by nature. But you can bind them to F1 and F2 if you like, that way you don't have to let go of your mouse.

The above makes it easier to access everything I need. So what's the catch?

Welp…catch is, when you use modifiers (shift, ctrl, alt) to access your macros, you're going to have to wrestle with keyboard rollover.

Cheaper keyboards can only allow a certain number of buttons on either half of the keyboard (not including the numpad, I believe) to be pressed at the same time. If, like me, you have one of those keyboards, you're going to have to do a bit of testing to find out which keys work with what modifiers and so on.

HOWEVER, they essentially allow you to bind 25-odd abilities onto a handful of buttons. So I kept them.

Here are some of my main macros, to give you an idea (the rest are situational, like my Spirit Mend macro):

Half-and-Half Defensive Macro:

#showtooltip
/cast [nomod] Wing Clip
/cast [nomod] Disengage
#showtooltip
/castsequence [mod:shift] reset=9 Trap Launcher, !Freezing Trap(Frost – Trap Launcher), nil
/cast [mod:alt] Snake Trap
/use [mod:alt] 14

Pressing this button by itself will cast Wing Clip and Disengage at the same time, ensuring that I make melee very nervous. With my shift modifier I have access to my Trap Launcher + Freezing Trap, and pressing Alt uses my PvP trinket while laying down a few snakeys.

Gets-'em-Everytime Feign Trap Macro:

#showtooltip

/cast [nomod] Feign Death; [mod:shift] Freezing Trap; [mod:ctrl] Ice Trap; [mod:alt] Snake Trap

Feigns Death to remove caster targeting on me, then with a few modifiers I can lay a few traps while nobody's looking—hopefully.

Anyway, hope that helps. =)

Thanks for the input both of you. Some good stuff.

Niika-have an 11 Orc on MG right now. Latency is getting on my nerves. Appreciate the load the macro thing, I'll re-read,  missed that.  Spose I should be a tad clearer, I'm not anti-macro or kb-just so fn many, lol. What I'm trying to determine is how to bind and use the abilities I typically don't-intimidation for example. scare beast etc.

So heres my current kb etc n frankly I'm gonna run out of room-who can stretch to 9 and 0? 😉

Q-E left right-always strafe or panic. Mouse for forward and turning. I 'think" L is my move backwards-never use it

A-Pet Att call back macro

D-FD

Z-Auto run

X- Freezing Trap

C-Ice Trap

W- MisD

S-Fervor

R-BW blow all cooldowns + a Stormwind Vendor Macro

F-Call, mend Pet macro.

G-Dismiss Pet

V-Disengage

CL-Assist Pet

T-TL macro w Explosive

~ HM

1-KS, 2-Arc bound to scoll down as well, 3-KC bound to scroll up as well, 4-Cobra, 5-Multi, 6-Concuss, 7-Scatter, 8-Freezing T Macro, 9-Ice T Macro, 0-camo

F1-SS, F2-Hawk, F3-Fox, F4-RFire, F5-Bandage macro, F6-Pot or tame macro , F7-Snake T

I'm thinking of adding the Aspect of the Hawk line in all the shot macros-found it cost me DPS in PVE, drpped from 6k to 4k. That'd free up F2.

That's about it. I've tried modifiers and it fks me up. IF I can get an idea of priority shots for PvP and that mouseover thingy, then I'll re-arrange these so I can die a slower death as opposed to a fast un. Again appreciate the time.

The mouseover thingy I can't help you with, I'm stumped on how to bind it properly when using a modifier (I've tried it so many times and it won't work, I have no idea about the priority of the [target] modifier).

But maybe I can help with shot priorities:

Often after Marking somebody, I open with Serp Sting on a target, then Concussive Shot. That way it takes them a wee bit longer to get to me while the dots start ticking. If it's a particularly dangerous target like a Rogue or Mage, I hit Intimidation to buy me 3 seconds to unload the strongest bursts I have. Intimidation also works wonders if you use it to follow up your pet's Charge, if your pet is talented for it.

Since I run BM, that's a Kill Command followed by an Arcane spam. MMs usually go for a hasted Aimed Shot followed by a Chimera Shot if they have the focus (level 69+ only). Just keep an eye out for the Conc Shot, you might wanna refresh it as soon as it runs out, and don't get too trigger happy (see below).

The real problem arises when you need burst and you're out of Focus. Keep your enemy stunned, rooted or snared if you need to bust out a few Steady Shots. Sn Ice Trap or a Snake Trap should do the trick, but Concussive Shot will work nicely...just make sure you're in the clear and nobody has snuck up on you from behind (*cough* Rogues and Ferals *cough*). It gets easier at level 83 with Aspect of the Fox, though.

My thanks to both of you, waded in to BG's and had some fun this eve in between forgetting the new keybinds, macros n such   

Thanks for the macro Gryzor-is a handy one.

Yay, more pvp hunters. If you want to PvP as a hunter, bewarned: Hunter is one of the hardest classes to do well on, but that is satisfying in its own way. Think of playing a game on easy versus hard. One, you blow through.... but it was easy and left no challenge... The other, you died a lot, worked hard.. but by golly, when you were done, you felt proud. You accomplished something that most do not. The feeling that you completely dominated your opponent when he had every advantage is the reason we play hunters.

1. Keybinds are a big deal on a hunter, a clicker or a keyboard turner simply cannot play a hunter in competitive pvp.

Macros:

(My syntax will probably be wrong in some areas, but you will get the jist of what the macro does and should be able to fix it yourself. This is because I haven't played in a considerable amount of time)

You can see a instructional video I made that explains in detail more of the complex macros you might use. Search “Bandet Macros” on youtube or WCM.

A. /stopcasting

You won't be able to fit all macros on your character-specific macros, they will spill over into general.

First off, EVERYTHING needs to be a macro with /stopattack on it. That means you will stop casting steady/cobra when you want to use anything else. Otherwise you might die when you really need deterrence. /stopattack will come at the front of EVERY macro, so I will not bother listing it any more. It needs to be there. There are only a few exceptions: On your steady/cobra shot macros, and on chimera shot.

B. Aspects

Secondly, you need the aspect swapping macros. It is rather simple, all you really do is make a macro like this:

/cast aspect of the hawk

/cast (Ability)

You generally want to have this macroed to all of your damage-dealing abilities. Arcane shot, chimera, explosive, serpent, kill, everything.

Conversely, yo u need the fox macros:

/cast aspect of the fox

/cast (ability)

This is the same thing, but with fox. You only need it for cobra or steady however, and this is the one macro you will NOT want stopcasting on.. you will interrupt your cast while trying to cast your next one.

Also, these aspect macros have a downside: if you are stationary, you will cast fox while casting steady/cobra and you will lose dps. I personally use these macros in PvE, which improved my dps significantly. It allows you to swap to hawk while moving to cast your instants. However, this would mean you are in fox every time you hit steady/cobra. This is a significant dps loss, so I use two macros for steady, one switches to fox and one to hawk. If I am stationary, I use the hawk one. This is not as important in PvP as steady hits dick for damage anyways, but part of playing competitively is min/maxing. If you are SV you want to do it always in PvP as cobra does noteworthy damage.

C. Focus and Mouseover

An important part of macros in PvP is the focus target macro. It allows you to cast an ability on your focus target. This allows you to do it faster and not swap targets. This also conceals your cast, if you are a mage casting polymorph, it shows his main target not his focus, so you really don't know who he is casting it on. You can probably make a good guess, but you don't know for sure.

The focus target macro is set up like this:

/cast [target=focus] (ability)

The drawback of these macros is of course, you need a focus target, which means an initial keybind. This is not such a problem in arenas, you generally set it on someone at the start of a match, and it is not likely to change much. In world PvP and Bgs, you have to set your focus target every time you fight, and are likely to be required to change it as the opponents come and go mid fight. Also, this is especially a hinderance for hybrid classes who might set a focus on a friend to toss instant heals in an arena as opposed to an opponent for cc. They will almost never do this in world pvp/bgs so they lose out on a lot of the potential their class has. It is ALWAYS better to keep a friend alive than to do an extra bit of damage.

So, what I do is use a /mouseover macro:

/cast [target=mouseover] (ability) is how it is done.

Basically, it will cast the ability on the target your mouse is hovering over.

This is the same premise that the addon clique(?) is based on for healers. It casts heals on mouseovers so they do not have to constantly target swap when raiding.

Arena heroes always frown at me when I tell them how it works, basically because they do nothing but arena so they do not understand the penalties of a focus macro when in world pvp or bgs, especially rated bgs.

How I set it up:

/cast [target=mouseover,exists] (ability)

/cast (ability) {or: /cast [target=bandet] (master's call/roar of sacrifice) for those abilities}

What this does is casts the ability on my mouseover target, if it exists. If not, it casts the ability on my current target. This basically removes one keybind you have to make, one for an ability, and one for the focus of that ability. However, this requires a lot more precision than a focus macro, and it is prone to errors if you are not competent, it can also fail if you do not face the correct direction. Pros and cons, as well as how it works is explained more in detail in my bandet macros video.. If you played many mmos before wow, you probably already got good at clicking, and this is easier. If you have never done anything like this, you will have to practice a lot before you notice it being superior to focus macros.

These macros are especially good for master's call and roar of sacrifice in bgs, as you can give them to any of your teammates without a focus, something most hunters will not do in a bg. My brother uses this on his retadin in bgs to heal his teammates, it is very effective.

I consider this going above and beyond competitive play, but when you play a hunter as long as I have, playing is mostly passive and I can spare attention to things like a mouseover macro.

I however, still use focus target macros for silencing/scatter as well as mouseover macros for them, for when I am arenaing, for when I need to be extremely precise in my timing, and don't want to mess up.

D. General purpose macros

Things like my “pet callback” macro I use as well.

Basically:

/petpassive

/petfollow

This makes my pet stop attacking the target and come back to me. This is important a lot of times in PvP as you don't want your pet near the enemy, either because they are killing it, or you don't want them to be able to heal off of it (say, a dk). There are other macros that do the same thing, but I use this one. There isn't much difference, it works fine.

C. Trap Launcher

Thus far, I know of no one who has managed to make a working trap launcher macro. This is mainly because there is a slight delay In the activation of trap launcher before you can select the trap. Mostly because of blizzards shoddy hunter programming. If a mage had this problem, it would have been fixed in beta, but they won't even acknowledge it.

The only way to make a macro for this is to use an outside source. This, strictly speaking, is illegal, as a out-of-game macro can be used for malicious purposes, and blizzard will not distinguish between a harmful and a benign macro, all are equally illegal, despite if you are using it to solve problems created by blizzards own neglect.

Even if it is technically illegal, there is no way for blizzard to know,, or most likely they won't care if 

they do know. They just keep rules like that as a “disclaimer” to ban when they need to. Using a macro within your hardware, such as a gaming keyboard or mouse, nearly all of which are capable these days, you basically set it to hit two buttons when one is pressed, with a slight delay in between. Generally, you can just record hitting trap launcher and then the trap, and it will have an accurate delay. This is completely undetectable, as it is not a program and is running internally. You could use a program if you really wanted to, such as macrogamer, but that is detectable as it is a third party program. Most likely they won't care anyways, but if you must, use a gaming device and be safe. As long as you don't make a repetitive macro for botting, it is impossible to detect.

2. Keybindings.

First off, I have to say.. if you want to play a hunter, get a razer naga. Anyone who has one will tell you how amazing it is. Basically, it has the numpad on the side of the mouse for 16 additional keybinds. It does not actually ADD keys to your keyboard, but the numpad is generally far out of range for any acceptable keybind anyways. Razer naga is pretty much a class requirement. I don't mean to be an advertisement, but unless there is another mouse that does the same thing, it really is the way to go.

A. Location

Generally, your keybinds on your keyboard go as far as T,H,B, on the letters, and to about F4 or “6” above the letters, depending on how large your hands are. Yes, some people have a natural advantage at wow depending on hand and finger size, Unfair right? However, there is enough keybindings.. if you know where to look. You can increase your reach by using ESDF to move, instead of WASD. You can re-bind your strafe keys, Q and E, or W & R, to A and D, or S&F to gain two additional keybinds. You shouldn't be keyboard turning anyways, use your mouse to turn. Additionally, you can unbind your walk backwards key, S or D (because you don't backpedal, RIGHT?)

B. Modifiers

You can use shift, alt, and ctrl + any other key to create a new keybind. You can even use ctrl+shift+key for even more. Generally alt is not as commonly used as the position is harder to reach with any finger but your thumb or your index finger, so unless it is modifying a key that your index finger doesn't need to be used to press, you probably would rather use shift or ctrl. You don't want to use your thumb, you need to keep that free for jumping, since many keys would have to be used mid-jump. Conversely, you do not want to use a key to modify with shift that you normally would need your pinky to press. Ctrl can be palmed, so you can use any key with it, but shift is harder to palm as you might hit ctrl as well. You probably do not want to modify a key that you use for movement, as that will not be able to be used while moving. Modifiers will require a lot of practice to use, but once you got it down your keybinds are many.

C. The strategy

After you have stretched your amount using default changes and hardware upgrades, you should have plenty. I can't just tell you what I use, you really need to bind them in a way that works for you. It isn't just assigning everything to a key, but an important analysis of your play. For example, you would want something you use often, and need to use quickly as something that would not be a modifier or that is difficult to press. This ensures that you can easily reach it while moving, jumping, turning, and you don't get fatigued by trying to press CTRLSHIFTALT r every time you want to steady shot.

You never want to move your right hand off of your mouse, so do not make a keybind that requires that. Nearly everything you want to be bound such that you can hit it without taking your left hand off of your movement keys. The exceptions are abilities that you do not use while moving, such as feign death, aimed shot, mounts, and other various casts like dismiss pet and scare beast. It is okay to take your hand off your movement keys to press them, as you need to be still to press them anyways.

This is why the razer naga is so good, because it gives you an additional 16 keys, which are all able to be modified by shift and ctrl, that do not have any impact on your movement.

Once you know all the buttons you CAN use for binds, and know what is most important to you, it is really simple.

So, bind whatever you thinks work for you with the following criteria:

1. All abilities that can be used while moving should be bound such that it does not require you to move your left hand from your movement keys. If you cannot fit them all, prioritize them so that abilities that are used less are the ones that you move your hand for, like, rapid fire, deterrence, multishot, etc.

2. The bound keys should be prioritized such that the ones you press most often, or are most important (Disengage, scatter, silence, etc) are the ones that are easiest for you to reach. This ensures that something you press a lot is more accessible than something you don't, makes sense right? Also, you will eventually miss press a key, but we do this to minimize the risk.

Once you have everything set up, just play WoW. Continually use them and then decide what changes you need to make to be more efficient. Get used to the keybinds before doing any modifying, so you know that the bind itself is inefficient, not just your inexperience. For example, I had viper sting bound to the same key for over two years, until there came a time in which I had to use it against a target while jump shotting and running in a circle around the top platform of a tower in Alterac valley. I simply couldn't reach my viper sting bind in that situation, so I changed a bind that I had for two years to accommodate a specific scenario. I do that all the time, and If I still played, I would still be making changes.  

A quick post for now...

I liked Bandet's use of two macros for steady/cobra... I can offer:

#showtooltip Steady Shot

/cast [nomod] !Aspect of the Fox; !Aspect of the Hawk

/cast Steady Shot

/cast Auto Shot

/petattack

/petdefensive

This will cast Steady Shot, Auto Shot and send the pet into attack every time you press the key. If you use any modifier at all, (Shift/Alt/Ctrl) it will cast Aspect of the Hawk, otherwise it will cast Aspect of the Fox, allowing you to move and shoot. If you are already in the Aspect you select, it still casts it, but won't toggle it off thanks to the "!".

Also there is the traps:

#Showtooltip [nomod] Freezing Trap; Immolation Trap

/cast [nomod] Freezing Trap(Frost); Immolation Trap(Fire)

#showtooltip [nomod] Ice Trap; [mod:shift] Exploding Trap; [mod:alt] Snake Trap

/cast Trap Launcher

/cast [nomod] Ice Trap(Frost); [mod:shift] Exploding Trap(Fire); [mod:alt] Snake Trap(Nature)

The first will drop a Freezing Trap without a modifier, or an Immolation Trap with one.

The next will launch an Ice Trap with no modifier, an Exploding Trap on SHIFT or a Snake Trap on ALT.

It is a little clunky. Once you press the key the first time, you are in Trap Launcher Mode. You need to position your mouse where you want the trap to land. Hit the key a second time with the relevant modifier and off it goes.

The trap selections are up to you, the above is just how I have it set up for me.

Cheers,

D

Okay, I've time for some more... (no groans please...)

My set up... (MM)

The tilde key (left of 1) is Auto Run

1   Aimed Shot

2   Steady Shot

3   Damage Macro.... Multi Shot, Arcane Shot, Kill Command, Tranq Shot

4   Chimera Shot

5   Concussive Shot

6   Kill Shot

7   Tranq Shot

8   Widow Venom

9   Camoflague

0   Flare

F1 Hunter's Mark

F2 Nuke Macro...    Rapid Fire, Call of the Wild, Potion of the Tol'vir, Roar of Recovery

F3 Master's Call - Player

F4 Master's Call - Pet

F5 Freeze Trap/Immolation Trap macro as above

F6 Launch Ice, Exploding, Snake Trap as above

W Forward

Q Strafe Left          I changed from WASD to have my shot keys easier to select from my directional keys.

E Strafe Right        I mouse turn, but have Shift modifier to turn Left or Right on Q and E if required.

S Backpedal

A  Disengage

Shift-S Feign Death

D Deterrence (Wing Clip until I get Deterrence)

R Interupt - Scatter Shot

T Multi Shot

Y Interupt - Silencing Shot

F Swiftness Potion

G Mount

H Hearth

Z Mend Pet

X Health Pot

V Aspect Switch - Hawk/Fox

Space      Target Enemy Player - Addon called Smarttargeting - sets to Enemy Player in BGs/Arena or any enemy in PVE

Tab         Jump

I have lesser used situational abilities in wider slots.

I'm a self confessed altoholic, so I developed this setup for every alt. The names of the abilties vary but not what they do.

Cheers,

D

Okay it's now been a whopping 4 days of my PvP BG experience. Much fun.

Thanks much to both and my head may indeed explode as I absorb this and the other things I've been reading:) I'll try to get a SS for ya if it happens. It appears from the posts, I'm gonna have to embrace 'mods' to some extent-not a fan but I'm outta room.

Darrwyn-I'm assuming your SH macro is applicable for Cobra? One of the biggest pains in the ass I currently am having is the aspect switch which I really only need for Cobra but I gotta have it as I'm always moving so this may be the answer-I shall give it a try. If it does solve it, happy Dwarf even tho I'm not an altaholic kinda guy-this one I won't have a prob with. God knows the aspect switch in the midst of a fight has is a pain for me.

Please explain the pet lines of the macro to me, as in why needed? I'm old, be kind. I also have Cobra bound to 4, I'll need to figure out a way to use shift without getting the FN action bar roll instead:) That I read about disablin somewhere.

Bandet- I agree, if I wanted it easy I'd play a whatever. I don't, I play a BM hunter and have gained much info from Garwulf as he does play BM PvP so fortunately I have quite a few of your macros or variations. I did try having the !Aspect of the Hawk line in all my instants but found it fn up-may give it another whirl. Probably had something wrong.

You're right on the mouseover masters call etc. macros, hell I get thanked for using that so no, I'd say hunters don't do it a lot in random bg's. Seems sensible to me tho *shrug* Have it with scatter too.

I could give a shit about dying a lot-I like spirit healers. It's a seriously steep learning curve but given I haven't played all that long and only soloed stuff (never done a pug, raid, the guild thing or whatever)-eventually I won't. Soloing may or may not have given me a marginal edge starting out PvP as I'm used to movin around like a spastic puppet in 5 man heroics and no, I do not backpedal and my right hand is emotionally attached to my mouse so it never leaves it. That being said, I'd never thought about binding the stationary abilities to off the mouse keys. Given I'm so entrenched now in rh always being on the mouse, that ought to be a trainwreck:) Naga might help or mod.

A very bad habit I picked up, which is a waste of an important key is HM on A. My Pet control macro is D, I'm okay with that but I gotta get off A for HM. That's a mucsle mem thing at the moment and proving a bitch to break. Maybe I'll hire a Russian Dominatrix to whip me everytime I use it… or find an invaluabe ability to bind it to.

Now on to your tips, responses and some questions.

The stopcasting or stopattack is great info, I currently do not have it in every shot and that probably explains a few deaths:) I'll drop it in. I'm assuming it will not affect the other lines in the macro?

I may, depending on how anal retentive I get about PvP grab the naga mouse. I am not a big alt fan so right now pretty much all of my bound alt tools are ones I do not need to save my ass or kill. A lot of trap launches actually n fervor, christ I have so much goin on I can't even remember em. That in itself may be an issue, too much too fast. Patience old man patience. Your reference to viper and adjusting is a good point.

As for all the rest of the information, I'll absorb and as all of you have said, I'll bind abilities and everything else to the keys that work for me and and see what shakes down.

Lastly, I 'think" I'm heading in the right direction with gear , spec n pet build. but any input would be appreciated. Usually I'm runnin with my spirit wolf Snuff and that specific build. Here's my armory thingy. Agio

Thanks again.

Stopcasting will not affect the macro at all.

You also want it on EVERYTHING. Not just your attacks. You need to stop casting to feign, or deterrence.

You will have to be careful though, can't spam abilities, you will stop the cast before it is done. However, it is better than not being able to stop the cast. You can't jump, fox will make it not stop.

The naga is extremely useful in PvE as well, hunters have more buttons to press than most, even in PvE 😛

Sigh, I miss BM in BC.... Bind everything to one macro, set it to mousewheel.... sit there yelling WHEEEEEEEE spinning the mousewheel, get top dps, flame mages for sucking.

Main things i'd recommend on your gear:

40 Agi gem in your gear > resilience socket bonus

For your spec:

You don't really need bestial discipline. Pet focus is broken (as far as I know it still is), it randomly restores to full, so all talents that buff focus regen don't really have that big off an effect. This bug has existed for a while, blizzard doesn't seem to care and no hunters are really surprised about that. I'd recommend kindred spirits.

Don't bother with armor/health pet talents unless its a tenacity pet and you are trying to tank old raid bosses. If someone wants to kill your pet, that won't even phase them. Get more movement speed & serpents swiftness.

Okay got it-I'll put stopcasting on EVERYTHING, even if it isn't while playing WoW.  /stopcasting "do laundry" even.

Please explain the 40 Agi gem in your gear > resilience socket bonus.

The pet I'm using is maxed out for speed-I'm only using this  one  for PvP primarily.

I'll figure out the key spamming n stuff-lots to learn but it's fun and despite my nifty sig, I strive for mediocrity, not terrible terrible. Well, occasionally I go for really fn bad.

Agio said:

 

Darrwyn-I'm assuming your SH macro is applicable for Cobra? One of the biggest pains in the ass I currently am having is the aspect switch which I really only need for Cobra but I gotta have it as I'm always moving so this may be the answer-I shall give it a try. If it does solve it, happy Dwarf even tho I'm not an altaholic kinda guy-this one I won't have a prob with. God knows the aspect switch in the midst of a fight has is a pain for me.

Please explain the pet lines of the macro to me, as in why needed? I'm old, be kind. I also have Cobra bound to 4, I'll need to figure out a way to use shift without getting the FN action bar roll instead:) That I read about disablin somewhere.

 

Yes, the Steady Shot and the Cobra are interchangeable. I used Steady as I'm MM specced.

Pet lines.... I like to make sure my pet is attacking the same target I am, so

/petattack      makes sure he either moves to attack my current target, or continues to attack my current target.

/petdefensive  I like my pet to defend himself if he's attacked, or me if I'm attacked. Some prefer he's passive until sent to attack. 

/petpassive   I don't use this, but I imagine that if his current target dies, he'll return to me.

Try putting HM on F1. It's easy to get to. I'd suggest...

#showtooltip Hunter's Mark

/cast [@mouseover,harm][@target,harm] Hunter's Mark; targetenemyplayer

/petattack

/petdefensive

I roam around the battleground spamming this when not in combat.

If I have my mouse on an enemy, HM will be placed and the pet will go attack it.

If I have a target, it will place HM and the pet will attack it.

If I don't have a target, it will select the closest enemy player (in range) and the pet will attack it. I just tap thekey again to place HM. 

if you don't like the auto target in the macro just don't use it. Hit your tab or whatever key you've set up for targeting.

Hope this explained what you were needing.

Cheers,

D

As hunters we are better than everyone else at detecting stealthed enemies, and this macro has ferreted out rogues and ferals tons of times. It is invaluable if defending a flag, or a flag carrier.

Thanks-For now I've kept mine on passive and used a couple of pet macros to control it as I've had it go wandering in the heat of the moment so to speak-that'll change. I mean it's been four days of PvP. I did try the Aspect Cobra Macro-works fine with the stances. Should've tried before asking:) I did switch HM to F1. I'm using one of gars anti rogue/druid macros. Do the same, wander around spamming. Has been most helpful.

Appreciate all the input, has been helpful and plentiful. Now I think I'll go confuse myself learning all the binds n such.

Thanks again.