GroupWatch
Intro
GroupWatch shows your entire party or raid in a compact grid, allowing you to see everyone's status. Each member's panel will turn red with aggro, and will show their health, power (mana/energy), multiple timerbars (to which spells can be bound and their buffs tracked), multiple buttons (to which spells can also be bound) and the heath of their target.The GroupWatch WoW AddOn was originally designed for tanks, but was great for healers and useful to everyone. This GroupWatch RIFT AddOn is designed for healers, but may also be useful for tanks or anyone.
Current Features:
- Lists a grid of group members
- Shows Members' Health and Power
- Up to 5 timer bars which can track buffs or debuffs
- Up to 12 spell buttons can be shown, in a selectable amount of rows
- Shows Members' Target's Health
- Shows Damage Absorption
- Frames turn red if the group member has aggro.
- Frames fade out slightly when unit is out of line-of-site
- Frames fade out greatly when unit is out of general range
- Settings are specific to your role, and will change when you swap roles
Basic Usage
After installation, open up RIFT and type "/groupwatch". The configuration window will come up, all frames will display as if you are in a full raid. (this makes it easier to see your changes) The options window provides complete customization to how each frame looks, including the sizes of the frames and all of their components, as well as the number of timers and buttons.The configuration window also provides some simple instructions on how to set up this AddOn. To quickly bind a spell, simply drag it from your spellbook onto either a timerbar or a button in the demo frame to the right of the options window. The dropped spell will be bound to left-click with no modifiers and targeted at the party member.
Operating this addon's features is as simple as clicking what you want on who you want. Click on a party member's name to target them, or their target to target it. Or you could just click one of the timers or buttons to cast a spell or use an item on the configured target. If you've forgotten which action you've bound, mouse over it's icon and check the tooltip.
While the configuration window is open, there will be a large blue box in the upper left of the grid. This handle will allow you to move the groupwatch frames by left-clicking and dragging. There will also be a small blue box for the pet frame that functions similarly. These handles will only appear while the configuration window is open, so you cannot move the frames during use.
Advanced Configuration
For more options on spell bindings, left-click or right-click on either a timerbar or a button in the demo frame to the right of the options window. A dialog will appear, which provides advanced options for the button you clicked. (if you left-clicked, it will allow you to modify spells bound to the left-click action, where if you right-clicked, you can bind spells to the right-click action)Two options are available at the top of the set dialog. The "Edit Raw Macro" option allows one to bind a macro in place of spells and items. See the "Custom Macros" section for more information. The "Fade out when buffed" option is only available on buttons, and if checked will make the button fade out if the buff it's bound ability casts is already on the target. The ability will still be castable in this state.
The top drop-down box is the modifier; this will let you select which of the binding's modifiers to edit: none, shift, ctrl, or alt. Each modifier can have a different spell bound to it. Any changes you make in the area below this drop-down box will be specific to the selected modifier, and when you change modifiers the area below this slider will update to reflect the modifier currently being edited.
After a modifier is selected, the spell bound to it can be configured in the area below the slider. There will be a box, allowing the dropping of a spell from your spellbook or an item from your inventory. Right-clicking the box will remove the bound spell from it. Below that box, you may choose the desired target:
- "unit": the group member that the frame belongs to.
- "unit-target": the frame's group member's target.
- "unit-target-target": the frame's group member's target's target.
- "unit-pet": the frame's group member's pet.
Settings are autosaved, so when you are done, just click the "X" in the upper right.
Custom Macros and Fade-Out Options
If the advanced binding options are not enough, the set dialog allows you to select the "Edit Raw Macro" option. When selected, the current binings will be converted to a macro, which you can edit to your heart's content. Unchecking the box will revert back to the original spell bindings and return to the set interface.Writing macros in GroupWatch required a small ammount of additional knowlege. In addition to the normal targets (@pet, @focus, etc.) there is @unit, which will target the unit belonging to whatever frame you click the macro in. To target the unit's target, append a t. (@unitt for the unit's target, @unittt for the unit's target's target)
The #show command holds great importance in GroupWatch macros. Using "#show spellname" will not only show the spell's tooltip, but will also show the spell's icon for buttons and track the spell's buffs for timerbars. The macro is autosaved, so just click the "X" in the upper right to apply your macro.
Whether using a macro or not, the fade-out drop down box allows buttons to fade out under special conitions:
- "Fade Out: Never": The button does not fade out. (cooldowns will still show)
- "When buffed": The button will fade out if a buff caused by the button's spell is on the unit.
- "When cleansed": The button will fade out when the unit does not have a cleansable debuff on it.
- "When unusable": the button will fade out when the ability is flagged as unusable.
When binding a cleansing ability to the left-click modifier:none slot, "When cleansed" will automatically be selected. This can be changed after the ability is bound if one desires. When unbound, the slot will revert to "Fade Out: Never". Examples of "Unusable" abilities include Break Free when not snared, or Harmonic Distortion with no charges.
Buff by name
The set dialog also includes a textfield that allows you to specify a buff to track by name. You may specify a buff in either the normal set mode or macro mode, and it is not dependent on the modifier or target. Using this option will track any buff, caused by you, your group members, or even enemies, as long as it's name matches the name you give here.If you set this option on a timerbar, the timerbar will work as before, except instead of tracking the left-click modifier:none spell's buff, it will track the buff whoose name you give it. Giving a buff name only affect the visual timerbar aspect, and any spells bound to be cast on click will still cast as normal.
If you set this option on a button, the button's icon will become blank. The button's icon will reappear as the specified buff's icon when the buff appears on the unit, and will dissapear when the buff ends. Giving a buff name only affects the icon, and any spells bound to be cast on click will still cast as normal.
To unset this option and return to ability tracking, erase the text in this field and leave it blank. Needless to say, the "#show" command becomes useless when using this option. Also, both buffs and debuffs can be tracked this way.