Post by ezekiel on Feb 7, 2021 6:43:18 GMT -5
New to the server? Want some other bodies around but feeling antisocial? Not sure how to do this bot thing?
I've decided to do a little tips and tricks guide!
Note: I prefer #bot [syntax} over ^[syntax]. But both work. I will try to remember to do both where appropriate, but if you ever see #bot [command] always remember that the ^ is short for #bot , basically.
If you have any questions, please ask them in a reply and I'll both reply and include them in the below post.
First things first!
ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU CAN FIND ALL BOT COMMANDS UNDER "#bot help" AND "^help"! Also, sub commands all have relevant help commands. Por ejemplo, if you type "#bot pet help" or "^pet help", it will display all related pet commands (petremove and petsettype). If you type "#bot sow help" or "^sow help", it will tell you the level required to use it for each class it can be cast by.
As you might have seen in other bot threads, you need to create your bot.
#bot create help
^create help
#bot create [name goes here] [class here] [race here] [gender]
1. Note that for gender, 0 is male and 1 is female. Bot names must be unique for bots. A bot and a player can have the same name, but two players or two bots cannot have the same name. This is for the entire server, not just per character.
2. Class/race combination must be valid. Much as I wanted one, I could not make a wood elf shaman. There will be "tips" for classes further down.
3. You can further customize your bot after creating it, by targeting it and typing the appropriate commands.
Examples:
#bot face [number]
^face [number]
#bot haircolor [number]
^haircolor [number]
#bot hairstyle [number]
^hairstyle [number]
Tip: You can find an available list of all appearance options for a bot by typing "#bot appearance" or "^appearance". There's other stuff like beards and woads you can mess with depending on race/gender.
Note: races do not all use the same face/haircolor/hairstyle values and they're not always on the same scale. For example, most races start with their first values being 0 for these categories, and for hair color as an example, usually goes up to around 20, maybe not quite that high. Some races will skip some values in between. So if you want to mess with the color more, play with numbers and call it a day if you're over 20.
I made my bot(s), now what?
What do you mean? Now you play the game!
Kidding (sort of). For your bots to remain relevant, you must gear them as you would a player. While they're not as powerful of players, they *are* affected by legendary stats and boosts. You don't really need to worry about legendary stats on your bots until you're at around 60-65+ in terms of the levels of the NPCs. Even then, this is mostly to keep them alive if they pull aggro (this WILL happen) and relevant for harder content. If you want them to remain relevant, you can't slack off on gearing them. It's not as important as gearing yourself, but much like your own gear, the more you neglect upgrading, the more it shows (duh). As of my initial writing of this post, my druid bot (arguably the worst healer) regularly heal crits for 30k in mostly GoD-quality gear, with a few infused pieces I decided to give her. LOOT EXTRA KEYS IN LOWER TIER PROGRESSION AND GIVE THE EXTRA CHARMS TO YOUR BOTS!! The last tradeable one is the PoP tier one, though - but seriously, give it to them, it's a great charm and you'll have a hard time finding better for them.
If I gear my bots up, can they be on autopilot?!
NO! You need to actually manage them. Even geared, they WILL get murdered if you're not managing them.
AKA: Here are some combat basics. You need to manage your bots if you want them to be relevant.
Most people choose not to bother, but if you DO want to bother, there's a lot of stuff you can do with a bots you might have a tough time doing on your own, if you're stubborn like me and feel the drive to solo most content at least one time. Please note that this is absolutely down to the player. It's not for everybody. This is just for people that want to keep their bot friendos around in addition to their fellow Norrathians.
There are three particular important commands you need for any given battle if you really want to keep your bot friendos relevant:
#bot hold all
^hold all
This will cause your bots to "suspend" their AI. They will not cast anything unless instructed directly. They will not engage in combat, and they will not fight back (although if a bot has a pet, the pet will fight back on its own behalf and the behalf of its summoner). They will not start fights, they will not buff, and they will not follow.
You need this macro for more dicey pulling, or your bots may refresh a buff or a rune on you and be murdered for their attentive selflessness. This is especially brutal in late game if you're a masspulling madman like most of us prefer to be. Do you want to pull the entire Plane of Fire for your Plane of Fire daily? Fantastic! But before you do, suspend your bots.
Tip: For non-dicey pulls, targeting yourself (F1) will prevent bots from attacking to defend you. They will, however, still buff you (including restoring any damage absorbs) and attempt to heal you if you take sufficient damage and defend themselves if they take a hit as a result. If you have no buffs wearing off, your bots do not have runes to cast, and you do not intend to take much damage, this will usually suffice for pulling. For non-dicey pulls in general, this suffices, as even if your bots pull aggro off of you, it's easy enough to pull back off of them and finish the fight. If/when you lose aggro, though, your pull is over and it's time to fight. If you don't your bots will fight. And honestly, in non-dicey fights, provided you've kept their gear up to date, they will also usually win that fight until you start getting into the higher end-game - endgame GoD and custom tiers and up. For PoP and below, if their gear is up to date, for most fights, they won't usually need you to win their fight as long as they have some source of healing (be it a proc or a healer bot).
Note: If you use this while the bots are moving, they will continue to move and generally go through geometry. Make sure they're not moving.
#bot release all
^release all
This will un-suspend your bots and resume normal AI functioning.
#bot attack all
^attack all
This will command your bots to attack your target.
(!!!) YOU NEED TO INCLUDE THE "ALL". A BOT WILL NOT ATTACK WITH JUST "ATTACK". (!!!)
I recommend putting these two commands - release and attack into the same social macro. Why? Because if you only need to release them, you can use a macro with "attack" on it to do it with either yourself (F1) targeted, or without a target, and it will release them and they won't attack anything. Whereas, anytime you command them attack will also be a time you need them to be released if suspended. A release command used on bots that are not suspended does not have adverse effects.
If you are a pet class, or you have a pet by other means (see: Nagafen tooth skeleton or baby dragon quest), I would also recommend putting /pet attack on this macro.
Unlike pets (in my experience, anyway), bots will generally always change their attack target to the one you have designated, regardless of what's attacking them. Pets tend to start to attack until something else punches them, at which point they change targets.
Note: Bots will attack your target when you turn autoattack on or use offensive actions.
Tip: Bots will not not attack if you complete an action with no target. For example, if you use a single target attack on a melee character, they will attack, as it will land while you still have a target. However if you use an AE attack without a target, they will not attack until you perform an offensive action with a target or tell them to attack. If you begin casting a spell and complete it without a target, while targeting yourself, or generally while having a target that is not the original target of the spell, they will not attack until you have taken damage.
#bot summon all
^summon all
This will summon all your bots in your group to you. This should not affect bots in the group that are not owned by the person doing the commands.
In Everquest, proximity is a huge part of aggro. As a result of both this, as well as making use of #bot hold, you will frequently use this to move your bots to you to join a fight or to pull them out of trouble/aggro.
Note: this will also summon bot pets.
Tip: This can be used effectively in both of the above ways. Frequently when mass pulling, I will do a summon, start combat and tag everything with an AE, then unsuspend them with my release/attack macro. I wait until I've landed my AE so that they don't instantly pull aggro off of me. If you are running a bot that casts runes on you, you may have to use a few AEs, as runes and slows both generate lots of aggro.
In terms of getting a bot out of trouble - as I mentioned above, proximity affects aggro in a really big way in a huge way in EQ. So if you have a bot that has aggro, one way of rescuing them is to actually run away from the NPC, hit your summon macro, then run at the mob and attack it. USUALLY, it will choose to turn and attack you instead, because you are now closer. As a note, this mostly only works with ranged bots. It is less effective with melee bots, as they will run to the NPC. However, if you do use it to rescue a melee, generally running to the mob and standing closer to it than your melee will get aggro back on you.
CLASS TIPS / recommendations and such
Note: I have not botted with every class. Please try out your own bot shenanigans! I will offer my 2c on most bot classes
Generally speaking, I do not recommend using a bot to tank. It can be done, but I generally see it as not being worth the effort. You or your pet, due to lifetaps/saps/self healing/etc are gonna make a better tank unless you are playing a wizard, which is the only thing that wears cloth and has no pets and has basically zero defensive abilities. Bot taunts must be enabled each time you zone, as they default to being off. Also, most players are going to be sturdier than bots, provided their gear is up to date and they are using life-taps and self healing, of which players on Imperium have ample access to. Ask for help on where to find them!
Tip: Kunark shadowknight set shoulders are a clicky lifetap proc for melees and probably the easiest to get (there are better). Shissar's Deathspeaker Staff from Vex Thal is a lifetapping DOT for anybody (including ranged/casters). There is one that's easier to get than that, but its name/drop location escapes me at the moment.
But if you must use a bot tank, I would recommend a shadowknight. Paladins will self heal, but so will shadowknights, and they come with a pet beyond a certain level. Pets with pet gear are extremely powerful on imperium (!!!). Even when significantly underleveled, as is the case with shadowknights and enchanters.
Tanks must be continually told to toggle taunting on. It toggles off when zoning or camping.
#bot taunt on
^taunt on
Note: Tank pets taunt on their own. Earth, for sure. I do not believe air botpets taunt.
It's not a terrible idea, if you want a bot tank, to consider using a magician with their earth pet or wind pet. Earth pets are slightly harder to kill than air pets, and spam roots on their target, which will more or less guarantee them aggro. For targets that are CC-immune, air pets will hold aggro better, because while stuns may be ineffective, stuns still generate a lot of aggro. This is why paladins on the live servers used to (and may still, I don't know!) use this as an aggro tool.
Note: Caster bots (including healers) do not melee. Pets do, though.
From bot tanks to bot pet classes!
Do not use aggro weapons for pets. Even if they're tanking. Use heal weapons. Pets with heal weapons are notoriously difficult to kill with dual wielding pets being leagues ahead of the bots themselves. If the pet can't hold aggro without aggro weapons, it is also likely not strong enough to be tanking what it's fighting. If you give it a set of armor from the Fabled Tac'vi drop, that pet can basically fight the moon from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, and if nothing else, win through a war of attrition. Seriously, don't underestimate how powerful pets are on this server. They don't eclipse players on damage or health, but until you're end-game, they'll usually leave you in the dust on self-healing when dual wielding heal weapons.
This is more so the case if you keep your progression quests relatively up to date, giving you access to more and more powerful pet weapons from the Progression ogre in the guild lobby. And even if you don't? Other players can give your pets and your bots' pets easily. Bot pets will save their gear and persist through zoning and dismissal. However, if the botpet is killed, it's somewhat hit and miss if the botpet's gear will reset or not. When your bot is high enough to earn a new pet spell/upgrade, the gear will also not carry over.
Due to the general power of pets on Imperium, bot pet classes are extremely useful, regardless of what flavor they come in: magician, necromancer, enchanter, beastlord being the main ones. Running a geared bot with a pet that has pet gear is basically like having two characters in one. The pet owner is fully functional with nukes, DOTs, etc etc, whatever's in its arsenal, and the pet itself is extremely powerful due to its powerful pet gear making it both do a lot of damage and making it extremely difficult to kill.
Magician?
This bot type is probably the best bang for your buck of all bot types. The magician itself does high damage, respectable, as always even more so when geared. They also have, generally, the most powerful pets. Their earth and air pets can serve as effective tanks - earth being slightly hardier and spam rooting their targets, with air being slightly more damage and better aggro (as well as spam stuns on stunnable NPCs). Again, though, players are best for taking damage pretty much regardless of class. Their water pet is basically the king of DPS. When you are far enough in progression, you can hail the progression ogre for mystical weapons - including a dagger with a huge backstab mod on it that also is a healing weapon. The water pet, being a rogue, uses this to great effect - though less so as a bot as the backstab mod doesn't apply, but the self healing is still a monster. The fire pet doesn't really have anything specific going for it; it's a pushover compared to the three others and doesn't really have anything that adequately makes up for this.
To change your bot's pet type:
#bot petsettype [air, earth, water, or fire]
^petsettype [air, earth, water, fire]
En...chant...ment?
The enchanter bot type is also one of the best you can run with as a more strategic player, IMO. It's probably dead last of the pet classes, though, in terms of pet awesomeness. Keep in mind, though - despite capping out at level 60, enchanter pets with pet gear can still stand toe-to-toe with most NPCs solo until around mid to late GoD. They will just take a while to kill things starting at around 70.
Technically, it can mez, but I think mez is of limited/nearly no use on this server, as combat on Imperium is much more chaotic than in more classical environments. You're fighting more mobs, you have more AEs, bots are a thing, etc etc. Lulling/calming is another story....
This bot has access to very good buffs. If you don't want to repeatedly return to the guild lobby to refresh your offensive buffs, carry an enchanter with you. They get access to Hastening of Salik (the best haste aside from Fay, equally powerful to the lobby Buff Bot's haste because it's the same spell!) among other things, and slows on mobs are nice.
While invisoman is not as powerful as magician earth/air/water pets (it beats fire), it is a force to be reckoned with. With gear, despite the fact that the pet is level 60 for a level 80 enchanter, it has little to no problems going toe to toe with trash even towards the end of GoD content. He can't go toe to toe with bosses, though, but he does respectable damage and is still extremely difficult to kill (just not if he is the main target of the boss). An 80 enchanter bot will honestly usually die long before its pet geared level 60 invisoman will.
Note that enchanter bots are no longer (as of the time of this edit, 02/08/21) able to charm. If you want to charm you will have to box a charmer
And a small note about enchanter charming in general: your charmed pet can be given pet weapons! This is an extremely powerful pet, though bots cannot do it. Be careful that if your charm breaks, though, that pet not be as easy to re-charm, and harder to kill.
Enchanter bots also have the ability to calm/lull.
#bot calm
^calm
For a strategic player, this is extremely, extremely useful. If you want to pull a boss without company ads? Often calming the other NPCs will do this. Or maybe you want to clear a room without the boss aggroing along with it? Lull the boss, pull and kill the adds.
This can also be used as a tool to help you with quest-turn ins to NPCs that prefer to talk to your headstone after they've murdered you (read: you can use this to help with quests involving KoS NPCs). Keep in mind however that lull does not make you outright immune to aggro, rather, it severely reduces aggro radius (by around 70-99% depending on level). This means it's safe to stand back for hand ins and hails, and you won't be attacked. If you get close enough to step on their feet, however, their feet and your face will make introductions.
So far in my time on Imperium, the only thing I have seen immune to calm/lull was the Gates of Discord end boss. Literally everything else I have used it on, it's worked for whatever purposes I have. Think of it as an out-of-combat mesmerize that doesn't draw aggro or start combat (mezzing will put you in combat if you aren't).
What about necromancers?
Necromancers are probably #2 in terms of pet power. The primary reason they fall behind magicians is the inability to control your necro botpet type - and yes, necros actually have three pet types. A tank, a rogue, and a monk. If this were controllable, they'd probably come damn close to magicians in terms of pet power, with the main thing making magician pets stand out being earth pets rooting and air pets stunning/aggro.
But necros do have lots of DOTs. And DOTs are verah nice here on Imperium.
However, one major consideration that may be relevant to your choice is lifetapping. While magician pets are going to overall be better, as well as more manageable generally, necro bots have probably the best self-sustain of the bot classes (duh). Their damage simultaneously heals them. I'm personally considering putting a necro into my regular party, though enchanter lull is hard to let go of for me.
Still, of the pet classes, I recommend magician for damage and enchanter for utility, but don't underestimate the usefulness of a necro's self-sustain, either.
Where my healers at?
Treehugging druids are very useful. They can give you a nifty damage shield and effective healing, while simultaneously having decent nukes and DOTs. They have some very powerful regen and overall defensive buffs. They can also refresh your SOW without you having to return to the buff bot (up to a certain level, it'll also last longer).
#bot sow sow
^sow sow
Yes, you read that right. Type "sow" twice. This is because at a certain level, #bot sow will begin to use "Scale of Wolf", which, while technically a little faster than SOW itself, it also breaks when you enter combat, making it damn near useless. Your bot will NOT renew your SOW automatically; it must be told to cast it on you.
You can also do a group SOW to buff your whole group. Note that at a certain level, group SOW becomes group wolf form (which works the same way, but if you don't want the illusion, keep using the above command on individual targets).
#bot sow group
^sow group
Druids can also teleport if you like classic travel methods like me!
#bot circle list
^circle list
#bot circle [name]
^circle [name]
Shamans. Shamen? Spiritual outdoorsy rugged healery types that don't actually require organic food to survive.
The shaman is the best buffer, sporting extremely powerful offensive and defensive buffs, and even a haste (though not quite as good of a haste as the enchanter). Shaman also has a pet! And pets are extremely powerful, as mentioned above. If you want to combine pet power into a healer with solid buffs, shaman is an all around good pick. While my main healer bot is a druid, I would have made her a shaman if wood elves could be this class.
A shaman also sports powerful DOTs - as I mentioned earlier, DOTs are very destructive here on Imperium, so this is a big plus. Combine this with their powerful debuffs and you'll find a solid ally here.
And don't forget....
#bot sow sow
^sow sow
What about clerics?
Clerics are the most effective healers, sporting big HP and AC buffs to boot. You won't find a better healer bot than a cleric.
However....................
Clerics bring little else to the table, and between your self heals, lifetaps, and either of the other healers, your healing will be sufficient without a cleric. If you're faced with a fight that you can't defeat with one of the other healers, the odds are a cleric will not make the difference. While they offer stronger heals, they're generally not enough for what you're giving up in the form of DOTs/Nukes/Debuffs from the other healers.
BUT. They are up there with enchanters for calm/lulling power. So there's that. Note that druids can also calm/lull, but are not on par with enchanters (unless you're lulling animals, where they actually surpass enchanters). So they do have this small utility if you want calm/lull but don't want an enchanter.
Okay so what other ways can I blow things up aside from pet classes?
Each of the remaining classes has its ups and downs for damage, although some (looking at you, berserker, monk) are more downs than ups for bots specifically. Bear in mind that all are viable, they are just not necessarily optimal. And also remember this has no bearing on that class' viability when played by a player. I'm of the opinion that monk bots are kind of bad, but monk players are great (full disclosure: I main a monk). But first and foremost, always go with what's fun to you. Again, pretty much any combo is viable, I'm just here to help give you infos so you know what strengths and weaknesses you're playing with as it pertains to bots.
I will rank the remaining damage classes in terms of overall usefulness and offer some ups and downs.
Beastlord: Pet class with monk-adjacent melee damage and shaman-adjacent buffs/debuffs. The beastlord bot does a lot all in one package. Its buffs/debuffs are not as good as shaman, and its personal DPS is not as good as monk, but you add in both of these adjacencies with the fact they get pets? This is your top contender if you want a melee DPS class, hands down. If you're wanting maximum damage from any given bot, first I'd tell you pick magician. Second, I'd tell you pick beastlord. And it's honestly pretty close.
Ranger: I have little experience with ranger bots, but I know that they do solid damage in archer mode and make great ranged DPS, along with having decent survivability through chain armor and self healing to boot. If you specifically want ranged DPS that doesn't have a pet, this is the way to go. They outshine necro and magician bots that do not have their pets with pet gear.
#bot archer on|off
^archer on|off
Note: this command technically works with other classes.
Rogue: Simple. Straightforward. Backstab. I only rank rogue above monks because it's easier to find high backstab damage mods than it is to find high kick damage mods. Monks are more survivable generally speaking, but not enough (for bots) to warrant their use over rogue unless you just like monks, which hey...you're here to have fun! All this stuff is feasible, I assure you.
Monk: Simple. Straightforward. Blossoms earlier than rogue does in terms of damage, but leveling can go quickly, so rogue tends to take the cake.
Berserker: Simple, straightforward, easier to gear than your other DPS bots (due being 2h focused). They don't shine on damage, but they're not bad. They're not as survivable as monks, but probably more survivable than rogues, however the damage difference doesn't particularly make up for it. But berserkers are cool so there's that. Also, most weapons with AE procs are twohanded - so if you want a DPS bot that tears it up with AEs, berserker with a 2h on it that has an AE proc is the way to go.
Bard: While they lack the damage of say, a monk or a rogue, they do come with songs, which can debuff mobs and buff your party. They are particularly useful on the buffs front, because their buffs are songs, and thus are not faced with the buff count limitation. I am not very experienced with bard-botting, so I honestly can't speak for their efficacy. I don't know how reliably they use songs, if at all. Their placement would be at #2 if their songs are used reliably. My understanding is that they are not, so they are here instead.
Wizard: I have little experience with wizard bots, but can see no reason to use them other than the desire to use a wizard. I use a wizard bot for ports if I'm in anti #zone mode (I'm a traditionalist and frequently travel on foot versus via commands, but I view wizard portals as acceptably close to classic...but I also have a druid in my main bot squad, so I usually use her instead)
#bot port list
^port list
#bot port [name]
^port [name
A Bot (command) To Remember, starring Mandy Moore and...what was that guy's name?:
Below I'll list some worthwhile bot commands to remember for various purposes that have not yet come up, as well as some other common disclaimer type things/issues.
#bot bind
^bind
Note: requires a bot class that can cast bind. most magic users get this at level 12.
#bot camp all
^camp all
This logs out all your currently active bots instantly. If your bot is about to die and you are able to camp them instead, it's not a bad idea to do so. If they die, they come back with 20% health and 0 mana. If they're camped, they come back full on both. On the high end when geared, it can take them a bit to regenerate, as they do not regenerate as quickly as players for either pool. Generally speaking I want my bots to be ready to move quickly. That said, I don't do this terribly often, because I have a heal stick on a 1m cooldown that heals my bots for about 20%, and that's usually enough time bought for my to rescue them. I would use camp rescues more if not for that though.
^bottogglearcher
This is an alternative to the above archer command that does not require an on/off notation.
#bot cure [blindness | disease | poison | curse | corruption]
^cure [blindness | disease | poison | curse | corruption]
This is useful if you don't have a higher tier cure charm yet (the charms from progression quests).
Tip: You can make a macro that both uses your necklace and requests a bot cure if you want something removed removed in one try almost every time. However, if you want to cover more than one cure type, this will take more macros. Overall, your charm is the most powerful cure as it cures multiple things at once, but it doesn't hurt to have a helping hand in the form of a macro if you want it.
Note: Even debuff effects that don't have numbers on their icon can sometimes take multiple cures to clear.
Note: requires healer, healer hybrid, necro, SK or bard.
#bot identify
^identify
This identifies an item currently on your cursor. No need for a clicky identifier.
Note: requires caster or bard.
(!!!)INVENTORY MANAGEMENT COMMANDS(!!!)
#bot inventorylist
^inventorylist
#bot inventoryremove [slot ID number, seen in inventorylist]
^inventoryremove [slot ID number, seen in inventorylist]
Make sure you have the correct bot targeted when you do this! The item they return to you will be untradeable (meaning you cannot give it back to them if you make a mistake). This command is necessary to use if you want to replace an item which can go in multiple slots. It will default to the empty slot. If you want to upgrade the bot's right ring, for example, first remove their right ring, then trade the new ring. Do not trade the new ring before removing the one you want to replace, it may likely replace the wrong one. There are a number of caster/healer items that are primary, secondary, ranged - don't forget to do this. For items that cannot occupy multiple slots, you do not need to remove the equipment it's replacing first before giving it to them.
#bot invis
^invis
Useful if you do not yet have an invis clicky or other method of invisibility. Requires a caster, healer, or hybrid. Comes in several variants; "#bot invis help" for a list!
#bot lev
^lev
Useful if you do not have a levitation clicky or other method of levitation. Requires caster, shaman, druid, or hybrid of one of these.
#bot resist [type]
^resist [type]
Useful if you're not capped on resists. Too lazy to list all the classes as it varies from class to class who has resists for what.
#bot sendhome
^sendhome
Functions as a gate spell for you. Requires 50+ wizard. Only useful if you prefer classic travel methods.
#bot size [grow | shrink]
^size [grow | shrink]
Grow/shrink. Requires shaman or beastlord. Good idea to have on hand if you plan to get a dragon pet.
#bot track
^track
Open tracking window. Requires ranger/druid/bard.
Note: Only shows a list of NPCs in the vicinity, does not give directions.
#bot eb
^eb
Enables enduring breath/water breathing. Requires druid, ranger, enchanter, necro, shaman, beastlord.
That's all for now!
I've decided to do a little tips and tricks guide!
Note: I prefer #bot [syntax} over ^[syntax]. But both work. I will try to remember to do both where appropriate, but if you ever see #bot [command] always remember that the ^ is short for #bot , basically.
If you have any questions, please ask them in a reply and I'll both reply and include them in the below post.
First things first!
ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU CAN FIND ALL BOT COMMANDS UNDER "#bot help" AND "^help"! Also, sub commands all have relevant help commands. Por ejemplo, if you type "#bot pet help" or "^pet help", it will display all related pet commands (petremove and petsettype). If you type "#bot sow help" or "^sow help", it will tell you the level required to use it for each class it can be cast by.
As you might have seen in other bot threads, you need to create your bot.
#bot create help
^create help
#bot create [name goes here] [class here] [race here] [gender]
1. Note that for gender, 0 is male and 1 is female. Bot names must be unique for bots. A bot and a player can have the same name, but two players or two bots cannot have the same name. This is for the entire server, not just per character.
2. Class/race combination must be valid. Much as I wanted one, I could not make a wood elf shaman. There will be "tips" for classes further down.
3. You can further customize your bot after creating it, by targeting it and typing the appropriate commands.
Examples:
#bot face [number]
^face [number]
#bot haircolor [number]
^haircolor [number]
#bot hairstyle [number]
^hairstyle [number]
Tip: You can find an available list of all appearance options for a bot by typing "#bot appearance" or "^appearance". There's other stuff like beards and woads you can mess with depending on race/gender.
Note: races do not all use the same face/haircolor/hairstyle values and they're not always on the same scale. For example, most races start with their first values being 0 for these categories, and for hair color as an example, usually goes up to around 20, maybe not quite that high. Some races will skip some values in between. So if you want to mess with the color more, play with numbers and call it a day if you're over 20.
I made my bot(s), now what?
What do you mean? Now you play the game!
Kidding (sort of). For your bots to remain relevant, you must gear them as you would a player. While they're not as powerful of players, they *are* affected by legendary stats and boosts. You don't really need to worry about legendary stats on your bots until you're at around 60-65+ in terms of the levels of the NPCs. Even then, this is mostly to keep them alive if they pull aggro (this WILL happen) and relevant for harder content. If you want them to remain relevant, you can't slack off on gearing them. It's not as important as gearing yourself, but much like your own gear, the more you neglect upgrading, the more it shows (duh). As of my initial writing of this post, my druid bot (arguably the worst healer) regularly heal crits for 30k in mostly GoD-quality gear, with a few infused pieces I decided to give her. LOOT EXTRA KEYS IN LOWER TIER PROGRESSION AND GIVE THE EXTRA CHARMS TO YOUR BOTS!! The last tradeable one is the PoP tier one, though - but seriously, give it to them, it's a great charm and you'll have a hard time finding better for them.
If I gear my bots up, can they be on autopilot?!
NO! You need to actually manage them. Even geared, they WILL get murdered if you're not managing them.
AKA: Here are some combat basics. You need to manage your bots if you want them to be relevant.
Most people choose not to bother, but if you DO want to bother, there's a lot of stuff you can do with a bots you might have a tough time doing on your own, if you're stubborn like me and feel the drive to solo most content at least one time. Please note that this is absolutely down to the player. It's not for everybody. This is just for people that want to keep their bot friendos around in addition to their fellow Norrathians.
There are three particular important commands you need for any given battle if you really want to keep your bot friendos relevant:
#bot hold all
^hold all
This will cause your bots to "suspend" their AI. They will not cast anything unless instructed directly. They will not engage in combat, and they will not fight back (although if a bot has a pet, the pet will fight back on its own behalf and the behalf of its summoner). They will not start fights, they will not buff, and they will not follow.
You need this macro for more dicey pulling, or your bots may refresh a buff or a rune on you and be murdered for their attentive selflessness. This is especially brutal in late game if you're a masspulling madman like most of us prefer to be. Do you want to pull the entire Plane of Fire for your Plane of Fire daily? Fantastic! But before you do, suspend your bots.
Tip: For non-dicey pulls, targeting yourself (F1) will prevent bots from attacking to defend you. They will, however, still buff you (including restoring any damage absorbs) and attempt to heal you if you take sufficient damage and defend themselves if they take a hit as a result. If you have no buffs wearing off, your bots do not have runes to cast, and you do not intend to take much damage, this will usually suffice for pulling. For non-dicey pulls in general, this suffices, as even if your bots pull aggro off of you, it's easy enough to pull back off of them and finish the fight. If/when you lose aggro, though, your pull is over and it's time to fight. If you don't your bots will fight. And honestly, in non-dicey fights, provided you've kept their gear up to date, they will also usually win that fight until you start getting into the higher end-game - endgame GoD and custom tiers and up. For PoP and below, if their gear is up to date, for most fights, they won't usually need you to win their fight as long as they have some source of healing (be it a proc or a healer bot).
Note: If you use this while the bots are moving, they will continue to move and generally go through geometry. Make sure they're not moving.
#bot release all
^release all
This will un-suspend your bots and resume normal AI functioning.
#bot attack all
^attack all
This will command your bots to attack your target.
(!!!) YOU NEED TO INCLUDE THE "ALL". A BOT WILL NOT ATTACK WITH JUST "ATTACK". (!!!)
I recommend putting these two commands - release and attack into the same social macro. Why? Because if you only need to release them, you can use a macro with "attack" on it to do it with either yourself (F1) targeted, or without a target, and it will release them and they won't attack anything. Whereas, anytime you command them attack will also be a time you need them to be released if suspended. A release command used on bots that are not suspended does not have adverse effects.
If you are a pet class, or you have a pet by other means (see: Nagafen tooth skeleton or baby dragon quest), I would also recommend putting /pet attack on this macro.
Unlike pets (in my experience, anyway), bots will generally always change their attack target to the one you have designated, regardless of what's attacking them. Pets tend to start to attack until something else punches them, at which point they change targets.
Note: Bots will attack your target when you turn autoattack on or use offensive actions.
Tip: Bots will not not attack if you complete an action with no target. For example, if you use a single target attack on a melee character, they will attack, as it will land while you still have a target. However if you use an AE attack without a target, they will not attack until you perform an offensive action with a target or tell them to attack. If you begin casting a spell and complete it without a target, while targeting yourself, or generally while having a target that is not the original target of the spell, they will not attack until you have taken damage.
#bot summon all
^summon all
This will summon all your bots in your group to you. This should not affect bots in the group that are not owned by the person doing the commands.
In Everquest, proximity is a huge part of aggro. As a result of both this, as well as making use of #bot hold, you will frequently use this to move your bots to you to join a fight or to pull them out of trouble/aggro.
Note: this will also summon bot pets.
Tip: This can be used effectively in both of the above ways. Frequently when mass pulling, I will do a summon, start combat and tag everything with an AE, then unsuspend them with my release/attack macro. I wait until I've landed my AE so that they don't instantly pull aggro off of me. If you are running a bot that casts runes on you, you may have to use a few AEs, as runes and slows both generate lots of aggro.
In terms of getting a bot out of trouble - as I mentioned above, proximity affects aggro in a really big way in a huge way in EQ. So if you have a bot that has aggro, one way of rescuing them is to actually run away from the NPC, hit your summon macro, then run at the mob and attack it. USUALLY, it will choose to turn and attack you instead, because you are now closer. As a note, this mostly only works with ranged bots. It is less effective with melee bots, as they will run to the NPC. However, if you do use it to rescue a melee, generally running to the mob and standing closer to it than your melee will get aggro back on you.
CLASS TIPS / recommendations and such
Note: I have not botted with every class. Please try out your own bot shenanigans! I will offer my 2c on most bot classes
Generally speaking, I do not recommend using a bot to tank. It can be done, but I generally see it as not being worth the effort. You or your pet, due to lifetaps/saps/self healing/etc are gonna make a better tank unless you are playing a wizard, which is the only thing that wears cloth and has no pets and has basically zero defensive abilities. Bot taunts must be enabled each time you zone, as they default to being off. Also, most players are going to be sturdier than bots, provided their gear is up to date and they are using life-taps and self healing, of which players on Imperium have ample access to. Ask for help on where to find them!
Tip: Kunark shadowknight set shoulders are a clicky lifetap proc for melees and probably the easiest to get (there are better). Shissar's Deathspeaker Staff from Vex Thal is a lifetapping DOT for anybody (including ranged/casters). There is one that's easier to get than that, but its name/drop location escapes me at the moment.
But if you must use a bot tank, I would recommend a shadowknight. Paladins will self heal, but so will shadowknights, and they come with a pet beyond a certain level. Pets with pet gear are extremely powerful on imperium (!!!). Even when significantly underleveled, as is the case with shadowknights and enchanters.
Tanks must be continually told to toggle taunting on. It toggles off when zoning or camping.
#bot taunt on
^taunt on
Note: Tank pets taunt on their own. Earth, for sure. I do not believe air botpets taunt.
It's not a terrible idea, if you want a bot tank, to consider using a magician with their earth pet or wind pet. Earth pets are slightly harder to kill than air pets, and spam roots on their target, which will more or less guarantee them aggro. For targets that are CC-immune, air pets will hold aggro better, because while stuns may be ineffective, stuns still generate a lot of aggro. This is why paladins on the live servers used to (and may still, I don't know!) use this as an aggro tool.
Note: Caster bots (including healers) do not melee. Pets do, though.
From bot tanks to bot pet classes!
Do not use aggro weapons for pets. Even if they're tanking. Use heal weapons. Pets with heal weapons are notoriously difficult to kill with dual wielding pets being leagues ahead of the bots themselves. If the pet can't hold aggro without aggro weapons, it is also likely not strong enough to be tanking what it's fighting. If you give it a set of armor from the Fabled Tac'vi drop, that pet can basically fight the moon from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, and if nothing else, win through a war of attrition. Seriously, don't underestimate how powerful pets are on this server. They don't eclipse players on damage or health, but until you're end-game, they'll usually leave you in the dust on self-healing when dual wielding heal weapons.
This is more so the case if you keep your progression quests relatively up to date, giving you access to more and more powerful pet weapons from the Progression ogre in the guild lobby. And even if you don't? Other players can give your pets and your bots' pets easily. Bot pets will save their gear and persist through zoning and dismissal. However, if the botpet is killed, it's somewhat hit and miss if the botpet's gear will reset or not. When your bot is high enough to earn a new pet spell/upgrade, the gear will also not carry over.
Due to the general power of pets on Imperium, bot pet classes are extremely useful, regardless of what flavor they come in: magician, necromancer, enchanter, beastlord being the main ones. Running a geared bot with a pet that has pet gear is basically like having two characters in one. The pet owner is fully functional with nukes, DOTs, etc etc, whatever's in its arsenal, and the pet itself is extremely powerful due to its powerful pet gear making it both do a lot of damage and making it extremely difficult to kill.
Magician?
This bot type is probably the best bang for your buck of all bot types. The magician itself does high damage, respectable, as always even more so when geared. They also have, generally, the most powerful pets. Their earth and air pets can serve as effective tanks - earth being slightly hardier and spam rooting their targets, with air being slightly more damage and better aggro (as well as spam stuns on stunnable NPCs). Again, though, players are best for taking damage pretty much regardless of class. Their water pet is basically the king of DPS. When you are far enough in progression, you can hail the progression ogre for mystical weapons - including a dagger with a huge backstab mod on it that also is a healing weapon. The water pet, being a rogue, uses this to great effect - though less so as a bot as the backstab mod doesn't apply, but the self healing is still a monster. The fire pet doesn't really have anything specific going for it; it's a pushover compared to the three others and doesn't really have anything that adequately makes up for this.
To change your bot's pet type:
#bot petsettype [air, earth, water, or fire]
^petsettype [air, earth, water, fire]
En...chant...ment?
The enchanter bot type is also one of the best you can run with as a more strategic player, IMO. It's probably dead last of the pet classes, though, in terms of pet awesomeness. Keep in mind, though - despite capping out at level 60, enchanter pets with pet gear can still stand toe-to-toe with most NPCs solo until around mid to late GoD. They will just take a while to kill things starting at around 70.
Technically, it can mez, but I think mez is of limited/nearly no use on this server, as combat on Imperium is much more chaotic than in more classical environments. You're fighting more mobs, you have more AEs, bots are a thing, etc etc. Lulling/calming is another story....
This bot has access to very good buffs. If you don't want to repeatedly return to the guild lobby to refresh your offensive buffs, carry an enchanter with you. They get access to Hastening of Salik (the best haste aside from Fay, equally powerful to the lobby Buff Bot's haste because it's the same spell!) among other things, and slows on mobs are nice.
While invisoman is not as powerful as magician earth/air/water pets (it beats fire), it is a force to be reckoned with. With gear, despite the fact that the pet is level 60 for a level 80 enchanter, it has little to no problems going toe to toe with trash even towards the end of GoD content. He can't go toe to toe with bosses, though, but he does respectable damage and is still extremely difficult to kill (just not if he is the main target of the boss). An 80 enchanter bot will honestly usually die long before its pet geared level 60 invisoman will.
Note that enchanter bots are no longer (as of the time of this edit, 02/08/21) able to charm. If you want to charm you will have to box a charmer
And a small note about enchanter charming in general: your charmed pet can be given pet weapons! This is an extremely powerful pet, though bots cannot do it. Be careful that if your charm breaks, though, that pet not be as easy to re-charm, and harder to kill.
Enchanter bots also have the ability to calm/lull.
#bot calm
^calm
For a strategic player, this is extremely, extremely useful. If you want to pull a boss without company ads? Often calming the other NPCs will do this. Or maybe you want to clear a room without the boss aggroing along with it? Lull the boss, pull and kill the adds.
This can also be used as a tool to help you with quest-turn ins to NPCs that prefer to talk to your headstone after they've murdered you (read: you can use this to help with quests involving KoS NPCs). Keep in mind however that lull does not make you outright immune to aggro, rather, it severely reduces aggro radius (by around 70-99% depending on level). This means it's safe to stand back for hand ins and hails, and you won't be attacked. If you get close enough to step on their feet, however, their feet and your face will make introductions.
So far in my time on Imperium, the only thing I have seen immune to calm/lull was the Gates of Discord end boss. Literally everything else I have used it on, it's worked for whatever purposes I have. Think of it as an out-of-combat mesmerize that doesn't draw aggro or start combat (mezzing will put you in combat if you aren't).
What about necromancers?
Necromancers are probably #2 in terms of pet power. The primary reason they fall behind magicians is the inability to control your necro botpet type - and yes, necros actually have three pet types. A tank, a rogue, and a monk. If this were controllable, they'd probably come damn close to magicians in terms of pet power, with the main thing making magician pets stand out being earth pets rooting and air pets stunning/aggro.
But necros do have lots of DOTs. And DOTs are verah nice here on Imperium.
However, one major consideration that may be relevant to your choice is lifetapping. While magician pets are going to overall be better, as well as more manageable generally, necro bots have probably the best self-sustain of the bot classes (duh). Their damage simultaneously heals them. I'm personally considering putting a necro into my regular party, though enchanter lull is hard to let go of for me.
Still, of the pet classes, I recommend magician for damage and enchanter for utility, but don't underestimate the usefulness of a necro's self-sustain, either.
Where my healers at?
Treehugging druids are very useful. They can give you a nifty damage shield and effective healing, while simultaneously having decent nukes and DOTs. They have some very powerful regen and overall defensive buffs. They can also refresh your SOW without you having to return to the buff bot (up to a certain level, it'll also last longer).
#bot sow sow
^sow sow
Yes, you read that right. Type "sow" twice. This is because at a certain level, #bot sow will begin to use "Scale of Wolf", which, while technically a little faster than SOW itself, it also breaks when you enter combat, making it damn near useless. Your bot will NOT renew your SOW automatically; it must be told to cast it on you.
You can also do a group SOW to buff your whole group. Note that at a certain level, group SOW becomes group wolf form (which works the same way, but if you don't want the illusion, keep using the above command on individual targets).
#bot sow group
^sow group
Druids can also teleport if you like classic travel methods like me!
#bot circle list
^circle list
#bot circle [name]
^circle [name]
Shamans. Shamen? Spiritual outdoorsy rugged healery types that don't actually require organic food to survive.
The shaman is the best buffer, sporting extremely powerful offensive and defensive buffs, and even a haste (though not quite as good of a haste as the enchanter). Shaman also has a pet! And pets are extremely powerful, as mentioned above. If you want to combine pet power into a healer with solid buffs, shaman is an all around good pick. While my main healer bot is a druid, I would have made her a shaman if wood elves could be this class.
A shaman also sports powerful DOTs - as I mentioned earlier, DOTs are very destructive here on Imperium, so this is a big plus. Combine this with their powerful debuffs and you'll find a solid ally here.
And don't forget....
#bot sow sow
^sow sow
What about clerics?
Clerics are the most effective healers, sporting big HP and AC buffs to boot. You won't find a better healer bot than a cleric.
However....................
Clerics bring little else to the table, and between your self heals, lifetaps, and either of the other healers, your healing will be sufficient without a cleric. If you're faced with a fight that you can't defeat with one of the other healers, the odds are a cleric will not make the difference. While they offer stronger heals, they're generally not enough for what you're giving up in the form of DOTs/Nukes/Debuffs from the other healers.
BUT. They are up there with enchanters for calm/lulling power. So there's that. Note that druids can also calm/lull, but are not on par with enchanters (unless you're lulling animals, where they actually surpass enchanters). So they do have this small utility if you want calm/lull but don't want an enchanter.
Okay so what other ways can I blow things up aside from pet classes?
Each of the remaining classes has its ups and downs for damage, although some (looking at you, berserker, monk) are more downs than ups for bots specifically. Bear in mind that all are viable, they are just not necessarily optimal. And also remember this has no bearing on that class' viability when played by a player. I'm of the opinion that monk bots are kind of bad, but monk players are great (full disclosure: I main a monk). But first and foremost, always go with what's fun to you. Again, pretty much any combo is viable, I'm just here to help give you infos so you know what strengths and weaknesses you're playing with as it pertains to bots.
I will rank the remaining damage classes in terms of overall usefulness and offer some ups and downs.
Beastlord: Pet class with monk-adjacent melee damage and shaman-adjacent buffs/debuffs. The beastlord bot does a lot all in one package. Its buffs/debuffs are not as good as shaman, and its personal DPS is not as good as monk, but you add in both of these adjacencies with the fact they get pets? This is your top contender if you want a melee DPS class, hands down. If you're wanting maximum damage from any given bot, first I'd tell you pick magician. Second, I'd tell you pick beastlord. And it's honestly pretty close.
Ranger: I have little experience with ranger bots, but I know that they do solid damage in archer mode and make great ranged DPS, along with having decent survivability through chain armor and self healing to boot. If you specifically want ranged DPS that doesn't have a pet, this is the way to go. They outshine necro and magician bots that do not have their pets with pet gear.
#bot archer on|off
^archer on|off
Note: this command technically works with other classes.
Rogue: Simple. Straightforward. Backstab. I only rank rogue above monks because it's easier to find high backstab damage mods than it is to find high kick damage mods. Monks are more survivable generally speaking, but not enough (for bots) to warrant their use over rogue unless you just like monks, which hey...you're here to have fun! All this stuff is feasible, I assure you.
Monk: Simple. Straightforward. Blossoms earlier than rogue does in terms of damage, but leveling can go quickly, so rogue tends to take the cake.
Berserker: Simple, straightforward, easier to gear than your other DPS bots (due being 2h focused). They don't shine on damage, but they're not bad. They're not as survivable as monks, but probably more survivable than rogues, however the damage difference doesn't particularly make up for it. But berserkers are cool so there's that. Also, most weapons with AE procs are twohanded - so if you want a DPS bot that tears it up with AEs, berserker with a 2h on it that has an AE proc is the way to go.
Bard: While they lack the damage of say, a monk or a rogue, they do come with songs, which can debuff mobs and buff your party. They are particularly useful on the buffs front, because their buffs are songs, and thus are not faced with the buff count limitation. I am not very experienced with bard-botting, so I honestly can't speak for their efficacy. I don't know how reliably they use songs, if at all. Their placement would be at #2 if their songs are used reliably. My understanding is that they are not, so they are here instead.
Wizard: I have little experience with wizard bots, but can see no reason to use them other than the desire to use a wizard. I use a wizard bot for ports if I'm in anti #zone mode (I'm a traditionalist and frequently travel on foot versus via commands, but I view wizard portals as acceptably close to classic...but I also have a druid in my main bot squad, so I usually use her instead)
#bot port list
^port list
#bot port [name]
^port [name
A Bot (command) To Remember, starring Mandy Moore and...what was that guy's name?:
Below I'll list some worthwhile bot commands to remember for various purposes that have not yet come up, as well as some other common disclaimer type things/issues.
#bot bind
^bind
Note: requires a bot class that can cast bind. most magic users get this at level 12.
#bot camp all
^camp all
This logs out all your currently active bots instantly. If your bot is about to die and you are able to camp them instead, it's not a bad idea to do so. If they die, they come back with 20% health and 0 mana. If they're camped, they come back full on both. On the high end when geared, it can take them a bit to regenerate, as they do not regenerate as quickly as players for either pool. Generally speaking I want my bots to be ready to move quickly. That said, I don't do this terribly often, because I have a heal stick on a 1m cooldown that heals my bots for about 20%, and that's usually enough time bought for my to rescue them. I would use camp rescues more if not for that though.
^bottogglearcher
This is an alternative to the above archer command that does not require an on/off notation.
#bot cure [blindness | disease | poison | curse | corruption]
^cure [blindness | disease | poison | curse | corruption]
This is useful if you don't have a higher tier cure charm yet (the charms from progression quests).
Tip: You can make a macro that both uses your necklace and requests a bot cure if you want something removed removed in one try almost every time. However, if you want to cover more than one cure type, this will take more macros. Overall, your charm is the most powerful cure as it cures multiple things at once, but it doesn't hurt to have a helping hand in the form of a macro if you want it.
Note: Even debuff effects that don't have numbers on their icon can sometimes take multiple cures to clear.
Note: requires healer, healer hybrid, necro, SK or bard.
#bot identify
^identify
This identifies an item currently on your cursor. No need for a clicky identifier.
Note: requires caster or bard.
(!!!)INVENTORY MANAGEMENT COMMANDS(!!!)
#bot inventorylist
^inventorylist
#bot inventoryremove [slot ID number, seen in inventorylist]
^inventoryremove [slot ID number, seen in inventorylist]
Make sure you have the correct bot targeted when you do this! The item they return to you will be untradeable (meaning you cannot give it back to them if you make a mistake). This command is necessary to use if you want to replace an item which can go in multiple slots. It will default to the empty slot. If you want to upgrade the bot's right ring, for example, first remove their right ring, then trade the new ring. Do not trade the new ring before removing the one you want to replace, it may likely replace the wrong one. There are a number of caster/healer items that are primary, secondary, ranged - don't forget to do this. For items that cannot occupy multiple slots, you do not need to remove the equipment it's replacing first before giving it to them.
#bot invis
^invis
Useful if you do not yet have an invis clicky or other method of invisibility. Requires a caster, healer, or hybrid. Comes in several variants; "#bot invis help" for a list!
#bot lev
^lev
Useful if you do not have a levitation clicky or other method of levitation. Requires caster, shaman, druid, or hybrid of one of these.
#bot resist [type]
^resist [type]
Useful if you're not capped on resists. Too lazy to list all the classes as it varies from class to class who has resists for what.
#bot sendhome
^sendhome
Functions as a gate spell for you. Requires 50+ wizard. Only useful if you prefer classic travel methods.
#bot size [grow | shrink]
^size [grow | shrink]
Grow/shrink. Requires shaman or beastlord. Good idea to have on hand if you plan to get a dragon pet.
#bot track
^track
Open tracking window. Requires ranger/druid/bard.
Note: Only shows a list of NPCs in the vicinity, does not give directions.
#bot eb
^eb
Enables enduring breath/water breathing. Requires druid, ranger, enchanter, necro, shaman, beastlord.
That's all for now!
