Request:

Automated "Start Combat" / "Stop Combat" detection.

My issue is this: I have my main PC running CA and the boxed PCs running BA - all linked through Pearl Link.

I run up to a mob, and proceed to whack at it. However, in my fury of button mashing I forget to hit the F11 key to send the "Start Combat" action to the BA PCs - Resulting in the BA PCs just standing around. (Note they Hybrid and Healing only PCs still do their thing, they just don't do any battle actions).

What I would like to see is: If I start combat (in any fashion) on my CA PC, then the BA PCs jump to it also.

Of course, there are a myriad of issues with this...mainly: How do you detect combat?

Thoughts:

- Log file. Possible, but then your going to be starting combat quite a bit throughout the actual combat if you base it off an ability/spell that you use. Equally not viable is making a macro that sends a group message (or similar) that would show in the log file - as this is just replacing keystroke i'm trying to avoid.

- Use Hot Keys to map the "Start/Stop Combat" action to a different key. This is what I currently use, as the F11/12 key is farther away than a few others that i've mapped it too. However, it's just trading one for the other. I want automation.

- Visual Triggers. You could link combat to a myriad of things I suppose. Mainly the Health bar of your target (or targets target) that would after a few moments trigger the event. And then tie the Stop action to the log file based on a string such as "has killed", etc. This is probably the most viable option, but i'm amiss to utilize this for a few reasons:

1) Seems to be resource heavy? Although I cannot confirm this yet.

2) I don't want the Start action being sent if I'm targeting certain NPC targets or other players, etc. Given this shouldn't happen if the VT is set up correctly.

My main inquiry is: Is there method in EQ2 to determine if your character is in combat or not? If so, could that be used for this purpose?

Stand by.

We are always looking to improve things so happy to discuss new ideas.  On long days of hunting I set my Control Assistant up this way:

• Go into Visual Triggers and set the Start Combat trigger up. In EQ2 my health bar / name / border turns red when I am in combat.  I set the Start Combat visual trigger to use this. When it see's red in this area it sends "Start Combat" to the Boxin Assistants.
• I set the stop combat trigger to "Do Not See" red and to send "Stop Combat" over pearl link.

After this I can just pull a mob and start fighting, the Control Assistant tells the Boxin Assistants to start combat.  They of course, back up, start casting, do what ever.  When the mob dies the Control Assistant tells them to stop combat, and they stop and start following me again. ( I have back up on combat start and follow me on combat stop at the bottom of Battle Settings on each Boxin Assistant. ) 

The Visual Triggers are not cpu intensive at all. It is a simple color check, just like the heals.  Image searching though can be...

Just using the default UI.