Add-On Review: IHML – I Have Macro Lol!

What It Is

How many times have you come up to Curator in Karazhan, or Terestrian Illhoof in the same instance, and just before the pull, you’re frantically pulling out your  /target Astral Flare  or  /target Demon Chains  macro and slapping it into an open spot on a spellbar?

Or perhaps you’re up against Lady Vashj in SSC, and you are the weakest link when it comes to tossing around that hot potato known as a Tainted Core, wishing desperately for a way to get rid of it faster. 

What about the Ogri’la/Sha’tari Skyguard dailies in Blade’s Edge Mountains? There are bombs, a wrangling rope, and banishing crystals to manage, and it’s much easier to have them on your spellbar instead of somewhere in a pack when you need to use them. Except, you really don’t have room for three more items on your bars!

I’ve found a single tool to manage all of these situations, and more: I Have Macro Lol!  Here’s the description from WoW Interface:

IHML is an addon that gives you one macro which automagically changes what it is depending on what zone you’re in or which BigWigs boss module is enabled. All you have to do is take the IHML macro (the addon creates this for you and you can find it in your macro window or by typing /ihml pickup) and place it on one of your action bars.

It comes preloaded with various macros for Vashj, Curator, bombing in Skettis, using the Booterang in Netherwing Ledge, etc. Full list here. You can also add your own macros using the options menu (found by typing /ihml).

How To Use It

Using this add-on is unbelievably easy, and pure magical joy. As usual, download and unzip the file to your Interface\Addons folder. Enter the game and type /ihml into your chat window to bring up this screen: 

Here, you can examine or modify any of the macros already included. You can also add your own, or remove any macros. But take a look at what pops up first: For us cooks out there, how cool is it to already have the cooking pot set up for a single click when we’re in the right locale, with the right ingredients?

Incidentally, the tooltip for the "Reinsert default macros" button reminds you it won’t overwrite macros you’ve changed; only ones you’ve removed.

I mentioned in a couple articles this week my difficulty in killing my Inner Demon during the Leotheras the Blind fight in SSC. As received, IHML has no Leo macro, so I made one:^{1, 2}

There are also a few options you can configure:

These are fairly straightforward, but notice that BigWigs (which, like IHML, is a WoW-Ace mod) will trigger macro-swapping as appropriate for boss fights, in addition to the zone name and instance type.

The "Silent" option disables chat-window announcements of a macro being available, along the lines of "Blade’s Edge Mountains. I have a macro for that LOL!" Personally, I like the confirmation that IHML is doing its job; however, I may poke around the code at some point and change that message.

Summary

I’m an add-on junkie, as well as a macro maven. I Have Macro Lol!  brings together both worlds in what is to me a beautiful synergy. While the program’s name may be a bit off-putting to some, I rather enjoy the tongue-in-cheekiness of it.

I know when I do Sunwell dailies, I’m having to swap out quest items all the time—and there are a lot to swap out there! Trying to do that with spell bars as full as mine was a real chore. Now, it’s fully automated! Not to mention the security of knowing my "boss fight macro" is always going to be there when I need it, in a familiar location. Unless you are completely add-on-averse (in which case, why have you bothered reading this far!?), you should at least give IHML a test-drive. I think you’ll be very pleased with the experience.

Bottom line for me is, this is a "must-have" add-on for WoW!