Question - Newb - Trying to understand Kiss Assist in the group - Help and insight appreciated

[tqmohr101]

So I have read the multiple guides available on Kiss Assist and I am sure I am glancing over something as a new user, but I just don't quite understand how KA functions in a group setting with the multitude of commands available.

Some issues I run into is if I don't right click the character and change their role to tank/main assist, the party ceases to function with KA. Does the role indicated in the party setting matter? I thought KA changes the role via commands anyhow; are these two things intertwined?

Currently the server I box on doesn't have extended target window. So I wonder if the "XTarget" commands in the ini just won't function (only potential error I receive sometimes is that "This command is not available til Underfoot expansion" - but that message is from EQ and not from KA). [Edit: this EQ error message may also be unrelated}

As well as what does the "XTSlot" do? And what is the AutoHater? Is that what KA uses when detecting mobs attacking the tank/MA?
---At the end of the startup of /mac kissassist MA <tankname>
NINJADVLOOT: AutoHater set to XTarget

---Under General---
XTSlot=1

---Under Healing---
XTarHeal=0
XTarHealList=Xtar slots here Example: 5|6|7

Really my biggest head headache is understanding why my group won't continue fighting without the MA or tank being available. For example, if the MA/Tank zones out or dies, the group wont engage targets fighting other members.

Another concern is understanding why when I alt tab to fight semi-manually, when I manually target a mob the character automatically removes the target. Making it very difficult to cast a spell and impossible to /autoattack (as the same thing occurs, it disengages).

Is there a way to allow the group to auto engage targets that target another party member? And, if the MA/TANK, is available to assist their target first but then move onto the next?

MA and TANK seem to be two different entities also, but they are one and the same to my brain. Should I think of them as separate entities?

What does "TargetSwitchingOn" do?

Any help and insight from yall is greatly appreciated.

 

[Dragonslayer]

"TargetSwitchingOn" may allow you, to switch manually your target, even if the last one is not dead already. This is meant to be used on the ma, and if I remember well has no effect on the assisting chars.
Sometimes, even with "TargetSwitchingOn=1" you may need more than 1 attempt to really switch the target. This is the case, as the targeting routines are compex and can therefore switch back one or more times.

Usually you would start all chars but MA with "/kissassist assist".
The MA you would launch with "/kissassist tank".
If a char always will be startet with the same role, you can set this inside the ini and start just with "/kissassist".
With this setting, all chars will attempt to assisst your ma, under all circumstances.
That would be the basic setting.

You may create 2 hotbuttons, one with "/mqp on" and one with "/mpq off".
Those 2 commands allow you, to pause kissassist at any moment at will.
Once your group is settled, you could use those 2 hotbuttons to: 1. pause kissassist; 2. pull a mob; 3. resume kissassist - let your team kill the mob.

That was the basic I started using kissassist.
_____________

You may start your ma also with /kissassist pullertank. This will tell him to reach out for new victims and bring them to the camp.
It may happen, that your puller bring multiple mobs, as there is no targetsplitting involved. He will head out for the nearest possible target, aggro it and bring it (and possible friends) to the camp.

this was "lvl 2" I got used to
___________

You may start more than 1 char with the commant /kissassist tank, or if a petclass /kissassist pettank
All chars launched with /kissassist tank (pettank) will engage npc who get close to them, those with "assist" will assist the char flagged as group ma.
This may be helpful at camps, where you expect to bring more than 1 mob into the camp.

The other way, to have an easy life with the tools at hand is, to choose to have an enchanter or bard as part of your team and camp at places where mobs are mezzable.
The enchanter would be the safest option, the bard would bring more ADPS to the team.

I by myself have an enchanter and a bard on same account and choose the cc needed, based on the camp. Where I have the feeling it wont be sufficent to have the bard around, Ill choose the chanter.


About the extended target parameters, I have no informations, as I never used anything here, without having extended target available.

 

[Amarth]

xtslot is the target you want to heal/buff for out of group purposes
You would want it to be set to 0. that's why you're getting the error.

xtarget healing is self-explanatory now after understanding what xtslot does, I hope.
Kiss needs the MA (or tank) alive to find the next targets to fight.

TargetSwitchingOn will enable you to kill stuff on your own, but there is also /mqp, short for /mqpause on/off to pause the macro, as mentioned. i prefer to pause it when i need to override the actions at the moment, such as an unplanned named, etc

if you want the party to force a switch to a new mob, do it on the tank/MA

 

[arander]

to be as clear as i can in this situation (not great at explaining stuff)
if your tank is the group leader, he should auto set himself as MT/MA soon as you /mac kissassist Tank
(in the Ini always set TargetSwitchingOn=1 on all characters. that way you can manually change thier target if needed)

You dont have to have the MT as the MA. in some of my group setups i dont, i use the bard as the MA and the Paly as the MT. Group will assist whoever is set as the MA. (this allows me to manually switch tank to new target in multi pulls, when last target hits 20, or if more mobs are coming in, without the whole group switching over)

as for not having Xtarget. if you do not have it turned on in the ini it wont affect anything, if you do, ull get an error but thats it, it wont do anything.

As Amarth said, Xtslot is the target you want to heal/buff if not in group. i normally delete that option and leave it out of my ini.s as i will manually target buff if needed out of group.

Xtarget is pretty much same thing and only really useful in raids or if ur running a healer out of group.

targeting otehr than the MT mob. as i said above, set someone else as MA. the group (minus tank) will switch with that toon.

MA and MT are two completely different catagories. the MT is the Main Tank, the meatshield, the one that is supposed to keep everything on them and take the dmg. The MA is the Main Assist the one that everyone but MT are supposed to assist to kill. In MOST groups its the same person. It does NOT have to be however. if your in a area where there are pathers, or fast spawns, you need your tank to be able to switch to new mob to lock it down, without the whole group switching and leaving a mob almost dead to beat on a full life mob.

we were all new users at one point in time. we all learned by trial and error and asking questions of others.
People on this forum are extremely helpful and actually seem to enjoy helping others. So ask any question you have, one of us will have an answer or will go figure out what the answer should be

 

[vandersl]

Just to simplify things - if you don't want to worry about role assignments, just do it manually, e.g. /mac kissassist assist toon. This will start Kissassist assisting the specified toon. This works very well when just grouping with your own toons. It also works if 'toon' is not in group.

As to why group won't fight if MA or MT dies - it is because KA is set to assist the specified toon. If they are not around, or not engaging a mob, the rest of the group will not attack. The solution to that is not to let your MA die

As for extended target issues with TLP servers - no experience there.

 

[ctaylor22]

@tqmohr101

The XTSlot entry is a control entry used for mainly out of group characters. When I refer to out of group, that would refer to any character NOT in the same group as the MA. What kiss does for out of group characters is nails the extended target entry XTSlot to the MA target and then when the mob dies. The extended target entry XTSlot it is set back to AutoHater. The reason for the entry is if the Macro crashes. If the Macro crashes then the XTSlot will have the value of the Autohater entry that was used, and when starting the macro again, the macro will see the value and set the Xtarget entry back to Autohater if it is still nailed to a target. If the macro is ended properly then the extended target entry is set back to Autohater and the XTSlot entry is set to zero.