Playerbots: how they work and every command

This is the reference page for playerbots on HoneyWoW. If you have never grouped with a bot, start with Playing with playerbots; the complete handbook covers recruiting, roles and party compositions. Here we go one level deeper: what goes on inside a bot's head, how to give orders to exactly the bots you want, and every chat command a player can use, with examples. Everything below was checked against the bot system and the configuration this realm actually runs.

Commands are written in English in normal chat, without a leading dot. Only the .playerbots commands start with a dot. When a command needs an item, quest or spell, shift-click it to paste its link where this guide says [item], [quest] or [spell].

How a bot thinks

A bot is an ordinary character played by the server instead of a person. About ten times per second its AI looks at the situation and does the most important thing it can. It is built from three pieces:

• Triggers: things it keeps an eye on. "My health is low", "the healer is out of mana", "my master is far away", "there is a corpse with loot nearby", "I am standing in fire".
• Actions: things it can do. Cast a spell, follow, loot, drink, equip an item. Each action has a priority, and when several triggers fire at once the most urgent action wins.
• Strategies: named bundles of triggers and actions that you can switch on and off. heal, tank, aoe, follow and loot are all strategies.

Every bot keeps three separate sets of strategies, one for each state it can be in. You edit each set with its own command:

State	Command	What is usually in it
Combat	co	The role strategies for its spec (tank, heal, dps and the spec-specific ones), dps assist or tank assist, boost, potions, racials, formation, and avoid aoe when its master is a real player.
Out of combat	nc	follow, loot, gather, food, buff, quest, mount, emote, chat, plus class buffs. Healers also get save mana.
Dead	de	Release the spirit, run back to the corpse, accept a resurrection, keep following.

The bot switches between these sets by itself as it enters combat, leaves it or dies. That is why a strategy you add with co does nothing out of combat, and one you add with nc does nothing in a fight.

Roles and targets

• Role comes from the talent spec. When a bot logs in or changes spec, it loads the combat strategies of that spec: a protection warrior gets the tank set, a holy priest the healing set. Change the role by changing the spec (talents spec …), not by editing strategies by hand.
• Damage dealers attack the target marked with the attack raid icon (skull by default) if there is one; otherwise they help the group with whatever it is fighting.
• Tanks look for enemies that are hitting someone other than a tank and pick them up, again preferring the marked target.
• Healers heal whoever needs it most, and anyone you put on their focus list first.

Everyday behaviour

• Following: they stay close to their master in the current formation and catch up by themselves. On accepting your group invitation they are summoned to you automatically.
• Eating and drinking: they sit down to recover after combat. On this realm they don't consume food or water from their bags to do it.
• Looting: they pick up loot within about 15 yards following their loot rule (see ll). Your alts equip items from their bags that are at least 10% better than what they wear.
• Repairing: summon repairs them for free. Otherwise they repair at a vendor with repair.
• Mounts and flight paths: they use a 60% mount from level 40, a 100% mount from level 60 and flying mounts from level 70, in line with the realm's progression. They can use any flight path.
• Dungeons and raids: when they enter an instance, the strategies written for that place are added automatically. There are specific tactics for many Wrath dungeons and for raids from Molten Core, Onyxia, Blackwing Lair, both Ahn'Qiraj and Naxxramas through Karazhan, Serpentshrine, Tempest Keep, Black Temple, Sunwell, Ulduar and Icecrown Citadel.

Levelling, gear and talents

• Random bots live their own lives: they quest, grind, join the dungeon finder, battlegrounds and rated arenas. When they level they learn their spells, spend their talents and upgrade their gear by themselves. The realm spreads their levels to follow where real players are playing.
• Your alts only gain experience while you play with them, and they keep everything they earn. They do not learn spells or spend talent points on their own when they level: whisper maintenance every few levels, or take them to a trainer with trainer learn and use talents autopick. Individual progression applies to them like to any character.
• Class bots (addclass) are rebuilt at your level when they join you, with gear matched to yours.

Random bots, class bots and your alts

	Random bot	Class bot	Your alt
How to get it	Invite it, or whisper it lfg	.playerbots bot addclass priest	.playerbots bot add Name
Who owns it	The server	The server, reserved for you while it is out	You (or your guild, or a linked account)
Level	Its own; refuses you if it is more than 5 levels above you (unless you share a guild)	Set to yours when it joins	Its own
Keeps what it earns	Yes, for itself	While it lasts	Yes, it is your character
Obeys you	While it is in your group	Yes	Yes

A bot only takes orders from its master: the player who added it, or who invited it to the group. Anyone can still whisper any bot who, invite, leave, lfg or pvp stats. You can control up to 40 bots at once.

How to talk to bots

Channel	Who hears it	Best for
Whisper /w Name	That bot only	Gear, talents, quests, anything personal
Party /p	Every bot in your party	Movement and combat orders
Raid /ra	Every bot in the raid	The same, in a raid

Picking which bots obey: the @ prefixes

Start a party or raid message with an @ filter and only the matching bots carry out the rest of the line. The others ignore it.

Prefix	Who obeys	Example
@tank	Tanks	@tank attack
@heal	Healers	@heal stay
@dps	Everyone who is neither tank nor healer	@dps follow
@melee / @ranged	Melee or ranged bots (healers count as ranged)	@melee flee
@meleedps / @rangeddps	Only the damage dealers of that kind	@rangeddps co +aoe
@warrior, @paladin, @hunter, @rogue, @priest, @shaman, @mage, @warlock, @druid, @dk	That class	@mage co -aoe
Spec: @hpal @ppal @rpal, @disc @hpr @spr, @arc @fire @frost, @arms @fury @pwar, @affl @demo @dest, @ele @enh @rsha, @bal @rdru, @bmh @mmh @svh, @mut @comb @sub, @fdk @udk	That talent spec	@hpr focus heal Tankname
@60 / @10-20	Bots of that level, or within that level range	@70-80 follow
@group2, @group1,3, @group2-4	Bots in those raid subgroups	@group2 stay
@skull, @cross, @moon… (any raid icon)	Bots whose current target carries that icon	@skull co +boost
@aggroby Name	Bots that this creature is attacking right now (English name, in quotes if it has spaces, or the creature ID)	@aggroby "Baron Geddon" runaway
@aura 12345 / @noaura 12345	Bots that have / don't have the aura with that spell ID	@aura 20475 runaway

Two more tricks: queue command in party chat makes the bots run the command one after another, one second apart, instead of all at once. And reset on its own clears a bot's short-term state, like reset botAI.

Managing your bots: .playerbots bot

These go in any chat window and work for every player.

Command	What it does	Example
.playerbots bot add Name	Log in a character as your bot. Several names separated by commas. With no name, it uses the player you are targeting.	.playerbots bot add Thrall,Jaina
.playerbots bot addaccount Name	Log in every character of an account you are allowed to use (give the account name or one of its characters).	.playerbots bot addaccount myalts
.playerbots bot remove Name	Log a bot out. Also rm or logout. Use * for everyone in your group.	.playerbots bot remove *
.playerbots bot list	Your characters and which ones are online.
.playerbots bot addclass class	Bring a free bot of that class (warrior, paladin, hunter, rogue, priest, shaman, mage, warlock, druid, dk). You can add male or female. Death Knights need you to be level 55.	.playerbots bot addclass druid female
.playerbots bot init=auto Name	Class bots only: rebuild it at your level with gear matched to your gear score. Not in combat.	.playerbots bot init=auto *

Characters you can add: your own, those of your guild when their owner is offline, and those of accounts linked to yours from My account.

Movement

Command	What it does	Example
follow	Follow you. Also cancels stay, grind and flee.	follow
stay	Stay here, in and out of combat. Casters still cast from where they stand.	@heal stay
flee	Follow you and stop fighting (passive). follow or attack brings them back.	flee
runaway	Keep away from enemies that get close.	@ranged runaway
move from group	Spread away from the rest of the group.
summon	Teleport to you, repair, and revive if dead and you are out of combat.	summon
go x,y	Walk to these coordinates of the current zone map (the ones coordinate addons show). Also go + a saved position name.	go 45.2,61.8
position name set	Save the bot's current spot under a name. position name reset clears it; position ? lists them.	position guard set
nc +guard	Return to the spot saved as guard whenever idle.
formation type	Shape while following: near, far, melee, queue, line, circle, arrow, shield, chaos.	formation queue
stance type	Where to stand in combat: near, behind, tank, turnback.	@melee stance behind
disperse set N	Keep N yards apart from each other (great against chain and splash damage). disperse disable turns it off.	disperse set 8
range type N	Distance for spell, heal, shoot or flee. range ? shows current values.	range spell 25
enter vehicle / leave vehicle	Get in or out of a nearby vehicle.

Combat

Command	What it does	Example
attack	Attack your target.	@dps attack
tank attack	Only tanks engage your target.	tank attack
pull / pull rti	The tank pulls your target / the marked target back to the group.
grind	Attack anything hostile nearby until told otherwise.
max dps	Drop threat and mana caution, use debuffs and cooldowns.	@dps max dps
wait for attack time N	Seconds damage dealers wait before joining (needs co +wait for attack).	wait for attack time 4
focus heal Name	Healers prioritise these players (commas for several). focus heal clear resets.	@heal focus heal Tankname
cast [spell]	Cast this spell on your target. castnc does the same out of combat only.	@mage cast [Polymorph]
ss [spell]	Never cast this spell. ss -[spell] allows it again, ss ? lists, ss reset clears.	@priest ss [Holy Nova]
save mana N	How carefully a healer spends mana, from 1 (freely) to 10 (very careful). save mana * picks a class default; save mana ? shows it.	@heal save mana 3
rebuff	Recast buffs now.
rti icon / rti cc icon	Which raid icon means "kill first" (skull by default) and which means "crowd control" (moon by default). rti ? shows both.	rti cross
pet mode	Hunter and warlock pets: aggressive, defensive, passive, attack, follow, stay.	@hunter pet passive
attackers / target / dps	Who is attacking it / what it is targeting / its estimated damage per second.

Strategies

co, nc and de take a list of strategy names separated by commas, each with a sign:

Syntax	Meaning	Example
+name	Add the strategy	co +aoe
-name	Remove it	co -aoe,-cc
~name	Toggle it	co ~boost
?	List the active ones	nc ?

General strategies worth knowing

Strategy	Set	What it does
aoe	co	Allow area damage. Remove it near packs you don't want to pull.
boost	co	Use big cooldowns. Remove to save them for the boss.
cc	co	Crowd control the moon-marked target (sheep, sap, shackle, trap…).
threat	co	Damage dealers hold back when close to pulling aggro.
behind	co	Melee keep behind the target.
avoid aoe	co	Step out of harmful ground effects. On by default.
potions	co	Use healing and mana potions when low.
wait for attack	co	Wait before attacking (see wait for attack time).
healer dps	co	Healers deal damage when nobody needs healing.
offheal	co	Paladin and druid damage dealers help with healing.
save mana	nc / co	Healers spend mana carefully (healers have it by default).
passive	co / nc	Don't fight at all.
loot	nc	Loot corpses. Remove it if they keep running off to loot.
gather	nc	Mine, pick herbs and skin with their professions.
grind	nc	Kill monsters nearby when idle.
attack tagged	nc	Help on monsters you have already tagged.
quest	nc	Work on quest objectives.
food	nc	Eat and drink to recover.
buff	nc	Keep class buffs up on the group.
mount	nc	Mount up when you do.

Class strategies

Class	Strategies
Paladin	Blessings: bmight, bwisdom, bkings, bsanc. Auras: barmor (Devotion), baoe (Retribution), bcast (Concentration), bspeed (Crusader), rfire, rfrost, rshadow (resistance). bthreat: Righteous Fury.
Hunter	Aspects: bdps, bspeed, rnature. Also trap weave and pet.
Mage	Armor: bdps or bmana. Specs: arcane, fire, frostfire, frost.
Warlock	Pet: imp, voidwalker, succubus, felhunter, felguard. Soulstone target: ss self, ss master, ss tank, ss healer. Curses: curse of agony, curse of elements, curse of weakness, curse of tongues…
Shaman	Totems, one strategy each: strength of earth, stoneskin, tremor, earthbind, searing, magma, flametongue, healing stream, mana spring, cleansing, windfury, wrath of air, grounding and the resistance totems.
Priest	shadow debuff, shadow aoe, rshadow (Shadow Protection).
Rogue	stealth: approach in stealth.
Druid	tranquility, feral charge.

The bot reloads its default strategies when it changes spec or is reset, so add your custom ones after setting the spec.

Items, loot and gear

Command	What it does	Example
c / items / inv	List what it carries. c [item] counts one item.	c
e [item] / ue [item]	Equip / unequip.	e [Thunderfury]
equip upgrade	Equip every upgrade it has in its bags.
u [item]	Use an item (on your target, if it needs one).	u [Hearthstone]
qi [item]	Ask whether the item is useful to it.
t [item]	Open a trade with you offering that item. Just opening a trade with the bot works too.	t [Linen Cloth]
s [item] / s gray / s vendor	Sell to the vendor you are targeting: one item / all junk / everything it considers vendor trash.	s gray
b [item]	Buy from the vendor you are targeting.	b [Ice Cold Milk]
destroy [item]	Destroy an item.
bank / bank [item] / bank -[item]	Near a banker: list / deposit / withdraw. gb does the same with the guild bank.
ll rule	Loot rule: normal, gray, disenchant, all. ll +[item] always loot it, ll -[item] undo, ll ? show.	ll gray
loot / add all loot	Loot everything around now.
roll	Roll on the item currently up for group loot.
outfit name +[item]	Build a named set of items. outfit name equip wears it; outfit name -[item] removes one; outfit ? lists.	outfit fire +[Fire Resistance Cloak]
maintenance	Learn spells, spend talents, refill reagents and consumables, repair, enchant and gem gear.
autogear	Upgrade gear slot by slot, up to rare quality on this realm. Variants: autogear green, autogear match (your average item level), autogear 200 (an item level).	autogear match
autogear reset	Destroys everything it wears and regears from scratch. Never use it on an alt with gear you care about.
glyphs / glyph equip / remove glyph	Show, apply or remove glyphs.

Talents and spells

Command	What it does	Example
talents	Show its spec.
talents spec list / talents spec name	List the ready-made builds / switch to one. Its role changes with it.	talents spec holy pve
talents switch 1 / 2	Change to the first or second talent group.
talents autopick	Spend free points automatically.
talents apply code	Apply a build code.
spells	List its spells.
spell [spell]	Show information about a spell.
trainer / trainer learn	Next to the trainer you target: list / learn what it can.

Quests

Command	What it does	Example
quests	Summary of its quests. quests completed, quests incompleted or quests all for details.
accept [quest] / accept *	Take a quest / everything from the quest giver you target.	accept *
q [quest]	Its progress on that quest.
drop [quest]	Abandon it.
share [quest]	Share it with the group.
talk	Talk to the NPC you target (turn in, pick up).
r [item]	Choose that quest reward.

On this realm your bots complete a quest at the same moment you hand it in, and they choose the most useful reward on their own.

Professions and trading

• craft [item]: the bot tells you which reagents (and fee) it needs to make that item; trade it the reagents and it crafts it for you. craft reset cancels.
• nc +gather and the disenchant loot rule put their gathering and enchanting to work.
• u [item] on a lockbox, or open items, opens containers in its bags.
• Opening a trade window with your own bot lets you give it items or take them back; it equips upgrades you hand over.

Information and group

Command	What it tells you or does
who	Class, spec, level and location.
stats	Gold, bag space, durability and experience.
rep / emblems / pvp stats	Reputations / emblems / PvP currencies and rating.
los	What it can see: targets, NPCs, objects, corpses.
co ? / nc ? / range ? / position ?	Current settings.
help	The bot's own command help.
release / revive	Release spirit / resurrect at the spirit healer.
ready	Answer the ready check.
give leader	Pass party leadership to you.
invite / leave	Invite you to its group / leave the group.
home	Bind its hearthstone at the innkeeper you target.
flag pvp on / flag helm off / flag cloak off	PvP flag and helm or cloak visibility.
reset botAI	Reset the bot's AI to its defaults.

Raids

• Instance strategies load by themselves when the bots enter. Check with co ? once inside.
• Kill order: put a skull on the first target and moon on anything to crowd control. Bots follow the icons, so mark before every pull.
• Open with tank attack, then @dps attack after a few seconds, or let co +wait for attack and wait for attack time do it for you.
• Use @group, @melee, @ranged and @aggroby to move just part of the raid: @ranged disperse set 10, @aggroby "Gluth" runaway.
• Give each healer a focus with @hpal focus heal Maintank and leave the rest healing freely.
• Before a raid: maintenance to everyone, check specs with who, and autogear match on class bots.

The MultiBot addon

The addon pack includes MultiBot (the "Chatless" version), which turns all of the above into buttons: add and remove bots, follow and stay, attack, formations, strategies, inventory, talents, quests and outfits. The realm runs the server module it needs, so it talks to the server directly instead of spamming whispers. Install it like any addon, open it with its button, and use it for everyday orders; the chat commands in this guide still work alongside it for anything the buttons don't cover.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to try
It doesn't answer	Are you its master? Bots only obey whoever added or invited them. Check spelling (commands are English, lowercase). Whisper who: if even that gets no reply, .playerbots bot remove and add it again.
Nobody answers in party chat	Check you didn't start the line with an @ filter that matches no one.
It won't attack	It may be passive after flee: say follow or attack. Check co ? for passive or wait for attack.
It is stuck or lost	summon. If it stays frozen, reset botAI, and as a last resort log it out and back in.
It runs off to loot or gather	nc -loot or nc -gather; or ll normal to loot less.
It pulls extra packs	co -aoe, mark the target, open with tank attack.
Healer doesn't heal	who to check its spec; talents spec … to a healing build.
An alt is missing spells or talents	Alts don't train themselves: maintenance, or trainer learn plus talents autopick.
It lost gear	Plain autogear only upgrades; autogear reset destroys worn gear and cannot be undone. Look in its bags with c and equip with e [item].
It refuses to join	Random bots refuse if they are more than 5 levels above you. For alts: the character must be yours, your guild's or a linked account's, and not online.