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Playerbots

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'''Playerbots''' are AI-controlled characters used on the Shadowmourne Realm to create a more active, flexible and solo-friendly Wrath of the Lich King experience.

Playerbots can explore the world, fight enemies, complete activities, join groups, fill traditional party roles and respond to player commands.

They are not simple combat pets. A Playerbot behaves much more like another World of Warcraft character, with equipment, abilities, talents, inventory, movement, combat roles and its own AI strategies.

This makes Playerbots especially useful for players who want to form parties, explore older group content, experiment with different class combinations or adventure without waiting for a full group of human players.

Overview

The Playerbot system expands normal World of Warcraft group gameplay by allowing AI-controlled characters to participate alongside real players.

Depending on the type of bot and current server configuration, Playerbots may:

  • travel around the world
  • fight creatures
  • level
  • equip better gear
  • use class abilities
  • heal party members
  • tank enemies
  • deal damage
  • use crowd control
  • follow a player
  • remain at a selected position
  • assist another character
  • loot
  • interact with some game objects
  • trade
  • join parties
  • participate in dungeons
  • participate in raids
  • respond to chat commands

Playerbots are primarily associated with the Shadowmourne Realm.

Types of Playerbots

There are several different kinds of bots within the Playerbot system.

Random Bots

'''Random Bots''' are AI-controlled characters generated and managed by the server.

They are commonly used to populate the world and make the realm feel more active.

Depending on server configuration, Random Bots may independently:

  • travel
  • grind enemies
  • quest
  • level
  • improve their equipment
  • visit different zones
  • participate in world activity

Random Bots are sometimes called '''Rndbots'''.

Unlike a normal player-created character, a Random Bot is primarily controlled by the Playerbot system.

Altbots

'''Altbots''' are characters that can be controlled through the Playerbot system while belonging to player-accessible accounts.

They are intended more for persistent progression and long-term companions.

An Altbot may be useful when a player wants a familiar character that can:

  • level alongside them
  • retain equipment
  • maintain professions
  • remain part of a regular group
  • fill a specific role

Availability and account restrictions depend on the current Shadowmourne Realm configuration.

AddClass Bots

Some Playerbot builds also support '''AddClass bots'''.

These are intended to quickly provide a bot of a particular class when a group needs a missing role.

For example, a group might need:

Availability of this feature depends on the server configuration and installed Playerbot version.

Controlling a Playerbot

Playerbots can respond to commands sent through chat.

Commands can normally be whispered directly to a bot.

Example:

/t BOTNAME help

Replace '''BOTNAME''' with the character name of the bot.

Example:

/t Frostmage help

The bot will return information about available commands.

Because Playerbot commands can change between versions, the bot's built-in '''help''' command is one of the best ways to verify what is currently available.

Inviting a Bot

A bot may be invited similarly to another player.

/invite BOTNAME

Example:

/invite Frostmage

Depending on the current Playerbot configuration, the bot may automatically accept the invitation.

Essential Commands

These are some of the most useful Playerbot commands.

Help

/t BOTNAME help

Displays Playerbot command help.

This is the most important command to remember because available commands can differ between Playerbot versions.

Follow

/t BOTNAME follow

Orders the bot to follow you.

This is useful after:

  • teleporting
  • resurrecting
  • entering an instance
  • regrouping after combat
  • recovering a bot that became separated

Some builds also support follow-distance commands.

Examples may include:

/t BOTNAME follow near
/t BOTNAME follow far
/t BOTNAME follow info

Stay

/t BOTNAME stay

Orders the bot to remain near its current location.

This is extremely useful for:

  • positioning ranged characters
  • controlling healers
  • preparing a boss pull
  • keeping bots away from dangerous mechanics
  • organizing raid groups

Attack

/t BOTNAME attack

Orders the bot to attack the selected target.

This behaves somewhat like manually ordering a combat pet to attack.

Cast

A bot can be instructed to cast certain known spells.

/t BOTNAME cast SPELL

Examples:

/t Frostmage cast polymorph
/t Priestbot cast greater heal

Some versions also accept a Spell ID.

Spells

/t BOTNAME spells

Requests information about spells known by the bot.

This can be useful when determining what abilities are available.

Group Commands

Playerbot commands can often be issued through party or raid chat.

This allows one command to affect multiple bots when appropriate.

This is especially useful when controlling a larger group.

For example, instead of individually telling every bot to follow, a player may be able to issue the appropriate command through group chat.

Exact behavior depends on the installed Playerbot version and current realm configuration.

Combat Roles

Playerbots can perform traditional World of Warcraft group roles.

Tank

A tank bot attempts to:

  • hold enemy threat
  • protect other group members
  • remain engaged with dangerous enemies
  • position enemies for the group

Classes commonly capable of tanking in Wrath of the Lich King include:

Tank performance depends heavily on:

  • gear
  • talents
  • strategy
  • positioning
  • encounter mechanics

Healer

A healer bot focuses on keeping party members alive.

Common healing classes include:

Healers may prioritize different targets depending on their current strategy and combat orders.

Damage

Damage bots focus on defeating enemies while working with the party.

They may be:

  • melee damage
  • ranged physical damage
  • spellcasters

Different strategies can affect whether a bot focuses on:

  • one target
  • multiple enemies
  • conserving mana
  • crowd control
  • threat management

Combat Orders

Some Playerbot builds support explicit combat orders.

Common concepts include:

  • tank
  • main tank
  • assist
  • heal
  • main heal
  • protect

For example, a player may designate one bot as the primary tank while another focuses on healing that tank.

This becomes especially useful in Dungeon and Raid content.

Because command syntax can vary by build, use:

/t BOTNAME help

before relying on advanced combat orders.

Strategies

Playerbots use '''strategies''' to decide how they behave.

Strategies influence which actions the AI prefers in different situations.

There are generally two major categories:

  • combat strategies
  • non-combat strategies

Viewing Strategies

Some current Playerbot builds support:

co ?
nc ?

'''co''' refers to combat strategies.

'''nc''' refers to non-combat strategies.

Adding or Removing Strategies

Strategies can generally be enabled or disabled using syntax similar to:

co +strategy
co -strategy

Multiple strategies may also be changed together.

Example:

co +focus,+threat

Actual supported strategy names depend on the bot's class, specialization and installed Playerbot build.

Common Combat Strategies

Tank

co +tank

Encourages compatible classes to act as tanks and use threat-generating abilities.

Heal

co +heal

Encourages a compatible character to focus on party healing.

DPS

co +dps

Encourages the bot to focus on dealing damage.

Assist

co +assist

Encourages the bot to focus its attacks with another party member rather than independently changing targets.

Focus

co +focus

Encourages the bot to concentrate on a primary target rather than spreading attacks or effects across multiple enemies.

This can be useful during boss encounters.

AoE

co +aoe

Encourages the use of Area of Effect abilities when appropriate.

AoE can be powerful against groups of enemies but dangerous when:

  • crowd-controlled targets are nearby
  • additional enemies may be pulled
  • threat is unstable

Crowd Control

Some classes may support a crowd-control strategy.

co +cc

Possible crowd-control abilities include effects such as:

  • Polymorph
  • stuns
  • roots
  • fear
  • shackles
  • other class-specific control abilities

Successful crowd control may require an appropriate target or raid marker depending on the Playerbot build.

Threat Management

Threat is extremely important when playing with Playerbots.

Damage bots that attack too aggressively may pull enemies away from the tank.

Useful techniques include:

  • allow the tank to engage first
  • avoid immediately using large burst abilities
  • use assist/focus strategies
  • give the tank time to build Threat
  • manually control dangerous pulls

Players should treat Playerbot groups similarly to traditional World of Warcraft parties.

A strong tank does not automatically compensate for reckless damage.

Dungeon Gameplay

Playerbots can make Dungeon gameplay significantly more accessible.

A typical five-player group might contain:

  1. one tank
  2. one healer
  3. three damage characters

Before entering a dungeon:

  • check everyone's level
  • repair equipment
  • verify gear
  • check healer mana
  • verify tank strategy
  • make sure bots are following
  • confirm important abilities

During a dungeon:

  • allow the tank to initiate difficult pulls
  • avoid pulling unnecessary groups
  • use '''stay''' when positioning matters
  • watch healer mana
  • use crowd control when necessary
  • regroup after elevators, jumps and teleports

See Dungeon Guides for instance-specific information.

Raid Gameplay

Playerbots can also assist with Raid content when supported by the realm configuration.

Raids require much more organization than normal world combat.

Important considerations include:

  • tank assignments
  • healer assignments
  • raid positioning
  • threat
  • boss phases
  • environmental hazards
  • crowd control
  • movement mechanics
  • interrupts

A raid full of AI characters should not be expected to automatically solve every encounter.

Player input and positioning can make a major difference.

See Raid Guides for encounter-specific strategies.

Positioning Bots

Positioning is one of the most important Playerbot skills.

The '''follow''' and '''stay''' commands can be used to organize bots before difficult encounters.

For example:

  1. move ranged characters to a safe area
  2. order them to stay
  3. position the tank near the boss
  4. begin the encounter
  5. adjust bots as mechanics change

This can prevent bots from:

  • standing in dangerous effects
  • pulling additional enemies
  • entering melee range unnecessarily
  • spreading incorrectly
  • following the player into dangerous terrain

Pulling Enemies

Some builds provide specialized pulling commands for tank bots.

Examples may include:

/t BOTNAME pull
/t BOTNAME pull ready
/t BOTNAME pull test

These commands may help determine whether a bot can safely perform a pull.

Always verify availability with the bot's help command.

Crowd Control

Some Playerbots can use class-specific crowd-control abilities.

Examples include:

Crowd control is especially useful in difficult dungeon pulls.

Players should avoid using uncontrolled AoE when an enemy is intentionally crowd-controlled.

Trading with Bots

Some Playerbot builds allow players to trade items and money with bots.

Open a normal trade window with the bot.

Depending on the build, bots may report:

  • available money
  • available inventory
  • tradable items

Items may also be requested through chat using linked items.

Exact trading behavior depends on the current Playerbot version.

Equipment

Playerbot performance is strongly affected by equipment.

A poorly equipped level 80 bot will usually perform much worse than a properly geared character.

Important factors include:

  • item level
  • armor type
  • primary statistics
  • hit
  • expertise
  • defense
  • spell power
  • attack power
  • sockets
  • enchants

Gear should match the bot's intended role.

For example, a Tank requires very different equipment from a healer or damage dealer.

Talents

Playerbots may use specialization-specific strategies based on their talents.

Talent configuration influences:

  • available abilities
  • combat role
  • damage type
  • healing
  • tanking
  • utility

Do not assume that every bot of the same class behaves identically.

A Paladin may be configured as:

  • Protection
  • Holy
  • Retribution

Each should be treated as a different group role.

Mana and Resources

Bots still depend on normal class resources.

Examples include:

A healer with no mana cannot keep a party alive simply because it is controlled by AI.

Allow bots to recover between difficult encounters when needed.

Death and Recovery

If a bot dies, commands such as '''follow''' may help it recover depending on the current build and circumstances.

If a bot becomes separated from the party:

  1. stop moving
  2. attempt follow
  3. verify the bot is alive
  4. regroup
  5. re-enter the instance if necessary

Bots may occasionally have difficulty with unusual terrain, transports, elevators or scripted encounters.

Game Objects

Playerbots may be capable of interacting with certain game objects.

This can help with activities involving:

  • quest objects
  • herbs
  • ore
  • chests
  • interactive world objects

Support depends on the particular object and Playerbot build.

Useful Beginner Setup

For a new Playerbot user, a simple party is recommended.

Example:

  • Player — damage
  • Bot 1 — tank
  • Bot 2 — healer
  • Bot 3 — damage
  • Bot 4 — damage

Start with normal world enemies before entering difficult content.

Practice:

  1. inviting bots
  2. follow
  3. stay
  4. attack
  5. checking strategies
  6. positioning
  7. recovering after death

Once comfortable, move into Dungeon content.

Example Dungeon Preparation

Before a dungeon boss:

1. Confirm the tank is ready.
2. Check healer mana.
3. Position ranged bots.
4. Use stay if necessary.
5. Mark important targets.
6. Begin the pull.
7. Watch threat.
8. Move bots if the encounter requires it.

Playerbots are strongest when the player acts as the group's commander rather than expecting the AI to make every tactical decision.

Troubleshooting

Bot will not follow

Try:

/t BOTNAME follow

Also check whether:

  • the bot is dead
  • the bot is extremely far away
  • the bot is stuck
  • you changed zones
  • you entered an instance

Bot attacks the wrong target

Consider:

  • assist strategy
  • focus strategy
  • manually ordering attack
  • allowing the tank to establish threat first

Healer is not healing correctly

Check:

  • healer mana
  • talent specialization
  • healing strategy
  • distance
  • line of sight
  • whether the healer is alive

Tank cannot hold threat

Check:

  • tank specialization
  • tank equipment
  • tank strategy
  • whether damage bots are attacking too early
  • whether multiple enemies are being pulled

Command does not work

Playerbot commands evolve between versions.

Use:

/t BOTNAME help

A command documented elsewhere may not exist or may use different syntax on the currently installed Shadowmourne build.

Playerbot Tips

  • Start with a small group.
  • Learn follow and stay first.
  • Give tanks time to establish threat.
  • Watch healer mana.
  • Use internal Wiki pages for important concepts.
  • Use Dungeon Guides and Raid Guides for encounter-specific information.
  • Treat bots as party members, not invincible pets.
  • Use the bot's help command whenever syntax is uncertain.
  • Positioning often matters more than adding more bots.
  • Good gear and correct roles make a large difference.

Playerbots and Shadowmourne

Playerbots are an important part of the Shadowmourne Realm experience.

Shadowmourne combines AzerothCore, Wrath of the Lich King gameplay and Playerbot technology to provide a realm where players can adventure with AI-controlled companions and a populated world.

Playerbot behavior may continue to evolve as the Shadowmourne realm is updated.

This Wiki page should therefore be updated whenever:

  • commands change
  • strategies change
  • new bot types become available
  • realm rules change
  • dungeon or raid behavior improves
  • Playerbot configuration changes