We already have an element notation...

Q W E R
A S D F

...and we can communicate spells by simply giving the components.

Spells we communicate this way are universal no matter in what order the elements are casted (SER = ERS = RES so on) and the fingers we are using to cast it is also not conveyed.

What if we want to convey that information too?

Team [Lemons] is proud to present you this notation standard.

Q W E R
A S D F

- in uppercase
- they are used to compose spells
- Example: Q means water, R means cold, QR means ice, DFD means a double rock-fire projectile

X

- denoting any element compatible with the current spell (exception being the E element)
- X is not E, because the shield element influences the form of the spell
- in uppercase
- for a given combo, we can limit X by saying it explicitly like for example: (X=S,F)
- for a given combo, we can say what X is not by stating it for example: (X is not S,F)
- Example: SDX means any of the following spells (SDR, SDF, SDS, SDQ)
- Example: XFX(X=F,Q) means the following spells (FFF, FFQ, QFQ)

1 2 3 4 5
and ":" colon delimiter

- representing each finger from your left hand
- 1 being your pinkie, 2 being your ring finger, 3 being your middle, 4 being your pointer, 5 being your thumb
- finger number(s) will be added after a spell, delimited with a ":" colon character
- if a finger is added only once that means all the next elements are pressed with that finger
- Example: for the spell SDF, it will look like SDF:123 (finger 1 presses element S, finger 2 element D, and finger 3 presses F)
- Example: DDD:4 means that all elements will be pressed with the finger 4 (index finger)

" [ " and " ] "

- are used for delimiting concurrent key presses (for example [SER] means all 3 keys will be pressed at the same time)
- if an element has no [ and ] around it then it is pressed separately (QQQ = [Q][Q][Q])
- Example: EFD:343 means that each element will be pressed in succesion
- Example: [SE]S:232 means that fingers 2 and 3 press S and E at once, then finger 2 presses S afterwards

!

- exclamation mark represents the self cast modifier (default Middle-Mouse button)
- when ! appears before a spell that means it is going to be self-cast
- added before a spell
- Example: !SFS means SFS middle-mouse button by default (self-cast)

c

- charging or channeling
- means the said spell will be charged or channeled by holding the mouse button
- currently applies to projectiles and beams
- the "c" is a lowercase letter
- added before a spell
- Example: cDDD means that the DDD spell is charged up instead of just spammed

~

- a tilde without anything around it means you just swing your weapon
- Example: !DDD + ~ + ~ means you quake once then you swing your weapon twice

~~

- a double tilde without anything around them means you use your weapon's special attack
- Example: !DDD + ~~ means you quake once then you unleash your weapons special attack

"-" or "+" or " "

- characters are used for linking spells in a combo (dash, plus or space)
- added between spells to communicate a combo
- Example: QRQ + cRDR + ARA + cDDD is a combo
- Example: QRQ - cRDR - ARA - cDDD is the same combo written with dashes
- Example: QRQ cRDR ARA cDDD is the same combo written with spaces

Maybe you want to communicate some spells from the old Magicka which had a 5 element cast buffer and a few different ways of casting on top of normal cast and self-cast.

The notation that is in place for M:WW still applies here, extended to 5 elements and with the following spell modifiers added:

@

- an ampersand represents the area cast modifier (default Shift+RClick)
- when @ appears before a spell that means it is going to be area-cast
- added before a spell
- Example: @DFDDD means that the fire-earth spell will be area cast into an earthquake

~
before a spell

- a tilde represents that the spell will be used to imbue the wizards weapon (default Shift+LClick)
- when ~ appears before a spell that means it is going to be stored for later use
- added before a spell
- to release the currently imbued spell, we just use the normal tilde ~ to represent a weapon swing
- Example: ~QERASR means that the QERASR spell will be stored into the wizard's weapon. Later on, we can say ~ to swing the weapon releasing what was stored.

- self-cast with no elements equipped is the staff special ability trigger in Original Magicka

• communicate them as fast as you can? Use the short-notation.
  
• communicate them as detailed as you can? Use the long-notation.

• you mention the elements that you cast
  
• you need to use the "!", "c", "~" and "@" modifiers to show how the spell was cast
  
• you don't need to mention them in the order you actually cast them
  
• no finger numbering is needed
  
• no concurrent key presses will be delimited with "[" and "]"

• you mention the elements that you cast in the order you cast them
  
• you need to use the "!", "c", "~" and "@" modifiers to show how the spell was cast
  
• finger numbers will be added at the end of the spell after a colon ":"
  
• concurrent key presses will be delimited with "[" and "]"

Short notation:

!SES

Long notation:

!SES:232

The above tells you that the way I am casting my ESS aura is by firstly hitting S with my ring finger, then E with my middle, then S again with my ringfinger. This tells you this is a ward because the self cast modifier (!) is present at the beginning.

Alternate way to cast it:

![SE]S:232

In this case, SE are pressed at the same time, then S is pressed afterwards.


Short notation:

!SES SER !SFS

Long notation:

!SES:232 + [SER]:234 + !SFS:242

The above line tells you that first we are casting an SES ward, and how it is being casted. After that we deploy some SER mines, notice the finger notation near the spell. Each of the fingers 234 are respectively pointing to a key SER (2->S, 3->E, 4 points to R). Finally we have an SFS aoe, that detonates the mines. We know it's an aoe because of the exclamation mark is present.


Short notation:

QQQ Tele !DDD AER cDDD

Long notation:

QQQ:2 + Teleport + !DDD:4 + [AER]:234 + cDDD:4

The above combo starts with a QQQ water spray. Note that the finger is only specified once instead of being specified for each key (like QQQ:222) because the key remains the same for all key presses. We denote magicks by their name. In our combo, after we water-spray our enemy away from us we teleport on top of him. Then we start a DDD quake. Note that the specified finger 4 is used for all presses and the "!" self cast modifier means it's a self-cast (a quake in this case). Then we cast an AER frost storm on top of the guy that is now knocked on the ground. Our last spell in this combo is a charged DDD rock projectile, to deliver the finishing shatter blow while the target slowly freezes. Note that the "c" at the beginning means the spell will be charged and not force-cast.

Check out the thread on the PDX forums here[forum.paradoxplaza.com]

Firefox extension is already live.
Chrome extension will be added soon.

What it does: it converts spells seen on webpages to their respective spell icons

From this:


To this:


Credit goes to Galbar!

There are times when you are not on a forum or an IRC chat and you are mostly talking to your magicka-nerdy friends or just having a discussion via microphone with some players.
In those cases, you want to keep the flow of the conversation going while also keeping everything precise and disambiguous, and vocally saying strings of letters is confusing for many people.

Additionally, people are still confusing stuff like Barriers and Walls and Elemental Walls.

That's why, by request, I will set a standard for the proper way to say all the spells in the game!



Normal Cast:

• Spray - any spell composed only of {Q, R, F}, without QR(Ice)
  
• Beam - any spell with the above elements, and at least one W(Life) or S(Arcane) element
  
• Arcs (Lightning Arcs) - any spells with the above elements, along with at least one A(Lightning)
  
• Shards - any spell with any of the compatible elements from above and the QR(Ice) pair
  
• Rock - any spell with any of the compatible elements from above and at least one D(Earth) element
  
• Barrier - Any spell mixing E(Shield) with D(Earth) or QR(Ice) along with any spray component elements
  
• Mines - Any spell mixing E(Shield) with W(Life) or S(Arcane) along with any spray component elements
  
• E-Walls (Elemental Walls) - Any spell mixing E(Shield) with any spray component elements and/or A(lightning)
  
• Screen - A simple E(Shield) normal cast

Self Cast:

• Blast - any self-casted spell composed only of the {Q, R, F} spray elements and/or S(Arcane)
  
• Discharge - any self-casted spell with the any of the above elements along with one or more A(Lightning) elements
  
• Stomp - any self-casted spell with any of the Blast elements along with at least one of the D(Earth) or QR(Ice) elements
  
• Self-Heal - any self-casted spell composed only of W(Life)
  
• Ward - any self-casted spell composed of E(Shield) with the rest being any two compatible elements
  
• Dome - a simple self-casted E(Shield) element

Special Cases and Grouping:

• Wall = a Barrier or an E-Wall(Elemental Wall)
  
• Armor = a Ward that has at least one D(Earth) element in it
  
• Storm = an E-Wall that has at least one A(Lightning) component
  
• Shield = a Screen or Dome pure shield
  
• Quake = a Stomp with at least one D(Earth) element component
  
• Projectile = a Rock or a set of Shards
  
• Bomb = a damaging Mine or a damaging Barrier

Alternative Names:

• Bubble = a Dome shield

You just say the composing elements first, then the spell form afterwards.

Element Names:

• Q or Water
  
• W or Life
  
• R or Cold or Frost
  
• A or Lightning
  
• S or Arcane or Death
  
• D or Earth
  
• F or Fire

Note: E(Shield) is not mentioned, because shield affects the final spell form.
Note: You can still mention elements by their default letter or by their full name.

Vocal formats.
Choose one of these to communicate a spell:

• Element1-Element2-Element3 [Spell Form]
  
• Element1-Element2 [Spell Form]
  
• Element [Spell Form]
  
• Pure Element [Spell Form]
  
• Double Element [Spell Form]
  
• Double Element1 Element2 [Spell Form] - here the first Element is doubled
  
• Triple Element [Spell Form]

Note: Pure means all the elements are the same (exception being E)
Note: Double and Triple mean the next mentioned element appears two or respectively three times

• !QFS = Death Steamblast
  
• SSS = Pure Arcane Beam
  
• SSS = Pure Death Beam
  
• !SFS = Double S Fireblast
  
• ERD = Frost Barrier
  
• !ERD = Frost Armor
  
• !ERD = Frost-Earth Ward
  
• !ERD = Earth-Cold Ward
  
• !ERD = R-D Ward
  
• !ESD = S Armor
  
• QFF = Fire-Steam Spray
  
• !QRS = Frost-Death Stomp
  
• SRQ = Arcane Shards
  
• DFD = Double Earth-Fire Rock
  
• DFD = Earth-Earth-Fire Rock
  
• !E = Bubble Shield
  
• !E = Dome Shield
  
• E = Screen
  
• ASE = Death Storm
  
• QQ = Double Q Spray
  
• RRR = Pure Frost Spray
  
• ASE = Lightning-Death E-Wall
  
• !ARA = Frost Double Discharge
  
• ARA = Frost Double Arc
  
• DDD = Triple Earth Rock
  
• DDD = Triple D Rock

Just use whatever sounds good to your ears and please respect these naming conventions so we don't get confused.

Thanks!

- Q W E R A S D F are the elements
- ASF is a spell
- !ASF is a spell that is self-cast
- you can combo spells like so: QQQ + !DDD + !SES + SES + !SFS
- X means any element apart from E
- ASX refers to ASR, ASF, ASW, ASA or ASS
- you can mention what X is or is not in paranthesis, like so: AXA (X not R)
- to signify that you charge or channel a spell, you use a "c" before spell, like so: cDDD
- A tilde by itself means a weapon swing, like in this combo where I swing my weapon twice after a quake: !DDD + ~ + ~
- A double-tilde means a weapon's special attack, like in this combo: QQQ + ~~ + !SDF

- uses the same stuff as the short notation, but with added details
- you can use long notation to show how you finger stuff, like so: !SES:232
- fingers are noted from 1 to 5 (your left hand), 1 is your pinkie
- you can mark concurrent key presses with "[" and "]" like so: [SE]S + [AER]

- same ♥♥♥♥, but with a max of 5 elements
- area cast is marked with @ before spell, like so: @DDDDD
- imbuing a weapon is marked with ~ before spell, like so: ~QERASR
- weapon swing and releasing imbued weapon is marked with a normal tilde, like so: ~
- using staff special ability is marked with a single exclamation mark, like so: !

Just read the examples in the above section called "Natural Language Spell Communication"

That was a lot of information packed into a single line of text.
This is the power of the notation, and I hope this proves helpful to you.

Please link this guide if you want to educate people on this and talk to them in spells.

I would like to thank team [Lemons] for helping me develop and test this notation. This started originally as something we used in chat but it quickly took shape in a thread on our group and then it made its way to the MWW steam guides.
Original thread on our group can be found here