is there any way to set conditional breakpoints?

eg: stops at breakpoint 1 when $a == 3 or when the hits to that breakpoint have reached a certain value

See "Conditions" column in the Breakpoints tab. Select appropriate cell in the grid, press F2 and enter the condition. Such expressions (if entered) are evaluated each time when their breakpoints are hit and if return TRUE (in terms of PHP), breakpoints trigger.

perfect, it works!