Dragoon Macros

So I've been reading the Rotation Reborn thread. Fascinating stuff, but I've been having the issue of simply having too many actions to use -- I usually find that the most easily accessible buttons on the hotbar are buttons 1-6, and I figured I would try to save both space and my fingers.

What are your thoughts on macros, or do you have an efficient layout?

My main macro is the True Thrust combo:

/action "True Thrust" <t>
/wait 2.5
/action "Vorpal Thrust" <t>
/wait 2.5
/action "Full Thrust" <t>

And I sprinkle the off-global-cooldown skills during the /wait sections.

I know the macro can slow down DPS, so I just wanted an idea how most of the top DRGs do it (handle all the button mashing without destroying their keyboard/fingers).

You can't make macros that wait 2.5 seconds.

Any macros for GCD skills/rotations will always result in a significant dps loss.

Some people rework their UI to fit the basic keyboard/mouse combo. (e.g. have keys like Q,E,R,T remapped or have another set of shortcut abilities like alt+1, alt+2, etc).

Other people use MMO mice (Logitech G600(?) or the Razer Naga) and map abilities to the mouse for easier accessibility.

Some people can manage moving, hitting abilities on keyboard, & manually mouse clicking cooldowns at the same time.

Macros for a Dragoon are a terrible idea. As mentioned you can't set a macro to wait 2.5 seconds, and it also means you wouldn't be able to weave any off-GLC skills between you TTT combo hits (as it would cancel your macro). It's just generally a very bad idea.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by siverstorm

You can't make macros that wait 2.5 seconds.

Any macros for GCD skills/rotations will always result in a significant dps loss.

Some people rework their UI to fit the basic keyboard/mouse combo. (e.g. have keys like Q,E,R,T remapped or have another set of shortcut abilities like alt+1, alt+2, etc).

Other people use MMO mice (Logitech G600(?) or the Razer Naga) and map abilities to the mouse for easier accessibility.

Some people can manage moving, hitting abilities on keyboard, & manually mouse clicking cooldowns at the same time.

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Right, which is why I was asking how you guys do it. Maybe you have a layout that's more efficient; even with a mouse with numbers on the side it's usually fairly straining to reach past the button for 6.

And no, using off global cooldown skills doesn't cancel the macro. I've tested; you just have to use the skill fairly quickly so that the next step in the macro doesn't trigger while your OGC skill is activating.

Personally? My setup isn't the most optimal but it's the most comfortable for me (everyone's different in this regard).

I use the logitech mmo mouse for my cooldowns, I have a couple of defensive cooldowns (bloodbath, keen flurry) and LB on a separate hotbar that I click manually.

I use 1-7 on the standard 2 hotbars (so that's 1-7 and ctrl1-ctrl7). Sometimes I'll mouse click the ctrl7 ability if I'm not dodging a mechanic at the same time. My hands aren't that big but I usually don't have problems hitting the abilities via keyboard.

1-7 is TTT, IDC, P
ctrl1-ctrl7 is invig,HT, leg, jump, spine, DF, power surge

I have no problems hitting abilities down to 6/7.

If I was on my desktop I would look for a screenshot or make one, but my UI is also super messy so it would probably do more harm than good XD

A lot of people with customized remapped hotbars (alt1-alt7, q,e,r,t,y mappings, etc) usually play around a LOT until they get used to it.

If you are serious about being a dragoon - ditch the macros and press all the buttons. Find something comfortable for you. Razer Naga does the trick for me.

Macros are going to kill your DPS for a number of reasons. Most plain reason, is that it only considers whole integers in wait times and it rounds up. So your 2.5 wait time you put in is actually 3.0 and you are losing .5 seconds on every single GCD you use, which adds up quickly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by siverstorm

Personally? My setup isn't the most optimal but it's the most comfortable for me (everyone's different in this regard).

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I really like this answer; I'm mainly just trying to get an idea of optimal setups on the hotbars if I'm going to ditch the macros. Anything beyond 6 I have a bit of difficulty hitting with any accuracy on the logitech mouse, so I usually try to keep anything important on 1-6.

Right now I have TTT on 1-3, 4 is Leg Sweep (comfortable for thumb to hit on impulse for an emergency stun or as part of a combo), 5 is Phlebotomize and 6 is Heavy Thrust.

I was toying around with the idea of putting all GC skills on the normal hotbar and all OFC skills on the CTRL hotbar, but your layout gave me some ideas to try to get things flowing better and more comfortably.

@m3eansean: I didn't realize the macros would round up or down. Interesting to know, thanks for the info!

Macros don't round down, Syfer22, only up. This is why they are inefficient if you are even remotely serious about your damage output. Also if you spam a macro with multiple GCDs it starts from the top and works its way down adding more time, and it also removes the ability to queue a GCD action (very important in this game).

Unfortunately no one can tell you what's optimal for you, but just what's optimal for them. I personally only use 1-5 and then I have my two side mouse buttons bound to alt and shift (you can use ctrl as well, but it's my push to talk). I also use F, R, G, T. So I can have 1-5, shift+1-5, alt+1-5 and three variations of F, R, G, T. My mouse has a few other buttons that I use for cooldowns as well. In other games I've also used other keys Q, E, V, B. Don't be afraid to unmap and remap things. You just need to test out which of those keys is comfortable for you to hit, but modifier keys are going to give you a fairly large selection. Some people also remap movement keys to ESDF instead of WASD to get more buttons on the left side.

I'm using G600 for all my abilities. For reference, it has a 12-button numpad for your thumb, perfect for a hotbar. I have no trouble hitting any of the buttons on the mouse so I just use them for everything.

Hotbar1: 1234567890+- (generally all GCD combos and abilities)
Hotbar2: alt+1234567890+- (offensive cooldowns, jumps and such)
Hotbar3: shift+1234567890+- (defensive cooldowns, call macros, items)

Mouse is basically bound to a number bar and I use modifiers from the keyboard like alt, shift, ctrl for other hotbars.

I don't use macros.

My key setup is fairly simple

Numbers (1,2,3..etc.)
Ctrl+numbers (ctrl+1, ctrl+2, ctrl+3..etc.)
Shift+numbers (shift+1, shift+2, shift+3..etc.)
R & F
2 Mouse Side Buttons (Simple forward/back buttons that can be found on many mice)
I use Q&E to strafe

Here's my UI if you're curious

http://i.imgur.com/crP7f5M.jpg