Need help perfecting a macro

So I've been working with hotbar setting macros. I've gotten the basics for stance changes down but I wanted to work out a way to put full rotations into a single slot.

My current hotbar set macro (Being as I use PS4 controller currently)

is /chotbar set "[action]" # ## where my current line is

/chotbar set "Hard Slash" 3 15

Meaning that the skill hard slash will set on the third cross hotbar, 15th skill slot (Fourth button grouping, circle button)

Now this works fine. It works as intended and sets the skill properly. However I can't seem to figure out how to set, if possible, macros onto the hotbar using this macro.

Maybe someone here might know if it's possible and if so how to do it?

unfortunately you can't macro macros, cause you could probably create a loop this way

Well that's the goal. I currently have 6 slots on my hot bar dedicated to 3 finishers for 2 combos. I could cut this down to three with a loop macro. It would be the same as button mashing on any other console game and it doesn't really mean I'm cheating, just trying to get more bang for my buck as I already have extended bars turned on and it's still a massive hassle.

Also, I need help understanding the Action queue macro lines if you know about those.

I don't really recommend it, but there is a workaround for macroing a single combo or a couple closely related combos (with an A-B-C and A-B-D pattern, where they differ only on the final skill). You can't individually set a macro to a hotbar slot, but you can achieve the same effect provided you have a few spare hotbars you're not using. The workaround involves swapping out the entire bar. For instance, if you don't use hotbars 6, 7, or 8, you could set those up to have skills identical to your main hotbar on all but one slot, that one slot having one of 3 macros:

macro 1 on bar 6: says use skill A then copy bar 7 to bar 1.
macro 2 on bar 7: says use skill B then copy bar 8 to bar 1.
macro 3 on bar 8: says use skill C then copy bar 6 to bar 1.

While in combat, you'd stay on bar 1 (which would initially start out looking just like bar 6, with macro 1 on the slot you're using). Each time you use that slot, you're activating the skill and then swapping the bar with one that has the following skill in that same position.

Note: If you use this workaround, keep in mind that by having the skills in macros, you lose out on the ability to queue a skill just before your GCD is up. Plus you need to be sure you get back to the first skill in the pattern after any time the pattern is interrupted (whether that's by an attack failing, or by taking too long dealing with other mechanics, or whatever).

The biggest limitation, though, is probably the fact that it only really works well for a single combo and nearly all jobs have multiple combos to deal with. If you try macroing one of your combos, but at least two of its three skills need to be duplicated individually for use in other combos anyway, well then it doesn't really save space after all.

I guess you could combine 4 skills used in two 3-part combos (provided they differ only by the finishing skill) onto two slots if none of the 4 skills are used individually or in other combos, but it starts getting more cumbersome to set up. (For instance, you might have the R2+X slot set to the macros as listed above, and the R2+O slot empty on bar 6 & 7, but having an alternate 3rd skill macro on bar 8. That would let those two slots handle an A-B-C combo and an A-B-D combo.) Trying to get any more variations than that, though, could get tricky.

For instance, working out how NIN could fit the Spinning Edge, Gust Slash, Aeolian Edge, Dancing Edge, and Shadow Fang skills onto two slots (and using 3 spare hotbars), it'd be something like this:

Spinning Edge Macro:
/macroicon "Spinning Edge"
/ac "Spinning Edge" <t>
/chotbar copy NIN 7 NIN 1

Gust Slash Macro:
/macroicon "Gust Slash"
/ac "Gust Slash" <t>
/chotbar copy NIN 8 NIN 1

Aeolian Edge Macro:
/macroicon "Aeolian Edge"
/ac "Aeolian Edge" <t>
/chotbar copy NIN 6 NIN 1

Dancing Edge Macro:
/macroicon "Dancing Edge"
/ac "Dancing Edge" <t>
/chotbar copy NIN 6 NIN 1

Shadow Fang Macro:
/macroicon "Shadow Fang"
/ac "Shadow Fang" <t>
/chotbar copy NIN 6 NIN 1

On hotbars 1 & 6, set the Spinning Edge Macro to X slot, leave O slot empty
On hotbar 7, set the Gust Slash Macro to X slot, Shadow Fang Macro to O slot
On hotbar 8, set the Aeolian Edge Macro to X slot, Danging Edge Macro to O slot

Spinning Edge -> Gust Slash -> Aeolian Edge combo can be done with XXX
Spinning Edge -> Gust Slash -> Dancing Edge combo can be done with XXO
Spinning Edge -> Shadow Fang combo can be done with XO

(And if you're in a low level synched dungeon and want just Spinning Edge -> Gust Slash, you'd use XX for the skills, immediately followed by an extra X which will fail on the skill part, but still advance the hotbars back to the start for your next combo.)


p.s. Those spare hotbars (NIN 6, 7, & 8 in this example) don't actually have to be on the same job. It's just a bit easier to set them up in the first place if they are, since that's where you have the Actions & Traits window available with that job's skills. But if you don't have enough spare hotbars there, you could do something like set up the spare hotbars on Fisherman or something, where you're less likely to have all the bars used up with other things. If you're going to do that, then all the other direct (non-macro) skills on the bar would have to be set up using /chotbar set command rather than Actions & Traits -> Set to Hotbar. That's only during the initial setup, though, so it's a one-time hassle.