More accurate targeting tips with a controller...

I play on PS4 and the majority of my gametime has been with the gamepad (really just use the keyboard for chatting). Targetting an enemy isn't perfect but for the most part I'm alright with it... point the camera vaguely in the direction of the enemy I want to hit, press X to target them, L3 to lock on.

If I'm ever in a situation where there's maybe a few enemies clumped together, a few NPC's fighting them, a few players assisting, etc... let's say, in a FATE... however the magic of the X button works when deciding who to target, it almost always targets a NPC/player over the enemy.

I can use the D-Pad to jump through other nearby people/enemies as sort of a way of fine tuning... but that seems awful cumbersome if there's like 5-10 things to jump through and lots of effects going off masking the targeting reticule. I'm DPS so it hasn't been a huge deal yet, but that can't possibly be good enough for tanks or healers?

I guess I'm curious if there's any tips people could give to target enemies more accurately with the controller beyond using the D-Pad? Any settings I could change to prioritize enemies over NPCs/players? Thanks gang.

You can configure what the D-pad will cycle between.

check one or the other (not both) of the boxes:
Character Configuration -> Control Settings -> Filters -> Enable Target Cycling
or
Character Configuration -> Control Settings -> Filters -> Enable Customization

The first lets you configure two settings according to whether your weapon is drawn or sheathed. The second lets you configure up to four settings you can alternate between manually by pressing L1 + one of the right-side face buttons. (Someone who only plays tank or DPS can maybe do ok with the drawn/sheathed pattern. For anyone who alternates jobs or plays healer, and so may want to at times target friends during combat and at other times enemies, I'd recommend the four manually controlled filters.)

Once you have customized fiters, of either type, the left and right controller buttons will cycle only between targets matching your current filter. You'll typically want to set the filter to "Enemies" mode during combat, but I'd recommend having another of your selectable filters (or the weapon sheathed one if you prefer using the drawn/sheathed pattern) on "All" mode (which is also the default if you haven't set this feature).

Note: This only affects the D-pad cycling, not what initially gets targeted with the X button.

Thank you for that information!

I haven't really been using the D-Pad, but I guess I probably never had much of a choice but to get more acclimated with it eventually. Being able to restrict what gets targeted should help. It'd be cool if there was a way to address the 'initial targeting with X' piece too but I'll take what I can get. :D

Also, using the up/down buttons on the D-pad cycles between your party members in the order they appear in the party list (so is usually the best way for healers to target healing, though the "Friends" filter for left/right button cycling can be useful places like big fates where you might want to heal or raise someone not in your party).

And L1 + up/down cycles through the enemy list, which can be useful for tanks if they need to grab back enmity from one of them.

If you hold either of the triggers and tap L1 or R1, this hard targets the previous / next enemy (no need to press x to confirm. Will only cycle through enemies). Because you have the trigger held you can also use abilities in between switching targets with L1/R1. Always Be Casting. Be careful not to pull enemies you don't want to though.

also: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...dU6ZPV6s/edit#

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Niwashi

Also, using the up/down buttons on the D-pad cycles between your party members in the order they appear in the party list (so is usually the best way for healers to target healing, though the "Friends" filter for left/right button cycling can be useful places like big fates where you might want to heal or raise someone not in your party).

And L1 + up/down cycles through the enemy list, which can be useful for tanks if they need to grab back enmity from one of them.

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I didn't know this about L1. Thanks for posting this!