Help with using macros to heal friendlies

I'm new to online games (this being my first) and with certain functions like macros. :eek: I'm also on PS3 so keep that in mind (certain features aren't easily accessible like in PC). Anyway, I have a problem with locking onto a friendly once I am in battle mode. I've no issue healing/raising a member in my party. Likewise, if I don't attack the target-monster I can still lock onto anyone around me (helpful during fates). But once I lock onto the target-monster and attack I can no longer target random friendlies. This has been a consistent issue. I hate watching a player die, especially when I can heal them. :(

I addressed this with my FC. Someone mentioned I could target a friendly with macros. Sadly, writing commands isn't my forte. :p I've researched how to use them. I have the basics, but I don't know the command to target a friendly in battle mode. Is it this?

/ac "Physic" <tt>

or is it...

/as "Physic" <tt>

Any help would be great! :D

prefix
/ac action (any ws or spell)

action
"x" skill name (if only one word, quotations not needed)

target
<t> target (casts on whoever is targeted)
<tt> target's target (performs action on whoever your current target is targeting. if you are nuking the boss and use dthis, you would heal the tank)
<me> cast on self
<p2> cast on 2nd person in party list
<mo> cast on the next character your mouse arrow hovers over

As an FFXI player, one big adjustment I've had to make is targeting before activating a spell/ability (I used a lot of <stnpc> and <stpc> placeholders that don't apply here), and as such I spent my first week trying to figure out the most effective ways to target enemies and players.

Duuude007's covered pretty much all the bases already, but I'd like to throw this in mix as well - if you go to Character Config and check the "Target filters" tab, you'll see where you have a drop-down box on "Weapon Drawn" that's defaulted to "Enemies." If you change that to "Friends," you'll still be able to target and attack enemies using the L2/R2 + L1/R1 "tab" function and also target other players using the d-pad, whether they're in your party or not.

Have a browse through this Healing Macro's got a lot of ideas from here myself.

It may be worth looking in the healing class section where the above link is from in case you didn't know there was one.

:)

Not to be an arse, but it is spelled "Physick" with the final "k" anyway. Just saying in case you were getting an error.

I have /ac "Physick" <2> in my macros, I change the number to whatever number my tank is in the party...It just cast the spell without targeting him. Very useful in dungeons

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Originally Posted by Reauland

if you go to Character Config and check the "Target filters" tab, you'll see where you have a drop-down box on "Weapon Drawn" that's defaulted to "Enemies." If you change that to "Friends," you'll still be able to target and attack enemies using the L2/R2 + L1/R1 "tab" function and also target other players using the d-pad, whether they're in your party or not.

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Setting this filter to whatever you most want for your current class seems a clearer way than setting up macros for it. You can also then set it up to switch to something else based on L1 + (triangle, square, X, or circle), for cases where you want to target someone not included in your default filter. (The latter is only for a one-off action, though. As soon as you perform an action, it will change back to whatever you set as your usual defaults.)

The only things I don't like are (1) that you can't set up your preferences on a per-class basis — when you switch between a healer class and a dps or tank class, you'll have to go back into the configuration here to change whether you want to target friendlies, and (2) It combines NPCs and Objects into the same category. There's dungeons where you need to interact with objects during battle, so I like to set my default to include objects in my target filter. The problem is that in FATEs, you often wind up battling alongside a cople dozen NPCs that you don't want in your targeting filter, but they end up included if you were including objects.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Michelasso

Not to be an arse, but it is spelled "Physick" with the final "k" anyway. Just saying in case you were getting an error.

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No prob! I read in the macro tutorials that spelling correctly was key to preventing error messages, so thanks for pointing that out ^_^ Additionally, someone here pointed out filters as being another solution. I will try that out. In the meantime, what would be the correct macro command to heal friendlies outside my party? I noticed people suggested this command: /ac "Physick" <#>

However, this macro command would only apply to those inside your party, which I have no problems with. My goal is to be able to heal friendlies *outside* my party, especially when I am in battle mode. Would the target's target (tt) option work? /ac "Physick" <tt>

I've read on the tutorials that the person being target must be named or specified. I'm wondering, though, if <tt> would help.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by johnbeck1000

I have /ac "Physick" <2> in my macros, I change the number to whatever number my tank is in the party...It just cast the spell without targeting him. Very useful in dungeons

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When you first enter the instance open the social window (press o). You will see your party names there. You can then click on each one and move it up or down. I always have the tank as 2 - or 2 &3 in eight person groups, with the other healer in position 4.

So I am going on my FC to ask more about targeting PCs outside my party. He suggests I use this:

/targetpc

I guess that's the closest thing to selecting a friendly outside my party? Again, I just want to be able to select a friendly during battle mode, especially in fates. If I see a dude in dire need of res or healing, I want to be able to help them. :P Right now, the filters seem to be the only sure bet. Still, I'd like to set up a macro since I don't want to target friendlies all the time. Just in cases where I see they need a heal or res.

The best way I can think is to change the filter so you can quickly change to a group of subtargets. It's not ideal in large fates still though because you have to tab through all the other pcs in the area to the one you want, but it might help. The screenshot is a setup for a controller interface. I'm on a pc so there might be some errors in my advice. Hope this helps you with a starting point at least.

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/5898/obia.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Teraluna

When you first enter the instance open the social window (press o). You will see your party names there. You can then click on each one and move it up or down. I always have the tank as 2 - or 2 &3 in eight person groups, with the other healer in position 4.

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didn't know, thanks