Pugilists/Monks - Tell me about your Hotbars.

specifically, how many of them you use for active combat abilities and consumables.

so here is the thing. I just got Twin Snakes, which gives me two abilities to use in Raptor form.

I've been reading up on being able to Macro our combos, which I will definitely need to do, because I don't have super finger dexterity to be able to quickly hit CTRL-1, 2, 3 with one hand (keeping the other on my mouse)in the middle of big fights and so forth. I need to condense as many of my MAIN heavy use skills as I can to my regular 1 to = buttons. cause I don't wanna be all clicky either.

like I said, I've been reading up and I am seeing that i should theoretically be able to macro the main pugilist/monk combos together and use them successfully, and I am planning to learn how to do that, I got the first macro down, for Bootshine/True Strike/Snap Punch.

which brings me to another issue. when I use the Macro, I don't see the flashing indicators for my Raptor and Coeurl form skills. the easy solution of course, is to put those skills individually on a separate toolbar, just so that I can see them when they flash. which brings me back around to my original question.

I am hoping that I can condense my skill/consumable usage to 2 hotbars, and use Hotbar #3 as my "watch for flashing indicators" hotbar. that way, i don't need that 5th hotbar on the left-hand side of my screen, overlapping with my Party menu(playing on a 14-inch laptop). is that feasible, or will i actually still need that 3rd hotbar for active skills/consumables?

(oh yeah, I have my 4th hotbar on the right-hand side of my screen, for Gear-switching, and my Teleport/Return/Sprint skills)

Macros wont really help you later, the global CD is 2.5 sec but the wait command in the macros only allow you to wait in increments of 1, so it can be 2 secs and get a error or 3 secs and you lose 0.5 sec per wait... which say in a basic raptor -> coerl -> Opa rotation would be a loss of a 1 sec (2 x 0.5 for the 2 waits between raptor and coerl).

You can rebind keys to use other modifiers, I changed mine from CTRL + 1 -> = to SHIFT + 1 -> = as hitting SHIFT 1 is easier, you can also bind additional mouse buttons like the side buttons on a lot of mice models (I put sprint on the one button and push to talk for Vent on the other of my Mx518).

The other reason you shouldnt rely on macros is that you cant always just go blindly through a rotation, and may need to switch up depending on many factors so being able to hit your rotations manually will let you adjust those on the fly as needed.

Mind you you are free to disregard my information as I am a) a Conjurer / WHM and not a Pug / Monk and b) inexperienced as well, just saying what I learnt / heard / read about aspects of the game.

http://puu.sh/5G1Gh.jpg

Here's mine. Haha..ha..

I'm not sure that'll really help the poor lad. :)

the difference between twin snakes and the other is the position you are around the mob (one is flank and one is rear) so its completely up to you which you use as they both complete the same combo.

in terms of hotbar I have button 2 as rear and Ctrl-2 as flank

i don't think relying on macros for whole chains is a good idea because there are a lot of situations where you have to interrupt your chain, such as a mob dieing or avoiding AoE. And how do you pick up where you left off when you rely on the macros?

About the hotbar: that's why i bought a razor naga a few years ago, it has 12 side buttons, tough only 6 are comfortably usable for me. hotbar 1 is mapped to 1-5, R and the first 6 side buttons on the mouse. Hotbar 2 is mapped to the same + alt. This is more than enough to fit in everything you need to have fast access to.

I'm assuming you mean the following macro:

/micon "True Strike"
/ac "Bootshine" <t>
/ac "True Strike" <t>
/ac "Snap Punch" <t>

I ended up not being a fan of those. Partly, it just felt wrong, because PGL/MNK is the only class that can use this kind of macro this way, so I always felt weird fighting on my PGL. Partly I hated having to choose between missing information or filling up hotbar slots with the individual skills just so I could see what was active. It works okay as long as you land every hit, but I was getting so used to mindlessly mashing that one button that when I happened to miss, I had a much harder time reacting to it than I did when I kept the skills separate.

Anyway. One thing you might want to look into if you're having trouble with your current keybinds is just changing your keybinds themselves. The letters around WASD are much easier to hit in combat than 7 through =, and most of them aren't really so vital that you couldn't bind them somewhere else.

I used to use macros for the same reason, but to see the "flashing" I also placed each Action to a non-functioning hotbar so I could still see the icon flash.

I also agree that macros aren't good for all situations, but for soloing the "3 action 1 button" thing worked fine for me, but each person is different.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JMadFour

I've been reading up on being able to Macro our combos, which I will definitely need to do, because I don't have super finger dexterity to be able to quickly hit CTRL-1, 2, 3 with one hand (keeping the other on my mouse)in the middle of big fights and so forth.

---

A Razer Naga might help with your finger dexterity.

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/i...zAYRfq2vb5Mjvw

If you dont use letter E and Q and R you can keybind your most use skills on those. Macro are useful but not really for monk jobs. Reason is you are losing dps and sometimes not completing your rotation. example, if you combine bootshire,twinsnake,and snap punch in one combo there is a chance that either twinsnake and snap punch wont execute on a rapid press cause this is just a script. it will send it to the server as a script and if the global cooldown misses the scripts of the first 2 it will comes back to bootshire and there you ruin your rotation. each of this skill i macro just for the sake that i wanna do mercy stroke. Anyway back to your issue with the buttons.
Q = Dragon Kick (Side)
E = Twin Snake (Side)
R = Snap Punch (Side)
Shift Q = Bootshire (Back)
Shift E = True Strike (Back)
Shift R = Demolish

*As you can see what i did on mine put the rotation is a straight line near the move and use shift to switch from side to back in the same order as your rotation.

Not using macros at all. Monk is not made for those especially in any raid boss fights or so. For skills/items I am currently using 2 skillbars.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JezeT

Not using macros at all. Monk is not made for those especially in any raid boss fights or so.

---

Neither do I, I do have certain rotations I go by but a lot of mobs/bosses require me to adapt to the situation.
Can't do that with macros.

Quote:

---

For skills/items I am currently using 2 skillbars.

---

Only 2? I use 3 bars for monk alone and have food/items on a seperate hotbar.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shirai

Only 2? I use 3 bars for monk alone and have food/items on a seperate hotbar.

---

Maybe he/she is using a controller's cross-hotbar. I use it and currently only use 2 sets with 16 slots each.

I use a bunch of macros for my Monk hotbar and it works fine, effectively binding 11 different abilities to the same quadrant of my controller's hotbar.

Macro 1 (Flank Combos): /ac "Snap Punch" <t>; /ac "Twin Snakes" <t>; /ac "Dragon Kick" <t>
Macro 2 (Rear Combos): /ac "Demolish" <t>; /ac "True Strike" <t>; /ac "Bootshine" <t>
Macro 3 (Area of Effect): /ac "Howling Fist" <t>; /ac "Rockbreaker" <t>; /ac "Arm of the Destroyer" <t>
Macro 4 (Stuns): /ac "Shoulder Tackle" <t>; /ac "Steel Peak" <t>

I've also set up the macros like that for two reasons. First, I don't want Opo-Opo Form attacks taking priority, so they're at the bottom. Second, if I use Perfect Balance, then I will always use Coeurl Form attacks, which causes me to stack Greased Lightning buffs.

(Sorry for double-post. Max character limit reached and all that)

The reason I use macros isn't to do some auto-attack nonsense. It's that in a battle, I don't really have time to be concerned with which Form I'm currently in at that moment. All I'm concerned about is my positioning and making sure that I'm doing enough damage, 'cause that's my job. It's set up like that without /wait commands because, essentially, whatever form I'm in dictates which move I use when I press a button. If I use a macro when I'm in Opo-Opo form, it'll be different than when I use the exact same macro in Raptor Form or Coeurl Form. For me, it's a matter of convenience, especially when I'm in Coil and I have to pay a lot more attention to my surroundings and my party leader's commands.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HakuroDK

(Sorry for double-post. Max character limit reached and all that)

---

Edit your posts. There's no character limit on an edit.

I legitimately did not know that. Thanks!

Problem with your macro is any lag at all will make the macro use opo-opo form skills instead of coeurl which usually leads to loss of GL. What if you need to silence ADS and Howling Fist is available? Bam, you're animation locked and your raid is paralyzed which can lead to a wipe in turn 2 since healer can't heal. Or when you forgot about clipping and tried to apply a Demolish on top of a buffed Demolish that doesn't go through (which doesn't give you GL) and you forgot about that and try using AOE macro. Same thing.
Macros are nice and all but it doesn't tell you when the skill is off CD so you have to either guess it or somehow track all the skills CD. This in addition to the fact that you can't queue abilities as fast as manual mode so you'll lose out DPS in the long run. Coil isn't that hard on the monk to use the skills. You can have 3 abilities of the same form in the same plus-sign on the cross-bar so when you get to the next form, you know exactly which 3 buttons to hit. It's not that hard. Monk only need to use 2 cross-bar sets to do their jobs anyway. And yes, I play monk.

A number of problems with your complaints.

First, I've never had that lag happen to me and I've been using this macro ever since I hit 50 on MNK a month and a half ago. Second, if I know I'm in a dungeon where silencing adds is necessary, I'll simply edit my macro beforehand. Because I TOTALLY can't do that, right?

The clipping? I'm well aware of that issue, and if I still have Demolish up, I'll usually use Snap Punch instead, even if I'm not flanking. All it takes to do that is just use a different macro. Boom, done.

And the cooldown issue is why I have all of my extended cooldowns first. And really, there's an easy fix for that. There's a macro command that can change the icon of the macro to one that shows the CD of the extended CD skill in my macro chain. As for the cooldown of the rest, I rely on my un-macro'd Touch of Death and Fracture for that. I don't even watch the cooldowns for my macros because they don't show.

It's probably just a difference of opinion at this point, because quite frankly, just the idea of even considering changing cross-bars in the middle of a battle would drive me insane, and I'd rather avoid that whenever possible.

I think it needs to be said that I am playing on PC with a mouse/kb.

A lot, but not all of the anti-macro sentiment seems to be coming from controller users.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JMadFour

I think it needs to be said that I am playing on PC with a mouse/kb.

A lot, but not all of the anti-macro sentiment seems to be coming from controller users.

---

Not sure where you're getting that. The only person actively advocating macros (HakuroDK) is using a gamepad. Several posts have included either keyboard keys or mouse advice in their suggestions. There's only one other person who's clearly using a gamepad and not using macros (Gardes).

I'm on PC with a mouse and keyboard (actually, a Razer Nostromo, but that's recent, and I remember the layout I used on a keyboard, so I'll just talk about that like it's present tense). I'm not anti-macro in general at all. I just didn't like these specific macros. But my PGL is only level 20(ish). My opinion might change when I eventually get to the point where I have enough abilities to do a full side rotation and a full back rotation, instead of hopping back and forth with every other move.

To me, the real issue isn't whether you use macros or not. The issue seems to be that you're having trouble hitting certain keybinds in combat. So stop using those keybinds. If you have to hit it a lot, especially if you have to hit it a lot while moving, put it on an easy key. If you have to hit it immediately, put it on an easy keybind. If it's "just" a buff, put it on a less easy key. If you only hit it every now and then, put it on a difficult key.

I try to keep my keys the same across as many classes as I can. I hit Alt with my thumb, so it's almost as easy as unmodified keybinds. My main rotation skills are always FVG/Alt-FVG. Stun/silence are always Z. Taunt/threat drop is always Q. AOE is H/Alt-H. Ranged attack/gap closer/gap creator (Fluid Aura) is R. In-combat Buffs are 1-4/Alt+1-4/Shift+1-4, with 3 and 4 being the highest-priority ones, followed by 2 and 5, then 1 and 6, then Alt and those, Shift and those. CC moves (Holmgang, Sleep, Repose) are on C. T and Alt/Shift+CTR are off-rotation skills. All my cross-class stuff (marks, mount, sprint) is on Ctrl. Anything I don't hit very often, especially mid-combat (food, potions, long buffs like Protect and Defiance), is on Shift+6YHBN, though half the time I just click them with my mouse instead.

A lot of those may be harder for you to hit; I have large-ish hands an long fingers. The main thing is to find keys that are easy for you to hit, and prioritize your skills into those keys.

Guys guys if others wants to use macro let them be. Dont be like a elitist who wants everyone to be like you. If it works for them thats ok. Everybody learn from their mistakes. This is how you improve. I use macro for monk but not they way others do. It works for me perfectly so im not gonna bother explaining myself. Macro is fine if you know how to use it.

For macros I don't like using bootshine/dragon kick in them. Half the time boothine/dragon kick go off no matter what, which screws up GL.
Macro:
/ac snap punch
/ac twin strikes

Blah phone won't let me edit. I also use /micon snap punch in the macro.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lemon8or

Maybe he/she is using a controller's cross-hotbar. I use it and currently only use 2 sets with 16 slots each.

---

Ah yes, very possible.
I am a keyboard player myself and I don't use those so I didn't think about that.

Has anyone ever read the tooltip for "Rockbreaker"?

It says: "Delivers an attack with a potency of 130 to all enemies in a cone before you. Duration: 18s"

So what are those 18s for?

I would really suggest either hotbar efficiency locations or a macro that doesnt depend on the wait command and learning timing as best as possible...

Here is an example of how I have my setup, but I use a controller, which IMO easier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs4jEWgHbec

But you can use this macro setup if you can get timing right (just use hotbars instead of crossbars if you insist on mouse and key)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_3idLVSYrI

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bixby

To me, the real issue isn't whether you use macros or not. The issue seems to be that you're having trouble hitting certain keybinds in combat. So stop using those keybinds. If you have to hit it a lot, especially if you have to hit it a lot while moving, put it on an easy key. If you have to hit it immediately, put it on an easy keybind. If it's "just" a buff, put it on a less easy key. If you only hit it every now and then, put it on a difficult key.

---

though i ended up deciding to level up a Black Mage first (i think, having the worst time trying to decide between Black mage, Monk, or Summoner), I ended up taking this advice, somewhat. I remapped my 2nd hotbar so that my main skills will be in two rows on my keyboard. my main hotbar hasn't changed, still 1 to =, i changed my second hotbar to Q,E,R,F for my first 4 slots, ALT-1234 for my second 4 slots, and ALT-QERF for my 3rd 4 slots. the plan is to set Transpose and my main Fire spells to 1,2,3,4, Scathe to 5, Thunder to 6, Sleep to 7. then my main Ice spells will go on QERF. and then I'll work it from there for my other, less used spells. my consumables and such will go on my 3rd hotbar and I'll just click them.

that alone should theoretically make it a lot easier for my to hit me most used skill buttons. I'll try it out and see.