Must-have macro for any mage.

I just recently discovered this. It's a huge QoL improvment for me when I'm Cleric Stancing. I haven't seen it posted anywhere.

/micon "Stone II"
/action "Stone II" <t>
/facetarget

Basically what this does is make your character face your target everytime you push this ability.

What is it good for? Well, have you ever lost LoS because an enemy runs past your incredibly narrow field of view (Thornmarch comes to mind)?

This macro prevents this if you spam the button during cast.

This really only works for people that use Legacy controls or have "Auto Face Target" disabled in the character settings.

As a legacy user, instead of making all my spells macros, I just have a macro that just reads "/facetarget" and I bound that macro to my thumb mouse button, so if I am casting a spell and the mob starts to move I just spam click my macro button.

Nice, but being a macro means that it isn't queued as well as it could be (i.e. like normal skills) so you will have slightly delayed cast times and thereby a lower DPS. You can turn while casting, so just use that to stay facing the right way.

You can just have Face Target itself as a keybind, and not have to waste it on a macro space or pairing it with a GCD. Default is F I believe.

This does have validity as a healer, when you should be rolling with Auto Face Target off and probably aren't queuing your DPS skills as often as you would be on a DPS class. In tight areas or with fast casts like Aero/Bio it can be more efficient than pressing a keybound /facetarget.

Pairing /facetarget with a GCD skill is generally a less elegant solution for DPS classes.

Binding main attack spells in a macro will hurt your DPS ;)

I do not experience any delay whatsoever, so I don't see how this will hurt DPS. I was under the impression everyone used legacy movement anyway?
I'd like to know what this mystical action queueing is. I've heard a few mention it but it does not seem to appear anywhere in the game.

This macro works very well for me and that's what matters. I just wanted to share it.

What most people refer to as "skill queueing" is the matter of spamming the action button.
This will kind of spam the action to the server. It is beneficial, because it will start the next cast, before the clients GCD Timer is visually at 100%.

Macros on the other hand are client side checked, so your current latency to the server will be added to your actual GCD (the action will be sent to the server not until the client thinks you are finished), you will lose time equivalent to your ping.

that factor may be small depending on your ISP / location but it will add up eventually.
You lose damage, take a recherche on the forums or reddit if you don't believe the ppl in this thread.

Thx for sharing, really, but criticism is justified.

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Originally Posted by t-a-l-a-n-m-e-r-c-e-r

I do not experience any delay whatsoever, so I don't see how this will hurt DPS. I was under the impression everyone used legacy movement anyway?
I'd like to know what this mystical action queueing is. I've heard a few mention it but it does not seem to appear anywhere in the game.

This macro works very well for me and that's what matters. I just wanted to share it.

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good god no, legacy is terrible. especially as a tank or melee. all those missed auto attacks

Face-target is kinda busted regardless. Mashing it isn't helpful since you're essentially toggling it on/off, and keeping it on can still lead to interrupts if a mob requires you to turn quickly in a short period of time, which happens quite often on mobs in melee range that get hate pulled elsewhere.

Best use I've seen for it in legacy controls is just on situations where an enemy is at quite a distance, or if their attack script involves them jumping around (T9 comes to mind) so you can time the face target for just when they fly right over you.

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Originally Posted by aisustrong

good god no, legacy is terrible. especially as a tank or melee. all those missed auto attacks

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If you're on controller, sure. I use legacy on KB, WASD movement + Q&E for strafe keys to maintain forward-facing on jobs that need it.

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Originally Posted by SeraviEdalborez

You can just have Face Target itself as a keybind, and not have to waste it on a macro space or pairing it with a GCD. Default is F I believe.

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Yes but if you bind it to a key, and you don't need it for all your classes, then its a wasted key. I would rather have a wasted macro than a wasted key but thats just me.

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Originally Posted by aisustrong

good god no, legacy is terrible. especially as a tank or melee. all those missed auto attacks

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If your missing auto attacks as a legacy control user, then you don;t know how to properly move your character.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Itseotle

Yes but if you bind it to a key, and you don't need it for all your classes, then its a wasted key. I would rather have a wasted macro than a wasted key but thats just me.



If your missing auto attacks as a legacy control user, then you don;t know how to properly move your character.

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I turned legacy off back when I was on KB
main reason being I often pull groups and aim them at a wall, so I want to see them all at an angle that is basically facing my characters feet

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Originally Posted by aisustrong

good god no, legacy is terrible. especially as a tank or melee. all those missed auto attacks

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Nope, lock onto the target. If you don't like it, use non legacy. Saying something is terrible because it's not your preference is like saying controllers are inferior to a kb/mouse (in 14) because you play better with one over the other.

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Originally Posted by AkashiXI

Nope, lock onto the target. If you don't like it, use non legacy. Saying something is terrible because it's not your preference is like saying controllers are inferior to a kb/mouse (in 14) because you play better with one over the other.

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lock on is bad for tanking anything that has any aoe other than a frontal cone
running backwards is slower and derpy, especially if you need to navigate around some thing you can't walk over, like a tree or some big pile of rubble
good for monk though

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Itseotle

Yes but if you bind it to a key, and you don't need it for all your classes, then its a wasted key. I would rather have a wasted macro than a wasted key but thats just me.

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It has a use on most classes. The only ones it doesn't have a supremely obvious use for are BRD and tanks.

Casters/DPSing Healers: Obvious.
Melee DPS: Use during LB cast time.

It's a useful key to have bound in virtually all situations. Why waste the macro space when you can have a universal button for it? Do you bind Sprint separately on each class? Mount? LB? Jump?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aisustrong

lock on is bad for tanking anything that has any aoe other than a frontal cone
running backwards is slower and derpy, especially if you need to navigate around some thing you can't walk over, like a tree or some big pile of rubble
good for monk though

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You then proceed to take off lock-on. Regardless of the situation, you won't be able to run backwards efficiently while DPSing something in front of you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SeraviEdalborez

It has a use on most classes. The only ones it doesn't have a supremely obvious use for are BRD and tanks.

Casters/DPSing Healers: Obvious.
Melee DPS: Use during LB cast time.

It's a useful key to have bound in virtually all situations. Why waste the macro space when you can have a universal button for it? Do you bind Sprint separately on each class? Mount? LB? Jump?

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I don't bind LB, just click it, but personally I only use a face target button/macro on casting classes (WHM/BLM/SMN/SCH) and just use smart movement and the "Automatically face target when performing actions" option checked in my character settings. I do not like lock-on, as I find it slightly annoying when I have to move, because I basically only ever move either by strafing or running forward, so I don't miss my AA's. But thats just me and how it works for me. Your milage may vary.