BLM Macro set-up

Hey guys,
I'm currently level 43 BLM and getting started with macros, but I'm a little confused, as a lot of them seem to be one-time only settings, like equipping, accepting party invites etc, all of which I can do very quickly and comfortably using the UI and the ps4 controller.

So, my question is, which macros would be useful to make playing as a BLM more efficient?
Can I set up macros to automatically run a set of actions, or self-heal once getting below a certain amount of health, like with the Gambits in FFXII?

I'm hoping to get a nice efficient crossbar setup ready for end-game but am confused as to how to start with the macros.

Oh, and I don't suppose there's a way to simultaneously use the ps4 controller AND the plug in keyboard to maximise options is there? :confused:

(Yes, I'm a MMO noob ;) )

While you cannot create gambits. You can bind multiple actions to a single command.
I personsally do not use this macro, this is just to give you an idea what you can do. I do not use it because the wait times and GCD (time spent waiting a command to finish are more efficient when done manually) as some command can be execute during this waiting time.

/micon "Flare"
/ac "Raging Strikes" <wait.1>
/ac "Swiftcast" <wait.1>
/ac "Flare" <wait.2>
/ac "Convert" <wait.1>
/ac "Flare" <wait.4>
/ac "Transpose" <wait.1>
/ac "Quelling Strikes"

I do use the first part on a regular basis
/micon "Swiftcast"
/ac "Swiftcast" <wait.1>
/ac "Flare"

FYI, /micon changes the display icon, I use Swiftcast to let me know when I have an "insta" flare available.

Thanks! I haven't unlocked flare yet, but looks like a good setup! What does the <wait.1> do btw?

The <wait.#> tells the game how many seconds it wait before doing the next action. FYI, the game will only honour up to 60 seconds of wait for a single wait command.
The macro system does not honour 0.# seconds, it will round the number to a whole second. Thus, 2.4 would be 2 seconds and 2.5 would 3 seconds.
All skills triggered and honouring GCD in the game take 2.x seconds of cool down. This is why macros are less optimal than actually pressing the buttons yourself.
If a macro command is triggered while the action is on cool down, the game will just say it cannot perform the action and move with the rest of the macro, "skipping" that step.

@OP
Just out of curiosity, do you use L1/R1 for enemy targeting or the (ugh) D-pad? There are a lot of targeting macros that are useful, depending on your targeting style.

I suggest playing with zero combat macros. They are unreliable and zap efficiency.

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Originally Posted by Anubis_Nephthys

I suggest playing with zero combat macros. They are unreliable and zap efficiency.

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For a PC player, I would 100% agree with you.
For a PS4 player using a controller, a few limited combat macros or buff / debuf macros is a good idea because accessing 2nd and 3rd cross hot-bars already costs you the time in many circumstances.

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Originally Posted by ChameleonMS

For a PC player, I would 100% agree with you.
For a PS4 player using a controller, a few limited combat macros or buff / debuf macros is a good idea because accessing 2nd and 3rd cross hot-bars already costs you the time in many circumstances.

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While I usually concede to forum criticisms, I feel I have to disagree with you here. I am on the PS4. I play PLD, DRG, and WHM a lot (They are my only 3 real classes). I have everything i need for all 3 them on two bars. Sure, PLD and WHM aren't very action heavy, and in agreement with this, I have extra slots on those two classes. DRG is tight, and it may take some re-working come expansion time. I am very good friends with someone who plays SCH, BLM, and BRD on the PS4. This person has no issues with BLM or BRD. Their SCH setup is the only thing CLOSE to needing macros. They have healing on Hotbar 1, DPS spells on Hotbar 2, and pet actions on the L2+R2 / R2+L2 hotbar.
I also have WAR to 49, so I am missing 2 skills (3 counting mantra), and i have more than enough room for these 2-3 actions.
I guess my point here is that by utilizing the L2+R2 / R2+L2 hotbar, I personally know that 6 of the 9 classes do not require macros. And I'd wager that the other 3 do not as well.

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Originally Posted by ChameleonMS

While you cannot create gambits. You can bind multiple actions to a single command.
I personsally do not use this macro, this is just to give you an idea what you can do. I do not use it because the wait times and GCD /micon "Flare"
/ac "Raging Strikes" <wait.1>
/ac "Swiftcast" <wait.1>
/ac "Flare" <wait.2>
/ac "Convert" <wait.1>
/ac "Flare" <wait.4>
/ac "Transpose" <wait.1>
/ac "Quelling Strikes"

/micon "Swiftcast"
/ac "Swiftcast" <wait.1>
/ac "Flare"

FYI, /micon changes the display icon, I use Swiftcast to let me know when I have an "insta" flare available.

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that macro with quelling at the end is largely bad, because quelling doesnt work like shroud of saints. it lowers the aggro of each move you do, and is not an aggro dump for anything you have gained.as an aside, putting gcd moves into a macro is usually a very bad idea. usually.

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Originally Posted by ChameleonMS

For a PC player, I would 100% agree with you.
For a PS4 player using a controller, a few limited combat macros or buff / debuf macros is a good idea because accessing 2nd and 3rd cross hot-bars already costs you the time in many circumstances.

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expanded cross bar is your best friend. i was able to fit all of my main spells on my first one, and debuffs/buffs on second, with room to spare for x ether and x pot.

Only macro I use for BLM is a mouseover macro for Aetherial Manipulation so I can zip around the field without having to break my targeting.

/micon "Aetherial Manipulation"
/ac "Aetherial Manipulation" <mo>
/ac "Aetherial Manipulation" <f>
/ac "Aetherial Manipulation" <t>

So if I'm mousing over someone, I go to them. If not I go to a focus target I've set up ahead of time. If not I go to my current target. Otherwise I get an error and question my life choices.

I thank you for the correction on Quelling Strikes.

I did preface the macro with a warning about wait and GCD, I just clearly did not emphasize this enough. The macro's purpose was demonstration of what could be done.

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Originally Posted by ChameleonMS

For a PC player, I would 100% agree with you.
For a PS4 player using a controller, a few limited combat macros or buff / debuf macros is a good idea because accessing 2nd and 3rd cross hot-bars already costs you the time in many circumstances.

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I play on ps4, and I can tell you macros aren't needed. I have 3 full hot bars for pld, and slightly over 2 for war, have almost 2 full hotbars for blm and whm, and my 42 bard is barely going over 1 hotbar, mink needing about 1.75 hotbars. While there is no *need* some things would be helpful, but ultimately not worth the downtime, my opionion

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Originally Posted by radioactive_lego

@OP
Just out of curiosity, do you use L1/R1 for enemy targeting or the (ugh) D-pad? There are a lot of targeting macros that are useful, depending on your targeting style.

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I use the L1/R1 targeting system, can't be bothered with the D-pad, it's so inefficient!

As for my cross-bar set up, my combat bar (#1) has The following:
L:
swiftcast
Manaward
Thunder
Virus
Teleport*
Sprint
Physick
Transpose

R:
Scathe
Sleep
ThunderII
FireIII
FireII
Fire
BlizzardII*
Blizzard

X-bar 2:
L:
Companion actions (summon,dismiss,healerstance)
Manawall*
Leve actions (beckon, soothe)

R:
Lethargy*
Raging strikes*
Apocastasis*
LB

Ruin
Freeze
BlizzardIII
Convert*


Then my macrobar and finally the main command bar...

It's proving to be an OK set up at the moment, I can switch between bars rather fast and don't seem to notice any huge delay between abilities, Although the abilities marked * above, I'm going to need to shuffle around as I don't like their placement much... Am considering switching Teleport onto the main action bar and replacing it with Convert, and putting Manawall in Convert's slot. I don't really use Manaward very much..

Would be interesting to see other BLM's setups. The macros for cooldown etc I'm not fussed about as I tend to hit the action buttons as soon as they refresh anyway, but the buffs/debuffs I tend to forget about so anything to help target party members for those would be great as I find switching from enemy to party is annoying in the middle of a hoarde!

Is there a macro so that I can target the tank immediately without unfocusing from the enemies? (for the buffs etc)

Neither of these is 100% to guarantee for targeting the tank but they are reasonably reliable.

<tt> - target's target, as the tank should have all the enmity, your target's target should be the tank.
<2> - player 2 in the team list, as usually are 1, and then is goes Tank, Healer, DPS
e.g. Macro usage
/ac "action" <tt>

For you cooldown reminders, you might want to experiment with /echo
E.g.
/ac 'Buff' <wait.60>
/echo "Buff is ready for use"

What this does, you execute the buff, then a wait counter occurs in the background, set the wait equal to the buff cool down.
Then it displays a message in the chat that only you can see saying the buff is ready again.

Another thing you can do is use no waits, and just button spam.
e.g.
/ac "Raging Strikes"
/ac "Quelling Strikes"

Button press one will activate first available buff for sure, and might but not usually the second. Button press two will definitely get the second one. Even commands off GCD do have a partial second delay before you can activate then next one, which is about the length of time needed press the button a second time.

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Originally Posted by ChameleonMS

Neither of these is 100% to guarantee for targeting the tank but they are reasonably reliable.

<tt> - target's target, as the tank should have all the enmity, your target's target should be the tank.
<2> - player 2 in the team list, as usually are 1, and then is goes Tank, Healer, DPS
e.g. Macro usage
/ac "action" <tt>

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Oh sweet, this might actually work, in the Character settings, if I set tank to p2 in the party order list then using the <2> macro would work? And so on for the Healer and DPS buffs I assume?

Does the tt and 2 etc have to be in <> in order for it to work?

I don't think I'll worry about the cooldown macros, I find it difficult enough to keep an eye on the chat box while casting >_< haha,

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Originally Posted by lacrimosaangel

Would be interesting to see other BLM's setups. The macros for cooldown etc I'm not fussed about as I tend to hit the action buttons as soon as they refresh anyway, but the buffs/debuffs I tend to forget about so anything to help target party members for those would be great as I find switching from enemy to party is annoying in the middle of a hoarde!)

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I can Tell you my setup for Hotbar on PS4. Its in no way perfect, but I find it very effective. First, I put all the abilities that I use most often on my main Hotbar, and the spells I use slightly less often are on the R2+L2 expanded hotbar. I have very little use for the second hot bar, but use it rarely. This is just my opinion of course, but this is what I would suggest to new BLMs trying to find an ideal setup.

Main Hotbar (R2 is my primary attack trigger, but I've noticed a lot use L2 so whatever suits your fancy)

L2:
Manawall
Convert
Blizzard
Thunder III

Sprint
Swiftcast
Flare
Aetherial Manipulation

R2:
Scathe
Fire III
Fire II
Fire

Thunder
Blizz III
Transpose
Raging Strikes

Expanded Hotbar L2+R2/R2+L2

Manaward
Apocatastasis
Eye for an Eye
Virus
Poisoning Potion
Intellegence Potion
Quelling Strikes
Face Target Macro (This is very important in my opinion. If I start casting an ability and a mob is on the move, I will spam this macro to face the target, preventing spell interruption)

Finally my last hot bar is all the spells I rarely use like Freeze, Lethary, Sleep, etc. Most of my secondary hot bar is just a duplicate of the main. So if I need to use sleep for example, I will still have my fire spells in the same position so I can spam the next attack and switch back to main hot bar when its more convenient.

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Originally Posted by Garotte14

Face Target Macro (This is very important in my opinion. If I start casting an ability and a mob is on the move, I will spam this macro to face the target, preventing spell interruption)

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Never used one of these, what does it do when corners or elevation changes cause loss of line of sight?

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Originally Posted by Garotte14

Expanded Hotbar L2+R2/R2+L2

Manaward
Apocatastasis
Eye for an Eye
Virus
Poisoning Potion
Intellegence Potion
Quelling Strikes
Face Target Macro (This is very important in my opinion. If I start casting an ability and a mob is on the move, I will spam this macro to face the target, preventing spell interruption)

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Oh? I didn't know we had an expanded hotbar!! How can I set that up?

The face target macro looks useful, does it move the camera angle or physically move your character? I've not really noticed much of an issue with mobs moving, unless they go OOR..

ETA: Never mind, just noticed the expanded in the settings, as well as the custom weapon sheathed settings.. that'd be so useful!! Now time to go play with them >_<

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Originally Posted by ChameleonMS

Never used one of these, what does it do when corners or elevation changes cause loss of line of sight?

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It doesn't really effect a target if you lose line of sight. If you lose line of sight for whatever reason, the result will be the same. However to answer the question lacrimosaangel asked, it only physically moves your character and does not effect your camera angle.

For those that are interested, it's a very easy macro however this can greatly increase DPS for a BLM since their cast times are rather long.

/ft <t>

You can just use a generic icon

Some of the best examples for using this macro is Tanks moving Bennus in T12, during a pull when the tank is positioning the boss, any target switching aggro and starts moving across the screen, etc.

Also another useful tip to give to any aspiring, serious PS3/PS4 player (or really anyone that uses a controller)

Something I've done that I find helpful is putting certain cool downs on a separate vertical/horizontal hot bar. There is a setting which hides unassigned slots so as to not take up much of the screen. You can place these vertically next to your main hotbar or horizontally above or below. Now the reason I do this is for cosmetic purposes only. These are just duplicates of my abilities that are on my other hotbars. However, by putting abilities on these additional hotbars such as Virus, Eye for an Eye, my potions, etc, I can see the timers on all of my cool downs so I know the instant they are ready for use. One of the things I noticed in the past was I wasn't using my potions as much. They are on a separate hot bar. Out of sight, out of mind. Now I can see all my cool downs at all times and as soon as one is ready, I can switch to the appropriate hot bar to use it.

This can be helpful to any class.

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Originally Posted by Garotte14

It doesn't really effect a target if you lose line of sight. If you lose line of sight for whatever reason, the result will be the same. However to answer the question lacrimosaangel asked, it only physically moves your character and does not effect your camera angle.

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I haven't quite gotten to the end of the story yet, but you can move without interrupting your casting? Dang I need that!!

Thanks for the hotbar tips, I set mine up with custom sheath/unsheath hotbars, added the expanded set with my buffs/current macros and did a DF dungeon.. My god, what a difference it made!!! SO much more efficient and made switching between abilities so much easier!!

I never use pots tbh, have little use for them with my current skillset, might tuck a few dupes on the screen under my duty list though, it's a shame we can't set individual icons to the side in a grid formation ^^; (I'm incredibly OCD with my layouts) Infact, I'd love a little slide out duty list, so the bulk of the text is hidden until the touchpad button selects it... I've minimized to 90% so it's only just readable but it's still messy...

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Originally Posted by lacrimosaangel

I haven't quite gotten to the end of the story yet, but you can move without interrupting your casting? Dang I need that!!

I never use pots tbh, have little use for them with my current skillset, might tuck a few dupes on the screen under my duty list though, it's a shame we can't set individual icons to the side in a grid formation ^^; (I'm incredibly OCD with my layouts) Infact, I'd love a little slide out duty list, so the bulk of the text is hidden until the touchpad button selects it... I've minimized to 90% so it's only just readable but it's still messy...

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No. Just to be clear, the face target macro doesn't allow you to move while casting. You will use your Firestarter/Thundercloud procs and Swiftcast for that. The face target macro is designed to cast on a target that is moving. Since you're still learning the game, you may have not encountered this a lot yet, but you will.

And this goes for the potions as well. They aren't really necessary in progression and early on in the game. So the fact that you haven't used them is completely normal. If/when you get into raiding though, they will become more and more important. As well as food. You probably won't use food buffs at all while leveling, but are pretty important in endgame raiding like Coil and soon to be Alexander

Ahhh okay, my bad. Sorry for misunderstanding!
I've had quite a few hordes move away while playing, mainly due to tank pulls and aggros, but I've always managed to cast my spells in time before they get OOR...

Good job I saved all my food items and pots with my retainer then! ;)

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Originally Posted by lacrimosaangel

you can move without interrupting your casting? Dang I need that!!

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You can rotate in place (which is what /facetarget does) without interrupting your casting.

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Originally Posted by Niwashi

You can rotate in place (which is what /facetarget does) without interrupting your casting.

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Doesn't it do that automatically when you cast anyway? I didn't think it made much difference to the damage?

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Originally Posted by lacrimosaangel

Doesn't it do that automatically when you cast anyway? I didn't think it made much difference to the damage?

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It does if you lock on your target. Many players do not auto-lock the target because there are frequently other "mechanics" that require you to point the camera in a different direction than where your character is facing. E.g. from what you have already done, the Cannons in Stone Vigil. You character faces the boss and your camera faces the cannon watching for the dragon.

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Originally Posted by ChameleonMS

It does if you lock on your target. Many players do not auto-lock the target because there are frequently other "mechanics" that require you to point the camera in a different direction than where your character is facing. E.g. from what you have already done, the Cannons in Stone Vigil. You character faces the boss and your camera faces the cannon watching for the dragon.

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Ah see that's what I do already. I target the enemy and then rotate the camera angle to observe surroundings, if I want to switch angle back quickly to the enemy, I just doubly click the R3, switching from 1st to 3rd person really quickly, I suppose that's what the macro would stop me needing to do?

Yes. Locking on to a target is pretty much pointless since your movement speed is slowed. If you have to move for whatever reason, you are greatly hindered. When you start casting an ability, you will automatically face the target. The macro I am describing is not so you face the target in that purpose. What I'm describing is if the target starts moving and you are already in the middle of a cast. Once you start casting fire for example, your character will turn and face the target. Now since your attacks on BLM have longer cast times, if that mob moves in a way you are no longer facing it, your cast will be interrupted, losing a GCD. This isn't a big deal if you're in a dungeon, but if you're raiding, you want to output as much dps as possible, and losing any GCDs is a no no. With that macro, if I cast a spell, and the mob starts moving before my cast finishes, I will just spam the macro, and my character will continue facing the target the entire way while it's moving.