Evidence that Macros Do NOT Cause GCD Delay or Lost Casts

[LilimoLimomo]

Macros have a different type of queue.

I would hazard that you're probably talking about the fact that macro queues are shorter, or perhaps the fact that only a single macro can run at once. But to truly know, I'll need more information. Can you describe these situations in more detail? I want to make sure I'm understanding the exact situations you're talking about, because I think you're misunderstanding some aspect of what's happening...but I can't be sure if I don't have more information about the situations you're trying to describe so that I know we're on the same page.

When you use abilities you can use an ability and then there is a period where the input for the 2nd ability will queue and trigger when possible. With macros this is not the case. If you put the same abilities in two macros, when you use one ability, you have to spam the button for the other until it triggers.

The way you describe this situation is throwing up red flags, because there's no situation where a well-written macro benefits from being spammed. That suggests to me that something else is going on.

From just what you've written here, my guess is that the timing of your second macro press is too early; remember, macros have shorter queues than normal actions. So if you wanted to use a macro in this situation, you'd just have to adjust your timing; then you could still get the benefit of a queue while also benefiting from whatever functionality the macro is giving you.

It's up to every individual player to decide whether that's "worth it" to them. For me, it most definitely is. I've got years of playing twitch games under my belt so consistently hitting a button in a 10-frame window isn't an issue for me. But for others it might be, and that's valid.

[GrizzlyTank]

I would hazard that you're probably talking about the fact that macro queues are shorter, or perhaps the fact that only a single macro can run at once. But to truly know, I'll need more information. Can you describe these situations in more detail? I want to make sure I'm understanding the exact situations you're talking about, because I think you're misunderstanding some aspect of what's happening...but I can't be sure if I don't have more information about the situations you're trying to describe so that I know we're on the same page.


The way you describe this situation is throwing up red flags, because there's no situation where a well-written macro benefits from being spammed. That suggests to me that something else is going on.

From just what you've written here, my guess is that the timing of your second macro press is too early; remember, macros have shorter queues than normal actions. So if you wanted to use a macro in this situation, you'd just have to adjust your timing; then you could still get the benefit of a queue while also benefiting from whatever functionality the macro is giving you.

It's up to every individual player to decide whether that's "worth it" to them. For me, it most definitely is. I've got years of playing twitch games under my belt so consistently hitting a button in a 10-frame window isn't an issue for me. But for others it might be, and that's valid.

No situation well-written macros...

Ma-am, ever played healer on controller? Half their kit will be macroed as
/ac <action> <t>
/ac <action> <tt>

So that they don't get issues having to constantly swap targets to damage an enemy, or heal an ally targeted by an enemy.

And there are plenty other macros that are one action only. And no, macros don't have shorter queue. They have none, the timing would have to be some time after the last ability have completed, unlike with non-macros where the next ability would trigger as the last ability finish.

[LilimoLimomo]

Ma-am, ever played healer on controller?

Yep, for context I play exclusively on controller, and my WHM was my 2nd job to reach 100. So I'm well aware of the challenges that come with healing on controller. ^^

Half their kit will be macroed as
/ac <action> <t>
/ac <action> <tt>

So that they don't get issues having to constantly swap targets to damage an enemy, or heal an ally targeted by an enemy.

For my personal tastes, I like to keep my allies targeted, so I only use this type of macro for abilities like Stone, Aero, etc; I use the up and down D-pad to switch which party member I'm targeting. I've personally found that if I use this kind of macro for healing abilities, it doesn't perform the way I want because I won't heal myself during solo content unless I target myself, which I personally dislike. But on that last matter, to each their own; what matters most is that a macro satisfies the needs of the person using it.

And in the case of this macro, I'm guessing that the reason you feel the need to spam it is because as you wrote it here, this macro can easily be improved. That macro will only try to do a target cast on one single frame, and then it will only try to do a target-of-target cast on one single frame. Because of that, it's not going to be taking advantage of queuing. So I'd recommend instead doing the following:

/macroerror off
/ac <action> <t>
/ac <action> <tt>
/ac <action> <t>
/ac <action> <tt>
/ac <action> <t>
/ac <action> <tt>
/ac <action> <t>
/ac <action> <tt>
/ac <action> <t>
/ac <action> <tt>
/ac <action> <t>
/ac <action> <tt>
/ac <action> <t>

This will allow you to get queuing functionality from this macro, where for 12 frames the macro is trying to cast either target or target-of-target on alternating frames. With a macro like this, you're not going to need to spam as long as you press the macro up to 12 frames before your GCD is available. It's way more comfortable and reliable than spamming, so I heartily recommend giving it a try, even though there will likely be a small learning curve as you adjust to the 12-frame timing. Especially if you're already using this type of macro, this will only improve your experience with them.

And there are plenty other macros that are one action only. And no, macros don't have shorter queue. They have none, the timing would have to be some time after the last ability have completed, unlike with non-macros where the next ability would trigger as the last ability finish.

In those cases it's even easier than the above because you don't even have to alternate:

/ac <action>
/ac <action>
/ac <action>
/ac <action>
/ac <action>
/ac <action>
/ac <action>
/ac <action>
/ac <action>
/ac <action>
/ac <action>
/ac <action>

A macro like this will give you a 12-frame queue window, and it will on average be more responsive than the alternating style because every single frame it's trying to do the same action.

I hope this helps explain how to take advantage of queuing with macros and improves your experience using them! ^^

[GrizzlyTank]

... Yeah, no. Again the issue is still that non-macros queue and macros dont.

All you've done is add some extra button spam. It doesn't fix the gap in cast time from ability 1 to ability 2.

[LilimoLimomo]

... Yeah, no. Again the issue is still that non-macros queue and macros dont.

All you've done is add some extra button spam. It doesn't fix the gap in cast time from ability 1 to ability 2.

Are you talking about how there being a single frame between attempts of <t> vs attempts of <tt>? For that specific macro, there's going to statistically be a delay there (50% of the time there will be a 1-frame delay).

But importantly, that delay isn't innate to macros. There are plenty of useful macros that won't have that delay; you just macro one type of action instead of two.

But yeah, you can also choose to write a macro that does have some delay in it. In those situations, you have to decide whether that delay is worth the upsides of having that single macro. If sometimes having a 1-frame delay wasn't to your liking, you could instead make 2 different macros, one that does <t> and another that does <tt>. Then you could have both without delay.

The choice is yours, and that's the power of macros.