<Tutorial> Signs - How Do They Work?

[HakuroDK]

Hey guys! Burning Passion here with a tutorial on Signs!

Now you may have seen some folks use Signs in the game already. Usually, they're little symbols over the heads of enemies or, sometimes, even fellow party members that are put there by members of your party for various reasons, depending on a strategy. Think of it like a visual, yet interactive aid in developing a strategy to tackle a powerful boss or a set of enemies.

These signs are very useful because they allow for party members to more accurately understand what needs to be done in accordance with a plan. For example, if the party leader (or the tank, if not the party leader) assigns an enemy the "Attack 1" Sign (a hexagonal sign with the number 1 on it), then that usually means that the party leader wants everyone to attack that enemy first. This allows a single enemy to get taken down much faster while allowing a Tank to use a standard aggro-pulling combo rather than constantly spamming AoE aggro attacks like Flash.

[HakuroDK]

There is another series of Signs called "Bind", which has 3 different iterations, each with a number attached to them (1, 2, and 3). This can be used in a variety of ways, but the most common is for Black Mages to use "Sleep" on those targets, effectively taking them out of the fight for a little less than a minute in total (30 seconds, recast reduces to 15 (total 45), then recast reduces it to 7 (total 52) ). This can be EXTREMELY useful as it can greatly increase survivability, especially if there is a particularly annoying or high-damaging enemy that requires a lot of attention, but can't be dealt with right away. This also works on select bosses (such as the pirate captain in Sastasha), but only a small handful of them.

[HakuroDK]

There are also signs that appear as a huge red X symbol. Normally, when this is applied to an enemy, the general message getting across is that you should NOT attack these enemies. For example, the Ahriman in the first third of Darkhold. It can also be used in the middle of a battle where there's a point where the attacks need to stop, such as when a boss turns invincible or when attacking a boss at a certain time could end up having very negative consequences.

There are also signs useful for those players who want to optimize the speed of their targeting, such as healers in large raids (which will become especially necessary once Crystal Tower comes out). These use the symbols of a blue X, O, Square, and Triangle. These particular symbols have no exclusive purpose like the others, but can be assigned in much the same way. It's largely up to your team leader or the user of such symbols to explain what they're being used for.

[HakuroDK]

Now there is another really cool thing that can be done with Signs, and that has to do with Macros! Now there are many players that don't know this, but if you check your various menus (usually the Main Menu where you can find options to customize UI, change system and character configurations, etc.), you will find a menu to customize macros.

Now with Macros, you can do things like /ac "True Strike" <t>, which will allow a character that has True Strike to use it on the target. You can also have things like /ac "Aero" <tt>, which will cast Aero on your target's target (useful for healers). But did you know that you can also use Signs in this way too? For example, you are a Summoner or a Scholar and you REALLY like using your DoTs. You can use /ac "Bio II" <attack2>. Doing that will actually cause your Summoner or Scholar to use Bio II on the enemy marked with the "Attack 2" sign. Really cool, right?

[HakuroDK]

Anyway, that's all I have for now. But please do remember that Signs are a very key way of communicating with your party, developing proper strategies to take down groups of enemies and bosses, and to make your own gaming life a whole lot easier!

This is Burning Passion, telling you to let your flames of determination run wild, but to always make sure to do so responsibly!