Help with macro, please...

[xvshanevx]

Hi everyone,

I am having trouble creating a simple successions based macro. What I want is to cast "Bio" and then "Aero," but I can't figure out what I am doing wrong. Here is the macro I currently have setup:

Title: Bio
/macroicon "Bio"
/ac "Bio" <t>
/ac "Aero" <t>

any help would be appreciated.

[Niamh_Rillemaugh]

You're not waiting for the global cooldown. You need "/wait" in there or it will cast Bio, but never cast Aero.

Try:

/macroicon "Bio"
/ac "Bio" <t>
/wait 3
/ac "Aero" <t>

[Immut]

Never do this. Never put a GCD skill in a macro. You lose a lot of time since macros don't buffer your inputs.

But the "right" way to do it is

/ac "Bio" <t> <wait.3>
/ac "Aero" <t> <wait.3>

[xvshanevx]

Thanks for the replies!

Okay, so it's still not working. Here are the 3 different macros I just tried:

/ac "Bio" <t> <wait.3>
/ac "Aero" <t> <wait.3>

/ac "Bio" <t>
/wait 3s
/ac "Aero" <t>

/ac "Bio" <t>
/wait 3
/ac "Aero" <t>

This is really grinding my gears!

[Gilraen]

As has been mentioned how (the second person forgot the /micon, and /micon should be fore the action with the longest recast if it's not on the GCD), I shan't repeat it. I will say that if you want to macro your actions, go right ahead. This isn't Spreadsheet, the SPMMO. So you lose half a up to 1-2 seconds depending on the length of the macro, the world isn't going to end because of it. I know why people want to use macros, some people use the cross hotbar with a controller and hate having to switch between hotbars if they want to get at more actions. I do the same and I don't feel the slightest bit handicapped by the use of macros.

Thanks for the replies!

Okay, so it's still not working. Here are the 3 different macros I just tried:

/ac "Bio" <t> <wait.3>
/ac "Aero" <t> <wait.3>

/ac "Bio" <t>
/wait 3s
/ac "Aero" <t>

/ac "Bio" <t>
/wait 3
/ac "Aero" <t>

This is really grinding my gears!

Have you made sure those actions are selected as your cross-class actions? They don't necessarily have to be on a hotbar, but they do have to be selected as cross-class actions. Further, give /ma "Spell" <t> a try

[Niamh_Rillemaugh]

Only other thing I can think of is if you're using any other macros with /wait or spamming it, since another /wait will interrupt any that haven't finished yet.

[xvshanevx]

I do the same and I don't feel the slightest bit handicapped by the use of macros.

I'm not asking for an opinion here. I am asking for help on how to make a specific macro. Please go troll some where else.

[Gilraen]

I'm not asking for an opinion here. I am asking for help on how to make a specific macro. Please go troll some where else.

Uh, what? I'm not... did you not read Immut's post? Or Soda's post below... there's your trolls.

Append: Okay, using the term troll in these cases is a bit harsh, but I'm not the one telling you not to use macros. I actually use macros, too, and say to use macros if you want, worrying about every little .5s isn't worth the hassle of juggling hotbars if you play with a controller.

[Soda]

Thanks for the replies!

Okay, so it's still not working. Here are the 3 different macros I just tried:

/ac "Bio" <t> <wait.3>
/ac "Aero" <t> <wait.3>

/ac "Bio" <t>
/wait 3s
/ac "Aero" <t>

/ac "Bio" <t>
/wait 3
/ac "Aero" <t>

This is really grinding my gears!

I still would not do this, because you are going to have to wait 3 seconds between spellcasts instead of the default 2.5 second global cooldown. .5 seconds is a lot in a game with such a long GCD and can really mess up your rotation and substantially lower your DPS. I think this is a good idea for general farming, but for serious content I would not recommend it.

[DoctorPepper]

You need to press the button only once, and not use any other spells before aero goes off. The macro with wait 3 will cast bio, wait 3 seconds, then cast aero. If you use any other spells during the wait it will cancel the macro, if you press the button a second time it will cast bio again and start the macro over. Bio and Aero really are not good skills to macro together since you cannot rely on not needing to interrupt the macro occasionally.

Generally for macros you want to use them for abilities with cooldowns or for abilities that work off of the global cooldown.

For example, on bard you can make the following macro:
/ac "Heavy Shot" <t>
/ac "Misery's End" <t>
/ac "Bloodletter" <t>

Spamming this macro will always use heavy shot when the global cooldown is not active. When the global cooldown is active it will use misery's end first and if it's on cooldown or not useable it will use bloodletter. This ensures that you are not using those 2 skills that work during the global cooldown when the global cooldown is not active, increasing your overall dps.

Additionally if you are using several abilities that have long cooldowns, such as buffs, you can macro them in order of how you want to use them and spam a single button for that as well. For example, you could make a macro for bard like this:
/ac "Hawk Eye" <me>
/ac "Raging Strikes" <me>
/ac "Barrage" <me>

You can add/remove abilities to that macro but because all of those abilities have long cooldowns, pressing that macro multiple times will use the skills in order depending on whether they are on cooldown or not.

I hope that gives you a better idea of the useful application of macros, pairing bio/aero together in a macro is not recommended.

One that I use on smn/sch I call eye virus. It casts virus if your target is a monster and casts eye for an eye if your target is a party member, it looks like this:

/micon "Eye for an Eye"
/ac "Eye for an Eye" <t>
/ac "Virus" <t>