BLM Macro set-up

[Garotte14]

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!)

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.

[ChameleonMS]

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)

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

[Garotte14]

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

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.

[lacrimosaangel]

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)

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 >_<

[Garotte14]

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.

[Anubis_Nephthys]

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

[ChameleonMS]

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

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.

[Anubis_Nephthys]

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.

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.

[Kaze3434]

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.

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.

[monochromicorn]

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.

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