BLM Macro set-up

[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.

[lacrimosaangel]

@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 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)

[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>

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.

[lacrimosaangel]

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>

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,

[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.