Shots Fired: A Machinist Guide

[LunarEmerald]

Quick Reload was changed.

Quick Reload Recast time reduced from 40 seconds to 30 seconds.
TP recovered reduced from 50 to 30.
The Quicker Reload trait now reduces recast time to 15 seconds.

[Myon88]

Ah so we really did get a QR buff.

I wonder if this has ramifications on our opener seeing as 15s is short enough to double QR (for whatever purposes). Not that you couldn't do it already if you were willing to spend time before the pull setting up ammo.. but nevertheless.

At the very least it will mean you can QR in the pre-pull period for no-fuss 1 extra ammo, which means you'll have 1 extra ammo at the end of our opener when you QR again which means the ending Slug Shot will be a guaranteed Clean Shot instead of 50%.

Edit: In retrospect it would just end up giving the potency increase to Hot/Lead Shot instead, I'm sure there's a way to fit it in somehow.

[LunarEmerald]

Also these fixes.

An issue wherein the machinist effect “Gauss Barrel” would be removed when your MP reaches 0.
An issue wherein the machinist’s “Rook Autoturret” would not attack enemies under certain conditions.
An issue wherein weaponskills used immediately after removing the bard effect “The Wanderer’s Minuet” or the machinist effect “Gauss Barrel” would have a cast time and become uninterruptable when moving.

[Ephier]

With the quick reload buff there is no reason not to preload ammo anymore.

[Ryaz]

I see turrets still don't factor into Wildfire, though.

Still, 1/2 the cooldown on QR is nice. That's two more ammo every minute and you can refresh the ammo stack timer every 15 seconds, letting you go into a fight with a full stack if you plan it out right.

[Greywolfamakir]

you can refresh the ammo stack timer every 15 seconds, letting you go into a fight with a full stack if you plan it out right.

You need 1 minute for full stack, the same than before the patch.

[Ryaz]

You need 1 minute for full stack, the same than before the patch.

I know. But the stack lasts 30 seconds. You can refresh the timer on it by using QR. After 30 more seconds you lose the stack before QR comes back up. Now with QR being only 15 seconds you can keep refreshing it and not lose the stack.

[Greywolfamakir]

I know. But the stack lasts 30 seconds. You can refresh the timer on it by using QR. After 30 more seconds you lose the stack before QR comes back up. Now with QR being only 15 seconds you can keep refreshing it and not lose the stack.

You could do it before the patch...

[Ryaz]

You could do it before the patch...

Yes, but in my experience you could only do it ONCE. The stack would fall off before QR was up again, especially if you had high latency. Now you can enter a raid, use Reload at the beginning and keep the stack going indefinitely without issue. Heck, if you have the time, you can use QR exclusively to build the stack to 5 (though it would take a minute and fifteen seconds) and save Reload until you go through your first chunk of ammo.

[Serilda]

Sorry to interrupt the nice QR discussion but I have a noob question.

I've been spending more time on my Machinist lately (only level 51 at the moment) and I'm noticing that it's becoming quite a squeeze to manage my skills using the cross hotbar alone. I play on PS4 and prefer to use a pad, and I'm accustomed to playing casters. BLM in particular fits very nicely onto a few toggled hotbars even with the new level 60 mechanics, and with healers it's simpler as most skills fit neatly into specific categories, but MCH is proving a little tight for me already - especially as I have less preparation time between skills and there are so many cooldowns and procs to get used to. I have an unused bar up at the top of the screen to help monitor my buff cooldowns and it's noticably longer for MCH than any of my other jobs already (hoping I'll be able to play more instinctively soon).

I wondered whether anyone else has any tips for getting the most out of this job within the confines of the interface? At the moment I feel as though I'm reshuffling my abilities on a regular basis as I learn more about the best way to put each skill into action.

I could use more macros to save space (stacking macros, not macros with /waits), but I find them clunky and prefer to avoid them unless there's a big reason to put something in a macro over assigning it a button. I'm considering using a hotbar switch macro for Gauss Barrel, for example, though I don't yet completely understand how much time I'll spend swapping that on/off until I've unlocked the skill and tried it out on the field.

As some people seem to be dismissive about console gamers I want to say that playing on PC and/or using a keyboard/mouse for battle isn't an option; I don't even have a PC and ten years of playing XI makes me want to stick with a controller for this game. I have played other MMOs with a keyboard before so I know what I'm missing and I still want to persist with the pad. Thank you for understanding.

I'm not exactly an amazing player and I won't be bringing this job to any cutting edge content unless that improves, but at the very least I want to be able to solo and play with my friends without letting them down or growing extra hands. I've seen some great gameplay tips in this thread so in terms of the interface alone, does anyone have any good tips from their own experience?