Help needed with Bard Macros Please :)

[StrejdaTom]

I will say the same thing someone here already mentioned.

Macros are not the way to go. They will never be as good as actually using the skills on cooldown and might be viable only for people after injury or with some physical problems (having only one hand etc.).

It might feel a bit overwhelming to play without macros, but you will get used to it quite fast and the outcome will be definitely worth it. I would suggest giving it a try.

[Gilraen]

Would that include the utility abilities cause all the people saying not to use macros aren't making the distinction. Utility macros enable Bards to let the party know when they've used an ability that's useful to the party or streamline processes. Not all macros are about lazy-mode'ing attacks.

[nexas506]

Here's my favorite bard macro/combo.
first use venom arrow normally.
Then the macro:
/macroicon windbite
/ac windbite
<wait.16>
/e DOTS <se.7>

How it works : venom bite lasts 18 seconds. Subtract the 2 seconds it takes between actions (16 seconds left) you'll hear a ping just as venom bite wears off to remind you to use venom then windbite again. And the /e command makes it so only I can hear the ping without clogging up the chat box for everyone else

Its a lot easier than trying to remember to look at the debuff list.

[Tigerlilyb]

Would that include the utility abilities cause all the people saying not to use macros aren't making the distinction. Utility macros enable Bards to let the party know when they've used an ability that's useful to the party or streamline processes. Not all macros are about lazy-mode'ing attacks.

Yeah precisely this. If you want to stick your whole rotation into a macro then that's definitely a no, but others can make things easier on both you and party members.

I've been trying to come up with one to make windbite/venom/iron jaws combo easier on me but there isn't a good substitute for doing it by hand unfortunately.

Here's my favorite bard macro/combo.
first use venom arrow normally.
Then the macro:
/macroicon windbite
/ac windbite
<wait.16>
/e DOTS <se.7>

How it works : venom bite lasts 18 seconds. Subtract the 2 seconds it takes between actions (16 seconds left) you'll hear a ping just as venom bite wears off to remind you to use venom then windbite again.

Its a lot easier than trying to remember to look at the debuff list.

Orrr I could just do that! Never thought of it, thanks.

[nexas506]

Orrr I could just do that! Never thought of it, thanks.

Glad i could help

[StrejdaTom]

Yeah, I think that everyone who said that macros affect your DPS meant only rotation macros and such, but I can speak only for myself.
I have nothing against anouncement macros (unless you have them for every skill and spam party chat all the time, that is completely annoying), I use them only for living dead.

Foe and Ballad macros are kinda useless in raids as every team tries to have only 1 BRD or MCH, but sure in some random parties with 2 BRDs it is nice to know someone else used Ballad or Foe so we don't waste our mana playing the same song (but for that I check party window, so no use for me too, but it might help someone else).

[ArcticFang]

As a warning, once you put your skills into a macro you can no longer 'queue' them (queueing works like this: you press a button while it can't go off due to GCD or animation lock, but it will go off ASAP, only have to press it once). Since brds have a cast time now, macros are going to slow down you down more than they used to. I had to get rid of my old buff macros that combined raging strikes/b4b and hawk's eye/internal release for this reason. Feels bad standing around popping buffs and doing nothing else cause of macro delay lol. Which brings another issue to mind, if you're putting multiple cooldowns together the macro will naturally be slower because it's repeatedly going through invalid lines ("that's on cooldown!" error).

[Gilraen]

If you don't use /wait there is no delay, you just have to spam one button. I also macro'd my buffs together but there isn't a single /wait in the whole macro so I can use them pretty quickly if I press the button a few times. It's saved soo much space on my action bar. Also helps to use the longest cooldown buff as your micon.

[StrejdaTom]

If you don't use /wait there is no delay, you just have to spam one button. I also macro'd my buffs together but there isn't a single /wait in the whole macro so I can use them pretty quickly if I press the button a few times. It's saved soo much space on my action bar. Also helps to use the longest cooldown buff as your micon.

Yeah but Bards usually don't use all buffs at once plus use Hawks Eye, Blood for Blood + Barrage at the same time and then Internal release alone or with Raging strikes.
By having all buffs on one button you are losing enormous amount of damage.

Doesn't matter for normal duty, does matter a lot for raids.

EDIT: So yeah, only usefull macros are anouncement macros. All other are unfortunately working against you.