Mouseover Macros

[Anzer]

Some good info in here and some good discussion. In most of the previous MMOs I've healed in (I usually tank, but enjoy healing on alts for a change of pace), I've generally used add-ons or macros to mouseover heal, as I find it quicker and easier for my playstyle. I really appreciate everyone bringing up the pros and cons in regards to FFXIV so I have a better idea of what to expect.

So basically, thanks!

[Katlyna]

The Time Dilation lines will run during a GCD, which means that after using this macro to cast Aspected Benefic once, you won't be able to spam it to regen/shield the next target, making it less useful. I'm also confused as to why you want to use both mo and tt on a heal. In what situation would you not use a mouseover when mouseover is an option? Out-of-party tanks in a FATE or alliance raid can be mousedover as the target of target pane, or one of the alliance panes.

Your macro, while certainly innovative, gives too much flexibility for a heal. Healing macros should be focused, to minimize the risk of unintended effects. I could definitely get behind a separate Time Dilation macro with mo-tt-t targeting, as I would with any target party member cooldown, but adding it to the end of any of the healing spells introduces the possibility that clicking to heal people doesn't actually heal them.

Good questions and points Cyrillo! The answer to your questions are both complex, logical, and a taste of personal preference:

First whenever an ability is cast and a macro has zero wait times, no other ability is cast again during the macro. This means that functionally you can control what occurs by changing your behavior. If I tap this ability just outside the GC it will simply cast Aspected Benefic over and over. On the other hand if I quickly cast this twice it will cast Aspected Benefic and then Time Dilate the person, which is my traditional usage of the ability. If one were to compare my usage of Time Dilation with other raiders what you would find is because of my approach my usage and uptime of the ability is VASTLY more than your average raider. Admittedly this means that sometimes I will use the ability at a less opportune moment, but in general I get healthier use out of the ability period.

The above approach of pairing secondary abilities off the GC with primary abilities is personal preference, but it is also an excellent way to get very good use out of them in intense raid settings where you have much higher priorities.

As for your second question related to why mouse over and target of target. The reason is because functionally I like to do as much damage as I can during fights. Likewise I want to preserved the ability to heal and move fluidly with the right mouse button pressed down. Consequently the easiest way to do this is to include a <tt> line for all heals. This makes running dungeons a breeze, and makes complex raid movement easier. Note that target of target in all these cases is simply the tank.

Again though both of these are personal preference, along with some improvement on efficiency due to how I play. Contextual macros are NOT for everyone o/

[Eul]

Can someone explain to me the benefit using this mouseover macro, or the macro itself for healing? Until now I never use any macro except notification I resurrect someone or prevent double virus.

[Lyrica_Ashtine]

Can someone explain to me the benefit using this mouseover macro, or the macro itself for healing? Until now I never use any macro except notification I resurrect someone or prevent double virus.

I can't really think of one. That macro seems incredibly clunky and pointless <_>

1) Unnecessary harder to target when two or more players are stacked up
2) It cannot target through enemies
3) You cannot run a timed macro with gimmicks like these

While it is possible to bypass the whole targeting issue by targeting through the party list, I can't understand why you wouldn't just click/F-key that player instead and get a 100% visible confirmation you're actually targeting the right person.

[Katlyna]

People who use mouse over healing almost always use the party list. In WoW raiding people were generally observed to be faster and more responsive at healing via mouse over macros in comparison to your average person trying to manually target people (via whatever method). Simply put manual targeting means that you are making an additional key press (while mouse over macro means you are shifting your mouse slightly). None the less mouse over healing is personal preference. Most people folks in this game are less inclined to use mouse over healing, partially because of how damage is dealt in this game and due the fact that there are only 8 party members (even for raiding).

Probably the biggest selling point on macro healing is many players are bad at F-keying targets (remembers someones position in the list finding that key and then healing them is not exactly a fast process). Likewise mousing over the party list and selecting a character requires one more click.

Also mouse over healing means you can keep a target in selection at all times (like the boss) making DPS more responsive.

[Lyrica_Ashtine]

You restrict the freedom of your cursor with this kind of gimmick, though. You can't use the mouse over macro AND look/rotate around as you'll need the cursor on a target before the spell is being cast till it's actually being cast. I don't think the whole "one extra click" reason make it worthwhile to use a clunky macro. You can change your target while on cast/GCD and queue up your next spell/ability without restricting your mouse on top/next to the party list.

[Katlyna]

You can change your target while on cast/GCD and queue up your next spell/ability without restricting your mouse on top/next to the party list

You can do that if you use F-key targeting, yes. None the less F-key targeting is pretty darn clunky. That is an incredible amount of keyboard movement to get the job done IMO. Personally speaking I find myself able to mouse over someone and stay there, doing all my normal raid movement with forward, and strafing. Once I need to reface I slip my mouse an inch to the right off the party faceplates and then right click and do any shifting. Ultimately I find mouse over healing is less movement by either physical hand in comparison to F-key targeting, which for me means faster healing.

But again, ones choice of targeting is personal preference.

[Lyrica_Ashtine]

You can do that if you use F-key targeting, yes. None the less F-key targeting is pretty darn clunky. That is an incredible amount of keyboard movement to get the job done IMO. Personally speaking I find myself able to mouse over someone and stay there, doing all my normal raid movement with forward, and strafing. Once I need to reface I slip my mouse an inch to the right off the party faceplates and then right click and do any shifting. Ultimately I find mouse over healing is less movement by either physical hand in comparison to F-key targeting, which for me means faster healing.

But again, ones choice of targeting is personal preference.

You COULD change the keybinds if some F-keys are hard to reach for you