Advice for memorizing openers

[Melichoir]

Heya, long time player that is tired of being a trash bag. Here is the thing. In other games I am typically a decent dps player, but in FFXIV I struggle. I think it is because your dps on most melee jobs is so focused on your opener and then just maintaining the DPS.

Does anyone have any advice as to how I can train myself to never mess up an opener? Or maybe some tools that help memorization?

Its an issue of practice. It's what it boils down to. For me personally, I actually turn on 2 extra hot bars and stick my opener in the exact order skill for skill on it. I dont play from those hotbars, but I have it so I can look at my opener as I do it until I memorized it. Works for me, but its a bit unconventional.

But in any case, the main take away is practice on dummies.

[Vanitas]

Repetition repetition repetition. When I practice rotations I I try to practice in segments. Ill practice the first 1/4 of the rotation until I feel that I'm comfortable with it then add more to it until the end. After I've practiced until I'm tired of it I'll leave it alone for the rest of the day, sleep on it, try it again the next day. I know people operate differently but I feel like I really retain it better when I practice for a bit, sleep on it and practice again as much as possible until its ingrained in my brain. Maybe that'll do it for you.

[Reinha]

As people have said, repetition helps. Something else that has helped me before is trying to understand why you open your rotation in that specific order. This makes it less about memorizing a set of button presses and more about prioritizing the most powerful actions you have available.

[Izanagi_Fiaresu]

You guys are awesome thank you!

[Miminming]

I put my opener in my 4th and 5th hot bar in order with change to hotbar 1 macro in the last slot...
At first it was for learning and memorizing but now i have no reason to memorize it...
some may say i'm lazy but its seriously effective

[Gemina]

NIN is my only DPS job and I'm not max level, so I'm probably not the best person to give advice, but I figured I'd chime in a few things from my limited experience.

The repetition everyone has mentioned is very important. You definitely want to get your opener into muscle memory. Dummies are great for when you are still getting things locked in, and then head over the Stone, Sky, Sea when you want to quickly reset your timers and/or figure out your DPS (it's what I have to do as a PS4 player).

This part of memorizing your opener I consider to be like learning how to play a song on the piano with your right hand; the other part of the song you learn with your left hand would be the mechanics of a fight. With knowledge in each hand, it's another learning process to combine the two. This is where 8-man comes in and practice, practice, practice.

The last thing I will suggest is a nice, friendly UI. While my healers, DRK, crafters and gatherers all share the same UI; my UI for my NIN is totally custom. I see a lot of UIs while watching videos that are just horrendous to look at. They might work for that player, but in order for me to perform efficiently and optimally, I want only the information I need on my screen. I don't know if KB+M players set up their hotbars in a manner that allows their skills to 'flow' in a sense, but it is definitely that way on a controller. If this is the case for KB+M, I highly recommend this as well. It's a lot of trial and error.