Question about BRD Abilities and Macros

[Xandos]

I just recently made a new character and thought I would try out Archer/Bard. I am only at level 25 currently and I am noticing a trend that I thought I might exploit. I checked on the other abilities that I will be getting in the future and they seem to confirm what I suspected.

The abilities Empyreal Arrow, Bloodletter, Reflugent Arrow, and Straight Shot are all either RNG procs or used on cooldown. There doesn't really seem to be any reason to not hit these abilities as soon as they are up. Is there some reason I wouldn't want to just macro them in to a single button? Sure I will be getting errors like "Ability not ready" or something, but it would still work, right?

My priority list from top to bottom for this macro:
Empyreal Arrow
Bloodletter
Reflugent Arrow
Straight Shot
Burst Shot
Heavy Shot

I can condense 4 abilities down into 1 button like this and maintain close to maximum dps. Please let me know if I am wrong or if this won't work.

[Reinhardt_Azureheim]

The main reason you don't macro GCD actions (weaponskills or spells bound to global cooldown) is because you cannot make use of the feature that is skill queueing. Before the GCD timer resolves (between 0.5s - 1s) you can already queue the next weaponskill (same applies for abilities). Not doing so basically means you attack less in a set time like a buff timer.

Second reason is even if you were to put that macro into use, between each action command there are few milliseconds of delay between each line's execution, so you wont really hit Heavy Shot at the speed you want to.

Third reason, Refulgent you want to press after Barrage, yet your macro would prioritize Empyreal and Bloodletter, further slowing you down.

[TaiyoShikasu]

Macro your abilities, see what happens.

Spoiler: Nothing good.

[Xandos]

Macro your abilities, see what happens.

Spoiler: Nothing good.

That is literally why I am asking and made a forum post, is to gather information.

I do know about the skill queuing and know that a macro won't allow for that. What I don't know is how much of an issue that really is. Am I losing 5% dps, 15%, more? I won't be doing anything close to progression raiding on this character so I am assuming I can slack a little bit in the dps department. The question I cannot answer yet is how much would my dps be hampered. At some point this isn't worth it, just need to figure out where that point is.

As for triggering cooldowns and specific abilities I can see an issue there. I can always just change the order of the macro or make another macro, or just have the buttons somewhere else on the hotbar. The point of this macro is to free up space on my hotbar for the buttons I press with my fingers. I can use other spaces for the buttons I click with my mouse or use ALT/CTRL buttons for.

Thank you for the information Reinhardt.

[Darkstride]

That is literally why I am asking and made a forum post, is to gather information.

I do know about the skill queuing and know that a macro won't allow for that. What I don't know is how much of an issue that really is. Am I losing 5% dps, 15%, more? I won't be doing anything close to progression raiding on this character so I am assuming I can slack a little bit in the dps department. The question I cannot answer yet is how much would my dps be hampered. At some point this isn't worth it, just need to figure out where that point is.

As for triggering cooldowns and specific abilities I can see an issue there. I can always just change the order of the macro or make another macro, or just have the buttons somewhere else on the hotbar. The point of this macro is to free up space on my hotbar for the buttons I press with my fingers. I can use other spaces for the buttons I click with my mouse or use ALT/CTRL buttons for.

Thank you for the information Reinhardt.

The other issue is that the global cooldown is 2.5 seconds and you can only macro full second increments, so every ability use will take 3 seconds instead. It adds up, and combat will be considerably slower. In your example, it may not be impacted as heavily by this, but in general it will drag you down.

I think the biggest issue with your example specifically is the queuing. OGC abilities are, by design, intended to be used within the 2.5 second window between your weaponskills. A macro is going to give all of those instant cast abilities a delay, and in turn will clip into your next cast causing a delay there as well. Is it game-breaking? No. Will it be noticeable? Yes. The flow of combat itself will feel less fluid and more rigid.

In response to "At some point this isn't worth it, just need to figure out where that point is.". There isn't really a point where it IS worth it.

My suggestion if you struggle to manage hotbars and abilities with mouse and keyboard, is to use a controller. With extended hotbars, you legitimately only use L2, R2, or a combination of both to pull up your abilities and then hit the designated button for the ability you want. You can easily fit everything you need without macros or needing to use the keyboard's Alt or Ctrl.

As a side note, you can start your macros with /merror off to get rid of any of the "ability not ready" popups.