More Macro Slots Please

[Vandi]

Macros are w o n d e r f u l for combat. The catch is, you have to know HOW to write the macro. For example, on Sam, I have Hisatsu: Shinten linked to certain key weapon skills. However, it’s placed under them so that if I need the kenki, it won’t go off unless mashed. In this way, I can mindlessly spam. Second Wind > Bloodbath. And no, you aren’t locked into macros if you’re not doing /wait 2, etc commands. Very very spammable while keeping needed abilities flowing the second they’re up.

Woukd totally love another 20 or so. Macros.

[Azlith]

Macros are w o n d e r f u l for combat. The catch is, you have to know HOW to write the macro. For example, on Sam, I have Hisatsu: Shinten linked to certain key weapon skills. However, it’s placed under them so that if I need the kenki, it won’t go off unless mashed. In this way, I can mindlessly spam. Second Wind > Bloodbath. And no, you aren’t locked into macros if you’re not doing /wait 2, etc commands. Very very spammable while keeping needed abilities flowing the second they’re up.

Woukd totally love another 20 or so. Macros.

Macros are terrible for combat. You cannot queue a macro like you can abilities/weapon skills which means that if you have a macro use a gcd you WILL clip your gcd. if you use them for ogcds you won't be able to double weave in most scenarios.

*to explain further, abilities can be queued in this game if you press the next ability you want to use within a certain amount of time before it is usable. This means that you will never clip your gcd if you are queuing your ability use properly (and not attempting to weave more times than the recast timer of the gcd allows.)*

[Asari5]

i guess since they get rid of dragoons chain buff completely i can delete like 6 macros now. rip dragon sight

[Vandi]

Macros are terrible for combat. You cannot queue a macro like you can abilities/weapon skills which means that if you have a macro use a gcd you WILL clip your gcd. if you use them for ogcds you won't be able to double weave in most scenarios.

*to explain further, abilities can be queued in this game if you press the next ability you want to use within a certain amount of time before it is usable. This means that you will never clip your gcd if you are queuing your ability use properly (and not attempting to weave more times than the recast timer of the gcd allows.)*

I can in no way confirm or deny the validity of this. I only know I’ve been playing Sam since release as well as writing pvp macros. In addition to easing button bloat, dps wise I’m usually in the upper tier (pvp) which means they’re working just fine for me combatwise (I’m on ps5 as well, not pc). Besides, unless you’re into high end raiding, least as far as I’m concerned, getting a .00001 quicker press isn’t gonna mean the end of the world. To each their own.

[Azlith]

I can in no way confirm or deny the validity of this. I only know I’ve been playing Sam since release as well as writing pvp macros. In addition to easing button bloat, dps wise I’m usually in the upper tier (pvp) which means they’re working just fine for me combatwise (I’m on ps5 as well, not pc). Besides, unless you’re into high end raiding, least as far as I’m concerned, getting a .00001 quicker press isn’t gonna mean the end of the world. To each their own.

I mean...a quick google search will confirm it. This has been known since macros have existed. You will lose much more than .00001 seconds off your gcd by using macros, much much more. You are looking at a minimum of .1 seconds lost when you factor in latency which over the course of a fight will add up to several lost gcds and your main abilities will drift outside of buff windows reducing your damage further. I highly recommend trying to learn to play the game without using any macros at all. If you don't care about any of this then great I don't care that you don't care. Just thought I would inform you of how bad macros are for combat in this game, do with that what you will.

[Vandi]

I mean...a quick google search will confirm it. This has been known since macros have existed. You will lose much more than .00001 seconds off your gcd by using macros, much much more. You are looking at a minimum of .1 seconds lost when you factor in latency which over the course of a fight will add up to several lost gcds and your main abilities will drift outside of buff windows reducing your damage further. I highly recommend trying to learn to play the game without using any macros at all. If you don't care about any of this then great I don't care that you don't care. Just thought I would inform you of how bad macros are for combat in this game, do with that what you will.

Sorry, I respectfully disagree. Perhaps, like I said, if you’re doing high end content, savage, etc, where pinpoint maximum damage is absolutely required, sure, go manual. But for easier mindless content, a few seconds off won’t end the world. Besides, macros have other uses. For example, samurai. It gets so much kenki at 90, for some, they’re sitting at 100 before they know what to do with it. Not consistantly, but occasionally it’ll happen. Simple human error. Macros completely remove that problem because Shinten can be released the very second the requirement is met, mindlessly so. Unless you’re an individual who needs complete optimal tip top output, far as I’m concerned, the loss is negligee. Stuff dies what. . 5 seconds slower. Ooookay? Im just saying, for the creative utility macro writing provides, it’s worth it.

Additionally, I’m gonna assume pvp isn’t your thing. Unlike scripted pve, when you have 2-3 people chasing you down, many times you don’t have the luxury of perfectly timed button presses. Here, auto macros are godly for maintaining output, simply because it requires no thought.

[JokoCGN]

using combat macros is, no offense here, an option for handicapped peeps maybe.
all others are just 'headless chickens' or just lazy.

[LilimoLimomo]

Macros are terrible for combat. You cannot queue a macro like you can abilities/weapon skills which means that if you have a macro use a gcd you WILL clip your gcd. if you use them for ogcds you won't be able to double weave in most scenarios.

*to explain further, abilities can be queued in this game if you press the next ability you want to use within a certain amount of time before it is usable. This means that you will never clip your gcd if you are queuing your ability use properly (and not attempting to weave more times than the recast timer of the gcd allows.)*

This is one of the most common misconceptions about macros. And it's an understandable one, because there is no documentation from the developers on how macros work or how to write a "good" macro. But once you learn how to write a good macro, you can queue a macro in the same way that you queue a normal skill press, and thus your GCD won't clip. The quick-and-dirty summary is that you just repeat the same action a handful of times in a macro, and that results in the queuing behavior that normal buttons have. If you want to know more, I highly recommend reading my long post about how this works and the testing I and others did to verify the nuances of this behavior: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...-or-Lost-Casts

[LilimoLimomo]

The reason not to macro combat is precisely because it locks you into the macro. This might be desirable for a DPS, but is absolute disaster for tanking and healing. The only macro every healer needs is the "raise target, then every party member" Because without it you have to try and pick out the KO'd party member and you might stomp on another healer doing the same. So if you do this, it will just raise the next KO'd party member.

With respect, you seem to be under some manner of misconception about what macros are. I can't tell for certain how, but your statement of being "locked in" to macros makes me think that you might only be familiar with macros that perform a sequence of actions in a row...but that's only a subset of what macros can offer!

You can do amazingly cool things with macros that can benefit every class. For example, you can make a single button that casts a GCD or an oGCD depending on whether your GCD is up, or a single button that casts a melee or a ranged attack depending on your distance to your target. You can make macros that automatically update your hotbars based on the last button you pressed, which can allow you to (for example) access all 10 of Dragoon's combo buttons from just 4 buttons.

There are plenty of misconceptions about macros that not only result in many players not understanding how they work, but also not understanding the breadth of their practical uses. I highly recommend checking out my thread that goes over what I've learned about macros via experimentation over the years; you might discover something practical that you can use, but even if you don't, at the very least you'll walk away more informed! ^^

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...-or-Lost-Casts

[TaranTatsuuchi]

Holy cannoli, what are you using all the macros for? And please, for the love of all that's good, do not say combat.

I have job change macros.
There are also macros to swap the hotbars....

So I have a single cross hotbar with macros to change that same hotbar into one with different sets of jobs based on role.
And every one of those jobs has a macro to swap to it and change that hotbar back to the role selection one.

Those all add up quickly.


I think over a third of my macro page is dedicated to job changes and dynamic hotbars.