WXHB long-term carpal tunnel

[Keg]

I have some Hotbar setups that aggressively use WXHB for rotations. I'm starting to (very rarely) have some issues opening cans or using housekeys because of the way my fingers are used to moving and curling playing FFXIV.
Suggestion: I play on PC with a Dualsense controller. Why not use the shoulder buttons to mimic the 'Gamecube shoulder click' to set off the WXHB?

Just a feature I'd like to see, throwing it out there.

[angienessyo]

You might want to consider changing your hotbar setup. I play on controller and only put stuff I don't press as often or my AOE rotations in the extra bars. Are you not able to rebind your triggers to your shoulder buttons?

[Collin_Sky]

If you're using WXHB as part of your main kit, you've got your hotbar set up really, really bad.
If you're using the WXHB buttons so much it's giving you carpal tunnel, you've got your hotbar set up even worse.

[LilimoLimomo]

I'm a controller player with long-term joint/wrist/finger issues. WXHB has been a no-go for me and especially if you're starting to experience issues, I'd recommend stopping using them. Listen to these early warning signs and make adjustments; you don't want to reach the point where simply playing the game feels difficult or painful Here are a few suggestions to consider that may help:

Care for your hands
Do stretches and take regular breaks to give your hands a rest. Here are some stretches that I've found helpful:
https://youtu.be/EiRC80FJbHU?t=89

Avoid mashing buttons
If you happen to be in the habit of mashing buttons, I'd recommend trying to quit that, and instead get into the habit of pressing each button once at the proper time. Buttons in FF14 have a window of padding so that if you press them a bit before you'd be able to cast them, the system will remember and cast, so there's no need to mash even if you're trying to never clip your GCD. Fewer button presses will mean that much less strain for your hands.

Macros
You're using the WXHB because there are too many buttons to fit on your normal crosshotbars; thankfully, that's the problem that macros are the best at solving. A well-written macro generally will do a single action every time you press the button, but the action that it performs will be dependent upon context. In this way, you can reduce the amount of buttons you actually need to press by combining multiple Skills/Abilities into a single button. There are a few flavors of this:

• You can make a single button that does a Skill (like Keen Edge) if pressed within the GCD window, but instead does an Ability (like Danger Zone) if your GCD is on cooldown.
  
  
• You can make a single button that does a melee action (like Keen Edge) if you're within melee range, but instead does a ranged action (like Lightning Shot) if you're outside of melee range.
  
  
• You can make a single button that does a resource-requiring action (whether that resource is mana, some sort of charge, or the ability not being on cooldown), but if that resource isn't available it does a different action. For example, you could put Burst Strike and Keen Edge on the same button.
  
  
• You can put multiple resource-requiring actions on the same button, giving yourself what is in effect as "spend resource" button. Personally, I like to do this with my tanks' generic mitigation abilities so that I have a "mitigation button".
  
  
• You can make a single button that does one action if you're targeting a teammate, and another action if not. For example, you could make an "enmity management" button that uses Shirk if you're targeting a party member, but uses Provoke if you're not.

Hopefully this gives you some ideas about how using macros can massively reduce the amount of buttons you need to press!

But those are just the basic techniques. If you want, you can really go wild and make macros that change what buttons are on your crosshotbars based on context. For example, I've got some macros for my Dragoon so that every time I press a combo Skill, it populates a nearby button with the next combo Skill. After all, if I just pressed combo 3, then there's literally no reason I would need combo 2 to be on my hotbar. By thinking about what actions you wouldn't ever need to use at a certain part of your rotation, you can dynamically change your crosshotbars and reduce button bloat. Using this technique, I was able to fit all 10 of Dragoon's combo skills into just 4 buttons.

Here's a video that demonstrates how the bars change and shows the macros: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsZo2iWJDrs&t=1s

Those are the highlights of macros, but there are some other things you can do with them as well. If you're interested in learning more, there's an old thread I wrote with a lot of information in it ( https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...-or-Lost-Casts ). And I'd be happy to answer any questions you have or help you troubleshoot any macro-related stuff you're curious about as well; I want your hands to be capable and comfortable for decades to come! ^^

[Collin_Sky]

Macros
You're using the WXHB because there are too many buttons to fit on your normal crosshotbars; thankfully, that's the problem that macros are the best at solving. A well-written macro generally will do a single action every time you press the button, but the action that it performs will be dependent upon context. In this way, you can reduce the amount of buttons you actually need to press by combining multiple Skills/Abilities into a single button. There are a few flavors of this:

• You can make a single button that does a Skill (like Keen Edge) if pressed within the GCD window, but instead does an Ability (like Danger Zone) if your GCD is on cooldown.
  
  
• You can make a single button that does a melee action (like Keen Edge) if you're within melee range, but instead does a ranged action (like Lightning Shot) if you're outside of melee range.
  
  
• You can make a single button that does a resource-requiring action (whether that resource is mana, some sort of charge, or the ability not being on cooldown), but if that resource isn't available it does a different action. For example, you could put Burst Strike and Keen Edge on the same button.
  
  
• You can put multiple resource-requiring actions on the same button, giving yourself what is in effect as "spend resource" button. Personally, I like to do this with my tanks' generic mitigation abilities so that I have a "mitigation button".
  
  
• You can make a single button that does one action if you're targeting a teammate, and another action if not. For example, you could make an "enmity management" button that uses Shirk if you're targeting a party member, but uses Provoke if you're not.

You should absolutely not use macros like this. This is so bad, unbelievable.

[LilimoLimomo]

You should absolutely not use macros like this. This is so bad, unbelievable.

I'm disappointed to hear that when a person's physical health is at risk, there are people who would urge that person to not utilize the tools that can improve their situation.

[Zomkei]

Macros
You're using the WXHB because there are too many buttons to fit on your normal crosshotbars; thankfully, that's the problem that macros are the best at solving. A well-written macro generally will do a single action every time you press the button, but the action that it performs will be dependent upon context. In this way, you can reduce the amount of buttons you actually need to press by combining multiple Skills/Abilities into a single button. There are a few flavors of this:

• You can make a single button that does a Skill (like Keen Edge) if pressed within the GCD window, but instead does an Ability (like Danger Zone) if your GCD is on cooldown.
  
  
• You can make a single button that does a melee action (like Keen Edge) if you're within melee range, but instead does a ranged action (like Lightning Shot) if you're outside of melee range.
  
  
• You can make a single button that does a resource-requiring action (whether that resource is mana, some sort of charge, or the ability not being on cooldown), but if that resource isn't available it does a different action. For example, you could put Burst Strike and Keen Edge on the same button.
  
  
• You can put multiple resource-requiring actions on the same button, giving yourself what is in effect as "spend resource" button. Personally, I like to do this with my tanks' generic mitigation abilities so that I have a "mitigation button".
  
  
• You can make a single button that does one action if you're targeting a teammate, and another action if not. For example, you could make an "enmity management" button that uses Shirk if you're targeting a party member, but uses Provoke if you're not.

i cannot imagine trying to use macros like that on a weave heavy class like gnb, good lord. this is honestly really bad advice

do you use toggle for WXHB, or hold? if you use hold, toggle might help your hands more, otherwise, you can get rid of WXHB and swap between the crossbars.

[LilimoLimomo]

i cannot imagine trying to use macros like that on a weave heavy class like gnb, good lord. this is honestly really bad advice

I'd recommend not imagining it and simply trying it, because it works swimmingly. If you know how to make an effective macro and then tailor them to your system's framerate and your personal needs, you're going to be able to consistently weave without clipping your GCD. The only hurdle is learning how macros really work so that you can take advantage of their strengths while avoiding common pitfalls.

[Claire_Pendragon]

do you use toggle for WXHB, or hold? if you use hold, toggle might help

unfortunately only works with hold. toggle/mix wont allow wxhb

[Bibine_Bine]

Macros
You're using the WXHB because there are too many buttons to fit on your normal crosshotbars; thankfully, that's the problem that macros are the best at solving. A well-written macro generally will do a single action every time you press the button, but the action that it performs will be dependent upon context. In this way, you can reduce the amount of buttons you actually need to press by combining multiple Skills/Abilities into a single button. There are a few flavors of this:

• You can make a single button that does a Skill (like Keen Edge) if pressed within the GCD window, but instead does an Ability (like Danger Zone) if your GCD is on cooldown.
  
  
• You can make a single button that does a melee action (like Keen Edge) if you're within melee range, but instead does a ranged action (like Lightning Shot) if you're outside of melee range.
  
  
• You can make a single button that does a resource-requiring action (whether that resource is mana, some sort of charge, or the ability not being on cooldown), but if that resource isn't available it does a different action. For example, you could put Burst Strike and Keen Edge on the same button.
  
  
• You can put multiple resource-requiring actions on the same button, giving yourself what is in effect as "spend resource" button. Personally, I like to do this with my tanks' generic mitigation abilities so that I have a "mitigation button".
  
  
• You can make a single button that does one action if you're targeting a teammate, and another action if not. For example, you could make an "enmity management" button that uses Shirk if you're targeting a party member, but uses Provoke if you're not.

A really big problem with using macros like this is that you can't "queue" a macro like you can just a straight action, meaning this entirely defeats the earlier point you made about not mashing because the only way to not clip your GCD with a macro is to mash, at least a little.

Also, please never, ever use macros for combo chains. You are, at best, losing 0.5s on every single GCD you use with a macro for this purpose. That adds up a LOT over the course of the fight.