Macro gearswap limit

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Macro gearswap limit

You have time to rest as RDM, Jei? I'm lucky if I get 2 ticks per hour these days - usually I get 0 per hour. These Aht Urhgan zones are a lot of fun and very rewarding, but it's really hard on us RDMs keeping these roaming parties moving...

I solve the Light/Healing/Dark staff problem by just macroing in my Healing/Light Staff when casting cures (along with a Raven Beret for -enmity).


Icemage

I could almost cry when I read "...but it's really hard on us RDMs keeping these roaming parties moving..." I just had a huge discussion with some of my LS mates about this. I'm not a huge fan of roaming pts but as soon as I change to rdm, I get invites or my ls tries to pull me away from whatever I'm doing to merit with them too. As far as swaps for merit pt's in the new areas, Staves are about the only ones I worry about. Nearly every single macro I have has a stave swap. I leave full gear swaps to seperate macros. A piece here or there is macro'd in to whatever macro I'm using.

[Tomatoes]

Re: Macro gearswap limit

Wow, lot of posts to get to. So far, from what I've skimmed, you guys are saying pick the 5 most pertinent pieces to macro and don't fret too much about stat-whoring to the max?

Wishmaster, I know what you mean. I'm still at the dev.mitts<->sly.gaunts, magic.cuis<->af.pants<->baron.slops, etc stage. I wanna do morion/phantom<->geist<->mold<->antivenom as well, but damn, I only have so much gil to play with before I start to poke holes in my walletaru.

As for windower macros, thanks but no thanks. sevenpoint and dryhus, I agree with you that the in-game macro system can be really ghetto at times. But I feel, like TParty, windower macros constitutes borderline cheating. I love windower, but just so I can chat and read stuff online while I'm logged in. I don't want any kind of advantage that a PS2 player wouldn't have access too.

Anyway, time for study/work. T.T)

[Raydeus]

Re: Macro gearswap limit

I use 3 equip swap macros, generic MND, INT and MP (for convert), then on each spell/action macro I add specific equipment, so a macro set is more than enough to handle all the spells I need.

I do have diferent macro sets for each sub though, /whm set, /blm set, etc. but many macros just repeat in each set, I do that to avoid changing macro sets which can be kinda a hassle.

[WishMaster3K]

Re: Macro gearswap limit

lol, wow, TommyToes, I was remembering those days and laughing cause I remembered how much the SUCKED! I ran myself ragged back then ;;

And hamlet, I experienced the same thing, actually. But for me, I went more for increased stats from like, Errant hands/feet/legs and left the enfeebling to the AF body at 72. However, I did notice that enfeebling was noticably more effective.

I only have 2 Enfeebling merits right now and 1 to Ice magic, but that's more than enough to land Paralyze on the IT Wyverns on Bhlaf Thickets by Mammok Ja Staging Point. I'm gonna go all out on Enfeebling merits (before I have to start work next month :-D ) and raise Ice 3 more times and I might be able to forgo the AF body (during exp) even for INT nukes.

Atm, I'm going along with the info from tests, which I can 100% support, stating that:
Enfeebling Affects both Landing, Duration and Potency(Strength)
Stats affect Potency
M.Acc Affects Landing

I'm at the point where if I stack Enfeebling, My spells can last an entire fight, but I see very little return. By Swapping out AF Body and Enfeebling Torque for Errant body and Promise Badge, I find that even Wyverns are paralyzed almost 75% or more of the time *_* (I shit you not)

So to reiterate, the in-game system is fine. And while it does SUCK for lower levels (I gave up macro swapping between gear once I had AF -.- ) at 72, the game blows open, so there is nothing to really be concerned about.

[sevenpointflaw]

Re: Macro gearswap limit

Wow, lot of posts to get to. So far, from what I've skimmed, you guys are saying pick the 5 most pertinent pieces to macro and don't fret too much about stat-whoring to the max?

I'd say that's a fairly... fair statement. But you should also know that -if- you swap out everything, you will do better. What I mean is, no one will complain if your enfeebles are sticking 90% of the time, but if you have the extra gear, and it doesn't hinder your play style or the play style of your party, then what is wrong with an extra macro and getting enfeebs to stick 99% of the time? Or getting them to stick 95% of the time but have paralyze proc 25% more often?

I sorta do that with my +MP gear. I upgrade my earings from +3mp to +5mp. My ring is upgraded from +20mp to +25mp. My blet from +15mp to +20mp. Meanwhile my LS is laughing at me, "Man, you don't need to pay 1.5mil to get an extra 5mp!" And by laughing I mean a couple people got downright ugly with pointing fingers, yelling "noob!" and laughing. But when I did it with -all- my equipment and hit 1000mp ten levels before anyone else in my LS... they stopped laughing.

I suspect the same is true for grear swaps for RDM. One or two peieces won't make a difference in and of themselves. But hot damn, if those one or two pieces turn into three or four or five... You get the idea.

Short verision: Needed? A couple gear swarps. More than a couple? If you have em why not use em?

[Dryhus]

Re: Macro gearswap limit

Short verision: Needed? A couple gear swarps. More than a couple? If you have em why not use em?

Bingo.

If there are MND boosts available in 10 of the 16 gear slots, why not use them? Oh, because FFXI's macro system supports 6 lines? I could have 2 macros per spell to use all the stat boosts and fill 3 macro pallettes with RDM spells...but why? It's so inefficient.

Sure, you pick your biggest stat boosts for those 5 macro lines. +5 MND in Aqua Rings, Penitent Rope, etc. Maybe you leave out the +2 MND pieces because of macro restraints. In those 5 pieces you'd leave out, that's around +10 MND you're passing up. I'll keep the 10 MND, please.

[Murphie]

Re: Macro gearswap limit

Well, PS2 and 360 users seem to have no problem whatsoever with only 6 macro slots. And some of the best players I know play on PS2, so I think if they can manage, I certainly can.

[rrynn]

Re: Macro gearswap limit

i use only the ingame macros.
i change my set of 20 macros in my macro pallat depending on what i'm up to in that situation.

i have 2 macros which are gear only, my FEEB macro which puts on all my enfeebling + gear (int/mnd/staves are in the spell macros) and my NUKE macro which puts on my INT gear (i then put in elemental or dark skill and staves into my nukes/drains)

some macros, like refresh, haste, cure IV, convert, heal, sleep, and my FEEB and NUKE macros are always in the same places no matter what for easy reachability. the rest of my macros move around from party to party.

i keep basice rdm/blm rdm/whm and rdm/drk macro sets ready, and every spell i have is macroed in a "holding" bar. at the beginning of any party i just cut/paste to get the most optimal set for that moment.

as a side note, i dislike the idea the reliance on outside macro tools. it's something which is totally unavialble to any ps2/xbox players, so it's not really practical to suggest to someone unless you know what platform they're on. also.....its a harmless "cheat" but it's a cheat none the less, and if gms can detect windowers (which some people say they can) then they can detect an outside macro program (which is basically a botting program, or at least a potential botting program honestly). so if someone calls a gm on you for something unrelated and they're looking at you anyway....running a 3rd party program might be noticed, which could really suck.

[Hamlet]

Re: Macro gearswap limit

That double gear swap macro for healing is genius. I'm going to use it for Errant/AFbody when healing, since I use only use Errant for healing (and nuking, which I pretty much don't do anymore- unless my tests continue to show that Errant is superior to AF1body for enfeebling)

[rrynn]

Re: Macro gearswap limit

errant for enfeebling on mobs that dont resist much (like merit mobs). only thing i use af1 for in xp parties anymore is for sleep and silence...those i want to stick the first damn time no matter what.

[Feba]

Re: Macro gearswap limit

Well, PS2 and 360 users seem to have no problem whatsoever with only 6 macro slots. And some of the best players I know play on PS2, so I think if they can manage, I certainly can.

What i've heard from friends who play on PS2, it's also quite a bit faster than PC macros, though.

Personally, I think trying to make it 'fair' for all systems is a little silly, as no two versions will ever be totally equal

[Murphie]

Re: Macro gearswap limit

Well, my statement had less to do with "fair" and more to do with the fact that extra slots aren't holding PS2 and 360 players back, so perhaps saying that we PC users are crippled by having only 6 lines is a bit much.

I find that my macros fire a lot faster when I use a controller, provided I know which macro I want to use and can get the cursor to it in time. I have no problems with the CTRL/ALT + method though.

[Feba]

Re: Macro gearswap limit

I wasn't really referring to you specifically with that comment, but I think 6 line max was a bad idea anyway.


However, it's pointless to argue over, as it's just where your morals lie, and nothing more. If you think that it's harmless, or ok, then someone telling you it's hellspawn won't change that, and vice versa.

[Murphie]

Re: Macro gearswap limit

Well, it's hard to tell, since I was the one you quoted. Regardless, you're right. No matter how either side, or all sides, or whatever feels about it, I don't think anyone is going to convince the other side(s) otherwise.

[WishMaster3K]

Re: Macro gearswap limit

Due to the speed of the PS2 Hard Drive, we can notice slight lag switching pallettes. I do not notice that lag on PC. I'll see how my friend's XB360 reacts to pallette switching.

^- Just to clear things up.