Being a good WHM.

[Nameless]

I'm leveling WHM up for a sub and I find I suck at it.

My main problem is getting heals in fast enough. My F1-F6 keys don't work for some reason, so I'm using this macro

/ma "Cure" <st>

and I just scroll through my party. But, I find this takes too much time, and in hectic battles (Had a fight where we were fighting 2 mobs at once) it's really hard to keep up.

Any suggestions on how to be better? I'm still in Valkrum dunes if that has any significance. Is there anyway to select a party member without making a ton of macros just to select between an individual member? (<p2> <p3> <p4> etc...)

[Jei]

hmm don't know if you will like it but controller is super easy to target party/alliance members. Pressing up and down direction, you'll move your target cursor through your party/alliance up and down the list. I found it impossible to be the alliance's healer without controller really.

[Icemage]

If you don't like/can't use F-keys (not many people do):

/ma "Cure" <stpc>

Using a controller makes this 10 times easier. You can hit the macro, and position the subtarget arrow on the target member you expect to get hit next, then just press to confirm the macro once they actually take damage.

Since you're on my server, if you're still having issues, drop me a /tell in game and I can help you troubleshoot any other issues you might be having.


Icemage

[neighbortaru]

try having 2 sets of cure macros. one with <p*> targeted only on the tank (please remember to change it) and one with <stpc> for the rest of the party members.

[Dux]

Sorry, don't mean to hijack this thread but erm why on earth would you choose not to have <p1> <p2> <p3> macros for heal?

As I understand it you are adding an additional delay into casting your cure by having to select people manually????

Any high level WHM must have realised by now that you need millions of macros, I have just under 80 macro's myself.

[Jei]

Because selecting with controller is so easy I won't bother wasting my macro slots for something so simple to do. With controller taking care of target-selecting already I feel it is so much easier and convenient to just have each macro for different spells.

My Whm Macro
CTRL 1-5 cure 1-5. CTRL 6-10 curaga seal regen
ALT1-10 ~an spells.
Now that already filled up my 1 set of macro. And making multiple pages for 1 job isn't very intuitive for a long time player like me since I play many jobs and switching around a lot.

My macro set so far looks kinda like this...
set 1 2 3 4 Whm Blm Rdm Brd
set 5 template. back up macros I use for pasting around other sets.
set 6 7 8 9 war nin thf rng drk
leaving me only 10 which is already filled up with other useless macros already lol such as skill train macro, shouts, cute faces etc ^^

[Sienna]

Originally posted by Dux
Sorry, don't mean to hijack this thread but erm why on earth would you choose not to have <p1> <p2> <p3> macros for heal?

As I understand it you are adding an additional delay into casting your cure by having to select people manually????

Any high level WHM must have realised by now that you need millions of macros, I have just under 80 macro's myself.

I find switching macro sets much more time consumable than using F1-6. But it's all about what you get used to.

[Icemage]

I play WHM in XP parties with 17 macros, and 3 panel slots open for whatever I need to customize.

Changing macro panels wastes far more time overall than using <stpc>.

This is what I have macro'd:

Offensive: Dia II, Slow, Paralyze, Flash, Magic Finale

Defensive: Regen, Regen II, Regen III, Cure III, Cure V, Haste, 1 custom bar-element edited at need - usually barfira or barthundra, Erase

Utility: 1 resting equip macro, 1 casting equip macro, /target <bt>, 1 {Found it!} macro for pops

Miscellaneous: I edit the remaining 3 slots based on what else I think I'll need (Silence, Ballad, Madrigal, Prelude, Blink, whatever).


Icemage

[suzu]

Having six Cure 1 macros sounds pretty silly.. my macros take up only one set and it works fine pretty much for both exp and hnm.

CTRL - Benediction, Elemental Seal, Prot/Shellra, (???), erase, Light Staff + stand, Dark Staff + heal, haste, Divine Seal, WHM report
ALT - Cure, Cure II, Cure III, Cure IV, Cure V, three slots for -na spells most likely used, Regen, target call.

I forgot what was in CTRL4.. but yeah, everything else (debuffs, etc) I just type or menu them out since they aren't that important..because ther's usually a NIN or RDM to do the debuffs anyway. :3

[Sheila]

I have two sets of macros for WHM, one for party/small party and one for big HNMs. I don't think it's a good idea having cure macros for each player. I use controller and think it's very important to be trained at manually selecting targets after opening the magic menu.

[kuu]

P1 -P6 ... umm so how do get cure 2-5? in time. Switching is very limited... besides fact that people play different characters.

Not to mention a whole ray of enfeebles and buffs, status restore..

stick with <t> till your find flow.

[murmur]

I agree that <stpc> will help a lot, in that at least you'll only be scrolling through people.

If you're unable to use Fkeys, and an ok typer, maybe try typing "/ta Name" to target the partymember, and then your macro for cure. I actually do this a lot because of alliances. Just try to get familiar with the tank names at the beginning and then after you get the hang of spellings, you can quickly switch from one member to another to cure or throw a -na spell. This does not work when engaged in battle, so in battle you would have to type "/ma "Cure III" Name, or whatnot -- something I still have to practice (I'm not the fastest typer and I never fight, so I do horriblly in alliance skillups T_T).

It shouldn't be too bad in an EXP party though, although I've never tried it. It will beat the uncertainty of scrolling through a million names... I hate it when i pass it... and scroll all around again... and pass it... dear god, let me claimm cassieeeeeeeeeeeeeee, etc. >_>

Of course, it sucks when people have incredibly hard names to spell. I sometimes note them as "they're gonna die". Guess you can tab for them. >_>

[suzu]

It'd be a lot quicker to use /ma "Cure" playername D:

[Macht]

All the targeting commands I know to get a player:

<t> = Selected Target
<stpc> = Select Target Player Character
<lastst> = Last Selected Target (Works with <stpc> which ever character you selected last with it, even if the currently selected is not the target last selected with <stpc>)
<p0> = Party Member 0 (Yourself)
<p1>-<p5> = Party Members 1-5
<a00>-<a05> = First Alliance Members 0-5
<a10>-<a15> = Second Alliance Members 0-5

I personally believe in more providing all I know of possible methods and each individual chooses a method that works best for them. As long as they can be effective and fast does it matter how many sets they have?

Also changing between sets can be fast or slow depending on how you do it. If you are holding Ctrl or Alt and pressing up and down arrows to switch that'll be slow. If you know your sets then holding Ctrl+Shift+<set #> is much faster to switch between sets.

I have no problem switching between sets, if I'm using a job with intended purpose to be faster and more precise then I'll re-write my macro's and all the sets for that. I've already created sheets of my sets so I can recreate them for each job.

So for example my RNG has:

Set1 Gear Set
Ctrl = Gear switch
Alt = Bow/Gun/Crossbow switch

Set2 Bow Attack Set
Ctrl = Arrows Selects
Alt = Range Attack/Shadowbind/Eagle Eye Shot/Barrage set (Barrage, Sharpshot, Berserk)/Unlimited Shot

Set3 Crossbolt Attack Set
Ctrl = Crossbolt Selects
Alt = Range Attack/Shadowbind/Eagle Eye Shot/Barrage set (Barrage, Sharpshot, Berserk)/Unlimited Shot

Set4 General Purpose Attack Set
Ctrl =
Alt = Range Attack/Shadowbind/Eagle Eye Shot/Barrage set (Barrage, Sharpshot, Berserk)/Unlimited Shot

Set5 Weapon Skills Set
Ctrl = Bow WSs
Alt = Crossbolt & Gun WSs

I've created similar sets like this for each job. I find this easier because of my way of thinking so of course this works perfectly for me. For WHM I broke it down to this:

Set 0 Gear Set
Ctrl = Gear Switch
Alt = Light/Dark Staff, alternate wand

Set 1 Cure I Set
Ctrl = Party members Cure I (Self excluded), Curaga, 2 others, First Alliance Member 0 Cure I, Second Alliance Member 0 Cure I
Alt = First Alliance Member 1-5 Cure I, Second Alliance Member 1-5 Cure I

Set 2-5 Cure II - V Sets
Ctrl = Party members Cure II-V (Self excluded), Curaga ##, 2 others, First Alliance Member 0 Cure II-V, Second Alliance Member 0 Cure II-V
Alt = First Alliance Member 1-5 Cure II-V, Second Alliance Member 1-5 Cure II-V

Set 6 Other Spells
Ctrl = -na spells
Alt = other spells

This works for me though because of my thought process and I got use to it this way. As you already see though each person has their own methods, the best thing to do really is provide the possibilities and then let each person create what works for them. I even have a sort of Hybrid version of this were is uses a mix of <stpc> along with 2-3 specifics that are focused on specific people (Requires macro to be changed each time to fit each party).

[kuu]

That's a very limiting set... where's your erase, regen, haste, dia2, poison, etc?

It's very hard to switch around on the fly.

I usually stick with a standard set of c2-5, regen, stat heals, and debuffs, sleep, and whatever works on other side.

You have to be able to flow from one spell to another, and switching up and down between sets will ultimately doom you. [Im in set 3, wait now in set 4, now in set2]

Nothing worse then a whm, who stands there, while the pt is screaming for ES+sleep, because he can't remember where his sleep is.

To be flexable, it's recomended to have your "battle" spells on macros, and avoid <p#> and your off spells, alt-m. Protectra, raise, shellra, can be shifted to the top of the list

The other problem with <p#> is that any DC, bad zone, etc, will change your order of players. Get in a habit of curing your paladin and turned into a redmage.

I personally use <t> for spaming speed. Some people use st or stpc. I don't know any upper level whms using <p#> anymore. Too many spells, learn to use Alt-M.