How To Set Up Macros In Ffxiv

Equally I became more and more interested in FFXIV I started looking at smaller things that could improve my gameplay experience. This led me to tinkering around with user macros, a very useful tool for automating all sorts of things in the game and making things a tiny bit friendlier to my user experience.

There are lots of quality of life improvements that macros can help you with, and yes, even some limited benefits when it comes to gainsay. If you're interested in whatsoever of those things, read on. While I'll cover a multifariousness of uses, this is only an introduction and there are even more circuitous things you tin can set up with the assist of macros.

In this post I'm going to innovate you to macros and how to set them up. I'm likewise going to go over some of the virtually mutual usages, as well as some 'housekeeping' aspects you may want to add when creating them. The FFXIV playerbase very ofttimes shares useful knowledge with each other, so new macro uses and innovations are often posted on reddit or discord if yous're keeping up with those communities.

Making and Saving Macros

Get-go, let'due south get-go with the housekeeping stuff. How exercise y'all create, access, and save your macros? I'll also show some common lines that are added to virtually macros to affect the icon, timing, and potential fault letters.

The User Macros Window

You can become to System > User Macros to encounter and create your macros. You lot'll discover at that place's an private and a shared tab. The shared tab is for all characters (alts) you create, while the individual tab is just for the character you're currently playing. No need to rewrite all your macros when you starting time a new grapheme. You tin can have 100 macros in each tab.

You tin click and elevate a macro from this window to place a copy of information technology on your hotbar, which is and so activated like any other hotbar button. Or, you tin also right click the macro from the user macros window and execute information technology immediately.

There'due south a button at the bottom right labelled 'Text Commands' which opens a very long list of commands y'all can use to write your macros. I'll be going through some common ones, just if yous're interested in digging deeper, that's where you lot'll want to look. Notation that in that location'due south a lot of filler commands considering many of them are the various emote deportment.

The correct-paw side of the user macros window is where the selected macro is displayed. You're limited to 20 characters in the proper name. Next to the proper noun field is the selected macro'southward electric current icon. You lot tin can click on that to select from a number of preset icons. You tin can too cull others which I'll talk about in the next section.

The torso of the macro gives you lot 15 lines. This can feel limiting if you get into crafting or transformation macros, but it's plenty for most macro purposes.

How to Set Macro Icons

There are a number of default macro icons in the user macros interface that you tin view and choose from easily. With a macro selected in the user macros window, click on the grey box to the left of the proper name of the macro, and select from several pages of default icons. These cover a multifariousness of generic symbols but also some game-related ones as well.

If you can't detect one you similar, or if you want something specific already in the game, you tin change the icon by typing this line inside the macro:

/macroicon "icon proper noun" [category]

/micon "icon proper name" [category]

This works cracking for combat macros particularly, since information technology volition display the recast timer and mana cost, just like the regular skill you lot're using the icon for.

You can even use icons for pet commands, items, waymarks, emotes, and tons more than. If you accept the name of the icon correct only it still won't testify upward, try including the type of icon subsequently the quotations, for example:

/micon stay pet
/micon greeting emote
/micon a waymark

Skills for combat, crafting, and gathering jobs exercise not need a category tag after the skill proper noun, since information technology assumes the [action] category by default.

/micon medica
/micon innovation
/micon unearth

Notation that you will need quotations for icons that have more than 1 discussion. Names that are just hyphenated do non require quotations.

/micon "cure Two"
/micon "battle bear" mount
/micon "attacker stance" companion
/micon "wind-upwards leviathan" minion

/micon hi-cordial item

Unfortunately non all items in a category seem to work. While cordials brandish as a macro icon, I couldn't get potions or ethers to.

In that location are also many categories which I thought would permit yous to apply icons merely sadly do not (or I simply don't know the proper category tag). Traits, squadron commands, and system menu icons were all things I tried and failed to use as macro icons.

Why Do I Get Macro Errors?

If a macro performs an activeness that was unsuccessful, like trying to resurrect a living party member, shield your target with no target set, or use a skill without the resources to do and so, you will receive an error message in conversation. These can be abrasive, and if many can go off, can overflowing the chat window. Nigh macros I utilise include one of the post-obit lines to forbid this:

/macroerror off

/merror off

You can put this line anywhere in the macro. I often put it at the end, or sometimes the start.

How to Use Expect Commands

Wait commands tin can simply await in whole 2nd intervals. So, you cannot wait 2.5 seconds, it volition round up to 3. You can put these either on their ain line or at the end of another line and they should be functionally identical. You tin't use a wait command to await more than than 60 seconds.

/air-conditioning "Fragile Synthesis"
<expect.3>

/air-conditioning "Delicate Synthesis" <look.3>

These are very mutual in crafting macros since you have to look for the blitheness to play before using each skill. Some more niche uses for await commands include making a cooldown notification macro, or putting one in your heighten macro to avert spamming party chat.

Be enlightened that if your computer lags, you may find your crafting macro breaks because it needed an extra 2nd in between two actions. This happened to me several times when I would do a set up of macro crafts, and the odd ane would neglect hither and there. I only decided to add an extra second to my expect commands.

Conversation Macros

Have a Pre-Written Bulletin Fix to Go

While this may not seem super useful to anybody, there are plenty of people who play on PS4 and don't happen to use a plug-in keyboard. This makes chatting super inconvenient, then these players may observe information technology useful to prepare up some messages when they aren't in the middle of a duty. They can quickly be activated with the printing of a button.

If you're someone who likes to exist friendly in conversation with your newfound party members, y'all might want to ready a macro that types out your preferred polite greeting or goodbye.

If you're new to a role, specially tank or healer, allow them know that you're learning the role still, and indicate if y'all'd like advice or feedback.

If yous're a goofball you can macro some ASCII art. I've seen a lot of these in alliance raids, some of which have made me laugh. Be careful non to spam these sorts of macros, though, since they tin quickly overflowing chat and brand information technology difficult to read others' letters.

Coordinate Cruel Fight Strategy and Positions

Macros are extremely commonly used in PUGs (pick-up groups) in the party finder, particularly if yous're learning savage fights. These duties are more complicated than coincidental content and have a lot of moving parts.

This means there are lots of times where every party member needs to exist somewhere specific to perform mechanics correctly. Posting a macro in chat at the first of the fight with everyone'due south position saves a lot of fourth dimension and helps get everyone on the same page for what the group will be doing in specific moments.

Of course, these macros are all created mostly independently, then there isn't one master macro that everybody uses. Strategies modify every bit people try new things with the fight, and come with more efficient tactics. It's important to take a await at the macro when you lot see it. If y'all similar it, ask them for a link or copy it yourself and paste it into your user macros.

Use Sound Effects Wisely

Sound effects can be put to good use, just be careful non to throw them in unnecessarily. These can be annoying if overused, so only include them if they add value.

Some of the nigh useful ones I've seen in alliance raids brand use of the 'warning' sound effects, which unremarkably get people to expect up and motion during an of import 'move to your spot or yous'll die' mechanic. If you're in Labyrinth of the Ancients you may sometimes hear someone playing the danger bongos during the 'Ancient Flare' cast.

I fabricated a picayune notepad macro just describing the sound effects so I tin can reference this if I desire to use one in a macro. Some of them are too repose to hear over the noise of combat, while others are quite loud and annoying, especially if repeated. Recollect to utilize these sparingly or go out them out birthday if yous're in a party.

If y'all want to play around with these yous can easily do and so with the echo control (/e). That way yous don't take to bother any party members while you test them out.

Organisation Control Macros

There are tons of cracking uses for macros that help ameliorate your interface with the game.

You can hide UI elements using the /hud command. Apply the 'on', 'off', or 'toggle' subcommands:

/hud dutylist toggle
/hud scenarioguide toggle

Yous tin can adjust system settings. I use a macro to mute the game with one click, and another to set up the volume back to where I usually keep it:

/mastervolume 0

Y'all tin can examine other players' gear without using a menu. I prepare this to a mouse keybind (ctrl+M3) so I tin hover over players and open up their graphic symbol screen:

/merror off
/check <mo>

You can brand a macro that changes your gearset and HUD layout all at one time. This is not bad if you're the type of person who uses unlike HUD layouts for different roles (some people exercise this when they heal for instance, as the party list becomes more important), or if you adopt your crafters' or gatherers' HUDs to be setup differently than your combat jobs.

/micon 3 gearset
/gearset change iii
/hudlayout two

For some more advanced usages of macros, I've seen several 'transformation' macros which do a magical girl fashion outfit change while your grapheme poses or uses combat skills. These tin be every bit unproblematic or every bit complicated as you like, express by the number of lines in a macro, that is.

You tin also create nested hotbars, though this is quite a chip more complicated. I recommend post-obit a YouTube tutorial, that's what I did. Personally I love using this; I find it makes everything feel so much more compact and organized.

Combat Macros

Remember that macros are non meant to completely automate gainsay. That wouldn't exist very fun or engaging, and this is a game after all. Foursquare Enix has fabricated sure that macros are generally less effective at combat than the average player, at least in most aspects.

There are yet a bunch of useful macros that tin can improve the feeling and use of sure combat abilities. These are specific types of skills though, and in general macro use should be express in regards to combat. GCDs (weaponskills and spells) in particular are normally best left solitary.

The Disadvantages of Gainsay Macros

Some people discover macros in this game and they try to be a little also clever with them, thinking it will exist a definite improvement with no drawbacks. They might try to macro a three-step melee combo onto one push to salvage hotbar infinite, or brand gainsay easier, and on the surface, yes it can be washed. What I recall needs to be understood however is how this cuts your effectiveness in battle.

The GCD (global cooldown) is 2.5 seconds, further reduced by the skill speed or spell speed substats. In order for a macro to really perform a 3-step combo you would have to event wait commands. Without wait commands the macro would quickly spit out orders for three skills, just the second and third would be ignored because your character is busy executing the first assault. Subsequently all, you can't only mash i, two, 3 on your keyboard equally fast as possible either. Yous take to look earlier you upshot a control for the adjacent button in the sequence.

Wait commands tin only operate in 1 second intervals. Yous probably see where this is going. Trying to type <wait.2.5> rounds itself to <wait.3> and now you're at least one-half a second slower than manually inputting the buttons yourself (simply virtually definitely more that because your gear's skill speed makes your GCD between ii and 2.5 seconds).

This means that if you lot apply macros like this on every GCD, your graphic symbol performs at most around 83% the GCD output. This is a big no-no. The nigh bones thing new players can do to meliorate damage output is to brand sure you are always keeping your GCD rolling (ABC: "Always Be Casting"). Dropping almost 20% of your GCD skills because you didn't want to set another hotbar is completely non worth it.

OK so chaining multiple GCD skills isn't 100% effective. Got information technology. What if we simply had a single GCD skill on a macro? That's however got a drawback. Observant players new to the game may have noticed that you tin actually press the button for a GCD a moment before the GCD is ready. The game will 'queue' the skill and it will go off equally soon equally it can, leaving your GCD rolling uninterrupted.

Macros exercise not queue. You tin press your macro keybind a moment earlier your GCD is rolling and….nada happens. You have to really spam the cardinal to become it to activate when the GCD is set up. If yous're lucky you'll be close, merely since you're a human and not a computer, you can only fall further and further backside, bit by bit.

Here'south a visual representation. This gif shows someone spamming a non-macro GCD vs a macro GCD and you'll encounter information technology's inevitable that you lot fall behind and lose casts over time.

Commonly Used Gainsay Macros

As y'all can meet, macros are not as useful to gainsay as you might have outset idea. While GCD skills should usually be avoided, at that place are still some really convenient uses on oGCD skills. The most common uses are for those skills that target other players or have an AoE ground indicator that needs to be placed.

If you need to target another player, consider a mouseover macro, or one that always targets the same position in your political party list. There's as well some use for chat notification macros, but exist warned these can be considered spammy or annoying past some players. If you're including a conversation message, keep it brief, and avert or limit the use of sound furnishings.

Shirk Your Co-Tank

/merror off
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/micon "Shirk"

This will shirk the political party member in party position ii (by default this is your cotank). The macro will display the shirk icon and remaining cooldown every bit well.

Unmarried-Target Ally (mouseover or cotank)

/merror off
/ac "Center of Stone" <mo>
/ac "Heart of Stone" <2>
/micon "Heart of Stone"

This macro will target whoever you hover your mouse over. You can use this to provide mitigation for a teammate in the party listing assuming their character is in range. If no player is moused over, it will go on your cotank. This is pretty useful for tank swaps.

This way of macro is great for tanks (Intervention, Cover, Nascent Flash, The Blackest Night, Eye of Stone) and also has utilise for something similar Dragoon's Dragon Sight.

Single-Target Marry (target of target a.k.a. highest enmity)

/merror off
/ac "Divine Benison" <tt>
/micon "Divine Benison"

This is a similar macro to the last 1, just it specifically targets whoever has the enemy'southward attending at the moment. If you're a healer and your tanks exercise a tank swap throughout the fight, this will always go on whoever currently holds the boss.

If you're comfortable using the aid target keybind (target the target of your current target) you might non need this, since you can switch between the boss and the current tank pretty speedily that way.

Ground-Indicator Placement

/merror off
/air-conditioning "Asylum" <t>
/ac "Asylum" <tt>
/ac "Asylum" <me>
/micon "Asylum"

This will attempt to identify the AoE on your target, then on your target's target, and so on yourself. In a situation where the boss is off the side of the loonshit it will exist placed on the main tank instead. In a situation where the boss goes completely untargetable, you'll identify the AoE on yourself.

Placing ground indicators can experience really slow, so this is a popular usage of macros. I still recommend having a separate keybind for the unmacroed skill and so you can always straight the placement if yous admittedly need to.

If you macro Shukuchi using this, you probably only want to keep the <t> line. As well I should indicate out that yous (unfortunately) cannot utilize a mouseover macro to cast footing placement aoes on the footing. Only targets similar the ones listed above.

Conversation Notification

/air-conditioning "Raise" <t>
<look.1>
/p Raising <t>
/micon "Raise"
/macroerror off

This lets your party know in conversation who you're raising, which tin help save other healers from wasting time attempting to heighten the aforementioned target. The <expect.1> line allows you to tap the push button a couple times (to make sure it goes off) without spamming the chat.

Keep chat macros in combat simple, and don't spam them (peculiarly if they have a sound effect). Some people apply macros to notify teammates they've used an important defensive cooldown like Hallowed Ground. Personally I don't find this very useful since healers tend to spend a lot of fourth dimension looking at the party list anyhow. Your healer already knows you used Superbolide. You're at ane HP.

Cooldown Notification

/ac "Elixir Field"
<look.thirty>
/due east Elixir Field is ready! <se.5>
/merror off

This is not a mode of macro I personally use, simply I've heard of people making these earlier. Essentially yous get a bulletin in chat with a sound effect that only you can see and hear, considering it'southward an echo (/due east). The macro waits the length of the skill's cooldown (so you have to check what that is when you gear up this upwards). The cooldown tin't exist more than than sixty seconds since that's the maximum time the macro will <wait>.

Using whatever other macro will finish this macro, and so you wouldn't become the echo notification when the skill comes off cooldown. That makes this type of macro extremely niche, basically but useful when you have i unmarried combat skill (cooldown <60s) macroed and you lot want to utilise it every time it'south up. Not mutual, not a large quality of life improvement. But it exists.

Crafting Macros

Quite peradventure the most common usage of macros are the ones that dedicated crafters use to ensure quick, high-quality crafts with the push of a push button (or two). These macros are heavily dependent on coming together a certain threshold on your maximum CP so you can cast all the skills required in the macro. This CP requirement is normally noted by whoever created and posted the macro.

Hither is an example of crafting macros someone has shared. They state what durability arts and crafts information technology's for and the required stats and number of HQ materials. Annotation that many crafting macros are as well long to fit in one, and then they use ii with an echo (/e Macro #1 finished <se.1>) to permit you lot know when it'southward time to use the second macro. You lot can put an repeat at the very stop to tell you lot the item is complete. It's helpful if you lot desire to alt tab while crafting.

At that place's also usually a listed craftsmanship and control stat to ensure a high quality effect. If your command stat is a niggling lower information technology simply won't be a guaranteed high quality result. If your craftsmanship stat is too low though your craft could fail entirely.

It's very common to merely use normal quality materials if your crafters are geared well plenty, specially with the changes to crafting in Shadowbringers which fabricated it a piffling easier to get 100% quality. Many macros you find online will presume no HQ materials are being used, simply you may come across i that expects ane or more components to exist HQ.

If you make your own for personal use, consider including the required CP in the macro name in example you demand to swallow nutrient to reach that CP again later. Also notation how many starting materials should be HQ so you guarantee an HQ consequence.

Gathering Macros

There aren't a ton of different uses for gathering macros, but collectables are made much simpler with a 1 button macro to boost collectability rating.

Here is a macro for gathering collectables that requires 600 GP to employ. As I said, not many macros for gathering are out in that location. If you want to brand some yourself, you can check The Residue discord for other gathering rotations you might find handy.

Summary

While you might not want to fully automate gainsay, user macros can improve how you craft, navigate betwixt jobs, and communicate with other players. There are a lot of tricks to explore, and members of the community are always experimenting and sharing useful knowledge.

Give some bones macros a endeavor and encounter if you can brand annihilation just a little easier for yous and how you similar to play. Also, if you come beyond any other macro icon categories, let me know in the comments! I'yard sure there are lots of people who would appreciate the tip.