Macro's For Bard?

[sirina]

Soon my Bard will be in the dunes for the first time But I'm not sure what I should do about macro's . What are the best macro's for bard/whm?

[Jei]

you want macro for
best 2 acc songs
best 2 attack songs
2 march songs
2 lullabies
2 pian
2 ballad
finale
Still plenty of room to add whatever you like or adjust depends on what you're doing. Like, if you're fighting Avatars, put in the right Carol's.
You probably will only have 1 acc and 1 attack songs by the time you reach the dunes. Still a good idea to prepare the space for higher levels.

if you /whm, a few ~na spells and cure can be pretty helpful.
I personally just switch page to my whm macro page for ~na and cure.

[sirina]

would I use like ...
magic attack /
or whatever? And What about just for level 10? I only have a few songs , and cant you only have 2 songs on at a time? I'm actually really bad at setting up macro's >.< I hope I'm not being annoying .

[Jei]

Some parties might want different songs, but if no one tell you anything specific, Madrigal and Minuet are the best combo imo. Just make sure those songs hit your melees. Doesn't matter if mages got the effect or not, you have no songs for them yet anyway.

When the monster's about to die, you can throw in pian to help regain some HP while the puller go look for mobs. And re-sing madrigal+minuet when the puller gets back.

[Malacite]

Example of some BRD macros:

/equip Range "Cornette +1"
/so "Valor Minuet" <me>


generally all your songs should follow that format, with the target being changed appropriately. <st> for other party members, or <t> <bt> for mobs.

[IfritnoItazura]

with the target being changed appropriately. <st> for other party members, or <t> <bt> for mobs.

Be very, very careful with <bt>.

When you have two or more monsters ("links"), it can target the monster you don't want, which leads undesirable consequences. (ex: slapping a Requiem on a Lullaby'ed monster would wake it.)

IMO, the only time <bt> should be used is for macro to target incoming monster:

/target <bt>

Otherwise, you're much better off using <t> or <stnpc> instead.


Also, for targeting party members, <stpc> is better than <st>.

[Theiry]

I agree with pretty much everything everyone has said so far, but I especially agree with IfritnoItazura. I try to make my macros as versatile as possible, and commands like <bt> and <t> limit that. Those are very useful if you need something to go off quickly (like provoke or stun), but you give up a bit of control for the speed. As IfritnoItazura mentioned <bt> gives up a lot of control, since the monster it targets can change if you are fighting two or more monsters. It also gives quite a bit of speed, but you get nearly that much speed from a target macro like IfritnoItazura mentioned, so I rarely use <bt> in any other kind of macro.

Here's a link to FFXIclopedia's macro page. They have most (if not all) off the sub commands you can use in macro's listed on that page. I seem to recall <lastpc> (or maybe <laststpc>) working as well (which isn't listed on that page), but I might be wrong on that. Either way, it's all the commands you will want to use for Bard.

As far as how to put all those together, here's a few examples of how I would make Bard macros. (Keep in mind that I haven't leveled Bard all that much, so these might be able to be fine tuned a bit)

First, here's a basic template for a party buff song (everything in [these brackets] should be replaced, without the brackets, by whatever I mention in the brackets):

Party song template macro

[song name] (for the macro title)
/recast "[song name]"
/equip Ranged "[whatever instrument you want to use for the song]"
/so "[song name]" <stpc>


Note that I used <stpc> instead of <me>. This is personal choice that a lot of people do differently. Most songs can only be cast on yourself, so why did I use <stpc> instead of <me>? Two reasons for that:

1)I like to be able to check the recast without casting the spell (by activating the macro and then escaping out before selecting anyone).

2)I like having to 'confirm' the casting of a song before it goes off. This is just personal choice though, and I'm sure I could get used to using <me> instead. There are many reasons why I like this better, but I won't get into them now.

Just keep in mind that you have to select yourself as the target for the song to go off. You can get around that easily, but it wastes a macro line (so I usually just use the macro template I posted above). If you would like an example of this anyway just let me know.

Here's a template for a song you cast on an enemy (like Requiem):

Enemy song template macro

[song name]
/recast "[song name]"
/equip Ranged "[whatever instrument you want to use for the song]"
/so "[song name]" <stnpc>


Again, I used <stnpc> out of personal choice. I like to be able to target whatever I want while still using spells/songs on other monsters. If you prefer the speed that <t> gives, or you want to hit the party's monster regardless of what you're doing (using <bt>), you can use one of those instead. I would advise that you don't use <st> for any Bard songs, as there is no reason to do so. The only use for that (of the top of my head) is the Cure spells, since they have can affect players and monsters.

Those will change as you get to higher levels (ie, at 51 you need to add an /equip Main "[elemental staff]" to all songs you cast on monsters), but they will be fine for now.

Here's an example showing what the above templates would look like for an actual song:

Example macros

1Minuet
/recast "Valor Minuet"
/equip Ranged "Cornette +1"
/so "Valor Minuet" <stpc>


FoeLullaby
/recast "Foe Lullaby"
/equip Ranged "Mary's Horn"
/so "Foe Lullaby" <stnpc>

That covers the basics I think. Everyone else already covered everything I skipped. I spend a lot of time making my macros, so I have quite a few tips and tricks if you would like to hear them. If you (or anyone else) still has some questions about macros just let me know and I'll write another post. Now that I've (finally) figured out how to use the spoiler tags on these forums I can actually write detailed examples and what-not. If I had figured them out sooner I would have gone into much more detail in this post, but oh well. Anyway, I hope this helped.

[sirina]

Thanks everyone you are all extreamly helpful , I learned alot .

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

It looks like everything people have said here is spot-on, but I just want throw in a few cents here:

BRD inventory can get very overwhelming. There are many BRDs that will neglect instruments that correlate with the songs they play - don't be one of those BRDs. You don't have to have all the HQ BRD instruments, but do have the ones relevant to the majority of songs you play - March, Madrigal, Mambo, Minuet and Elegy are all key. The Carol instument is purely situational but nice for elemental resistance boosts (especially if you facing explosive mobs). There is a instrument for Finale, but its overpriced and really not needed at all, so think of Finale as a great way to skill up your stringed instrument skill and use a harp.

Also, If you haven't done so already, I highly suggest completing every Gobbie Bag quest you can to max your inventory space. The best way to get your fame up for this is to spam, spam, spam the Selbina/La Theine cabbage quest. Get your character naked and buy as much cabbage as you can and take it down to Selbina, repeat as needed.

Best way to check fame in towns is check with the "owzie-wowie" Tarutarus in Port Bastok or Norther Sandoria. If they're handing out forks for you to quest avatars, pretty good sign you're also up to do some gobbie bags quests in Jeuno.

By my understanding there is one potential negative consequence here (and somone can feel free to correct me if this is not true), but Norg does not like Selbina very much. They send pirates to raid the ferry between Mhaura and Selbina. Raising fame in Selbina relates to fame in Bastok and Sandoria, giving you Jeuno fame, but this spamming could decrease your fame in Norg.

So you may wish to consider spamming Norg fame first to obtain NIN scrolls if you wish to also have a /NIN sub for BRD at high levels. The yagudo necklace quest is one way to spam norg fame, just as many yags as you can in Giddeus to get necklaces.

That aside, I think the only thing people missed was adding /equip Main "Earth Staff" in for Elegy and Light Staff for Finalie and Requiem. Dark staff is nice if you need to rest for MP, so use those for equip macros. These staves come at level 51. Other staves are purely optional, but nice for Threnody songs if you see a need for them.

[Malacite]

BRD inventory can get very overwhelming. There are many BRDs that will neglect instruments that correlate with the songs they play - don't be one of those BRDs. You don't have to have all the HQ BRD instruments, but do have the ones relevant to the majority of songs you play - March, Madrigal, Mambo, Minuet and Elegy are all key. The Carol instument is purely situational but nice for elemental resistance boosts (especially if you facing explosive mobs). There is a instrument for Finale, but its overpriced and really not needed at all, so think of Finale as a great way to skill up your stringed instrument skill and use a harp.

My sentiments exactly. Your #1 priority should always be the best instruments you can afford because they have a drastic impact on your performance. Each +1 adds I believe 6-12 seconds of duration (and this is HUGE, believe me) and increases the potency by different variables.


Example: A cornette +1 (+2 to Minuet) will add around 3-5 more attack to Minuet 1 just for having it equipped when you cast. Meanwhile, An Ebony Harp +1 will add 2 more HP to each Paeon. For others, such as mambo, there's a lot more guess work involved but rest assured every +1 to your songs helps a lot.

+2 instruments (they have blue backgrounds) are pretty much a waste of gil too btw. All they add are some minor stat ups IMO aren't terribly helpful, and especially don't warrant their high selling prices.

[Olorin401]

Soon my Bard will be in the dunes for the first time But I'm not sure what I should do about macro's . What are the best macro's for bard/whm?

At this level you don't have too many songs, so you should macro each. Your most used songs in the Dunes will probably be Requiem, Minuet and Madrigal, and once in a while Paeon or Mambo to help with controlling damage. At 16 you should absolutely get Foe Lullaby and have that macro'd as well. I'd also recommend putting Cure into a macro and adjusting it as you level.

As you go to higher levels, your macro set will change accordingly. I've got several different melee song macros (MinuetX2, Min/Mad, Min/March, MarchX2, MamboX2) and use them all in various situations or at special request.

[Laifierr]

Starting out in the dunes, you won't have many songs yet. This means you'll be able to play the needed songs, back up heal, fight, and possibly pull as well.

You'll want to give your best Minuet and Madrigal to melee.
Light Threnody to the monster. (will help you land requiem)
Requiem to the monster.
Minne to the mages for added defense in case they get hit(before you get Ballad).
And then Paeon near the end of the fight to give the PT a chance to heal up.

You'll use the combo of Minuet and Madrigal for the majority of your levels below 60-65. Beyond that, if the PT has enough Accuracy, then you can switch to double Minuet.

My macros for regular PTing are combo macros. For instance, one macro is set to cast multiple songs of the same type. They look similar to this:

/equip Range "________"
/so "Valor Minuet IV"
/wait 1
/so "Valor Minuet III"

The macro starts out by equiping the appropriate instrument. Match the appropriate instrument with its corresponding song. You'll eventually have about 10 instruments in your inventory that you'll use regularly. An instrument's output isn't dependant on its level, that just means you can use "X" instrument at that certian job level. What you want to look for is the +'s on the instrument, like Minuet+2. As you can guess, a +2 is better than a +1. Each +1 adds 10 seconds of time the song will last as well as how much output the song will give a person/mob. For instace, if a certain Minuet gives a regular +5 attack, then with a +2 instrument, it now gets +7.

The next line is the song. Songs can either be typed out as /ma for magic or /so for song. Either works. I usually start with my highest level song for the first song to play.

The third line is /wait 1. That means there will be a one second wait time between the first song and the second song. But wait, it takes longer than 1 second to play the first song... So... why would I do this? This allows you to play your first song, because of the wait 1, it won't be able to play the second song and will cancel out as "Unable to play" or whatever. By pressing the macro again, because you already played the first song and there is a recast time for that song, the macro will wait 1 second and begin to play the second song.

I do this for any song that I need to play twice. For instance Ballad, Minuet (at higher levels), March, etc...

Now, why not just put the full song wait time between the two songs you want to play? Because there will be times when you either have to move due to party members running around, or you won't need both of the same songs. For instance, if I want to use one Minuet and one Madrigal instead of two Minuets, then I can simply use my Madrigal macro for the next song.

Also, if you end up having to move between songs, then you'd have to wait for the second song to cancel out if you did the /wait time between them.


For songs against monsters, for instance Magic Finale, I set my macros like this.

/recast "Magic Finale"
/target <bt>
/so "Magic Finale <stnpc>

Finale has a longer recast time than Dispel, so its handy to know when you can cast the song again. The /recast will let you know if its ready.

The target <bt> will target the monster your PT is fighting.

Notice that the song is not set to <bt> but instead uses <stnpc>. <stnpc> stands for Select Target NPC. Since you've already selected the target your PT is fighting using the previous line, the song will now be set to go off on the monster... All you have to do is Confirm... on PC is by pressing the enter key. This will allow you to easily select the monster without having to Tab-key around as well as be able to wait any time you may have left from your /recast.


Those are my basic macros. =) The way you set up your macro pallet is up to you and what you like. I usually have my main songs on one line as well as some curing spells. Any -na spell, I will just type out.

[Olorin401]

Just a quick word on equipment..

As you get to higher levels you'll find there's lots of nice pieces out there to use. For a while I had Terra's Staff in my Elegy macro because it helped a whole lot on my resists. Once I got a Chanter's Staff though I switched to that full-time instead of swapping in elemental staves. It's just that much better to have your singing & instrument skills at their peak. I even have wind/string torque macro'd in now depending on the song and the instrument, even on my party songs.