Macro set question

[DCutter]

Hi! I'm not new to the board, but semi-new to posting and even newer to Bard. I have a question about setting up macros. I was wondering if anyone had a good setup that they could share with me so that i have easy access to all my important songs. If you do than could you please share it with me? Thanks!

[rewo]

After battle regen songs:

Pre-25, Post-15:

/equip range "harp"
/wait 1 *optional*
/so "Army's Paeon" <me>
/wait 13
/sp "Army's Paeon II" <me>

Pre-55, Post-25:

/equip range "harp"
/wait 1 *optional*
/so "Army's Paeon II" <me> *sub III and IV when available*
/wait 13
/sp "Mage's Ballad" <me>

Post-55:

-Mages-
/equip range "harp"
/wait 1 *optional*
/so "Mage's Ballad" <me>
/wait 13
/sp "Mage's Ballad II" <me>

-Melee-
/equip range "harp"
/wait 1 *optional*
/so "Army's Paeon IV" <me>
/wait 13
/sp "Army's Paeon III" <me>


Battle Attack songs:

-Requiem-
/equip range "Flute +1"
/wait 1 *optional*
/so "Foe Requiem" <bt> *I use the 'battle target' to avoid casting on wrong target*

-Threnody-
/equip range "Piccolo +1"
/wait 1 *optional*
/so "**** Threnody" <bt> *I only have one threnody macro, I go in and change it when needed. I think having 9 different macros is a waste of space*

-Elegy-
/so "Battlefield/Carnage Elegy" <bt>

-Lullaby-
/equip range "Mary's Horn"
/so "Foe/Horde Lullaby" <stnpc> *<stnpc> allows you to tab through available npc targets without wasting time in disengaging from battle target. Also note the lack of /wait 1 in this macro, sleep usually needs to be sung asafp*


Battle Buff Songs:

-Minuet-
/equip range "Cornette +1"
/wait 1
/so "Valor Minuet" <me> *sub II, III, IV as aquired*

-Madrigal-
/equip range "Tranvierse(sp?) +1"
/wait 1
/so "Sword/Blade Madrigal" <me>


Pre Battle Songs: *I usually start this macro once the pull has used his incoming macro, they usually take more than 20 seconds coming back anyway. Before 25 I just use my paeon/paeon macro*

Post-25 Pre-55
/equip range "HORN"
/wait 1
/so "Spirited Etude" <me> *use Learned if you have blm*
/wait 13
/so "Mage's Ballad" <me>


My macros look like this:
Control + ?--
1. Self Cure- 1, 2, 3, regen, etc...
2. Small cure- /ma Cure ** <stpc>
3. Big cure- /ma Cure ** <stpc>
4. Poisona
~
0. Sleep- Foe Lullaby

Alt + ?--
1. Requiem
2. Minuet
3. Madrigal
4. Elegy
5. Dispell
6. Threnody
~
8. Mage Songs
9. HP/MP regen songs
0. Sleep- Horde Lullaby

[Gauvain]

bump, great info, I was looking for the exact same thing.

can you explain why the /wait 1, and why it is optional?

I'm trying to figure out if I should put /equip before or after the song, where or why to put any amount of delay. I heard changing equip takes a 3 sec delay before the effect takes place, I don't wanna start singing and changing equip in a setup that will not take my equip change into consideration.

So far I found out putting /equip after song removes the sound, wich I don't like so I'll do it your way, but still why the /wait?

[Neplak]

I belive Rewo has the wait becurse he wants to see the graphical effect of playing the song. I myself skip that part since i dont find it that important.

And another optional thing is that Rewo sometimes uses 2 songs in the same macro, I dont do this course i prefer to be able to move around abit between songs if the monster should for some reason move abit or if there is an overactive Taru in the group, making me to have to adjust where i stand. But its all up to what playstyle you prefer.

My macros are setup like this
------------------------------

For most buff songs
/equip range "Cornette +1"
/echo "Equiped Cornette +1, Minuette +2"
/so "Valor minuette IV" <me>

------------------------------

For Ballads
/so "Mage Ballad II" <me>

This becurse i sometimes want to sing this song using a Flute for shorter range and sometimes with a harp for longer range and since there are no instruments that gives + to ballad it dosnt really matter what instrument you use effectwise and there for have separate macro for a flute / harp and they just look like this.

/equip range "Harp"

------------------------------

For Offensive songs other than Lullabys
/equip range "Sirens Flute"
/echo "Equiped Sirens Flute, Requiem +2"
/so "Foe Requiem V" <t>

On some of these songs you might want to add an message to the group i do this with Magic Finale to inform the party that im dispelling + threondys to inform the Mages what resist i debuff in these cases the macro looks like this

/equip range "Piccolo +1"
/echo "Equiped Piccolo +1, Threnody +2"
/p "Ice Threnody on <t>, Ice resistance is lowerd <call14>
/so "Ice Threnody" <t>

the <call14> is to make some sound to the party so they wake up i pick 14 becurse its a short and not so annoying sound

------------------------------

And for Lullaby's
/equip range "Marys Horn"
/echo "Equiped Marys Horn, Lullby +1"
/p "Sleep on <t>, Dont wake it! <call1>
/so "Foe Lullaby" <t>

Here i use <call1> wich is a really loud and annoying sound becurse the melee really have to wake up so the dont start smacking the mob and waking it up.

------------------------------

For Healing i just use
/ma "Cure III" <stpc>

<stpc> i use so i can tab beetween pc players that i want to heal / cure with the secondary target marker.

and that is kinda my setup

[rewo]

i have recently been made aware of a cool little fact. you can use the equip command after you have already started singing the song. As long as the instrument is equipped before the song actually goes off.

example.

/so "Blade Madrigal" <me>
/equip range "Transversae(sp?)"


This will mess up the singing graphic, but you songs will start immediately and eliminates that stupid 1 second hesitation.

With our lullabies that is not recommended. Just put the equip command to start with. Take out the /wait. We all know that every second counts when it comes to crowd control.

Nowadays I put my after-battle songs together on the same macro. I also have my mid-battle mage songs on the same macro as well. I usually sing the mage song on incoming and refresh mid battle as necessary. My melee songs are on seperate macros in case anything happens early in the fight.

[Gauvain]

Very cool, well I tweaked a bit on my macros yesterday, I started using Paeon and Paeon II on the same macro that is pretty handy.

I tested something and even tough theyre in the same macro, you have about a few sec to move quickly in between both Paeons. It was late, I wasn't focused so the melee moved and i instinctevely followed, and still Paeon II didn't interrupt. At about 75% song casting time, about when the effect of song appear on screen, u can actually start moving closer before the 2nd part of macro starts.

Also about /equip, im torn because I really like to see and hear my guy play, it seems no matter how I set it the animation is sometimes screwy, even with the /wait 1. I guess the only way would be /wait 3, wich would slow me down kinda ridiculously, so I guess I'll have to bear with that.

One last thing, please tell me if I'm crazy, I tought song range was affected only by the instrument type, but yesterday I noticed that using the same instrument, my "Paeon I" hit everyone, while "Paeon II" often missed the farthest person, without anyone moving in-between. Does Paeon II have a shorter range then Paeon I????

seems weird to me but it did that a few times I was like wth..

[rewo]

the range of the song is also affected by instrument/singing skill.

[ryry]

i just recently changed my macros so the /equip command comes after the /song command. ever since i've made the change there has been that occasional song that "has been interrupted."

This never happened before when i had the /equip command first.

has anyone else come across this problem and how did you solve it?

[Hotspot]

Ive never had an issue with the /equip coming after the song, in fact that is how all of my songs are. One thing that could cause it is not being at a complete stop when you start Ive done that and not noticed but I have no interruptions when standing still firing macros

[Vilurum]

If you hit your macro just as you stop moving, and the first thing in your macro is the song, then the game may consider the song to have started while you were "still moving", and will therefore interrupt it after you finish sitting through your 8 seconds casting it. (Quite aggravating.) Solution, of course, is to get used to pausing for half a second when you're done moving, before hitting your macro.

If /equip comes first, especially if followed by a /wait, the delay between lines in a macro (yes, there is a delay, though it's tiny) will help make sure the later line, with the song, is started after you stop moving.

My macro suggestions - fill in song names based on what you have, same for instruments. When you get the second Madrigal and Ballad, you'll probably want to make an extra macro for Sword Madrigal (use Blade mainly, add Sword as well for high-evasion enemies), and put both Ballads (with a /wait 13) into the Ballad macro.

- Madrigal:
/so "Blade/Sword Madrigal" <me>
/equip Range "Traversiere +1"/[some flute]

- Minuet:
/so "Valor Minuet #" <me>
/equip Range "Cornette +1"/[some flute]

- Ballad:
/so "Mage's Ballad #" <me>
/equip Range [some flute]

(Add /wait 13, then /so "Mage's Ballad" <me>, if the first line is Ballad II rather than Ballad.)

- Etude:
/so "Learned/Spirited/Enchanting Etude" <me>
/equip Range "Rose Harp +1"/"Mythic Harp +1"/[some flute]

(Change this macro's first line depending on party makeup. Usually Learned, otherwise Spirited, on rare occasions I have more trouble with resists than any mage so I use Enchanting. Considering the harp, you will have to get used to standing further back behind the mages to play Etude, to make sure it doesn't hit the melees. Still, it's an extra 2 points on the stat. Use a flute if you don't have the Rose Harp/+1, to save yourself the nuisance.

When you get Ballad II, you can probably move the Etude macro to the second page, because your mages will very likely prefer 3 MP/tick over 2 MP/tick and a stat boost. Leave the macro intact, so you can still use it if they want Etude.)

- Paeon:
/so "Army's Paeon #" <me>
/equip Range "Ebony Harp +1"/[some harp]

- Prelude:
/so "Hunter's/Archer's Prelude" <stpc>
/equip Range "Angel Flute +1"/[some flute/harp]

(This is so you can Prelude your RNG even if you're targetting someone else, like the enemy.)

- Finale:
/so "Magic Finale" <bt>
/equip Range [some CHR-boosting flute/harp]

(And yes, I know, the only CHR-boosting harps are the level 75 ones for Virelai.)

- Requiem:
/so "Foe Requiem #" <bt>
/equip Range "Flute +1"/"Siren Flute"/"Hamelin Flute"/"Shofar +1"/[some CHR-boosting flute/harp]

- Elegy:
/so "Carnage/Battlefield Elegy" <bt>
/equip Range "Horn +1"/[some CHR-boosting flute/harp]

- Threnody:
/so "[whatever] Threnody" <bt>
/equip Range "Piccolo +1"/[some CHR-boosting flute/harp]

(I have all the Threnodies macro'd in a separate macro page, and just use the copy/paste function to move out the ones I'm not gonna use and move in the ones I am. I generally have three macros dedicated to Threnodies: Ice for Paralyze, Earth for Slow and Elegy, and one for the skillchain (or BLM's favored nuke, if skillchain would be Ice or Earth). If I need to use others, I can quickly hop over to the other macro page to use them.)

- Foe Lullaby:
/so "Foe Lullaby" <t>
/equip Range "Mary's Horn"/"Dream Harp"/[some CHR-boosting flute/harp]

- Horde Lullaby:
/so "Horde Lullaby" <t>
/equip Range "Mary's Horn"/"Dream Harp"/[some CHR-boosting flute/harp]

(Note the <t> rather than <bt> ... for the others you'll want to use them on what you're currently fighting, but Lullabies are frequently used on other enemies that you're not currently "engaged" with.

I doubt the Dream Harp exists yet. If it does, it's either really hard to get, or it's a really big secret, or both. Either that, or it doesn't, and it may be added in a future patch. Either way, if it eventually or currently exists and you somehow get one, it's a better choice than Mary's Horn since it's Lullaby +2 and, being a harp, will get more enemies on Horde.)

- Cure II:
/ma "Cure II" <stpc>

- Cure III:
/ma "Cure III" <stpc>

- Regen:
/ma "Regen" <stpc>

- Important-na-spell:
/ma "Paralyna"/"Silena"/whatever <stpc>

- String:
/equip Range [some harp]

(Almost all my songs have flute macros - if for some reason I want to use a harp, usually to Ballad everyone rather than just a few, I hit this macro after I've hit the song's main macro.)

On a separate macro page, I have the remaining threnodies (as already mentioned) along with a blank for whatever threnody I copied out. (Ice and Earth are pretty permanently on the first macro page.) There I will also have:

- Soul Voice:
/ja "Soul Voice" <me>

- Divine Seal:
/ja "Divine Seal" <me>

- Curaga:
/ma "Curaga" <stpc>

- Curaga II:
/ma "Curaga II" <stpc>

- Erase:
/ma "Erase" <stpc>

- Minne:
/so "Knight's Minne #" <me>
/equip Range "Harp +1"/[some flute]

- March:
/so "Advancing/whatevertheotheroneiscalled March" <me>
/equip Range "Ryl.Spr. Horn"/"Faerie Piccolo"/[some flute]

There'll be plenty of room left over on the second page for any other macros you want to make for things you expect to be repeating more than once (carols come to mind in the few situations where they're applicable - don't forget your Crumhorn +1 equip line). The second page things are generally not things you should expect to be spamming in battle - using occasionally, yes (Divine Seal and Curaga probably being the most common of them), often enough to justify macroing them, yes, but certainly not all the time.

The first page things are things you'll be using quite often. When you get high enough for Erase, that may get swapped in. I'm not that high yet (nor do I even know the spell yet), so I can't say how much I'd be using it.

For specific spells that you only cast occasionally, especially if you don't need to equip anything for them, it's often faster - if you type well - just to type them out when you need them. /ma Blink <me> for example. If for some reason I was gonna be singing Mambo, I'd probably macro it though, just to automate the Gemshorn +1 equipping.

[tnt118]

All very good advice so far; but I wanted to add my take on it too. I recently lost all my macros and had a chance to rebuild everything from scratch. What I ended up doing is putting all songs that are for my PT on Ctrl and all songs for the mob on Alt.

I made everything situational and use two macro sets (one is primary and is almost always active, the other secondary or songs that are rarely used, but I want handy just in case).

Secondly, bards will argue on putting one song or two in the same macro. Personally I use two .. it's possible to "interrupt" your macro between songs with a different song/spell/action if an emergency comes up; or you can quickly heal/stand to cancel a song that's currently playing. I use this extra time to help establish situational awareness -- scanning around for possible adds and just generally keeping an eye on what's going on.

So, on my primary set CNTL I have:
1 - Melee (currently madigral and minuet)
2 - Mage (ballad, etude if there's a BLM)
3 - Regen (harp/ballad/peaon)
4 - Ranger (Prelude)
-- blank spaces for future use --
8 - Blink
9 - /ma "Cure III" <st>
0 - /ma "Cure II" <st>

So that's what I mean by being situational -- for each PT I'll adjust those macros if something different from the standard is needed.

Primary ALT set is
1 - Requiem (includes an /equip for shellbuster)
2 - Elegey
3 - Finale
4 - Threnody (again, updates for each PT based on what the MB is)
6 - Attack (equip dagger and attack <bt>)
9 - Horde Lullaby
0 - Foe Lullaby

Secondary ALT currently has each of the Threnodies and nothing else. Secondary CTRL has status removal spells, sneak, invis, and other utility spells. If we're fighting crawlers I'll do a quick copy/paste and move poisona to a free slot on the main set.. or silena when fighting anticans.

So far it's worked great. I guess technically I have a little less versitily, but no one has ever complained so far. I think I'd be at a disadvantage if a PT ever needed different sets of songs frequently, but thus far I've never been in that situation. I think spliting up songs for you vs the mobs is a smart way to go.

Ok, one more thing. Sometimes when there is a benefit I'll add a /tell line to the approriate person in the macro. Best example is with the Ranger macro, I'll add a tell to that person that their song is now in effect -- that way they get the message (and it looks different from the other /party battle spam messages) and other people who don't need to see it don't. Sometimes with the Threnodies I'll add a /tell to the BLM that <t> has been weakened to element. When the PT gets to know you and your style, it will help them be as effective as possible.

[edit for more info]

Best thing I ever did with my macros is put a /target <bt> at the end of all of them.

I also put an /echo **Pick target** message on my status effect removal spells -- since I use <st> and you can't do anything else while you've a subtargeting arrow up. It helps me tremendiously keeping track of what "mode" I'm in. (Also since my macros don't always fire the first time I hit them in crowded areas like Cralwers Nest.

Finally if you haven't ... change the chat box color for both players and mobs recieving status effects; I made mine purple (don't laugh) but it stands out great no matter how fast everything is flying by.

[Setheron]

Dont listen to the 1st reply (in my opinion) putting two songs together in one macro is the worst thing u can do. **Give each macro only for one song ** reasons for that is u will then be forced to sing the 1st song if u only want the 2nd. Most of the time i throw a cure to the tank in between songs


The way i have my macro setup is

Contol pallette 1 - Newest songs
Control pallette 2 - Older version of same song in same order
I use my Alt pallette 1 for my whm spells

If youd like to put two songs into one macro you may do as u wish but as u progress in level you will notice it is not the best thing to do

[ryry]

Thanks for all the info. I guess it's just a case of me getting used to the new macro setup.

One suggestion I have is for the Prelude song:

MY prelude macro is:

/so "Hunter's Prelude" <px>

with the X being the number of the Ranger. I know it probably saves a second at best but I am constantly running around singing songs, curing, and whatever, so it keeps it a *little* less confusing.

[Faranim]

Notes about writing the actual macros:

For all songs:

/ma "Name of the Song" <me> (use <stnpc> for debuffs)
/equip range "Instrument Name"
/wait 1
/p Important Message about song

Obviously, omit the message for unimportant songs. The only songs that should have messages are Lullaby, and Threnody (so your BLM knows that the enemies resistance to that element has been lowered)

For Hunters Prelude, use the <stpc> or just program in the <p#> of the ranger.


Notes about layout:

The layout I use gives me access to virtually any spell I could ever need. I use 4 sets of macros, although I spend 95% of my time using the main one.

Macro set #1: White Magic
Alt - White Mage cure spells. Regen, Cure, Curaga, Divine Seal, Status Cures
Ctrl - White Mage Debuffs (Dia, Slow, Paralyze, Silence)

Macro set #2: Main Bard Set
Alt - Party buffs: Minne, Prelude, Minuet, Paeon, Madrigal, March, Ballad
Ctrl - Mob Debuffs: Requiem, Elegy, Lullaby, Finale. I also threw on my 2HR and Weaponskills to the end of this.

Macro set #3: Threnody / Etude set
Ctrl - All 8 Threnody macros
Alt - Etude Macros (very VERY rarely used post 55)

Macro set #4: Elemental Set
Ctrl - All Bar-spells
Alt - All Carols

I keep myself on set #2 at all times. When I want to use White magic, I go up a set, us the spell, and go back to the main macro set.
Same for Threnody... go down, do threnody, return to main set.


Putting more than one song in a single macro is a bad idea... for many of the same reasons why putting a /wait inside of Weaponskill Macros is a bad idea.