Rdm and swap macros/useful info

[DrSerpico]

Right now I'm having a bit trouble deciding how to layout mu macros.

I currently only have one switch, since I'm only around 30 rdm.
It's the neckerchief/phial one, and all "white" spells have the "/equip Neck "Holy Phial"", and the black enfeebles/elem spells have /equip Neck "Black Neckerchief"

Now, I have 2 astrals, to make up for my inherent gimpness. (see race) Is it worth it to have a separate switch macro from astrals to int rings after you've used that mp? I really don't feel like it'd make that big of a difference before lvl 40 and convert, and at that point, I'll definately implement it.

Basically I'm looking for some seasoned tips and pointers on the Rdm trade, seeing as I'll be one of 2 mages in my new set.

(brd, rdm, nin, mnk, mnk and <randommage> (undecided))
Thus, I won't be a complete refreshmonkey, but actually squeeze every bit of worth out of my mp, with regens, enfeebles, bursts and heals flying all over ^^

Happy for input.
(And yeah, after altepa it's all bones. Go go light renkei.)

[Deodorant]

Excessive equipment switching is overkill. Sure, some full-of-themselves rdm's will eventually come in and say that if you aren't 99.9995% efficient, then you suck and should die, but really, switching too much is like 200% the effort for 1% extra efficiency.

I have a grand total of two equipment switch macros. One for +healing mp equipment for healing, one for switching back. I stopped bothering with +mnd or +int or +what-not equipment because frankly speaking it's not worth the bother.

[bonovoxpsu]

i came to the exact same conclusion.

[DrSerpico]

I love you guys

That really made my day.

I'll just keep up to date stuff and use one switch (neck, no delay, enfeebling / elemental switch later on ^^) which I've already written in to my macros. Takes no more time and makes it just a tad more efficient.

Enough for me, I feel.
Thank you for your input.

/bow Kristin
/bow Bono-san

[AtraposBLM]

I currently have a total of 3 switches. Only one of them takes active imput from me, but in a second, you'll see that it doesnt increase my workload at all.

First, all nuke macros are the following:
/ma "Nuke III" <t>
/equip "Main" "Ice Staff"
/equip "Ring1" "Eremite's Ring"
/equip "Ring2" "Eremite's Ring"
/recast "Nuke III"

First line is self-explantory. The other lines add my nuking gear. Basically, the mandatory stuff that would otherwise be changed. The last bit is because I'm kinda impatient, and I sometimes hit my macro while the spell hasn't recharged yet. This lets me know how much time I have left till the spell has recharged again. Helpful for longer casting spells, not so helpful if the spell recharges quickly.

That's switch one. Reasoning: What point is there of buying an Ice Staff without actually utilizing it?

My drain/aspir macros are the following:
/ma "Drain" <t>
/equip "Main" "Dark Staff"
/recast "Drain"

Same reasoning as above.

The final switch is the only one I have to go out of my way to use. It's my resting macro, and it switches to my max mp setup:
/heal
/equip "Main" "Dark Staff"
/equip "Ring1" "Electrum Ring"
/equip "Ring2" "Electrum Ring"

Since it has /heal in it, it doesn't take any more effort than hitting the heal button. Automating the equip switching makes it much easier. There is a certain limit on how usefull this can be, but I certainly notice the difference between my ice and dark staves, and I figure having 40 free mp couldn't hurt either.

The one other thing I'd add is I carry around a mythic wand that's macro'd into my sleep's, but mainly, I carry it around incase I have to cast aero spells. -10% damage sucks ; ;

[DrSerpico]

Ok, another question

So the switch takes effect even if you switch in the equipment after starting to cast it?

If it's sp, I'll have to rewrite ALL my macros... ;_;

Anyways, great info. I think I'm going for a max of 3 setups as well. Enfeeb torque, elem skill torque/moldavite/int rings and max mp/heal mp/convert. More than that would just be overkill.

Thanks for your help ^^

[Uroboros]

This is from memory, maybe not totally close.

Control 1 is MND and gives me +24.

/equip main "Rose Wand +1"
/equip hands "Devotee's Mitts"
/equip feet "Warlock's Boots" (this removes the -1 MND if I had Custom F Boots on)
/equip waist "Ryl.Kgt. Belt"
/echo MND set!

Um, maybe I'm forgetting something there.

Control 2 is INT, gives me +25.

/equip main "Rose Wand +1"
/equip hands "Warlock's Gloves" (don't see Mage Mitts +1 being worth it, this removes whatever -INT Devotee's Mitts have)
/equip feet "Custom F Boots"
/equip waist "Ryl.Kgt. Belt"
/echo INT set!

Control 3-7 are spell macros, most of which have pieces of these on them too (Dispel, Slow + Para, Grav + Frost, Silence, then Sleep II). For example the Silence macro insures I'm holding my wand and wearing the Devotee's Mitts.

Control 8 is for stabbing (there are higher dmg/attack options but to me hitting more > hitting harder...hard enough to hit at all already)

/equip main "Ryl.Grd. Fleuret"
/equip sub "Balance Buckler"
/equip hands "Warlock's Gloves"
/equip waist "Life Belt"

Control 9 is medding and just has Dark Staff and Custom F Pants then /heal on the last line.

To answer one question - I used to have Zircons and Aquamarines on those INT and MND macros for +6 more on each. Noticed no difference. Noticed way, way, way more of a difference with Shaman's Cloak (+5 enf and elem) and Warlock's Tabard (+15 enf). So I just leave Electrums on all the time. On that note, I imagine once I can get an Enfeebling Torque, I'll probably side with Deodorant, in just not doing an EQ swap anymore at all, unless it's like just from Enf Torque to Elem Torque or something. The specialized enf and elem stats are way way way more important than the base INT/MND stats. I think those are far more important in determining your defense against spells than the effectiveness of your own. Granted, I did notice a difference from when I just had like +10-14 MND/INT and now when I have +24-25. But having +30 didn't feel any different.

And call me a complete idiot, but does Dark Staff boost dark spells Atrapos?? I'm going to go hit myself in the head with a brick. Sweet God, I don't want to think about how many Drains and Aspirs could have been better. ><; Also I'm stealing that /recast idea. ^_^

[AtraposBLM]

dark staff gives a 10% bonus to drain and aspir ; ;

I also notice that I get a lot fewer resists with it as well...but it could just be that even my resisted drain/aspirs do more than without it...

and don't worry about stealing the /recast thing...it's REAL helpful...so I hope it makes your life easier ^_^

[bonovoxpsu]

atrapos -

you sure that you don't need to have the equipment on at the start of a cast?

[AtraposBLM]

positive. If you don't believe me...watch me cast aero on something.

The way I tested it was the following:

A normal, full damage Aero III with a mythic wand on IT mobs is somewhere in the 445 range damage wise. Ice Staff gives -10% damage to aero spells. So, I started off by wearing my wand. Then, I started casting aero III. Mid-cast, I switched to Ice Staff. Aero III landed for 390 some-odd damage. Clearly, the Ice Staff was effecting it, even though I was only wearing it after I started casting.

Another easy way to test it is with cures. My normal Cure III cures 181 hp. My cure III macro is:
/ma "Cure III" <stpc>
/equip "Main" "Mythic Wand"

With this macro, my cure III heals 188 hp.


So yeah, I'm positive.


Also, a final note about equip switching - my opinion is you should do it as much as you can provided it doesn't change your workload. If you can automate a bunch of equipment changes, then do it. If the various gear changes aren't providing a big benefit, and you're working considerably slower...then cut back a bit. I just think that just by putting the equip switches in my macro's, I increase my own productivity, efficiency, and all at no cost to my actual amount of work done in the party. To me, all I'm doing is just hitting macro's. The gear switches take care of themselves.