Casting Quickly

[Arturo-B]

Hi,
I've got some macro questions. Currently at l46 I have p0-p5 macros for my cure 2's, which get the bulk of my usage. For cure3 and 4, I have /ma "Cure III" <stpc>.

What this essentially means is that to cast 3 or 4 I hit ctrl-3, hit the f key corresponding to the player, then hit enter to cast the spell, hoping that in the course of this nothing else has popped up or lag has screwed my commands meaning I need to start over again.

Generally this works just find. Until I get to Exorays... Our pld had 745 hp at l47. One Exoray hits for say 40-60, followed by gas for 650, followed by another hit and he's gone. I can't even select cure 3 to cast on him in the time this happens.

Needless to say our pld died twice, and I was and still am feeling pretty bad about it. The problem is I'm not sure what to do. He says keep him over 600. I say it's not quite that easy. I figure on needing to fight quite a few exos in the next few levels, and short of finding a galka tank with 1100 hp I don't know how else I can keep these guys alive.

Are there other macros or tactics anyone can suggest to improve this situation? Currently I'm tossing about the following.

1)Setup cure3 with p whatever the tank is, and spam it even if he's not damaged. Get a backup healer to debuff and heal everyone else.

2)Setup /ma "Cure III" <t>, try and hope I can hit my f key and then ctrl-3 fast enough.

3)Not fight exos unless the tank has over 1000 hp. (ha ha like that'll happen given how many ppl are on in my range every day)


Thanks!

Best Regards,
Alex

[Mithrael]

Replace <stpc> with <lastst>. That way the selectable cursor will remain on the last person your cured, which will almost always be your tank.

[Rones]

lvl 46 I thought you would have switched your main cure spell from 2 to 3 already. Cure 3 has been my primary cure since lvl 37 with its higher mp efficieny. I keep cure 1-4 macroed with /ma "Cure #" <t> since I never engage anything that is a serious threat to the party. Usually I'll hit cure III and target the tank before he has taken dmg so I can I be ready to throw the cure. If you aren't in the middle of enfeebling or casting atm you can just try targeting the tank with a cure ready to fire.

If speed is really a problem, try adding a couple macros like /ma "Cure III" <p4> (or whatever number the tank is). Just push the macro and the spell is shot, no selecting or hitting enter. Have to change this one regularly, but it does speed up the reaction time.

[Arturo-B]

Originally posted by Mithrael
Replace <stpc> with <lastst>. That way the selectable cursor will remain on the last person your cured, which will almost always be your tank.

Cool. I'll try that out!

[Arturo-B]

Originally posted by Rones
lvl 46 I thought you would have switched your main cure spell from 2 to 3 already. Cure 3 has been my primary cure since lvl 37 with its higher mp efficieny. I keep cure 1-4 macroed with /ma "Cure #" <t> since I never engage anything that is a serious threat to the party. Usually I'll hit cure III and target the tank before he has taken dmg so I can I be ready to throw the cure. If you aren't in the middle of enfeebling or casting atm you can just try targeting the tank with a cure ready to fire.

If speed is really a problem, try adding a couple macros like /ma "Cure III" <p4> (or whatever number the tank is). Just push the macro and the spell is shot, no selecting or hitting enter. Have to change this one regularly, but it does speed up the reaction time.

Hmm. I had been debating for a few levels when to switch to 3's. (Actually I got 5 levels this weekend so it hasn't been a long debate)

You're right though, a quick calculation does show 3 is more efficient at this point since it's capped. Suppose I should switch my regular macros over. I'd been using 2's mainly becuase Gustav prey (and even soldier crawlers) really didn't need anything more powerful, (cure2's here and there, maybe a 3 every now and then with gobs), and 3's tended to draw too much hate. 3's really were only needed on long pulls or if we double pulled and needed to be dug out of a hole.

With my relatively high mp (all the +mp gear I can buy, +170 or so) and a refresh/ballad, chains and mp hadn't been a problem even hasting 3 melees continuously. But I guess it's time to switch.

Best Regards,
Alex

[Miriamel]

Hmm. At level 56, I'm still using Cure II and III equally as often - probably Cure II a bit more often than III. Reason? Cure III draws more hate than II. If you cast 2 Cure II's, due to this casting being over time, you'll draw less hate than when you throw a Cure III.

's just my "tactic" to keep the Cures as small as possible unless some mob throws a special. @.@

[Rones]

If you cast 2 Cure II's, due to this casting being over time, you'll draw less hate than when you throw a Cure III.

Not quite. Assuming the amount of hate depends only on the number of hp cured, you will get the same amount of hate either way, but with cure III you actually have less chance of pulling the hate. By the time I need to cast cure III you will have already cast 1 cure II for 90 and be casting a second cure II for another 90. So after I cast cure III (we will say 180 hp cured for simplicity) I will just then be catching up to you in total hate.

On the other hand, you can cure hp a lot faster by spamming cure III than cure II which would cause you to pull more hate. Cure III requires you to pace yourself, otherwise it will appear to pull more hate than cure II. But from what I've heard Icemage say, cure IV pulls an extra amount of hate, so I suppose this only applies to cure 1, 2, and 3. :sweat:

[Pacman]

For me when I was in a party dealing with Exorays I set up a specific macro (Alt 0) that cast cure 4 on our tank by name.

As soon as you see the exoray start to glow and prep the special, hit that macro. I was albe to time it so the Cure 4 was hitting right after the damage was dealt.

Good luck, exorays are a real pain

[Icemage]

My approach to Exorays and other high-damage enemies was simple:

- Open fight with Slow/Paralyze/Dia II if necessary
- Cast Regen II on tank
- use /ma "Cure III" <stpc>
- Select main tank with the arrow keys, EVEN BEFORE DAMAGE IS DONE
- Wait for damage to be inflicted and immediately cast

Remember, Silence Gas/Dark Spore are monster TP attacks (similar to player Weapon Skills). The Exoray has to build up the necessary TP before it can use those skills, so you have a few seconds before it can activate them.

I keep a running timer in my head for when Regen II will fade, but other than that, I generally keep my targetting arrow locked on to my main tank with <stpc> so I can immediately respond to large amounts of damage. If the monster switches targets all I have to do is reposition the selector arrow and fire off the spell, and if something unusual happens (i.e. I have to cast Silena on a mage or whatever), then I can just cancel out and pick a new spell to cast.

---

RE: Aggro levels of healing spells

I find that large healing spells (Cure III, Cure IV, Curaga, Curaga II, Curaga III) draw significantly more enmity than the amount healed ... i.e. 2x Cure III for 190x2 = 380 HP seems to draw less enmity overall than 1xCure IV for 380 HP, despite the fact that it is the same amount of healing.

BTW, Miriamel, at level 56 you want to get the AF body armor(Healer's Briault), since it is -4 Enmity. It makes casting Cure III much less painful. I know it's hard to get some of the pieces (I'm STILL trying to get my AF hat after 4 trips to Garlaige Citadel), but its worthwhile, since all of the AF armor reduces your enmity.


Icemage

[sylvanas]

heyas icemage

icemage is right about different spells drawing different amounts of aggro. it's not necessarily the amount you heal, but the spell you use. that's why cure v is so great. my favorite spell ^^

small correction, the AF body piece is lvl 58. the bellbottoms are the level 56 piece. i never got my hood either.

[locus]

Silence Gas = Wind Elemental damage.

If you don't want to see those numbers, keep Baraera up all the time please.

[Miriamel]

Originally posted by Icemage
BTW, Miriamel, at level 56 you want to get the AF body armor(Healer's Briault), since it is -4 Enmity. It makes casting Cure III much less painful. I know it's hard to get some of the pieces (I'm STILL trying to get my AF hat after 4 trips to Garlaige Citadel), but its worthwhile, since all of the AF armor reduces your enmity.


Icemage

Yep... I'm on that one. It is level 58 to equip, though. I -might- have an alliance for it this weekend.

Garlaige was painful, I temporarily gave up on it. Crawlers' Nest was easy enough, so I did get the pants with -1 enmity.

Hat, Body and Mitts to go. >.<

[cloudz009]

Hmm what does <stpc> and others do exactly just wondering if someone can help me out.

CLoudz
18.whm/ 11.blm

[Yuanlung]

<t> Selects your current target.
<st> Select a target while locked on to another target. Helpful for healing while attacking at same time.
<stpc> Subtarget, restricted to players.
<stnpc> Subtarget, restricted to non-players.
<lastst> Name of the last subtarget selected.
<bt> Targets the mob being fought by your party.
<p0>-<p5> Selects a party member. 0 is yourself.
<me> Selects yourself.

Information taken from
this page

[locus]

Thanks for reminding me to cover macro tag information - I've stuck it in the WHM FAQ thread. Yuanlung covered all the basic tags, but I would like to point out that <t> does not "select" - it is a tag that is interchangeable with typing in the name of your target. Only <st> (select target) tags do.

<bt> also requires precaution to use - it does not really target the monster "being fought by your party", it arbitrarily targets monsters that are being engaged. (link a few monsters in a party and you will see what I mean)

Macroing information here:

http://www.ffxionline.com/forums/sho...423#post326423

Edit: Yuanlung, that site is a little incomplete on macro tags - I recommend you use a site like eLeMeN (a good database if a little slow at updating in-game info. The macroing examples are excellent!)

http://www5.plala.or.jp/SQR/ff11/etc-macro.html

If you can't read japanese, here's the tags that the site you linked missed which eLeMeN covers:

<a1x>-<a2x>: replace x with numbers from 0-5, works like <p0>-<p5> except it targets people in alliance party 1 or 2.
<r>: Name of the last person that sent you a /tell. (e.g "/sea all <r>" to do a quick check on that person with the ridiculously long name that sent you a PT invite)
<job><mjob><sjob>: job, main job, sub job.
<scan>: Current tracked monster on Wide Scan (Essential if you are a ranger)
<pet>: Name of your current pet (Avatars,wyvern, bst pets)
<pethpp>: Your pet's HP as a percentage. (Useful as a guideline)