############ ############ ############ ####### ####### ######## ##### ##### #### ______ __ __ __#### __ #### #### / ____//_//\ / //____ \#/ / #### #### / /___ __ / \ / /_____/ // / #### #### / ____// // . ' // ___ // /# #### #### / / / // / \ // /__/ // /### #### #### /_/ /_//_/ \//_____.//_____/##### #### ______ _____ __ ____######__ _____ _______#### __ / ____//____ \ /\ / //____ \\ __//____ \ / _____// /# / / / /___ _____/ // \ / /_____/ // / _____/ // /____ / /## / / / ____// ___ // . ' // ___ // /##/ ___ //___ // /###/ / / / / /__/ // / \ // /__/ // / #/ /__/ /_____/ // /###/ / /_/ /_____.//_/ \//_____.//_/ /_____.//______//_____ / ____________________________####______####______________#/ / /__________________________________________________________/# #### #### #### ##### ##### #### ####### ####### ######## ############ ############ ############ ---------------------- M A C R O G U I D E ---------------------- version 0.9 nemes1s (aka hpsolo) Midgardsormr / Sylphine INTRODUCTION This is a (small) guide to using macros in Final Fantasy XI. It is by no means complete, though I do hope it is useful to some/most of you. Feel free to send in your own macro combo that you find useful. I'll add it and credit it to you if it is not already listed. So why use macros? Macros can mean the difference between casting Cure II just in the nick of time, or the death of a party member. It may also mean getting a skill chain for extra damage. Sometimes you may find that a macro is much easier to stop the pulling of another monster, or warn the party of possible aggro's -- as typing might take too long to do so. Anyway, let's just cut to the chase... Eventually this will become a full-blown and in-depth guide on macros. I also hope to have virtually complete list of the most common and useful macros tailored for specific job classes. ACCESSING MACRO SETS There are 10 sets of macros, with each set having 20 slots -- 10 that are bound to the CTRL key and 10 bound to the ALT key. The CTRL set can be selected via L2 on the PS2 controller, and the ALT set are accessible via R2. To switch between macro sets, either: 1. Hold down the L2 or R2 button and when you see the macro menu, press up/down on the PS2 controller (digital pad), or 2. Hold CTRL or ALT on the keyboard and press up/down on the PS2 controller (digital pad) USING A MACRO 1. select which macro set to use 2. (a) if you pressed L2/R2, then a macro window should pop up; just select which macro within that set to use (b) press and hold CTRL or ALT (to select the subset of macros) followed by 1 through 0 (for macros 1 through 10 respectively) EDITING MACROS To open up the macro editing tool, press the square button on the PS2 controller twice and select MACROS. You will see two rows of squares. The top row is bound to CTRL (or L2) and the bottom row is bound to ALT (or R2). Highlight the macro you wish to edit and you will obtain a window that looks like: +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | <- PREV ________________________ NEXT -> | | [#Macro] |#0______________________| | | __________________________________________________________ | | |#1________________________________________________________| | | |#2________________________________________________________| | | |#3________________________________________________________| | | |#4________________________________________________________| | | |#5________________________________________________________| | | |#6________________________________________________________| | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ #Macro e.g. Ctrl 1 (currently editing macro 1 from the Ctrl set) #0 name of the macro (shows up on the macro set window) #1-#6 up to six commands to be used when calling this macro To edit a specific macro set, select the set by pressing and holding L2 or R2 and then pressing up or down on the digital pad. Then select and edit a macro within the set as described above. WHAT CAN MACROS BE USED FOR? * sending your party pertinent battle information such as how much MP/HP you have, when Provoke is ready, your TP, etc. * streamlining weapon skills and magic casting (for bursts) so that you do not have to navigate through the menus * personalized emotes * shortcuts to avoid using the menu interface to do common tasks BASIC MACROS WHICH YOU SHOULD HAVE FOR BATTLE * "Stat Ping" Tell your party your current MP/HP/TP /p HP: TP: MP: USAGE: This is the best way to relay your personal info. This works best if everyone uses the order listed above. That way, you automatically know where to look (left, middle, or right) if you are asking for certain stats. This is a must if you plan to renkei (where TP levels need to be known) or chain (MP and HP info needed). The way this macro SHOULD be used is for everyone to respond (like pinging a machine on a network) with the same macro listing their stats. Mages will likely only need to report MP (as they often do not build TP and shouldn't be getting hit so that HP reporting is also not needed). However, they should still have empty spaces so that the "MP: " appears on the far right (if that is where your party chooses to have MP listed). My party rarely reports HP, since the healers keep their eyes on the HP meter of every member in the party anyway. I do not recommend using (hit point percentage) or (mana point percentage) since that value is more or less use- less. Your party has a better idea of how many Cures you have left if you report MP:50/100 as opposed to 50%. (Someone with MP:10/20 reporting 50% may be misleading their party in terms of number of Cures) Melee characters generally report only their TP as this is the most important stat during a battle. Don't spam your TP info if you've only got 10% TP or something low. It is best if you wait til near 100% or above 100% before reporting. Some people (myself included) like to report their TP along with their weapon skill. This is really nice because it also lets your party members know what weapon skill is ready to go in case you have several skillchains. For example, a samurai builds TP extremely quickly, as does a ninja. It may be that there are two separate skillchains you want to use, so something like: /p #2 Blade: Retsu >>> TP: The "#2" denotes Blade: Retsu being used as the second weapon skill in the skill chain. * "Aggro Warning" Sends audio and (optional) vibrational signal to party members to warn about unexpected links /p WARNING!!! POSSIBLE AGGRO!!! USAGE: Save this for when your party gets ambushed or runs into trouble because of uninvited guests. It can also help to wake up members who have fallen asleep (in real life). You can also use this (with the obvious replacement message) if you're a mage and are low on MP. Sometimes when the fun is a bit too much, people forget about their mages' MP limits. If you are pulling, then use something like: /p I'm about to pull a ! Get ready! This should more or less make everyone aware of what's about to happen next should they get sidetracked with chit-chat or get back from being AFK. More info on the 'call' "command" (in quotes since it's not really a command) can be found below. ADVANCED MACROS (MAGIC AND WEAPONSKILLS) When you get higher levels and obtain more magic spells and job and weapon abilities, it will be very painfully slow to navigate through the menus in order to use a spell or skill -- there will be too many. To save time, you can bind most often used spells to macros. * Magic Macro /ma "Spell Name" [target] Eamples: /ma "Cure II" Cast Cure II on current target /ma "Protectra III" Cast Protectra III on yourself /ma "Curaga II" Cast Curaga II (centered on third party member) /ma "Poisana" Cast Poisona after selecting a party member NOTES: Certain spells require the target be yourself or party members. Play around with them to figure out what the target values can be. The name of the spell should be in quotes if it contains whitespace; case (upper vs lower) matters; and the names MUST match the names of the spells in your spell list. * Job Ability Macro /ja "Job Ability" [target] Examples: /ja "Benediction" Use Benediction (centered on yourself) NOTES: Job abilities which are still in their cooldown state will not execute and return (in purple text as default) the amoun of in-game time remaining until the next use. * Weapon Skill Macro /ws "Weapon Skill" [target] Examples: /ws "Fast Blade" Use Fast Blade on target These are the three main types of battle macros that you will end up using the most. Oftentimes these commands are accompanied with some messages to the party. Take for example: /p Gather up for Protectra III !!!!! /wait 5 /ma "Protectra III" This macro tells your party members to gather around you so you can cast Protectra III. The /wait 5 just pauses execution for 5 real-time seconds (this is to allow everyone to have time to react and gather near you). Then the last line executes the magic casting. The /wait command can be used to wait from 0 to 20 seconds. You cannot use /wait with an argument exceeding 20 (it will be treated like 0). There are several reasons to have the /wait command. If your macro is "skipping" some commands, it is likely that you need to add /wait 1 in between commands. This is normally the case if you end up using two commands with /p. For example, /p Hey what's up? /p How are you? will only output "Hey what's up?" to other characters in your party, and you will then see an error message about the second message not being able to be sent. The correct way is: /p Hey what's up? /wait 1 /p How are you? USING ERRORS IN MACROS TO SAVE ROOM Eventually, you will find that even the 10 sets of macros are insufficient. Here are a few ways to make use of the errors generated by macros. Suppose you have both WHM and BLM leveled fairly highly and you often switch between the two as your main job. Let's say you have Aero II bound to a macro, but when you are WHM, you can only use up to Aero. If you use: /ma "Aero II" /wait 1 /ma "Aero" If you're a BLM, this macro will cast Aero II and error out of the Aero spell since the /wait between is too short. As a WHM you'll get an error on Aero II since the BLM subjob will likely not be able to case Aero II (presuming your WHM is not too high in level). Instead, you'll end up casting Aero. WHEN TO USE CAPS AND WHEN NOT TO USE CAPS While it is bad netiquette to use all caps for speech, sometimes all caps is warranted. In battles, using all caps should be allowed and encouraged. When you're fighting, lots of battle messages are scrolling by. The cyan text helps, but your party members may not catch it in time. Using all caps will make your messages stand out so that you don't have to continue to repeat yourself. (Battle messages get really bad if you're fighting near other parties since you also see THEIR battle messages.) However, if you have a macro for, say, Protectra II and Shellra, and you add /p Gather for Protectra II then you should probably not use caps. These spells are often cast before battles, so there is not really any need for caps. As another example, note the use of /p Provoke is now ready. and /p PROVOKING --> The first is just information for the party so that they are aware that provoke is ready. The second, however, is in caps because it needs to be seen by everyone so that two or more people don't use provoke immediately after a provoke use. Caps are more pronounced and stand out -- so use them accordingly. ORGANIZING YOUR MACRO SETS Macros can be useful if you organize them. If you scatter them about, they can actually do more harm than good. Use your sets to categorize your macros. Some suggestions for categories include: solo, curative spells, black magic, healing spells (e.g. Poisana), enfeeble spells, melee. USING YOUR MACROS IN A BATTLE This section may be a bit lengthy, but you should read throug it to see how powerful macros can be within a group. We will assume our party consists of at least a white mage a few melee players, one of which is a warrior with provoke. When you find a good party to level up, you will presumably have someone who will act as the puller. That is, he/she is the single person to go out and look for creatures to kill, and lures them back to a spot where your party is safely camping. The puller ideally should warn the party he is about to pull, and have macros set up to do so accordingly. I suggest: /p Get ready! Luring ! so that your party knows what to expect. This way, any white mage or red mage know what to use for enfeebling or any barspells, etc. Also within the party should be someone at camp who is the lookout. The purpose of a lookout is to make sure enemies which aggro or link don't spawn before the puller gets back. You do NOT want the puller to be towing a creature back to camp and have him link the spawns as well. This makes a mini-train that may spell doom for you and your party. The lookout should use: /p WARNING!! just spawned near camp! NOTE: The party should agree on the sounds and what the designate. Also, you may wish to use instead of in order to be curteous to anyone using the rumble feature (PS2 only). The lookout (and presumably any/all mages) should, during battle, turn off the locking feature so they can turn the camera and continue looking out for the party. In case new aggro appears, I suggest using: /p WARNING!! POSSIBLE AGGRO/LINK!! These should each be in separate macros. This should provide your team with a good messaging system. Now on for the finer details of battle... Since most battles (should) start with enfeeblement, you don't want, say, two people casting Dia (should your party be lucky enough to have two white mages). When using enfeeble spells, I recommend that you use a message ONLY IF THERE IS SOMEONE ELSE WITH THE SAME SPELLS. That is, if you have two white mages, try using /p PARALYZE --> /ma Paralyze If you're the only one in your party enfeebling, then you may want to not use /p PARALYZE --> because it can add some spam to the logs. However, with two people capable of enfeeblement, the messages help prevent wasted MP. The other way to go is to decide that only one person enfeelbes (the one whose skill is higher, of course). Again, the messaging is only suggested if you have several enfeeblers. At higher levels, the MP lost due to overlapping spells is minimal, so messaging is not recommended. You DEFINITELY DO NOT WANT two red mages both casting Dispel, for example (and yes, I am aware they have Convert -- but wasted MP is still wasted MP). RENKEI / TP / MAGIC BURST This is where macro is KEY. Your party will perform considerably better when you set up a good Renkei system. The following will use the example: Fast Blade -> Burning Blade -> Flat Blade which produces: Liquifaction [Fire] -> Fusion [Fire/Light] Your party must already be familiar with the Renkei system, and in particular the order of the weapon skills. The mages must be aware of the elements of each Renkei effect so they can magic burst. I recommend each person in the Renkei use the following "TP Ping" macro: /p [Fast Blade] TP: and replace Flast Blade with the appropriate weapon skill. This allows all melee characters to know exactly which weapon skill has what TP percentage. When one perons "pings" their TP, every one else should do the same. Note that the TP is reported on the far right side and the weapon skill name on the far left. Not only is it important to have good macros, but spacing and the presentation of the information is just as important. (If you party up with Linkshell members often, your Linkshell [LS] should try to set up some sort of standard on reporting info such as TP, MP, etc.) With every weapon skill and its corresponding TP being reported you will never have a case when someone accidentally goes too early. Moreoever, the mages (if they did their homework) will know what element to use for magic bursting if they can see which weapon skills are being used. Once your party is ready to Renkei, the first person to go should use something like: /p RENKEI IN 2 SECONDS! /wait 2 /p Using Fast Blade /ws "Fast Blade" The next person to go should have /p Using Burning Blade /ws "Burning Blade" The third person should ehave /p Using Flat Blade /ws "Flat Blade" Notice the wait of 2 seconds. This allows for everyone to get their weapon skill macro ready, and the mages to prepare their spells for bursting. You may optionally leave out the 's as this may become annoying to the ears :P If your party is more experienced, you can optionally leave out the /wait 2. Your log will show the weaponskill being used, but you should message that anyway because the cyan colored text will show up much more clearly than the yellow (most people will have the font colors set to default). ACIENT MAGIC AND MAGIC BURSTS With ancient magic, you'll find that the cast time is EXTREMELY long. In fact, it is normal to cast ancient magic like Freeze long before the skillchain even starts. Of course this makes skillchains very hard to do if you don't have good timing. However, macros make this a breeze. The idea is that the melees will rely on the mage casting ancient magic to get their timing down. You'll first need to practice a few rounds to get an idea of the timing. Something like: /ma "Ancient Magic Spell Name" /p 10 seconds standby on the skillchain! /wait 10 /p Begin first weapon skill! /wait 3 /p Begin second weapon skill! Again, the time for the first /wait argument will depend on how long it takes the black mage to cast the spell. You will also need to factor into the equation the reaction time, as well as the time required to see the skillchain effect when the melee characters finish. Remember, the strength of the burst is dependent on when the spell lands after you see the skillchain effect. HATE MANAGEMENT It is generally good to have the tank continue to use the Provoke ability as this naturally builds up his/her hate level. This keeps hate on one person, and allows the healer to concentrate on keeping that one person healed to an accpetable level. The tank's Provoke macro should look like /p PROVOKE --> /ja "Provoke" /wait 15 /p Provoke ready in 15 seconds /wait 15 /p Provoke ready This macro has several important features: (1) it tells the user when his Provoke ability is ready, and (2) it lets the black mage know whether or not he/she should cast that "uber" spell that will cause massive hate. You don't want to be a mage getting the brunt of the hits with no provoke for 30 seconds -- especially against a hard hitting creature. Thieves are also capable of managing hate using their Sneak and Trick attack combos. The thief needs a team member to whom he/she can pass hate, so the thief's macro should let everyone know that the Sneak/Trick combo is about to be used -- so no one moves around. During the battle, your melee characters should surround the enemy on all sides, thus allowing the thief to choose a good "target" for hate. In general, I recommend one tank facing the enemy directly, and a second melee (with high HP) directly behind the enemy. These two should be the main tanks in the party. For the Sneak/Trick + weaponskill combo, I suggest: /p Setting up Sneak/Trick combo! /ja "Sneak Attack" /wait 2 /ja "Trick Attack" Then follow up with your normal weapon skill /p Using Viper Bite /ws "Viper Bite" LIST OF ALL COMMANDS Below are all the commands available. Most of them have a short version (for example, /t can be used in place of /tell). Not all commands listed below make much sense in a macro, but I'll list them here for completeness. Also, there are some system arguments which can be used along with some of the commands. They are listed below as well. System arguments are surrounded by < and > (e.g. for current target) SYSTEM ARGUMENTS , , ... , These denote party members 1 through 6 where your own character is always considered to be party member 1 (i.e. = you). p1 is the second person appearing on the party list at the bottom right of your screen (from top to bottom), and p5 is the last person on the list. Example: /ma "Cure" (cures person who appears just below your own character's name on the party list) Select target for command. Example: /ma Cure (selects the spell Cure and allows you to choose a person to cure; best used for healers who have to fight from time to time) Current target Example: /p Guys, take a look at the !!! (suppose a Yagudo Initiate is targeted; this macro sends the message "Guys, take a look at the Yagudo Initiate!!!" to your party/alliance) Your current hit point as a ratio of your current HP over your max HP. Example: /p My current HP is: (suppose your current HP is 401 and your max HP is 510; displays a message saying "My current HP is: 401/510") The same as except it is a percentage and not a ratio. Your current TP (as a percent). Your current MP as a ratio of the remaining amount of MP over the max amount of MP. The same as except it is a percentage and not a ratio. , , , Sends an audible whistling sound to all party members (can only be used in conjunction with /p). Also sends a vibration signal to each party member's controller if they have that option turned on. Example: /p WARNING!! POSSIBLE AGGRO!! (sends out a whistle signal, vibration signal, and displays a message saying "WARNING!!! POSSIBBLE AGRRO!! " , , , Same as - except the vibration signal is not sent (i.e. only audibles) Your character; equivalent to Your current grid location. If you look on the map, you will appear as a red arrow inside a square. The square will have coordinates specified by a row (letter) and column (number). Example: /p I'm currently at (suppose you are at I-10; sends a party message saying "I'm currently at I-10") NOTE: Some dungeons have several "floors" so that I-10 may not necessarily be meaningful (e.g. a person at I-10 on the third floor and a person at I-10 on the first floor will both report I-10 for and yet not see each other.) Position on map when using airship or vessels over water. COMMANDS /? USAGE: /? /[command_name] -> Gives a detailed explanation of specified command. Abbreviations can be used. If a command name is incomplete or does not exist, similar commands will be listed. * All names used with these commands must be one word, or in quotation marks. /ver USAGE: /ver -> Displays the current version number. /servmes (or /smes) USAGE: /servmes -> Displays today's server message (the messaged displayed when in) in the log window. /lsmes (or /linkshellmes) USAGE: /lsmes [subcommand] "[mes.]" -> Allows PC to edit and view their current linkgroup's welcome message. Only authorized members can change these messages. >> Subcommands: nothing Display currently set message set "[mes.]" Changes message to specified message clear Clear set mesages level [auth_level] Sets authority level >> Authority Levels: ls Linkshell holder ps Linkshell and pearlsack holders. all All members. /linkshell (or /l) USAGE: /linkshell [mes.] -> Sends a message to all members of your current linkshell group, regardless of their location. /party (or /p) USAGE: /party [mes.] -> Sends a message to all members of your current party and alliance, regardless of their location. /say (or /s) USAGE: /say [mes.] -> Sends a message to all PCs within a small radius. The message will not be displayed if a PC has their [Say] chat filter turned on. /shout (or /sh) USAGE: /shout [mes.] -> Sends a message to all PCs within a large radius. The message will not be displyaed if a PC has their [Shout] chat filter turned on. /tell (or /t) USAGE: /tell [PC_name] [mes.] -> Sends a message to a specific PC within the same world. This message cannot be seen by any other players. /emote (or /em) USAGE: /emote [mes.] -> Sends your PC name and a message as an emote within a [Say] radius. This message will not be displayed if a PC has their [Emotes] chat filter turned on. /chatmode (or /cm) USAGE: /chatmode [chat_mode] -> Changes chat mode default settings. [Shout] will be reset after using once. When using [Tell], specify a PC name. If you do not specify a chat mode, your current settings will be displayed. * Valid chat modes: s, sh, l, p, t [PC_name] /nominate (or /propose) USAGE: /nominate [chat_mode] "[qst]" "[opt1]" ... (up to 8 options) -> Asks a question to all PCs within the designated chatmode, and give them a variety of answers to choose from. The answers can be chosen with the /vote command. Acessible chat modes are Say, Shout, Party, and Linkshell. You can stop the voting by reentering /nominate. /vote USAGE: /vote [PC_name] [number] -> Answers a question from the /nominate command. If a PC name is entered, you will answer that PC's question. If you do not enter a PC name, you will answer the most recently asked question. If there is no number after /vote, the question will be displayed again. /volunteer (or /vol) -> An exclusive command for volunteers. It cannot be used by regular players. /echo USAGE: /echo "[mes.]" -> Displays a message that only you can see. /random USAGE: /random -> Displays a random number between 0 and 999. This number can be seen by PCs within the [Say] radius. /attack USAGE: /attack [subcommand] -> Turns on auto-attack of the selected target on/off. Toggles on and off when no subcommand is specified. >> Subcommands: on Turn on auto-attack. off Turn off auto-attack. /attackoff USAGE: /attackoff -> Cancels auto-attack /wait target ta targetpc targetnpc magic ma weaponskill ws ninjutsu nin son so jobability ja pet heal fish dig dismount assist as help h range shoot throw ra check c search sea logout friendlist blacklist blist playtime playlog clock makelinkshell makeli breaklinkshell breakli item equip keyitem quest mission map regionmap rmap supportdesk sd helpdesk pol tribune partycmd pcmd alliancecmd acmd automove follow lockon invite inv autogroup ag autotarget join decline anon online away busy hide invisible names bank mailbox deliverybox layout garden EMOTES /point /bow /salute /kneel /laugh /cry /no /nod /yes /wave /goodebye /farewell /welcome /joy /cheer /clap /praise /smile /poke /slap /stagger /sigh /comfort /surprised /amazed /stare /blush /angry /disgusted /upset /muted /doze /panic /grin /dance /think /fume /doubt /sulk /psych /huh /shocked The commands listed above are emotes. For example, /point makes your character do a pointing motion. If /point is used without any arguments, a message such as: "[your character's name] points [direction you're facing]." will appear on the log of every PC within [Say] range. These emotes can optionally take the argument [target]. So for example, /point will cause your character to use a pointing motion and the message: "[your character's name] points at [the target]." You can also use the option "motion" so that no message such as the one above appears, though your character will still do the animation associated with that emote. The animation varies on your race, so that an female Elvaan using /laugh will have a different animation from a male Elvaan or femal Taru, etc. You can create your own emote with full animation. For example, you can use (for Elvaan females): /joy motion /wait 1 /emote slaps the crap out of . and target Elvaan males with this emote to get a slapping action along with a message saying "[your character's name] slaps the crap out of [target]." Of course, this emote macro works well only on other tall characters as the motion of /joy makes the female Elvaan's hands swing high (i.e. this would look silly used on a Taru).