Useful Combat Macros

Macros have uses during combat but they should be used cautiously or it will be detrimental to your output. Any actions on the global cooldown (GCD), i.e. weaponskills and spells, should not be assigned to a macro, because it will cause a delay when executing the macro and ultimately result in lost casts over the course of an encounter. However, it may be recommended to macro some off-global cooldown (oGCD) actions, particularly those that require you to target another party member, to avoid the hassle of having to manually switch targets.

Targeting other players

Party list numbering (yellow numbers). In this example   Nascent Flash is assigned to seven macros each targeting the respective party member without needing to manually change targets.

The general structure for a macro that targets another player with an ability is:

/ac "action_name" <#>
/ac "action_name" <#>
/ac "action_name" <#>
/ac "action_name" <#>
/ac "action_name" <#>
/ac "action_name" <#>
/ac "action_name" <#>
/ac "action_name" <#>
/ac "action_name" <#>
/ac "action_name" <#>
/ac "action_name" <#>
/ac "action_name" <#>
/ac "action_name" <#>
/ac "action_name" <#>
/micon "action_name"

Where action_name is the name of the action and # is the target. # can be set to a number (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8) to always target a person based on your party list, or mo to target a player you hover your cursor over, either their actual character or their spot on the party list.

While the number targeting may sometimes be more consistent than mouseover targeting, a downside is that a separate macro needs to be made for each action for each party list number (2-8), which will take up a lot of limited hotbar and macro storage space, along with possibly cluttering your user interface.

The /ac line is repeated multiple times to ensure the action is "queued" correctly.

Ground targeting

Some actions require ground targeting, which can also be finicky. These actions include   Asylum (WHM),   Liturgy of the Bell (WHM),   Sacred Soil (SCH),   Earthly Star (AST), and magical ranged DPS   Limit Breaks.

Instant action

/micon action_name
/ac action_name gtoff

By taking advantage of gtoff, we can target instantly at the cursor location without having to go through ground targeting.

Targeted action

/micon action_name
/ac action_name <t>

Since in many encounters, fighting occurs around a specific target, like the main boss or the tank pulling a pack, a targeted action can also be used to automatically place it at your current target. Be aware that there are some situations where this is not appropriate, such as if the boss is located outside of the arena or if the boss is about to move.

This is most useful for controller players, as it may not be as precise to use the gtoff macro above with the controller targeting mode.

Tanks

Shirk

During 8-man content requiring a tank swap, macroing   Shirk will circumvent having to target your co-tank. The following macro assumes that your co-tank is number 2 in the party list. If not, replace it with the appropriate number (3-8).

/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/micon "Shirk"

Holmgang (Warrior)

  Holmgang requires a selected target to cast, unlike other Tank invulnerability cooldowns. If the target enemy dies, the player will lose the effect. Also, if the target is out of range, the player cannot use this ability. To circumvent these quirks, it is recommended to use a self-target macro, e.g.

/ac "Holmgang" <me>
/ac "Holmgang" <me>
/ac "Holmgang" <me>
/ac "Holmgang" <me>
/ac "Holmgang" <me>
/ac "Holmgang" <me>
/ac "Holmgang" <me>
/ac "Holmgang" <me>
/ac "Holmgang" <me>
/ac "Holmgang" <me>
/ac "Holmgang" <me>
/ac "Holmgang" <me>
/ac "Holmgang" <me>
/micon "Holmgang"

Living Dead (Dark Knight)

To get 20s instead of 10s out of   Living Dead, the Dark Knight needs to drop to 1 HP, and then get healed for 100% of their HP. It can be helpful to alert the healer in advance, to ensure the 1 HP requirement is met without the healer accidentally interfering.

/p Using Living Dead

This message should be separate from the actual action, and should be called out before Living Dead is cast, so the healer knows to not apply regen effects.

Try to keep the message concise and informative. A slightly-longer message can be used if playing with healers unfamiliar with the mechanic, for example:

/p Using Living Dead (don't heal until gray hourglass)

Targeted actions

Targeted mitigation and healing abilities, such as   Cover (PLD),   Intervention (PLD),   Nascent Flash (WAR),   The Blackest Night (DRK),   Oblation (DRK),   Aurora (GNB),   Heart of Stone (GNB), and   Heart of Corundum (GNB) can be assigned via the general "Targeting other players" macro format above.

Healers

Player and ground targeted actions

Healers have a variety of player- and ground-targeted oGCD abilities that you may decide to macro if you prefer. See the "targeting other players" and "ground targeting" sections above.

Resurrect

Resurrect actions, such as   Raise (WHM),   Resurrection (SCH/SMN),   Ascend (AST),   Egeiro (SGE), and   Verraise (RDM) should not be assigned to a macro because they are global cooldown actions. However, some players decide to attach a text macro when they revive another player for the purposes of letting other jobs with resurrect actions know that the target player has been revived to avoid overlaps. This text macro should be standalone, e.g.,

/p Reviving <t>

In general, make the text concise and informative, and avoid attaching sound effects (<se.#>) or passive-aggressive messages, which could annoy other players.

DPS

Actions such as   The Warden's Paean (BRD),   Closed Position (DNC),   Aetherial Manipulation (BLM), and   Rekindle (SMN) may benefit from the player targeting or mouseover macros described previously.

• While only one Dance Partner is usually chosen for a given encounter, there are situations where it is beneficial to switch partners, such as if your current partner dies.

  Shukuchi relies on ground targeting and may also benefit from a ground targeting macro described previously. It is recommended to keep a non-macro version of Shukuchi assigned for situations where you need to use manual targeting.

Magical ranged DPS   Limit Breaks may also benefit from the ground-targeting macros described previously. In situations where precisely hitting all targets is critical (e.g. the Cosmo Meteor mechanic in  The Omega Protocol (Ultimate)), using a targeting macro is recommended over manual ground targeting.

Fight-specific text macros

Some fights, especially those with memory-based mechanics, may benefit from macros that remind players of mechanics. For example, if the boss uses an action that stores either a spread or stack mechanic for later, you could make two macros: one for spread, and the other for stack, then press the appropriate macro. When the mechanic is about to resolve, players can look at the party chat for a reminder of whether to spread or stack.