Emote Guide

Main article: Commands

Commands You Should Know

While there are dozens of commands that can be used in macros (You can find them here), these are the ones that are commonly used with emotes.

• /emote (/em) - Posts emote text in the local chat channel. This line of text will always begin with the name of your character.

• /say (/s) - Posts a message in the local chat channel. There are similar commands for other chat channels, such as /party (/p) and /shout (/sh).

• /action (/ac) - Uses a specified action. If the action’s name is more than one word, it must be contained within quotation marks.

• /wait - Inserts a pause between commands. The length of the pause can range between 1 and 60 seconds in increments of 0.5 seconds. If a number is not indicated, it will default to 1 second.

• <t> - A placeholder command that can be used within a line to display the name of your current target.

• /facetarget (/ft) - turns your character to face the selected target. This command is rarely needed, as most emotes automatically turn your character towards your target. This can be useful if you start the macro with a facial expression.

Standard Animated Emotes

There are 51 standard animated emotes: /bow, /welcome, /goodbye, /wave, /kneel, /salute, /chuckle, /laugh, /joy, /happy, /rally, /soothe, /blush, /comfort, /psych, /pray, /blowkiss, /dance, /yes, /thumbsup, /clap, /congratulate, /cheer, /no, /deny, /cry, /furious, /fume, /panic, /upset, /disappointed, /sulk, /angry, /huh, /shocked, /shrug, /stagger, /surprised, /doubt, /grovel, /pose, /beckon, /think, /examineself, /doze, /point, /poke, /stretch, /lookout, /airquotes, and /me.

As you’ve learned through quests, every emote has a command that can be typed to activate it. However, these commands are accompanied by the default emote text. For example:

/thumbsup

Results in:

You agree wholeheartedly.

Making a simple custom emote requires a two-line macro; one line to play the animation without the default text, and a second line that displays your new custom text:

/thumbsup motion

/em gives a thumbs up.

Adding “motion” next to the command plays the animation and any accompanied sound without the default This results in:

John Smith gives a thumbs up.

Inserting <t> into the line will add the name of the subject you’re currently targeting:

/thumbsup motion

/me gives <t> a thumbs up.

Allowing it to do this:

John Smith gives Mary Kate a thumbs up.

Unlike the default emotes, it’s not currently possible to create custom emotes that display alternate text if no target is selected or use the correct gender pronouns for the target. Without a target, <t> will insert an extra empty space in place of a name. There are many other placeholder commands that are great for combat macros but have limited use in emotes. The example below uses < tt >, which displays the name of whatever my target is currently targeting:

/em cheers on as <t> battles < tt >!

/cheer motion

Resulting in: John Smith cheers on as Mary Kate battles Little Ladybug! Each macro can hold up to 15 lines. This allows you to sequence multiple animations using the /wait command:

/think motion

/em considers it for a moment…

/wait 3

/huh motion

/s Nope. Got nothin’.

You MUST use /wait to separate animations or else the first will overwrite any animation that comes after it. Using /wait to start another animation before the last has finished will immediately begin the next one. This will cut off any sound the emote plays, but can be useful for complex animation sequences or making silly

Facial Expression Emotes

Facial expressions are emotes that animate the face only, and can be used individually or stacked on top of other animations. There are 13 different facial expressions: /straightface (the default expression), /smile, /grin, /smirk, /taunt, /shuteyes, /sad, /scared, /amazed, /ouch, /annoyed, /alert, and /worried.

You can completely change the feeling of an animation by stacking it with a facial expression. For example, the /welcome emotion as played by my female Hyur is a cheerful greeting where she opens her arms. But by stacking the /alert expression on top of welcome, my character looks like she’s angrily demanding an explanation from someone. Likewise, combining the /shocked animation with /smile makes her look lovestruck.

Facial expressions last 5 seconds and, like all other animations, will not activate unless they’re separated from the previous animation by a wait. For example:

/em is deeply ashamed by what Square Enix considers to be suitable armor.

/examineself motion

/wait

/scared motion

/wait 2

/blush motion

There’s no way to end the expression animation once it’s been activated other than replacing it with another one. Adding /straightface to the last line will restore your default expression at the end of a macro. Alternatively, you can add an expression at the end of an animation to make it look more natural, such as putting /smile at the end of /laugh so your serious Hyur Man doesn’t look so sarcastic. Here’s an example of a complex animation sequence that uses multiple animations and facial expressions:

/facetarget

/alert motion

/wait

/em criticizes <t>.

/welcome motion

/wait 2

/doubt motion

/wait 2

/upset motion

/wait

/worried motion

/wait 3.5

/straightface motion

Sitting

The /sit emote allows you to toggle between sitting down and standing up. Certain objects, such as chairs, benches, and beds, allow you to sit on them if you use the emote while stood next to them. Otherwise, you will sit on the ground. Sitting can be stacked with certain animations and all of the facial expressions.

The chair sit animation can be combined with: /welcome, /goodbye, /wave, /salute, /chuckle and /laugh (shared animation), /joy and /happy (shared animation), /soothe, /comfort, /yes, /thumbsup, /clap, /congratulate, /cheer, /no, /deny, /cry, /furious and /angry (shared animation), /upset and /disappointed (shared animation), /huh, /shocked, /shrug, /surprised, /think, /examineself, /doze, /point, /poke, /stretch, /lookout, /airquotes, and /me.

The ground sit animation can be combined with: /goodbye and /wave (shared animation), /chuckle and /laugh (shared animation), /yes and /thumbsup (shared animation), /clap and /congratulate (shared animation), /no and /deny (shared animation), /furious and /angry (shared animation), /upset and /disappointed (shared animation), /huh, /think, /doze, and /lookout.

As always, you must put a /wait between /sit and any other animation. This example will work with both the chair sit and ground sit:

/sit

/wait

/annoyed motion

/em sits down and waits impatiently.

/wait

/think motion

/sit will last indefinitely and prevents you from performing certain actions; it can be canceled by toggling it off or by jumping.

Other Emotes

There are two emotes that need to be unlocked through gameplay before you can use them: /gcsalute and /imperialsalute. The first becomes available when you join a Grand Company and plays the salute animation of the company you’re enlisted in. It’s not possible to play the salute of the other two companies. /imperialsalute is unlocked through the main story quest and allows you to perform the Garlean Army salute.

/visor acts more like a toggle command than an emote, allowing you to change the appearance of certain pieces of headgear. There are very few hats that have multiple states.

While not an actual emote, /battlemode (/bm) will toggle your battle stance on and off. Facial expressions work with the stance, while other emote animations will temporarily sheath your weapons and overwrite the stance before returning to it.

Combining Emotes with Actions/Functional Emotes

Class and job actions can be used in custom emotes, but only if conditions allow for the skill to be used. Not only must you be the right class, level, and have enough MP/TP to use the action, you must be able to use the action on the correct target. Like /battlemode, facial expressions can be used with actions, allowing for subtle customizations to your combat macros.

Emote animations won’t override actions and won’t play at all unless /wait is used to start the animation after the action ends. This is the macro I use when my Lalafell arcanist summons Topaz Carbuncle:

/macroicon “Summon II”

/ac “Summon II” <me>

/wait 7

/joy motion

You can also use the /gearset command to make “transformation sequences” when you change class or job. Unfortunately you can’t change gearsets in the middle of an animation, but you can automatically time it to activate buffs and stances as soon as they become available:

/bm off

/wait

/gearset change 2

/wait

/welcome motion

/wait 1.5

/psych motion

/wait

/ac “Fists of Fire” <me>

Remember, custom emotes can be cute and funny, but you’ll annoy the hell out of everyone around you if you use them excessively in combat. There are a few times where using sound and movement to draw attention to yourself can be practical:

/bm

/p I’m rushing <t> in 10 seconds, get ready!

/wait 7

/p Three!

/wait

/p Two!

/wait

/p One!

/wait

/p GO!

If you really need to get a message across, you can use a custom emote to add movement, sound, marks above your head, auto-translated text, AND change your online status:

/away on

/mk “Cross” <me>

/p {Will be right back.}

/sit motion

/wait

/doze motion

/away off

/mk “Cross” <me>

/p {I’m back!}

/sit motion

/wait

/stretch motion

To use the example above, you must press tab while typing in the macro window and navigate the auto-translate menu to insert the text in brackets. Auto-translate text cannot be typed manually or copy-pasted.

Other Notes & Useful Info

• If you can’t fit all of your custom emote buttons on your screen, you can create a macro button using /macros to open up the macro menu.

• In 2.1, /doze will display unique animations when used with a bed.

• Pet macros will also be added to 2.1, allowing you to use animations to pretend you’re a Pokémon master.

• For taking screenshots: The Scroll Lock key can be used to toggle the UI on and off, while Print Screen takes the screenshot.