This is not an end all guide to making macros, I will cover a basic design for making combat macros, assist macros, miscillaneous macros, including examples of my macros.
Note I am a button smasher, I want all my abilities to activate as quickly as possible without breaking my gameplay (more on this later about how it effects my fps).
Section 1: Combat Macros
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Typical Abilities Bar Example:
I have many attacks and healing abilities along with some utility abilities and items.
We can make the use of all these much easier then using 1-"=" or Ctrl+1-"=" by making macros.
Hit ";" to access your Command Browser (Abilites), select the Macro tab, select New Macro.
Give the macro a Name, an Icon, and then in the macro text we will start typing up the macro.
What is typically in a combat macro?
Your attacks, heals, repeatable item buffs/stims.
What commands are typically used?
/ui action toolbarSlotxx (where xx is correlates to the button on the abilities bar, NOTE the command is case sensitive it needs the capital "S").
/pause xx (where xx correlates to duration of a pause between the last command given and the next one to follow, lowest possible pause between is .1).
/macro xx (where xx correlates to the macro that will be called, typically by placing this at the end followed by the present macro will create a loopback, or repeat of the command).
/dump (cancels all macros, may need to be pressed multiple times due to lag).
Below is a general guide to the layout of toolbarSlotxx:
| 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 3rd Row
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 2nd Row (Keyboard Ctrl+1-"=")
| 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 1st Row (Keyboard 1-"=")
My basic combat macro's:
Name: Dum (Most important macro, because it cancels all other macros)
/dump
Name: Start-att (This starts a bunch of other macros)
/macro sero;
/pause .1;
/macro att1;
/pause .1;
/macro att2;
/pause .1;
/macro att4;
/pause .1;
/macro att5;
/pause .1;
/macro att6
Name: Sero (This starts a repeating macro for Serotonin Boost and Detox, why this to start is because if you got a bleed or debuff that caught you off guard you want to start removing it)
/ui action toolbarSlot26;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot27;
/macro sero
Name: Att1 (This starts a repeating macro for my abilities in the Ctrl+1-4 range)
/ui action toolbarSlot12;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot13;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot14;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot15;
/macro att1
Name: Att2 (This starts a repeating macro for my abilities in the Ctrl+5-8 range)
/ui action toolbarSlot16;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot17;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot18;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot19;
/macro att2
Name: Att4 (This starts a repeating macro for my abilities in the 3rd row 1-4 range)
/ui action toolbarSlot24;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot25;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot26;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot27;
/macro att4
Name: Att5 (This starts a repeating macro for my abilities in the 3rd row 5-8 range)
/ui action toolbarSlot28;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot29;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot30;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot31;
/macro att5
Name: Att6 (This starts a repeating macro for my abilties in the 3rd row 9-"=" range)
/ui action toolbarSlot32;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot33;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot34;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot35;
/macro att6
What did these 6 macros do?
It activates Ctrl+1-8 and 3rd row 1-12 abilities quickly.
Now you may be asking why not just place all these in 1 macro instead of 6 macros? Reason is you want your abilities to activate as quickly as possible as a button smasher.
1st upside, this frees up your ability to view the battlefield and enjoy the game more as your not focused on pressing as many buttons on the keyboard.
2nd the downside of a button smasher is even at this accelerated rate abilities fail to fire due to other abilities trying to fire causing a cooldown between abilities. (most noticeable is Bacta Ampule as you may not need to heal but it tries to activate causing an hourglass to appear on all the abilities).
3rd downside of running more macros is it puts a strain on your computer causing your fps to drop. I typically don't experience much of a fps drop^ running with this macro on 3 of my alts.
How do we make this easier to activate verses typing in the chat /macro Start-att?
Hit "O" which brings up the Options, select Keymap, then the Custom tab. Navigate to Start-att, select Rebind.
I typically assign my combat macro to "Q" as it is close to my directional keys WASD.
*Dont forget to assign the macro Dum (Dump macro). I typically assign my dump macro to "E"
^Note I have different set of macros for my main character that activates all the above abilities slots on seperate timers triggered by 1 macro that activates 26 additional macros. It causes my fps to have a low of 60fps from my typical 120fps, on Hoth this causes my fps to dip below 30fps, as I typically get 60fps on Hoth running 4 characters.
Section 2: Assist Macro's
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have alternate characters (alts) that you want to travel with your main character (main), and don't want them to be useless, this is the basic guide for you.
Note before proceeding please follow AFK Rules and general kindness to other players when running around with a small army (some players are very sensitive to having alts in pvp, even if its outside of pvp zones and events, please use discression as there is not yet a rule involving every aspect of these two scenarios).
So we already have a combat macro created so thats great we can activate that and then switch to our alt and select a target then switch back to our main. But that takes time, we want things to be fluid and seemless.
What commands will you typically use for assist macro's?
/pause xx (where xx correlates to duration of a pause between the last command given and the next one to follow, lowest possible pause between is .1).
/join (to automatically join a group)
/follow xx (xx corresponding to the avatar you want follow)
/mount (to automatically mount a vehicle that lands on the retical, sometimes you will need to manually target the vehicle with an alt)
/assist xx (xx corresponding to the avatar you want to assist)
My basic assist macro's:
Name: Joi (My join macro, which causes my alts to join the group, follow my main, mount vehicles)
/join;
/pause 1;
/follow ayusaru;
/pause 1;
/mount;
/macro joi
*Note I slow down this macro some as these command do not need to be activated as often. I also occasionally at /harvest xx (xx corresponding to meat, hide, bone) to this macro, sadly you may have to occasionally manually target the creature to harvest these resources as the command needs to be issued while the retical is hovering over the corpse.
Name: asso (My assist macro, which causes my alt to target what my main targets)
/assist ayusaru;
/pause .1;
/macro asso
Now occasionally you want to assist the leader of a group (especially in pvp) that way all in the group focus on a specific target that is called out. You will want to use the following command.
/ui action targetGroup0
Macro example:
Name: asslead (My assist leader macro)
/ui action targetGroup0;
/assist;
/pause .1;
/macro asslead
I typically assign this macro to "R" on my keyboard for easy access.
Section 3: Miscellaneous Macros
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These are a few special case scenarios where I want a macro that does a specific thing.
What commands will you typically use for specific thing's macro's?
/harvest xx (xx corresponding to meat, hide, bone)
/loot (loots the reticalled corpse)
/deathblow (deals deathblow to reticalled player corpse)
/forage (forages off the group, find enzymes, treasure maps, bait)
/mount (mount the reticalled vehicle)
My specific thing's macro's:
Name: Loo (My nearly everything macro)
/loot
/harvest hide
/mount
/forage
Note /forage causes a delay to the activation of your abilities, so you will not want to run this on a repeat macro, or possibly remove this command from the macro all together, at the very least make sure its at the end of the macro otherwise it will prevent the commands that follow.
Name: Death (My deathblow macro)
/deathblow
/pause .1
/deathblow
Note /deathblow causes a delay to the activation of your abilities, so if you decide to run this on a repeat macro you may want to slow it down.
Final Thoughts:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once again I want to emphasize that I play as a button smasher, that is I don't carefully time my abilities.
Carefully timed abilities can provide better damage output, healing timing, and utility.
Note on healing timing you waste heals using them on a macro such as this.
Note on utility that is abilities that end on a cooldown and would have been better activated at a specific moment in combat verses random. Examples would be Debuffs (Stun), DoT's.
Some players find it better to run a macro with a .3 timing versus .1 timing, they say it causes less miss fires.
Using macros like these also can cause miss fires for manually selected abilities like Position Secure, which you may activate it and it goes on cooldown but doesn't actually apply, in this event you may want to dump your macros apply the ability and then start back up the macros.
Note I am a button smasher, I want all my abilities to activate as quickly as possible without breaking my gameplay (more on this later about how it effects my fps).
Section 1: Combat Macros
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Typical Abilities Bar Example:
I have many attacks and healing abilities along with some utility abilities and items.
We can make the use of all these much easier then using 1-"=" or Ctrl+1-"=" by making macros.
Hit ";" to access your Command Browser (Abilites), select the Macro tab, select New Macro.
Give the macro a Name, an Icon, and then in the macro text we will start typing up the macro.
What is typically in a combat macro?
Your attacks, heals, repeatable item buffs/stims.
What commands are typically used?
/ui action toolbarSlotxx (where xx is correlates to the button on the abilities bar, NOTE the command is case sensitive it needs the capital "S").
/pause xx (where xx correlates to duration of a pause between the last command given and the next one to follow, lowest possible pause between is .1).
/macro xx (where xx correlates to the macro that will be called, typically by placing this at the end followed by the present macro will create a loopback, or repeat of the command).
/dump (cancels all macros, may need to be pressed multiple times due to lag).
Below is a general guide to the layout of toolbarSlotxx:
| 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 3rd Row
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 2nd Row (Keyboard Ctrl+1-"=")
| 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 1st Row (Keyboard 1-"=")
My basic combat macro's:
Name: Dum (Most important macro, because it cancels all other macros)
/dump
Name: Start-att (This starts a bunch of other macros)
/macro sero;
/pause .1;
/macro att1;
/pause .1;
/macro att2;
/pause .1;
/macro att4;
/pause .1;
/macro att5;
/pause .1;
/macro att6
Name: Sero (This starts a repeating macro for Serotonin Boost and Detox, why this to start is because if you got a bleed or debuff that caught you off guard you want to start removing it)
/ui action toolbarSlot26;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot27;
/macro sero
Name: Att1 (This starts a repeating macro for my abilities in the Ctrl+1-4 range)
/ui action toolbarSlot12;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot13;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot14;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot15;
/macro att1
Name: Att2 (This starts a repeating macro for my abilities in the Ctrl+5-8 range)
/ui action toolbarSlot16;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot17;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot18;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot19;
/macro att2
Name: Att4 (This starts a repeating macro for my abilities in the 3rd row 1-4 range)
/ui action toolbarSlot24;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot25;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot26;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot27;
/macro att4
Name: Att5 (This starts a repeating macro for my abilities in the 3rd row 5-8 range)
/ui action toolbarSlot28;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot29;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot30;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot31;
/macro att5
Name: Att6 (This starts a repeating macro for my abilties in the 3rd row 9-"=" range)
/ui action toolbarSlot32;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot33;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot34;
/pause .1;
/ui action toolbarSlot35;
/macro att6
What did these 6 macros do?
It activates Ctrl+1-8 and 3rd row 1-12 abilities quickly.
Now you may be asking why not just place all these in 1 macro instead of 6 macros? Reason is you want your abilities to activate as quickly as possible as a button smasher.
1st upside, this frees up your ability to view the battlefield and enjoy the game more as your not focused on pressing as many buttons on the keyboard.
2nd the downside of a button smasher is even at this accelerated rate abilities fail to fire due to other abilities trying to fire causing a cooldown between abilities. (most noticeable is Bacta Ampule as you may not need to heal but it tries to activate causing an hourglass to appear on all the abilities).
3rd downside of running more macros is it puts a strain on your computer causing your fps to drop. I typically don't experience much of a fps drop^ running with this macro on 3 of my alts.
How do we make this easier to activate verses typing in the chat /macro Start-att?
Hit "O" which brings up the Options, select Keymap, then the Custom tab. Navigate to Start-att, select Rebind.
I typically assign my combat macro to "Q" as it is close to my directional keys WASD.
*Dont forget to assign the macro Dum (Dump macro). I typically assign my dump macro to "E"
^Note I have different set of macros for my main character that activates all the above abilities slots on seperate timers triggered by 1 macro that activates 26 additional macros. It causes my fps to have a low of 60fps from my typical 120fps, on Hoth this causes my fps to dip below 30fps, as I typically get 60fps on Hoth running 4 characters.
Section 2: Assist Macro's
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have alternate characters (alts) that you want to travel with your main character (main), and don't want them to be useless, this is the basic guide for you.
Note before proceeding please follow AFK Rules and general kindness to other players when running around with a small army (some players are very sensitive to having alts in pvp, even if its outside of pvp zones and events, please use discression as there is not yet a rule involving every aspect of these two scenarios).
So we already have a combat macro created so thats great we can activate that and then switch to our alt and select a target then switch back to our main. But that takes time, we want things to be fluid and seemless.
What commands will you typically use for assist macro's?
/pause xx (where xx correlates to duration of a pause between the last command given and the next one to follow, lowest possible pause between is .1).
/join (to automatically join a group)
/follow xx (xx corresponding to the avatar you want follow)
/mount (to automatically mount a vehicle that lands on the retical, sometimes you will need to manually target the vehicle with an alt)
/assist xx (xx corresponding to the avatar you want to assist)
My basic assist macro's:
Name: Joi (My join macro, which causes my alts to join the group, follow my main, mount vehicles)
/join;
/pause 1;
/follow ayusaru;
/pause 1;
/mount;
/macro joi
*Note I slow down this macro some as these command do not need to be activated as often. I also occasionally at /harvest xx (xx corresponding to meat, hide, bone) to this macro, sadly you may have to occasionally manually target the creature to harvest these resources as the command needs to be issued while the retical is hovering over the corpse.
Name: asso (My assist macro, which causes my alt to target what my main targets)
/assist ayusaru;
/pause .1;
/macro asso
Now occasionally you want to assist the leader of a group (especially in pvp) that way all in the group focus on a specific target that is called out. You will want to use the following command.
/ui action targetGroup0
Macro example:
Name: asslead (My assist leader macro)
/ui action targetGroup0;
/assist;
/pause .1;
/macro asslead
I typically assign this macro to "R" on my keyboard for easy access.
Section 3: Miscellaneous Macros
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These are a few special case scenarios where I want a macro that does a specific thing.
What commands will you typically use for specific thing's macro's?
/harvest xx (xx corresponding to meat, hide, bone)
/loot (loots the reticalled corpse)
/deathblow (deals deathblow to reticalled player corpse)
/forage (forages off the group, find enzymes, treasure maps, bait)
/mount (mount the reticalled vehicle)
My specific thing's macro's:
Name: Loo (My nearly everything macro)
/loot
/harvest hide
/mount
/forage
Note /forage causes a delay to the activation of your abilities, so you will not want to run this on a repeat macro, or possibly remove this command from the macro all together, at the very least make sure its at the end of the macro otherwise it will prevent the commands that follow.
Name: Death (My deathblow macro)
/deathblow
/pause .1
/deathblow
Note /deathblow causes a delay to the activation of your abilities, so if you decide to run this on a repeat macro you may want to slow it down.
Final Thoughts:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once again I want to emphasize that I play as a button smasher, that is I don't carefully time my abilities.
Carefully timed abilities can provide better damage output, healing timing, and utility.
Note on healing timing you waste heals using them on a macro such as this.
Note on utility that is abilities that end on a cooldown and would have been better activated at a specific moment in combat verses random. Examples would be Debuffs (Stun), DoT's.
Some players find it better to run a macro with a .3 timing versus .1 timing, they say it causes less miss fires.
Using macros like these also can cause miss fires for manually selected abilities like Position Secure, which you may activate it and it goes on cooldown but doesn't actually apply, in this event you may want to dump your macros apply the ability and then start back up the macros.
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