Rift spam macros?

[Cptnchaos]

So recently dinged 50 on my mage and started looking up the different specs that were good. One common theme was "Here is a spec and here is its spam macros." It kind throws me off because at initial glance it's as if you are trying to use every ability possible and there are a tremendous amount of globals being used.

I'm wondering if this is really the optimal way to go about this or am I being fed false information? Either way I will play the game, but want to make sure I'm doing it right

[Primalthirst]

The macro system in Rift is a very simple one.
Imagine it like a priority order. So if a macro goes:
cast Countdown
cast Fireball
cast Flame Bolt

It will always attempt to cast Countdown first, but if it is on cooldown it will then try to cast Fireball, if unable it will cast Flame Bolt as a last resort. People generally use macros for when multiple abilities have the same function but some are better than others, hence you want to prioritise them.

[Nobleshield]

They changed some abilities so you can't have one macro to rule them all (something that I IMHO don't like. I liked the simplicity of Rift's specs because it meant boss fights could be more interesting), but the general idea is that you would put cooldown abilities before GCD-only abilities, so you could cycle through them. So if my macro was something like:

cast Ability With Big Cooldown
cast Ability with Short Cooldown
cast Ability with Cast Time
cast Ability Without Cast Time

Then I'd use the big cooldown first press, small cooldown second press, cast time otherwise, but if I'm moving (say getting away from a boss's AOE) I'd use my instant cast ability.

[DSRilk]

I'm wondering if this is really the optimal way to go about this or am I being fed false information?

It's not usually optimal, but it depends on what abilities you're putting in the macro. Even abilities that should be fine sometimes create a slight lag. This is most often caused by abilities that have to check a state versus simply being on cooldown. The other thing you need to watch out for is macroing in buff abilities. For example, if you have a spell that debuffs your opponent and you want to make sure it's up as often as possible, you may be tempted to macro it in to an attack. However, you can then end up where you hit what looks like an attack button and it appears to do nothing, while in reality it is casting the debuff. While not inefficient in itself, it can cause mild confusion or miss-hit keys as think you hit your attack ability in your rotation when in reality it got skipped for the debuff.

The only macros I'd recommend using are ones that link basically identical abilities. I.e. if you have three abilities that are instant ranged damage with knock backs, then you could macro those together. I often create an extra bar where I put the abilities that I have macro'd in, that way I can still see where they are on the cooldown cycle.

[Puremallace]

Outside of warriors which they are working on heavily alot of classes macros are very short. The system in Rift really makes sense honestly

Longest CD
short CD
Instant

Looking back I probably should have macrod' more in other games instead of playing a piano with my keyboard

[RoninaThorstone]

Looking back I probably should have macrod' more in other games instead of playing a piano with my keyboard

To be fair, its kind of fun to play piano with your keyboard.

It was one of the exciting and fun aspects of swtor. On my operative I had a hybrid spec where I utilized about 25-35 abilities / on use items every warzone.

But in rift, I can totally see how the complexity of each spec kind of needs macros. Even if you macro like... 3 abilities together for every macro you would have more rotation than most classes in other video games.

[Cptnchaos]

Doing some work on the dummies I can definitely see the need for some of these macros, rift dps rotations are some of the most complex if ever encountered in my personal experience. I was just thrown off at first by how many abilities one macro contained. I've adjusted some to my liking and I must say its gotten me even more excited about rift. Now I need to put it into action to get out of this random questing gear.

[Primalthirst]

Overall the average complexity of rotations has increased with Storm Legion class changes, which is a good thing IMO.

I used to fall asleep playing Dps as anything other than Mage, 2 or 3 buttons is just so meh.