There are some fundamental, important considerations that go into macro crafting. This mostly focused on 80 crafting, but some things apply to lower levels as well (IQ being important, Byregot's being OP, needing to use buffs efficiently)
ZEROETH: https://ffxivteamcraft.com/ experiment with making macros there, it's a great tool for trialing crafts.
FIRST: Inner Quiet is absurdly important, and you will, for almost any serious macro, get that buff ASAP. It makes your touches, at max stats and level, more than twice as strong, and it's used for our crafting finishing blow, Byregot's. Prep Touch giving you 2 IQ stacks is crazy good, and Delicate Synth giving you an IQ stack while doing some progress gains mean these two skills form the backbone of any serious crafting rotation.
SECOND: Right now, Reflect is a lot stronger than Muscle Memory. Reflect is almost always the first button you press. Exception is crafts that don't have quality (in which case, muscle memory -> ingenuity -> careful spam will craft almost anything). There might be muscle memory strats, but I haven't seen a lot.
THIRD: Ingenuity is crazy strong. On current endgame crafts, it basically doubles the progress and quality gain from any touches or synthesis actions. You'll almost always want to preface touches and synths with ingenuity.
FOURTH: Try to fit as many buffed actions under a buff. If a buff costs 30 CP for 5 actions, that's like 6 CP per action. If you miss an action, it's like you wasted 6 CP. Sometimes it's unavoidable, but try to make the best use of your buffs. Ingenuity is the most important buff to not waste, followed by Manipulation, which is easily not wasted due to the near-mandatory starting 10 durability usage from Muscle Memory/Reflect.
FIFTH: Manipulation is the most efficient durability restoration tool, and Waste Not II is the most efficient reduction in durability usage. Manipulation restores 40 durability if never wasted, and Waste Not II can save you 80 durability in skill costs. (Note: Never do that. Usually you'll use 4 prep touches, maybe 5 at the most) Waste Not II is much stronger to use on 20-cost skills (Right now, just the big boy Preparatory Touch), but using it on 10-durability-cost skills is still pretty good, but may not be optimal.
Sixth: This is a small optimization, but if your craft has 30, 40, 60, 80 durability, try to use actions such that your current durability ends in 5. You get a whole extra 5 durability worth of actions if you do so. Example - if you use Waste Not II on an 80 durability item, you could Prep Touch 7 times, then use a Delicate Synth, consuming 75 durability, then get a whole nother full action out.
Seventh: ALWAYS FINISH QUALITY GAINS WITH BYREGOT'S BLESSING. If you stack IQ to 11, your control is as high as possible, and Byregot's will act as a touch action with 330% efficiency. With Ingenuity basically doubling your efficiency, that's 660%. With innovation, that's 792%. And if you want the biggest possible hits, you'll use Ingenuity -> Innovation -> Great Strides, that will give you (330%+100%)*2*1.2=1032% efficiency ultra-touch.
Eighth: If you want to Reuse, use it right after Byregot's - and you'll need to save 60 CP for it.
Finally: You're always balancing durability use and CP use. 5 durability = 12 CP in manipulation costs. Some actions are super CP efficient (basic touch), but very durability inefficient. Some actions are super durability efficient (Prep Touch, Delicate Synthesis), but CP inefficient (costing 36/32). Durability-efficient actions also are better for buff conservation, since you're getting more out of your buffs per action, so end-game crafting rotations almost inevitably use Prep/Delicate.
Overall, macro crafting is way simpler than before, since there's so much less RNG, so you'll see a lot less variance in macros this season.
To actually make macros, go to the Macros tab in your system menu, and make skills like such:
/ac "Skill Name" <wait.x>
Skill name is the actual text of the skill, and x is how long the skill takes to resolve. They changed up some waits, so I'll be honest, I don't remember all the necessary delays. 3 is always safe, but I think most touches and synths work on 2.
Some skill specifics:
Quality Enhancements
Byregot's is so absurdly important, I'm mentioning it again. 15k quality in one action is unparalleled, and IQ is important because it leads to these hueg blessings. If you're using Great Strides, always use it before the ingenuity+innovation, so that you waste as little of those two buffs on synthesis actions. The super common finisher is Great Strides -> Ingenuity -> Innovation -> Byregot's -> Synth Actions.
Ingenuity doubles action efficiencies. Innovation increases it by 20%. 5 actions under just Ingenuity is 1000% action efficiency, while 4 actions under both is 960% action efficiency. Ingenuity costs 22 CP, innovation costs 18 CP. As we said above, 5 durability is roughly 12 CP, so the cost of Ingenuity+5 actions is, effectively, 22+5*actioncost+5*actiondurabilitycost. The cost Ingenuity + Innovation + 4 actions is 40+4*actioncost+4*actiondurabilitycost. So the more expensive your actions, or the bigger your actions in durability cost, the better it is to preface it with innovation, even if it burns a stack of ingenuity. HOWEVER! 5 actions means 5 IQ stack increases, while 4 only means 4 - and more IQ means a stronger byregot's and stronger touches and more quality, so the 5-action option might be better. I believe this is a solvable question, but I haven't actually put the time in to solve it.
Delicate Synthesis vs Prep Touch
These are the two most commonly used actions in endgame crafting right now. Which is better? Depends. Prep Touch becomes a lot better on higher durability items, since it is a durability-hungry skill - but it gets you 2 IQ stacks per use, so it's very, very action efficient, and 200% efficiency means huge quality gains from just a few touches. Delicate synthesis is also 200%, but it's 100% synth and 100% quality, which is great since it makes your finishing synthesis much shorter in some cases - but you'll have lower IQ stacks, which means you ultimately need more time IQ-building but less time synthing. Definitely do some experimenting on this, but I find that I favor Prep Touch on 80-durability finished goods and Delicate Synth on 35-dur intermediary products.
Synth Capstones, aka "Crafters Finishing the Job"
Ingenuity is fantastic for synthesis actions, and you tend to have 3-4 actions of it left after Byregot's. Use it!
For 10, 20 and 30 durability, Brand + Name is the highest 3-action safe action, at 200/400/600% efficiency for 36/42/48 CP usage. This is pretty CP heavy though, especially if you're doing innovation->Brand->3xName for 1200% efficiency at 60 CP but only 30 durability cost. A cheaper alternative is Ingenuity -> Careful Synthx3, for 900% for 43 CP cost. Usually, you'll use Byregot's under ingenuity, then use 3 or 4 stacks of ingenuity to finish your craft based on the amount of CP you have left. No CP? Basic synths. Some CP? Careful Synths. Lots of CP? Name->Brand, but if you have full quality and lots of CP, you'll tend to be able to get away with using Careful Synths anyway since the craft can't be that hard in that case.
Rapid Synthesis is, on average, the strongest macroable synth action (at 250% per use, on average). And it's FREE CP-wise. But it's pretty worthless because if you're relying on it to finish a craft, you're basically flipping coins to see if you actually do. If you're manually crafting, and you know for a fact you fucked up and can't finish a craft, you can use it to hail mary.
Low level?
If you're low level, and don't have a lot of CP, hasty touch is great because it's free, but it does make low level crafting somewhat RNG. Basic touches and basic synths with buffs and Byregot's once you hit 50 is the best way to go - and above all, make sure you stay at least reasonably geared for the crafts you want to do. You level turbo fast, so it's not too important to do a ton of research here.
Let me know if I missed anything in this guide, or if it helped you, or if you disagree with anything I said and wanna e-fight about it.
submitted by /u/Kwahn
[link] [comments]
Continue reading...
ZEROETH: https://ffxivteamcraft.com/ experiment with making macros there, it's a great tool for trialing crafts.
FIRST: Inner Quiet is absurdly important, and you will, for almost any serious macro, get that buff ASAP. It makes your touches, at max stats and level, more than twice as strong, and it's used for our crafting finishing blow, Byregot's. Prep Touch giving you 2 IQ stacks is crazy good, and Delicate Synth giving you an IQ stack while doing some progress gains mean these two skills form the backbone of any serious crafting rotation.
SECOND: Right now, Reflect is a lot stronger than Muscle Memory. Reflect is almost always the first button you press. Exception is crafts that don't have quality (in which case, muscle memory -> ingenuity -> careful spam will craft almost anything). There might be muscle memory strats, but I haven't seen a lot.
THIRD: Ingenuity is crazy strong. On current endgame crafts, it basically doubles the progress and quality gain from any touches or synthesis actions. You'll almost always want to preface touches and synths with ingenuity.
FOURTH: Try to fit as many buffed actions under a buff. If a buff costs 30 CP for 5 actions, that's like 6 CP per action. If you miss an action, it's like you wasted 6 CP. Sometimes it's unavoidable, but try to make the best use of your buffs. Ingenuity is the most important buff to not waste, followed by Manipulation, which is easily not wasted due to the near-mandatory starting 10 durability usage from Muscle Memory/Reflect.
FIFTH: Manipulation is the most efficient durability restoration tool, and Waste Not II is the most efficient reduction in durability usage. Manipulation restores 40 durability if never wasted, and Waste Not II can save you 80 durability in skill costs. (Note: Never do that. Usually you'll use 4 prep touches, maybe 5 at the most) Waste Not II is much stronger to use on 20-cost skills (Right now, just the big boy Preparatory Touch), but using it on 10-durability-cost skills is still pretty good, but may not be optimal.
Sixth: This is a small optimization, but if your craft has 30, 40, 60, 80 durability, try to use actions such that your current durability ends in 5. You get a whole extra 5 durability worth of actions if you do so. Example - if you use Waste Not II on an 80 durability item, you could Prep Touch 7 times, then use a Delicate Synth, consuming 75 durability, then get a whole nother full action out.
Seventh: ALWAYS FINISH QUALITY GAINS WITH BYREGOT'S BLESSING. If you stack IQ to 11, your control is as high as possible, and Byregot's will act as a touch action with 330% efficiency. With Ingenuity basically doubling your efficiency, that's 660%. With innovation, that's 792%. And if you want the biggest possible hits, you'll use Ingenuity -> Innovation -> Great Strides, that will give you (330%+100%)*2*1.2=1032% efficiency ultra-touch.
Eighth: If you want to Reuse, use it right after Byregot's - and you'll need to save 60 CP for it.
Finally: You're always balancing durability use and CP use. 5 durability = 12 CP in manipulation costs. Some actions are super CP efficient (basic touch), but very durability inefficient. Some actions are super durability efficient (Prep Touch, Delicate Synthesis), but CP inefficient (costing 36/32). Durability-efficient actions also are better for buff conservation, since you're getting more out of your buffs per action, so end-game crafting rotations almost inevitably use Prep/Delicate.
Overall, macro crafting is way simpler than before, since there's so much less RNG, so you'll see a lot less variance in macros this season.
To actually make macros, go to the Macros tab in your system menu, and make skills like such:
/ac "Skill Name" <wait.x>
Skill name is the actual text of the skill, and x is how long the skill takes to resolve. They changed up some waits, so I'll be honest, I don't remember all the necessary delays. 3 is always safe, but I think most touches and synths work on 2.
Some skill specifics:
Quality Enhancements
Byregot's is so absurdly important, I'm mentioning it again. 15k quality in one action is unparalleled, and IQ is important because it leads to these hueg blessings. If you're using Great Strides, always use it before the ingenuity+innovation, so that you waste as little of those two buffs on synthesis actions. The super common finisher is Great Strides -> Ingenuity -> Innovation -> Byregot's -> Synth Actions.
Ingenuity doubles action efficiencies. Innovation increases it by 20%. 5 actions under just Ingenuity is 1000% action efficiency, while 4 actions under both is 960% action efficiency. Ingenuity costs 22 CP, innovation costs 18 CP. As we said above, 5 durability is roughly 12 CP, so the cost of Ingenuity+5 actions is, effectively, 22+5*actioncost+5*actiondurabilitycost. The cost Ingenuity + Innovation + 4 actions is 40+4*actioncost+4*actiondurabilitycost. So the more expensive your actions, or the bigger your actions in durability cost, the better it is to preface it with innovation, even if it burns a stack of ingenuity. HOWEVER! 5 actions means 5 IQ stack increases, while 4 only means 4 - and more IQ means a stronger byregot's and stronger touches and more quality, so the 5-action option might be better. I believe this is a solvable question, but I haven't actually put the time in to solve it.
Delicate Synthesis vs Prep Touch
These are the two most commonly used actions in endgame crafting right now. Which is better? Depends. Prep Touch becomes a lot better on higher durability items, since it is a durability-hungry skill - but it gets you 2 IQ stacks per use, so it's very, very action efficient, and 200% efficiency means huge quality gains from just a few touches. Delicate synthesis is also 200%, but it's 100% synth and 100% quality, which is great since it makes your finishing synthesis much shorter in some cases - but you'll have lower IQ stacks, which means you ultimately need more time IQ-building but less time synthing. Definitely do some experimenting on this, but I find that I favor Prep Touch on 80-durability finished goods and Delicate Synth on 35-dur intermediary products.
Synth Capstones, aka "Crafters Finishing the Job"
Ingenuity is fantastic for synthesis actions, and you tend to have 3-4 actions of it left after Byregot's. Use it!
For 10, 20 and 30 durability, Brand + Name is the highest 3-action safe action, at 200/400/600% efficiency for 36/42/48 CP usage. This is pretty CP heavy though, especially if you're doing innovation->Brand->3xName for 1200% efficiency at 60 CP but only 30 durability cost. A cheaper alternative is Ingenuity -> Careful Synthx3, for 900% for 43 CP cost. Usually, you'll use Byregot's under ingenuity, then use 3 or 4 stacks of ingenuity to finish your craft based on the amount of CP you have left. No CP? Basic synths. Some CP? Careful Synths. Lots of CP? Name->Brand, but if you have full quality and lots of CP, you'll tend to be able to get away with using Careful Synths anyway since the craft can't be that hard in that case.
Rapid Synthesis is, on average, the strongest macroable synth action (at 250% per use, on average). And it's FREE CP-wise. But it's pretty worthless because if you're relying on it to finish a craft, you're basically flipping coins to see if you actually do. If you're manually crafting, and you know for a fact you fucked up and can't finish a craft, you can use it to hail mary.
Low level?
If you're low level, and don't have a lot of CP, hasty touch is great because it's free, but it does make low level crafting somewhat RNG. Basic touches and basic synths with buffs and Byregot's once you hit 50 is the best way to go - and above all, make sure you stay at least reasonably geared for the crafts you want to do. You level turbo fast, so it's not too important to do a ton of research here.
Let me know if I missed anything in this guide, or if it helped you, or if you disagree with anything I said and wanna e-fight about it.
submitted by /u/Kwahn
[link] [comments]
Continue reading...