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  1. #1
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    Cross Hotbar / Hotbar Order Suggestion

    I'm currently trying to figure out the best way to set up all my abilities on my Cross Hotbar (since I play with a controller) but I'm running into the problem of not having enough of the actions available at a glance without changing sets. With the normal hotbar you can have 2-4 bars stacked with 12 slots each. Unfortunately the cross-hotbar limits you to just 1 bar at a time with 16 slots. This poses an issue for keeping track of abilities coming off cooldown.

    I actually didn't mind the hotbar in 1.0... I just wanted to see more of them on screen and cycle through the abilities. However, I see how this would not be optimal/efficient in this game. Especially for PvP.

    Basically I'm asking for suggestions from any pad-warriors out there on what they prefer in terms of controller settings and hotbar layout. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also what are your hotbars looking like for diff

    Currently working on my DRG bar while it's slow at work. As you can see though, I'm running out of slots to keep track of buffs/off-GCD abilities with recasts.



    ^ Keeping my combos in same order as combos MvC1... L/Square -> M/X -> H/Triangle.

    Edit: Btw, I can't for the life of me figure out how to switch the controller to other action bars that are on the screen... Are you supposed to hit select to get to them or something? I would love to have 1 static row at the top of the cross-hotbar specifically for Mount/Sprint/Buffs/Food. I have one one column on the side for job change but I just use the mouse to get to it.

  2. #2
    Bard-turned-Miner
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    I don't know if this is possible on PS3, but on the PC you do need to add traditional hotbars to the screen for monitoring purposes. You can't get to them with the controller, but you can still put cool-down abilities on them to keep track of the timing. They still need to be a on a cross-bar to use. (The hotbar is also useful for things you might not care about grabbing the mouse for... class change, calling a companion or minion, etc.).

    It only takes 2 crossbars to get all the combat abilities you can use set. Generally speaking I have combos on the face buttons (generally in an A-X-Y order) and buffs/reactionary skills on the dpad. I can comfortably hit all but the left d-pad with my right thumb, so I rarely have trouble getting to what I want. For DRG I also duplicate Leg Sweep on both bars so I can always get to it quickly.

    I have crossbars 1-4 set to show only in combat, and 5-8 to show only outside of combat. 5-8 are also shared between classes. "A" on my main out-of-combat bar is the stance button, which automatically changes me over to crossbar 1. (Clicking the left stick does the same thing, but runs the risk of also locking on target).

    There's a macro command (/micon ?) that can replace a macro with the cooldown/icon of an actual ability, so you can place a macro in the crossbar but keep it as if it were the ability itself. I'm considering adding Power Surge to a macro with Jump, because so far there hasn't been a situation where I've wanted to jump without surge if it were up.

    There's also a macro command (can't remember the syntax) that changes your hotbar for you. You can have a macro that executes the final attack in a combo, then automatically changes you to next bar for your next combo.

    IMO, there's a ton of usability with the crossbar, but it really takes some time to plan out and "code" how to really make it work for you.

    [edit: two crossbars does cover all combat skills, but might not cover consumables or other things you might want access to. you can still have those on an "out of combat" crossbar and manually switch to it with R2 as needed.]

  3. #3

    Two crossbars? Don't you mean 1? Or are you counting each side (8 slots) as one crossbar?

    I don't know about you but I find 16 slots kind of restrictive. I'm also raging quite hard at the difficulty of switching to another crossbar even with R2...gotta toggle off the crossbars (my settings are set to toggle), press R2, toggle on again, press the ability you want to use, toggle off, press R2, and then toggle back. For ONE ability. Would be nice to be able to shift quickly. Holding down R2 to quick shift to another crossbar set DOESN'T work while the hotbars are displaying.

    I was actually debating using Xpadder with the mouse and keyboard because of this. Also because it has turbo functions, time lapse functions etc - could be quite a powerhouse with the macro system.

    Despite the rage (or perhaps in spite of it) my current setup is :

    Main Crossbar - battle abilities, oh-shit buttons like potions etc
    Crossbar 2 - Chocobo, Protect, Stance changes and the like, timed buffs (those with like 2-3 mins cooldown)

  4. #4
    Salvage Bans
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    I don't know if this will bite me in the end. but I just did a macro for self buffs

    /ac "keen Flurry" <me>
    /ac "Internal Release <me>
    /ac "Blood for Blood <me>
    .....etc

    and just get in the habit of hitting that while waiting for cooldown. (I have a normal bar above the crossbar for monitoring purpose) Saves a lot of room.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by mistmonster View Post
    I don't know if this will bite me in the end. but I just did a macro for self buffs

    /ac "keen Flurry" <me>
    /ac "Internal Release <me>
    /ac "Blood for Blood <me>
    .....etc

    and just get in the habit of hitting that while waiting for cooldown. (I have a normal bar above the crossbar for monitoring purpose) Saves a lot of room.
    Hmm that may very well bite you in the ass. First off you probably don't want to use all of your CDs on the same skill. Secondly, you lose DPS by using two abilities that are off-GCD back to back. You want to keep off-GCD abilities sandwich inbetween normal abilities (normal -> off-GCD -> normal). Least that was my observation while doing bosses in lowbie dungeons where the rotation is easy.

    Controller still seems to be lacking compared to m/k but it's definitely the most comfortable. I would like to be able to hotkey certain button combinations like R1+A to do something that isn't on a hotkey. Or mount on/off using L3 instead of having it lock-on (which is practically useless in this game).

  6. #6
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    I do the same as Mistmonster. It works extremely well for PLD when they have abilities that work well in conjuction (Bloodbath + Convalesence; Foresight + Awareness).

    Anything that goes on my second crossbar, I set up a macro to automatically switch back to my first hotbar.

  7. #7
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    @Jamison/Carth Now that is smart. I didn't know there was a macro command to throw you back to the first bar. Technically I can make macros for all the buffs I want on the second bar and have them throw me back to bar 1 (on the same panel button to keep things lazy/neat).

    Does anyone know what the command is to automatically change bars? I may log in today and spend the better part of 2-3 hours hitting the target dummies in LL region.

    Jamison, I may end up doing what you suggested and putting 2 small vertical hotbars sandwiching my cross hotbar just to keep track of cooldowns. Then switch pages to activate. Sucks that that's the only way though.

  8. #8
    CoP Dynamis
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kurokikaze View Post
    Hmm that may very well bite you in the ass. First off you probably don't want to use all of your CDs on the same skill. Secondly, you lose DPS by using two abilities that are off-GCD back to back. You want to keep off-GCD abilities sandwich inbetween normal abilities (normal -> off-GCD -> normal). Least that was my observation while doing bosses in lowbie dungeons where the rotation is easy.

    Controller still seems to be lacking compared to m/k but it's definitely the most comfortable. I would like to be able to hotkey certain button combinations like R1+A to do something that isn't on a hotkey. Or mount on/off using L3 instead of having it lock-on (which is practically useless in this game).
    Those macros only activate the first available action when executed. I do that with most of mine as well, for better or worse.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by gaogaostegosaurus View Post
    Those macros only activate the first available action when executed. I do that with most of mine as well, for better or worse.
    I see.. So they activate the first action on the first hit then cycle through every hit after? <-- if this is the case then you need to remember how deep into the macro you are. Lest you use the wrong ability.

    Sorry if these sound like stupid questions... Between working tons of OT, social life and login issues (when I'm finally able to play) I haven't been able to log in much.

  10. #10
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    They aren't stupid. To be honest I'm surprised the devs thought this far ahead with macros.

    Quote Originally Posted by Kurokikaze View Post
    Does anyone know what the command is to automatically change bars? I may log in today and spend the better part of 2-3 hours hitting the target dummies in LL region.
    /chotbar change <insert hotbar number here>
    /hotbar is for normal hotbars.

  11. #11
    Elvaan Death Machine
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    I was messing with my HUD today and playing with the keybindings, I discovered that you can keybind ctrl+1, ctrl+2, Alt+1, Alt+2, etc to a regular hotbar and have it work with a controller. This made things much easier for me to get some of my less frequently used skills of my cross hotbar but still have them readily available.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pharaun View Post
    I was messing with my HUD today and playing with the keybindings, I discovered that you can keybind ctrl+1, ctrl+2, Alt+1, Alt+2, etc to a regular hotbar and have it work with a controller. This made things much easier for me to get some of my less frequently used skills of my cross hotbar but still have them readily available.
    How do you make that work on your controller? Is it possible to make certain button combinations on the controller = CRTL1? Because that would fix A LOT of problems for me. From my limited time messing around with the controller configuration it didn't seem like you can change any of non-stock mappings. For example: I wanted to turn off L3's Lock-On and used that as push to talk (for Mumble) instead and couldn't find a way to do it.

    Thank you for the command Carth. Cannot wait to get home and mess around.

  13. #13
    Elvaan Death Machine
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    Sorry I worded my post poorly, I haven't found a way to make it work with the controller buttons, I still have to use the keyboard commands. I just use it get things that aren't critical off my cross hotbar, like my mounts and skills that aren't generally used in combat like protect . I was just happy to figure out how to get this to work because it freed up a little room. I'm going to mess around with it some more when I get home from work and see if I can figure out a way to make it work with controller buttons.

  14. #14
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    Been having similar issues as Kuro. Great info in this thread, thanks for these tips. Gonna take a more deliberate look at some of these ingame commands, I'm sure i'm missing out on some helpful stuff.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pharaun View Post
    Sorry I worded my post poorly, I haven't found a way to make it work with the controller buttons, I still have to use the keyboard commands. I just use it get things that aren't critical off my cross hotbar, like my mounts and skills that aren't generally used in combat like protect . I was just happy to figure out how to get this to work because it freed up a little room. I'm going to mess around with it some more when I get home from work and see if I can figure out a way to make it work with controller buttons.
    I also do this. It's especially useful as a tank since I can put markers on my hotbar. Having to use the keyboard doesn't bother me either. It's wireless and I played Starcraft so I have fast fingers. I suggest putting Food, markers, mounts, potions, and most importantly your limit break on your keyboard hotbar.

  16. #16

    I think maybe what we may be looking for is the Keybind options in the main system menu. There are 7 tabs and you can rebind whatever you want. That's pretty standard...except one of the tabs is Gamepad!

    Haven't messed around with it yet (actually gonna sleep after this post, late in my timezone) but I stumbled across it while attempting to fix my controller woes. If you can use keyboard hotbars in addition to the cross hotbars, then all we have to do is bind certain key presses to certain button presses. Should open up a whole lot more options.

    Keep it coming guys! All the info has been very useful so far, and it's good to know I'm not the only one having trouble here.

  17. #17
    Elvaan Death Machine
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    I know that SE had mentioned considering adding L2+R2 as a third option for the cross hotbar. I really wish that they had implemented this since it would give controller users 24 slots to work with.

  18. #18
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    Is it possible to bind Logitech G11/G15 keys to tertiary+ hotbars directly?

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pharaun View Post
    I know that SE had mentioned considering adding L2+R2 as a third option for the cross hotbar. I really wish that they had implemented this since it would give controller users 24 slots to work with.
    I really would have enjoyed this, although I think it was a PS3 limitation that prevented it from happening.

    Quote Originally Posted by Stromgarde View Post
    Is it possible to bind Logitech G11/G15 keys to tertiary+ hotbars directly?
    If you can map in-game the control/alt+num, that's work easily. If not, I'd wager a guess an autohotkey mouse click at the right coordinates on the screen would work as well.

  20. #20
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    Worked best for me was to get rid of everything on Bar 8, then just use Bar 1 and Bar 2 with RB. I have vertical bar 7 and 8 that has everything I don't immediately need (Warp, Tele, Protect, Food, Choco, minions etc).

    Every single ability I put on Bar 2 is a macro with the ability I'm going to use as the icon and then switching back to bar 1. It takes a bit of memorization and getting used too but after you've committed to memory what abilities you have on bar 2 it's pretty smooth. 32 crossbar slots should be more than enough for every job/class.

    Edit: To Kuro, For PLD specifically, I put things on Bar 2 that I know I'll use when I need to prepare for a big attack. (Rampart, Sent etc) or I want to dish some damage (Fight of Flight)

    I have vertical bar 10 shown with every ability that has a cooldown for the reason listed by Jamison, to keep track of cooldowns. I hide all unused slots, and bar 10 only shows during combat.