Spellcast Help Thread (Link your XML using Pastebin.com for help!)

[nikia]

Looks fairly solid, except

<castdelay delay="1" />

I doubt you need a full second's pause here, though. Try it with lower, maybe 0.3-0.5.

Rather than using notbuffactive, It's a minor speed optimization to use buffactive, and reverse the order.

If buffactive="flash|amnesia"
 cancelspell
else
 if abyssea
  aby-hi
 else
  hi
 end
end

Basically rather than having to check all your buffs for flash or amnesia, it only has to check until it finds one of them.

*NOTE* This may not be the case depending on the base spellcast coding, but it seems likely, as it's a easy and cheap optimization. In either case, you're looking at tiny fractions of a second.

So does this look better, not sure if the syntax is right, not able to test at the moment.

            <!-- Handling of WeaponSkill -->
            <if Spell="Blade: Hi">
                <if buffactive="Flash|Amnesia">
      		<cancelspell />
                    <addtochat color="121">------------------------------------------------------------ Weapon Skill Canceled while Amnesia/Flash is in effect !</addtochat>
                    <addtochat color="121">------------------------------------------------------------ Weapon Skill Canceled while Amnesia/Flash is in effect !</addtochat>
                </if>
	        <else>                
		     <if buffactive="Visitant">
                        <castdelay delay="0.5" />
                        <equip when="precast" set="BladeHiAby" />
                        <addtochat color="121">------------------------------------------------------------ ABYSSEA BLADE: HI SET !</addtochat>
                     </if>
                    <else>
                        <castdelay delay="0.5" />
                        <equip when="precast" set="BladeHi" />
                        <addtochat color="121">------------------------------------------------------------ OUTSIDE ABYSSEA BLADE: HI SET !</addtochat>
                    </else>
                </else>
            </if>

I always used 1 sec waits for lag, so .5sec should work for most things?

SideNote: I use a .75 delay for spells for fastcast, think .5 would still allow time for gear change even with lag?

Thank you again for all the info.

[Radec]

So does this look better, not sure if the syntax is right, not able to test at the moment.

            <!-- Handling of WeaponSkill -->
            <if Spell="Blade: Hi">
                <if buffactive="Flash|Amnesia">
      		<cancelspell />
                    <addtochat color="121">------------------------------------------------------------ Weapon Skill Canceled while Amnesia/Flash is in effect !</addtochat>
                    <addtochat color="121">------------------------------------------------------------ Weapon Skill Canceled while Amnesia/Flash is in effect !</addtochat>
                </if>
	        <else>                
			<if buffactive="Visitant">
                        <castdelay delay="0.5" />
                        <equip when="precast" set="BladeHiAby" />
                        <addtochat color="121">------------------------------------------------------------ ABYSSEA BLADE: HI SET !</addtochat>
                    </if>
                    <else>
                        <castdelay delay="0.5" />
                        <equip when="precast" set="BladeHi" />
                        <addtochat color="121">------------------------------------------------------------ OUTSIDE ABYSSEA BLADE: HI SET !</addtochat>
                    </else>
                </else>
            </if>

I always used 1 sec waits for lag, so .5sec should work for most things?

SideNote: I use a .75 delay for spells for fastcast, think .5 would still allow time for gear change even with lag?

Thank you again for all the info.

Looks good format wise. Far as waits go - 0.5 likely plenty, I've always used 0.3 or less. Town isn't really a fair test, best way to tell is go out beside an abyssea ally and check that way. It's easier to see with things like waltz, where you know the result if gear does/doesn't swap. ymmv though, so best I can say is it works for me, and try it out.

[nikia]

Looks good format wise. Far as waits go - 0.5 likely plenty, I've always used 0.3 or less. Town isn't really a fair test, best way to tell is go out beside an abyssea ally and check that way. It's easier to see with things like waltz, where you know the result if gear does/doesn't swap. ymmv though, so best I can say is it works for me, and try it out.

So else nested inside another else should work fine?
or <elseif> then <else> statement?
And again thank you for the help I am grateful.

[Radec]

if A
	if AA
		do AA
	/if
	else
		do AB
	/else
/if
else
	if BA
		do BA
	/if
	elseif BB
		do BB
	/elseif
	else
		do BC
	/else
/else

All that is fine.

-if: Can happen anytime
-elseif: must follow an /if or an /elseif. Requires the condition stated on it's line to be true, and all previous if > elseif > elseif etc conditions to be false, in the same chain.
-else: Must follow an /if or an /elseif, ends the chain. Requires all previous if > elseif > elseif etc conditions to be false, in the same chain

[Mercilessturtle]

SideNote: I use a .75 delay for spells for fastcast, think .5 would still allow time for gear change even with lag?

Lag doesn't cause problems with fastcast, and adding a precast delay defeats the purpose of fastcast to begin with, which is to cast faster.

[Radec]

Lag doesn't cause problems with fastcast, and adding a precast delay defeats the purpose of fastcast to begin with, which is to cast faster.

Doesn't work for me, Doesn't work for Ksandra, I'm betting doesn't work for this poster either.

That being said, If the pause required (it is required) is greater than the fastcast gain, skip the precast set. This doesn't apply for WS/JA since no casttime, your call on if the pause is worth it or not.

[Mercilessturtle]

We went through this already. You even seemed to understand the issue. Multiple swaps can block each other. This has absolutely nothing to do with lag. Go cast reraise a thousand times. Notice how your fastcast gear always swaps in successfully without any precast delay. If you want to do it faster, go do it on pup using AF gloves and maneuvers. Lag does not cause precast gear to not swap. Spamming multiple JAs can mess up your swaps. It is pretty hard to make it an issue for spells, maybe utsu on dnc.

[Falaras]

Could anyone point me towards a nice Warrior spellcast? Mine doesn't work anymore its so old.

[Khajit]

Kinda confused on Spellcast I just modified, copied from someone and changed whole bunch. In the end, when I tried to use it for first time, It said something around incorrect end tag @ Line 340. Thanks~

http://pastebin.com/VZa14XHA

You could make some sort of variable based on the number if you want though. You just have to input what you want manually. Aka. make a macro that you hit whenever you get 11 that goes back to the original Variable after x amount of time? Or perhaps have a toggle of some sort on the variable?

[Akyrey90]

anybody got a good cor xml and doesnt mind sharing it? thx in advance!

[nikia]

Lag doesn't cause problems with fastcast, and adding a precast delay defeats the purpose of fastcast to begin with, which is to cast faster.

The .75 cast delay is for fastcast gear to equip before precast, I noticed in 2009 when i did first tests that lag did effect it. I got use to the delay but was mainly wondering if 1/2 sec would still let the fastcast gear equip so the casting time would still fire at a lower percentage. Was just a thought.

[Mercilessturtle]

That's what I am saying, zero delay lets the fastcast gear equip just fine. I know this "lag breaks my fastcast" myth is very common, but it is also very easy to test and see that it works fine.

[nikia]

That's what I am saying, zero delay lets the fastcast gear equip just fine. I know this "lag breaks my fastcast" myth is very common, but it is also very easy to test and see that it works fine.

When I did my tests, Lag Did effect it, I tested it in White gate back when it was packed and always laggy. If there is a better way to test these days please let me know. I will admit a slight delay is nice for when you try to cast at almost the same moment you stop moving, they .75 helps to avoid interrupt. One last thing would be if you get use to the delay you can time the commands accordingly. I still am interested in redoing my tests i know someone mentioned doing DNC cures. Is that a good way or should i test another way?
Thank you for the help and insight there has always been some aspects of windower and spellcast that i wondered about so this helps me to understand it better.

[Radec]

RDM90/WHM, no FC gear
[00:07:37]Exemel starts casting Teleport-Dem on Exemel.
[00:07:51]Exemel's casting is interrupted.
[00:08:00]Exemel starts casting Teleport-Dem on Exemel.
[00:08:14]Exemel's casting is interrupted.
14sec, matches to 20sec cast time * 30% FC trait

Added Relic Body, Artifact Hat +1
[00:08:32]Exemel starts casting Teleport-Dem on Exemel.
[00:08:42]Exemel's casting is interrupted.
10sec, matches to 20sec cast time + 30% trait + 20% gear

0.3 precast delay
[00:13:14]Exemel starts casting Teleport-Dem on Exemel.
[00:13:25]Exemel's casting is interrupted.
11sec, matches to 0.3 + 20sec cast time + 30% trait + 20% gear and a bad tic on the clock.

0 precast delay
[00:13:55]Exemel starts casting Teleport-Dem on Exemel.
[00:14:05]Exemel's casting is interrupted. 
-Worked
[00:14:20]Exemel starts casting Teleport-Dem on Exemel.
[00:14:34]Exemel's casting is interrupted.
-Didn't
[00:14:47]Exemel starts casting Teleport-Dem on Exemel.
[00:15:01]Exemel's casting is interrupted.
-Didn't
[00:15:12]Exemel starts casting Teleport-Dem on Exemel.
[00:15:24]Exemel's casting is interrupted.
-Didn't sorta, looks like 1 piece equipped in time
[00:15:38]Exemel starts casting Teleport-Dem on Exemel.
[00:15:52]Exemel's casting is interrupted.
-Didn't
[00:16:04]Exemel starts casting Teleport-Dem on Exemel.
[00:16:16]Exemel's casting is interrupted.
-Didn't

Done in portJ, ~60' from horst toward the MH.

Edit: 3 more with 0.3 precast delay.

[00:25:26]Exemel starts casting Teleport-Dem on Exemel.
[00:25:36]Exemel's casting is interrupted.
[00:25:51]Exemel starts casting Teleport-Dem on Exemel.
[00:26:01]Exemel's casting is interrupted.
[00:26:16]Exemel starts casting Teleport-Dem on Exemel.
[00:26:27]Exemel's casting is interrupted.

[Byrthnoth]

Thinking about that, do you guys castdelay/precast all your spells on mage jobs, or only the long-casting ones? It always seems a waste to me to pre-cast stuff like Flash, Stun, Utsu:Ni, etc., especially if you're swapping in a pretty minor amount of Fast cast gear. At 75, for instance, the best BLM could do was about +6% Fast Cast through gear. It would have taken a 50 second casting time spell to be worth precasting that with a delay of 0.3.

[Cymmina]

Thinking about that, do you guys castdelay/precast all your spells on mage jobs, or only the long-casting ones? It always seems a waste to me to pre-cast stuff like Flash, Stun, Utsu:Ni, etc., especially if you're swapping in a pretty minor amount of Fast cast gear. At 75, for instance, the best BLM could do was about +6% Fast Cast through gear. It would have taken a 50 second casting time spell to be worth precasting that with a delay of 0.3.

I only use castdelay on ranged for pulling. As you say, for short casting spells, delaying the start of the spell doesn't make it worth it for spells that already have a short casting time.

[Kurp]

I'd love a samurai .xml to work with. I looked back around 20 pages and didn't see one.

[shaddix]

When I was messing around with precast delay a long time ago, I got the idea that it wasn't that the equip wasn't swapping in time, it's that the server updates the working set of modifiers for your spells on a timer, thus if your equip timing was unlucky with the server update then you'd lose your precast bonus.

I guess those two things are functionally identical, but that was my explanation for the randomness of it. For example if you were to swap your gear in just before the server polls your equip for spell mods, then you would get the fastcast, however if it had just polled and then you swapped equip right after, the start of your spell would be cast from your old set. This may not make any sense from a coding perspective, I wouldn't know.

Also, I will second the .3 suggestion. That is the point where I found precast fastcast would work 100% of the time. Anything faster and it's iffy.

[Radec]

Thinking about that, do you guys castdelay/precast all your spells on mage jobs, or only the long-casting ones? It always seems a waste to me to pre-cast stuff like Flash, Stun, Utsu:Ni, etc., especially if you're swapping in a pretty minor amount of Fast cast gear. At 75, for instance, the best BLM could do was about +6% Fast Cast through gear. It would have taken a 50 second casting time spell to be worth precasting that with a delay of 0.3.

<if notbuffactive="Chainspell">
	<if CastTimeGT="2.0">
		<action type="castdelay" delay="0.3"/>
	</if>
	<equip when="precast" set="Fastcast"/>
</if>

FC set on RDM adds 20% (head, body) so on a 2sec spell I should gain 0.4 seconds. I still equip it precast anyways on the offchance it gets there in time, and if nothing else to swap in head/body, I'll take the recast bonus.

[Mercilessturtle]

This may not make any sense from a coding perspective, I wouldn't know.

No, it really doesn't, especially since that would break the regular old in game macros.

For what it's worth, I've tested this several times in the past, and never been able to get it to happen. I tried again today. Regain atmas, standing at the bastion fight thing, autoexec running a "cancel HP buff, waltz me" script, spellcast swapping in my AF body on precast with no delay. 601 waltzes, 601 with potency gear swapped in correctly. And the bastion fights were laggy as fuck. I simply can not make any sort of random "precast gear didn't work" issue appear, no matter what I do.

Given that, could you guys who do have the problem do a little testing to try to figure out what is wrong? Assuming you have dnc levelled, pop on a few regain atmas, park yourself in front of the bastion martello thing for some lag, use the following spellcast (replace lokis with something else if you need) and run "autoexec register tp_2* cancel 88\; wait 1\; curingwaltz me" in the console.

Spoiler: show

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<spellcast>
	<config AutoLoadXML="true" />

	<variables>
	</variables>

	<sets>
		<group name="haste" default="true">
			<set name="Idle">
				<body>Loki's Kaftan</body>
			</set>
			
			<set name="Waltz">
				<body>Dancer's Casaque</body>
			</set>
			
			<set name="Engaged" />
		</group>
	</sets>

	<rules>
		<equip when="aftercast" set="%Status" />
		
		<if spell="*Waltz*">
			<equip when="precast" set="Waltz" />
		</if>
	</rules>
</spellcast>