Key Binding??

I am finnally dropping my terrible and ineffcient mouse clicking habit. I know some of you never thought you'd never see the day but for the past week I've been experimenting with key binding my action bar. I have noticed that I can actually watch what is going on when I'm tanking which allows me to death grip things off the healer and be much more reactive in boss fights. However, I'm a little confused on where I bind my keys. Some say to go by the numbers on the spell bar while the below link says to bind the keys around your movement keys. I'm just now engraving the keys into my memory and so I want to learn the most effecient way to bind them before it becomes a habit. So tell me how you guys do it and what works for you.

http://www.locksucks.com/2008/08/l2pvp-keybindings/

;O

honestly, it depends on you.

The following is going to sound like garbled lump of thoughts, but this is part of the thought process of playing too many characters. Hence why I've tried to focus mostly on one or two (mostly, a shaman, however I do enjoy playing a lock, druid, and currently a mage. )

I believe you use a laptop, so you lose the keypad to the right of you. I find the keypad convienent by putting the "lucky charms" for raid symbols quickly (it beats clicking on the mob and than trying to put a skull as you switch targets) that's just 1-8. My number 9 key is for atlass loot while 0 is to clear all raid symbols. If you have a lap top, you may be missing a keypad...you may want to pick a USB addon, or just get a regular keyboard and plug that in, instead.

I know my hand dwarfs the keyboard by a lot so certain things for certain classes I change. When I'm on my druid, instead of pressing Control F1 to shape shift into bear, I just put F1 (because let's face it, I'm not healing, so why should I have to target anyone as a tank?) F2 is travel form, etc etc. However this binding is specific to my druid (and also warrior for stance dancing) For my healer classes, I'll go to the default F1-F5 for a 5 man or just use grid in a raid setting.

My basic thought process when playing any class to me is, If I need something instantly, what number could I press where I don't have to think about it? When I'm a mage, I my counterspell is 1 by default. This has translated to my shaman having earthshock on the same spot (it's an interrupt - it achieves the same goal.) By doing this I spend less time having to relearn a class when I go from alt to alt. Since I like to keep everything within hands reach, but not use 1-6 (I use an ergonomic keybaord so I can tell where the first 6 numbers are)
My friends will bind quick stuff to Q and E. Their thought process was if it's an emergncy, I want X as close to WASD as possible. However this setup changes from character to character. My rogue I'd stealth and sinister strike with the 2 key (I use a macro) but for my druid I stealth with the R key.

I also use a lot of Alt 1-X and Shift 1-X because for my hand holding down Alt or Shift feels natural and I'm quick to respond. I don't like the position of Control because it's way out of the way and I have to twist my hand downward to get it (there by dropping response time.)

The only class I'm having problems setting something up for is a Warrior because of all the stance dancing that has to be done. Which is probably why to me, it's not exactly my favorite class to play with. I'll figure something out.

Again with macros I put a "Use Trinket 1" "Use Trinket 2" macro in the same position for every class. Less muscle memory, and I always know where my trinkets are (this is primarly shift 3 and 4 if it works for the class.)
For my mount I find Shift 6 works best for me. (I also found a macro that works the way I want.)

The only thing I don't have bound are the buttons on the righthand side of the screen going horizontal.

For instance. All Death Knights start off with Death Grip. However, I don't always want to pull with it. So I bind it with Alt 1 instead of just 1. I think I have death coil as 1 (and I'm not liking that since Death Coil depends on runic power.)

2 Tends to be my standard attack or pull or whatever I start with. When I'm an elemental shaman its Lightening bolt. When I'm a rogue, it's Sinister Strike. When I'm a mage it's fireball (I'm firespec at the moment) etc etc etc.
3 is my 2nd most used attack or finisher. etc etc.

Than realize there are some class you're going to have waaaay to many buttons. Warlock, Shaman, and Mages rank up there. I tend to macro things here (My teleports and portals are now bound to one icon that changes according to what I press and where I plan on going.)

Druids and Rogues I find I have a lot of room to play with. Since I've never gotten a priest or pally past 25, I'm finding the priest to have a lot of open space but not the pally.

so to make sense of the jumble I just wrote. Bind the keys that feel the most natural to you. Set up the standard attacks you open up with are 1-5 or 6 and anything you use as much put with in fingers reach. Or put it within "response reach" Stuff that isn't mandatory (say your profession skills) Macro it up and put in the corner somewhere

I think my standard jewelcrafting Prospecting macro is something like

#showtooltip
/cast[button:1] Jewelcrafting
/cast[button:2] Prospecting

I use the question mark as the icon, but title the secondary profession as the title (the default icon I know is what it's supposed to be.)

I glanced over the article you linked and a lot of it meshes with how I think for my keybindings.

Personally, I've never been good with macros and key smashing. In every mmo I've played, I've only ever done the mouse clicking. I think a large part of it probably comes from the fact when I took keyboarding in middle school so many years ago, I had a hard time remembering what fingers you're supposed to be hitting what number key with, and to this day, I still mess up, i.e. attempting to hit the 8 key and hitting either 9 or a combination of 7 and 8 (which I just did actually haha :p). I don't neccessarily think mouse clicking ever kept me from winning a pvp battle more than my own ignorance at how to approach fighting a particular class with the spec I had. For alot of you guys who've spent months/years playing WOW, I'm still only half a year into the game and learning new things everyday and that makes it difficult to keep up in some ways.

I remember having a conversation with Azarel a few months ago and he thought the idea of me using a mouse at all was pretty archaic and newbly, but I don't think I could rely on hitting TAB or some other button to decide what mob I'm going to hit next, especially in BG when I need to hit a specific target. When I'm going through a specific rotation of spells to hit a target with, I find it much easier to just line them up side by side on the action bar and click down the line instead of hitting 1-10, usually due to cool downs (at least with my DK) and the fact I mentioned before, about not wanting to hit the wrong number.

The main problem I've been having is that my fingers are way to short to reach all of the keys I've bound. I've even put them all close together and I just can reach them all. I don't know whether to laugh or cry; even my eleven year old brother has bigger hands then me. I got the runt genes Q.Q. However. I'm going to be stubborn with this and force my fingers to go where they are supposed to (even when they can't reach it.)

Smoky, the main thing I think I'm benefiting from by using the keys is that I can see so much more. I don't have to stare down at the action bar to fight. It makes it a lot easier for me to death grip mobs off of people and react to special attacks that bosses use. As for pvp, all ungodly pvp-ers use the keys because you can react so much faster and you can see the attacker.

Are you using the mouse to select targets or a key? Cause it seems if you're relying on a button that selects "Next closest target" you miss the opportunity to, for example, direct your aim at the nuker hiding in the back you're wanting to kill. Are you using both keyboard and mouse, or only keyboard? I just don't think I could ever go to only keyboard cause I don't have time to type out /target Bob or /assist Dude. By the time I did that I could have just mouse clicked them 3 times over.

I have bound my spells to the letters surrounding m movement keys (esdf). I still select targets with my mouse because I can't go to fast with learning m new keys. However, I think I'll always select things with my mouse because I find it fast. I also still move with my keys primarily but I'm very VERY slowly learning to turn with my mouse. I tend to go all over the place when I use my mouse to move because I panic and move it too fast.

However, after just a week or two at this I think I've got it down. My tanking as improved drastically!!! This was definitely worth the pugs I wiped lol lol.

My tanking has improved drastically!!! This was definitely worth the pugs I wiped lol lol.

Man alive! Pugs have feelings too...but they gotta pay!

KEL!!! WTH where have you been??

I've been laying in a gutter for the past 2 weeks, listen...thats not important right now...What is important is how I've been defeated in post count by you...need to remedy this some how.

Q: How to remedy post count?
A: Offend someone.

Q: How do I get myself out of the gutter?
A: 1)Stand up
2)Quit the cheap booze and whores and go for the expensive ones.
3)Aquire currency via working or stealing. Word to the wise, no one in thier right mind would work when they can steal and get away with it, but you didn't hear it from me >.>
4)
5) Profit
NOW GET CHU LAZY a$$ UP OUT THE PUDDLE!! You look like you've soiled yourself when you do that.

well then, Who am I going to offend?!?! I call YOU out Girly Girl! *point wildly around at all the females in Chronos* Come and get me, if you can. *insert wild and insane laughter here* *also add in abit of drool to add to the image*

Well this thread has been seriously derailed (no thanks to me >.>)

Here is a question that somewhat pertains to the thread: How do you use your mouse to move with out jarring your char around and getting motion sickness from watching the screen?

*Defining mmorpg vocabulary for Smokey:
Dictionary of Id-isms
1.Char- n.,pronunciation: char as in my mother likes to char my steak to a burnt husk before forcing me to eat it. meaning: an avatar in any mmorpg.


Come on post count!!