Keybinds

[Anca]

I recently came back to WoW in order to make some alts and get used to raiding again before MoP so I don't suck when it launches.

I haven't raided since the beginning of 4.0, thus am (as of writing) merely in 359 gear. I'm redoing all my keybinds again and would like to benchmark binds from the best players who will take the time to post.

I've got a naga and anansi, so I'd be interested in seeing how people use and adapt to their naga. As I'm trying to teach myself to play differently from before, I want to know what movement keys, macros/targeting macros and whatnot people use and where they're bound, not just the basic rotational spells. This is not to say I never had my own set of macros and such of course, but that I could've probably made them more comfortable to use.

I don't mean to be rude as any help is appreciated, but I'm mostly interested in hearing from people who consistently clear heroic tiers when they're current and/or people who consistently make WoL rankings, the reason being that I want to peruse the binds of players probably better than myself at the moment, and while you can be none of the above but brilliant, from an outsider's perspective there isn't clear evidence of this.

If anyone does reply properly to this post; thanks for your time!

[JohnnyQuest]

This probably won't be relevant to you, but in case there are other people that read this topic:

Unbind Turn Left/Right from A and D immediately and replace with Strafe Left/Right If you were a keyboard turner, you are not any more. The rest of the WoW player base will thank you.

[Gamdwelf]

^ Fail advice ^

[Soisoisoi]

^ Fail advice ^

Whilst it had nothing to do with the OP's question, it's actually pretty good. Keyboard turning is not needed nor wanted anywhere.


OT: Keybind around your hand. If you have to move your hand away from Strafe, it's too far, so other people's binds might not work for you. And don't forget modifier keys.

I personally have the following;
123456TFGB and Mouse-button 4
Shift+ "
Ctrl+ " (only for T/F/MB4 currently)
Alt+ " (only for MB4 currently)
F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 Tab `

F5/F6 are slightly too far away, so I basically only have things like Army of the Dead (pre-pull or rarely used non-important things) bound to them, as a DPSer.

[azzgunther]

I recommend movement keys being ESDF. I'd also disagree that keyboard turning never has a place: once in a while, during movement, I want to select a specific target with the mouse. Having the ability to turn with my left hand during this process is valuable to me. Make your own decision on the value of that.

My keybinding concepts:
-Generally spells that you'll need to use while moving should be on your mouse.
-From the home position ESDF I find that T,V,G,Z,A and Q are the easiest buttons to access (W and R as well, should you choose not to use them for turning). That means those are where your important spells with low cooldowns go. You could even make a 1-6 list of which buttons are easiest and put your 1-6 most important spells on those.
-I like to use Tab and Cap Lock (use a little hack called Sharp Keys to turn off the Cap Lock function and change it to a different button. For me, Cap Lock being pressed = O) for enhancement abilities: Troll berserking, Synapse Springs, Rocket Belt on my mage. Avenging Wrath on my Paladin. Archangel form on my Priest.
-I use Shift+button for big cooldown abilities (aka abilities you don't want to accidentally activate). Shift-G for Evocation, Shift-Mouse Back Button for Ice Block, Shift Y for Invisibility, Shift-Q for Ring of Frost, etc.
-I find that accuracy is difficult using the 1-6 buttons and am always surprised that people use those. Especially on such a mobile class; it seems really strange that you'd transition from movement to a button way up there when you could put abilities right by the movement keys or on the mouse. For me those buttons are useful for temporary stuff like mounts and /tar macros.

[Anca]

I recommend movement keys being ESDF. I'd also disagree that keyboard turning never has a place: once in a while, during movement, I want to select a specific target with the mouse. Having the ability to turn with my left hand during this process is valuable to me. Make your own decision on the value of that.

My keybinding concepts:
-Generally spells that you'll need to use while moving should be on your mouse.
-From the home position ESDF I find that T,V,G,Z,A and Q are the easiest buttons to access (W and R as well, should you choose not to use them for turning). That means those are where your important spells with low cooldowns go. You could even make a 1-6 list of which buttons are easiest and put your 1-6 most important spells on those.
-I like to use Tab and Cap Lock (use a little hack called Sharp Keys to turn off the Cap Lock function and change it to a different button. For me, Cap Lock being pressed = O) for enhancement abilities: Troll berserking, Synapse Springs, Rocket Belt on my mage. Avenging Wrath on my Paladin. Archangel form on my Priest.
-I use Shift+button for big cooldown abilities (aka abilities you don't want to accidentally activate). Shift-G for Evocation, Shift-Mouse Back Button for Ice Block, Shift Y for Invisibility, Shift-Q for Ring of Frost, etc.
-I find that accuracy is difficult using the 1-6 buttons and am always surprised that people use those. Especially on such a mobile class; it seems really strange that you'd transition from movement to a button way up there when you could put abilities right by the movement keys or on the mouse. For me those buttons are useful for temporary stuff like mounts and /tar macros.

Thanks for the reply, and thanks to those who wrote before. I actually changed to ESDF before writing my post, but have been having trouble deciding what parts of the 'board to bind what. I don't use turning keys at all because when moving I can wrist gymnastics whilst using right-click view/direction and a strafe button enough to click the target I want, which is quite easy as tidyplates have nice size frames.
Part of the problem is I still sometimes fumble with the modifier keys the anansi has underneath the space bar, they have a bit more resistance to them than say, the actual shift key, and t3 (shift)/t4 (alt) are interchangeably the most comfortable button for my thumb.

I suppose I should try to stick with an early mock up and run dungeons/lfr, but I'm bothered about looking bad because of binds I'm not accustomed to.

[Deleted]

People tend to never use Shift / CTRL + any button.

i got all the typical binds like F T G Q V Mouse buttons etc.

And i also bind them to Shift, so in order for the spells to work i gotta press both shift + F for example. I usually get more shift binds because i can bind my WASD aswell to shift and keys i use for other stuff.

[guff]

A mock-up sounds like a good plan. Getting the binds down for your regular rotation is usually not a problem (make them in a logical sequence somewhere comfortable). The more problematic can be getting the less used cool-downs or situational spells in good places. Try to go over your key-binds once you have a rough draft and look for things you usually use together (like trinkets and burst CDs, or different focus abilities you may have bound that all follow eachother naturally).

Basic idea, try to keep thing that is used together, placed together. It can be a hassle to work out (fun exercise to some ), but once it is down gameplay is a lot more efficient.

Hope this wasn't too obvious, and good luck

[notmyfault]

Since I'm kinda bored at work and have nothing better to do right now, I'm just gonna go ahead and post everysingle keybind I have
Binds are first for PVE as Fire and the second ability is for PVP as Frost

` = Mage ward / Ice Barrier
1 = Fireball / Cone of Cold
2 = Combustion / Water Elemental Summon (if not present) and freeze (Macro)
3 = Pyroblast / Ring Of Frost
4 = Mirror Images
5 = Ice Block ( /stopcasting /cancelaura macro)
6 = SpecialActionButton (Dragon Soul)
Q = Living Bomb / Frostbolt
E = Scorch / Ice lance
R = Spellsteal (with shift + R for focus spellsteal)
T = Blink (with /stopcasting macro)
Y = Invisibility
S = Arcane Explosion / Pet Dismiss macro
F = Counter Spell (with shift + F being for Focus)
G = Frost Nova
Z = Will Of the Forsaken
X = Evocation
C = Ring Of Frost / Deep Freeze ( with Focus macro = Shift + c)
V = Fire Blast (with focus macro = shift + V for impact proc)
B = Arcane Blast / Arcane Explosion
H = Mouseover Macro for setting Focus
Mouse Button 1 = Dragon's Breath / Flame Orb
Mouse Button 2 = Polymorph (with Shift + Mouse button 2 for focus)
Middle Mouse Button = Blast Wave / Blizzard (with Shift + Middle Mouse = Flamestrike)
Shift 1 = On use Trinket / Insignia Trinket
Shift 2 = Volcanic Potion / On Use PVP Trinket
Shift 3 = Bandage
Shift 4 = Healthstone
Shift 5 = Cookies
Shift X = Conjure Mana Gem
Shift W = Ground Mount
Ctrl W = Flying Mount
Shift E = Mage Ward (only for PVP)
Shift G = Armors /castsequence macro
F1 = Mana Gem
F2 = Mana Shield
F5 = Time Warp
Alt 1 = Decurse Team-mate 1
Alt 2 = Decurse Team-mate 2
Alt 3 = Decurse Self
Alt Q = Cold Snap


That's what i remember from the top of my head, if i do remember any others i will edit it


PS: I do have to add that A and D are Sidestep (no keyboard turning here, nothing to do here!)

[Rageadon]

From hunter:
| - Steady Shot
NL1 ice trap
NL2 frost trap
NL3 PVP trink
NL4 Snake trap
NL5 deterence
NL6 camo
NL7 Pet Sac
NL8
NL9
NL0
Nl- Warlock healthstone always!!!
NL+ Radiness
(naga)

c- Flare

F- Monkey stune (other stuns)

s+1-5 focus macros, also different on all classes

s+q put always a spell that i use most here like Chim Shot

s+e aimed Shot

mouse-button 1 and 2- silence and tranq shot

1 2 3 4 5 B Q E R T V G these are my key-binds on the normal bar, i like to have my spells to make it most comfortable, if i play on my warr and im used to play pala i sometimes pantic Q to heal me, so i make sure i got spells that is "same" is at the same spot like kills shotm hammer and exicute is at R.


Im not rank one but this is what i use and .. ye, you can try it if you want to d:
But i just typed what i remembered

[reflection]

I do also have a Naga and I never ever would give it away. Basically I have all the main spells on my mouse. The most important spells on the frontmost buttons because they are the most comfortably to reach. So most likely you will have two rows with important spells and two more rows with utility stuff. I especially like blink on the middle mouse button Cooldowns are on my keyboard so I don't press them accidently. Stuff that is very important to time or something like that also goes on my keyboard (like the button macro for ultraxion). I also have bound some to shift + naga button which are not needed that often (AE and stuff like that).
Since there are spells that all toons have, I have them all on the same button. Well actually I can just think of one atm and that is silence. I always have this on the 4 of my Naga.
I think you should have no big problems with a mage, since it doesn't have that much buttons to push. Try play a warrior or a enh shaman

Have fun and welcome back to wow! I did the same as you did. Quit with 359 gear and came back two months ago. You should definitely try LFR you can at least see the new raids though the difficulty is actually not very challenging.