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  1. #1

    Question Clicker > keybinds - Advice ? Where do I start?

    Hello,

    Well I have been a clicker for the longest time ever.. I have been the main hunter in a few semi-hardcore guilds no problem. I know what I'm doing as far as clicking in a very effective way so to speak lol.

    But it's really getting on my nerves... Something its telling me to evolve and change, something just feels awkward clicking for some reason now, after so many years...

    But I have no clue, none at all where to start. I'm playing BM now and I can't even imagine key binding so many buttons.. This is how my UI looks as far as what I use. Any tip, guidance, videos, website with tips and what not would be helpful.




    Thanks!

  2. #2
    Center your binds around your left hand. 1,2,3,4,5,g,e,q,f, put cooldowns on the f-keys (at least I do) and any other needed binds, just add the shift key. It will take some getting used to, but you'll get used to it. (also, if you have a good mouse with buttons, those work too!)

  3. #3
    Bind them around your hand, or to your mouse if you have multiple buttons on it. Put your fingers comfortably on your movement keys (strafe primarily). The idea is to make it so you can press them without moving. Having a keybind on the other side of the keyboard is pointless and defeats the point.

    General keybinds being around your hand. 1-5, tab, the tilde key (one above tab), QERFTFBVCX. Multiplied by modifiers, i.e. Shift/Ctrl/Alt. Whatever is comfortable for you.

    The main things you want to keybind are your most used abilities, defensive abilities and utility. So, for you; Serpent Sting, Kill Command, Arcane Shot, Cobra Shot, Multi Shot, Rapid Fire, Focus Fire(?), Lynx Rush, Beastial Wrath, Feign Death and Silencing Shot.

    As an example you could have your main abilities on 1-5, and your dps cooldowns on Shift+1-5, then your defensive or utility around your hand, or if you can reach, F1-F4 for example.

    @above: left hand. Unless of course you have your mouse on the left (weirdo! )
    Last edited by Soisoisoi; 2013-01-07 at 05:32 PM. Reason: Added general keybinds.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Treelife View Post
    Bind them around your hand, or to your mouse if you have multiple buttons on it. Put your fingers comfortably on your movement keys (strafe primarily). The idea is to make it so you can press them without moving. Having a keybind on the other side of the keyboard is pointless and defeats the point.

    @above: left hand. Unless of course you have your mouse on the left (weirdo! )
    Yeah, lol I edited it. LEFT hand. I just spaced for a moment whilst typing is all ;p I swear it!

  5. #5
    I personally use `12345 and shift+ those 6 buttons for my most used buttons. I'd start with only binding your main dps rotation buttons and clicking other stuff untill you are used to at least those, and then shift towards binding more. I tend to stick movement buttons on the mouse wheel, for example disengage on scroll back as it makes you fly backwards, and shift/ctrl+mousewheel aswell. (For reference, my dk's binds: mousewheel up: sprint talent, shift+up: nitro boosts, ctrl+up: engi glider. Mousewheel down: slow/root, shift+down: death grip, ctrl+down: slow/stun talent.)

    Again, I'd recommend starting with just your most used buttons and just adding more from there on out.

  6. #6
    If you want to save yourself some agony, buy a razor naga type mouse, and get used to that. allows for more efficient movement.
    but if thats not an option for you, I would recommend keys: q,e,r,t,f,g,c, 1-5.
    you will have to revamp your interface completly probably. put spells you use often on those keys, and place them in the left upper action bar.
    get used to modifiers as soon as possible. I find 'alt' is the best. (thumb isn't doing anything else anyway when nut hopping arround for funsies)
    'shift' is also very accessable. using the mentioned keyes with 2 modifiers allready gives you a large set of keys that are easily and quickly pressable. (shift + space is quite cool and often forgotten)
    distribute Rotational abilites > often used utilty > CDs > rest. (stuff like 5min CD and the occasional macro can still be clicked)
    and make sure they are all near to eachother so you the overview with only one glance.
    (may be wise to use UI addons for this, if you're changing everything anyway)
    Last edited by TheTrueM4gg0t; 2013-01-07 at 05:40 PM.

  7. #7
    Best advice i think that can be given, is start with 1 or 2 macros, quality of life, for example do a macro where the letter "E" is pet freedom on you, and Shift+"E" is freedom on another player (arena, or focus), don't over do it all in one go, because you need to build muscular memory, so it comes to you and your fingers to know the location of the keys and how it feels to your hands.

  8. #8
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    Having had done this years ago I'm confident in saying it will be harder now then it was then just based on the amount of spells we now all have. However don't fret it can still be done!

    What you will want to do for the first little while is have the bars still show up on your screen but you will want to have "key bind" show on all your abilities. Since you are acliecker you are use to looking where they action is so it will be naturall to look and seek the bind then press it. At first this will be slower but a couple random heroics and an lfr run or two and your man abilities will soon start to register in muscle memory just like you naturally scroll your mouse to where the ability you want to use is positioned.

    What I will sugest is if you use an addon that can make things non cickable (IE the bar is clickthrough) then appply that function to yoru MAIN spells bar. This will force you to use keybinds only and necessity will have you learn things WAY faster than choice :P

    Another thing is do not look at what others do and simply do what you feel comfortable... there is no perfect keybinds only the ones that are perfect for your hand and dexterity!

    An example is I have smaller hands thus for me a=enraged regen, alt A = bandage , ctrl A = vicotory rush... while many peoepl tend to avoid A for me its an easy comfy keybind but Y and 6 are the start of my non comfy keybind area so I avoid those like the plague! R and F tend to be great proc / reaction keybinds as your index finger is used allot in daily reflex tasks

    GL have fun and try to enjoy the learning curve...it gets better fast

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by mimee View Post
    I'm playing BM now and I can't even imagine key binding so many buttons.. This is how my UI looks as far as what I use. Any tip, guidance, videos, website with tips and what not would be helpful.




    Thanks!
    There is definitely a great deal of button bloat for us hunters. Presuming you use A&D to strafe and W for move forward I will lay out my hunter keybinds for you. Please keep in mind I do PVP mainly so there will be some overlaps due to macros.

    Movement:
    W-forward
    A-strafe left
    D-strafe right

    Damaging Abilities:
    Q-Kill Shot
    E-Arcane Shot
    R-Kill Command
    F-Glaive Toss
    4-Blink Strike
    T-Stampede
    Shift 4-Cobra Shot

    I don't generally bind Serpent Sting as it makes an almost unrecognizable difference in PVP. If I'm in the prep room and see a Rogue on the opposing team I'll drop it in on an empty button spot and quick-bind with Bartender.

    The rest of it is as follows:

    Tab-PVP Trinket
    Shift Tab-Bestial Wrath (I use it situationally for PVP as a secondary trinket instead of as an addition to my damage)

    1-PVP On-Use Trinket
    2-Rapid Fire macro
    3-Tranquilizing Shot
    5-Concussive Shot
    X-Feign Death
    C-Pet Stun
    V-Widow Venom

    Shift Q/A-Silencing Shot/Focus Silencing Shot
    Shift E/D-Scatter Shot/Focus Scatter Shot

    Shift 1-Readiness
    Shift 2-Healing Potion
    Shift 3-Healthstone
    Shift 5-Focus Concussive Shot (helps with TotH)

    Shift R-Explosive Trap
    Shift F-Freezing Trap
    Shift G-Ice Trap
    Shift T-Snake Trap

    Shift X-Dismiss Pet
    Shift C-Camouflage
    Shift V-Focus Widow Venom

    Shift S-Flare

    I generally avoid "Z" as I feel it is positionally awkward for my reach. For this reason I use it for any exceptionally situational abilities.

    Lastly, my mouse. I use a generic mouse with a scroll wheel. I have the wheel bound pretty heavily:

    Wheel Up-Master's Call macro
    Wheel Down-Disengage
    Wheel Click-Deterrence macro

    Shift WU-Spirit Mend macro
    Shift WD-Exhilaration
    Shift WC-Trap Launcher Toggle

    Alt WU-Target Arena 1
    Alt WD-Target Arena 2
    Alt WC-Target Arena 3

    I forgot my Focus macros:
    F1-Focus Arena 1
    F2-Focus Arena 2
    F3-Focus Arena 3

  10. #10
    as already suggested above you should start with only few keybinds, get use to it and add more later on

    I'd suggest:

    1. phase

    ` 1 2 3 (or 1 2 3 4) Mouse wheel up, mouse wheel down (basic abilities like Arcane shot, Kill Command, Cobra Shot, Dire Beast, Bestial Wrath and Multishot or traps for example)

    2. phase

    add modifier (shift or alt) to these buttons and use also modifier+left/middle/right mouse button

    3. phase

    add another modifier and start uing F1 - F3 for example and also with modifier

    Also it's great when you have mouse with additional programmable buttons (side, wheel left/right, etc.)

    I'm using this one and it helped me a lot with keybinds

  11. #11
    As far is binds go, everyone has their own little preferences.
    But general rules I'd go by:
    ~If you can get used to it, unbind A and D and simply mouse turn instead. (Backpedal and Forward can actually be useful on occasion. I keep them bound)
    ~Unbind Z,X,C,R,G imo, bind them so another key if you so please
    ~Bind moves to any buttons that seem comfortable to reach, don't forget side mouse buttons and such
    ~Use Alt, Shift, or Ctrl as a way to double up on a certain keybind (i.e: F and Alt+F). Personally I use Alt just because that was my vent key forever. Just pick whichever seems most comfortable to reach

    That's about all I got. GL and just practice....it's all muscle memory once the binds are set

  12. #12
    I'd give an mmo branded mouse serious consideration. Either a Naga or a G600. You'd be amazed how much better you can DPS while moving when you can execute your entire rotation using your right thumb.

    Start small, then expand. Work with your primary rotation, then add in AE abilities using some mod keys, then utility/mobility, then cooldowns.

    Take your time, muscle memory matters and it's easy to overwhelm/frustrate yourself by jumping straight into it 20+ keybinds.

  13. #13
    This is just part of the guide I wrote for a contest awhile ago and ended up getting my name on the front page. If you want a full link
    http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...How-To-Keybind

    How to go about it:
    The majority of people who click and want to make the transition to keybinding are overwhelmed by the thought. I admit, when I learned this on my own I was very much the same. I promise you thought, after this post you'll feel much more comfortable about the situation, if not, find me in game and I'll be happy to go over anything you want to know about it.

    Things to know getting started:

    What keys to use:


    First thing is first, let's take a minute to look at the image above and let me explain.
    Blue: These are your movement keys. Unbind strafe from Q and E and make them A and D respectively. Strafing is important.
    Green: These are the keys easiest to reach from blue, this is where your most important abilities should be bound. Interrupts and main attacking abilities go here.
    Yellow: These keys may take a bit of a stretch of your fingers and move away from your movement keys, but are still ok. Bind these to things that you use, but not as often.
    Pink: Are the modifier buttons. See below
    Orange:Tab and space. Tab swaps to nearest target, space jumps.


    Work in Stages!
    Go in stages. Don't try to do it all at once. Go in stages, when you're comfortable with one stage, move on to the next.
    Step 1: Unbind Q and E in the keybindings menu, make your strafe A and D. this forces you to use your mouse to turn.
    Step 2: Bind the green buttons. Pick your most important spells and bind them to some of the green buttons, get used to using them that way.
    Step 3: Work your way out!

    Modifiers!
    Finally we get to the section I've said look below to find twice already. Modifiers! These keys let you use them in conjunction with another to use a different spell than if you pressed it alone. For example, on Rand I have
    R bound to rake
    Shift-R bound to rip
    Ctrl-R bound to berserk.
    Alt-R is unbound, I find it uncomfortable to use Alt personally.
    This lets me use a button in the good zone more than once, multiplying the number of abilities I can fit onto the keyboard.

    Important Things:
    1.What you bind to which keys can and will be different for every player. A few things to keep in mind though. You should bind things so that they are easy to reach with one hand, leaving your mouse-hand free to do it's job. Ctrl+7 is a bad idea.
    2. A lot of these require that you unbind certain WoW functions to use them, C can no longer bring up your character pane when it's a spell. That's ok, there is a whole other half of your keyboard, and a number pad free! Rebind them in different places!
    3. People's hands and keyboards are different and because of this, what you are comfortable using may be different than me, remember, use keys closest to your movement keys first. I personally find it uncomfortable to use the Alt modifier, and my F1-4 keys are near out of reach. You may find using alt to work, and your F1-4 may be right on top of 1-5.
    4. Healing addons can help! As a druid I have an ungodly amount of spells, if you are going to use a raidframe (healers always do) make sure it's in a good place. Having heals set to modifiers+mousebuttons means you dont need to bind those to your other keys (if you have room though it's still good to). Mouseover macro's work wonders too!
    5. Macro's, like modifiers, are one way to get more room and bang for your buck. Using a macro that, when targeting enemy casts one thing, and friendly casts another, you can bind that to one button. Example as follows.

    Bound to a button
    Code:
    #showtooltip
    /cast [harm, nodead] Lightning Bolt; [help, nodead] Healing Wave
    This would cast LB if the target was an enemy and alive, and healing wave if target was friendly and alive.

    Bind something similar to the same button with a modifier, and you have four+ spells on one button!

    Do not, for the love of god, bind alt+f4 though.In fact, if you're going to use alt, be careful of things like alt+f4, alt+tab, and so on. It's another reason I personally don't like it.

    How to actually keybind:
    For sake of ease I'm going to assume you know how to make macros and move them onto your bars, and move spells onto your bars. If not, another post for another time.
    Simply hit esc, open your keybinding menu, scroll until you find the corresponding bar and button you want, and bind it to that button. If you have the addon bartender, it becomes even more simple. You would just type /kb mouseover the button, and press the button you want it to be bound to. Simple as that.

    This has been your intro to keybinding, it covers actual keybinding, but not the more complex things like macro's to help yourself. If you need any help, ask!

    ---------- Next Part! ----------

    My personal binds:

    This is mostly to show you how, with the use of modifiers and other things, I grant myself the ability to have almost everything a druid needs bound. Some of these have shifted and changed with the addition of spells, or removal, but for the most part, it stands unchanged.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------
    My Personal Keybinds (Feral Druid)

    My personal keybinds are built around stance macros, letting them do different things in different forms so that I can pack as many abilites as I can into the keys. Don't worry if you don't understand macro's enough to do it, remember, ask for help!
    Sanything means Shift-button
    Canything means Ctrl-button
    Ctrl has a lot of my special macros and targeting functions that I wont post just to save room and time.
    Also, my mouse binds are set to mouseover with an addon for healing, the healing spells are still bound even though I dont have them anymore (natures swiftness and swiftmend) just in case.

    S1: bearform
    S2: catform
    S3:Stance Macro (shifts from form to same form for snares)
    S4: travel form
    S5- flight form

    ` : PvP trinket
    1 : (Bear)-mangle (Cat)-mangle/pounce (travel/caster/tree) nourish
    2 : (Bear)-swipe (Cat)-swipe
    3 : (Bear)-lacerate (Cat)-Bite
    4 : (Bear)-faerief (Cat)- Tigers fury
    5 : (Bear)-enrage (Cat)-stealth
    Q : (Bear)-Charge (Cat)-shred
    W : move forward
    E : (Bear)-bash (Cat)-maim
    R : (Bear)-growl (Cat)-rake
    T : mouseover cyclone
    A : left strafe
    S : backup
    D : right strafe
    F : all forms faerie fire
    G : Vent Key
    Z : Nature's Grasp
    X : (Bear)-Challenging Roar (Cat) Savage Roar
    C : (Bear)-Demo Roar (Cat) Dash
    V : Mouseover abolish poison

    SQ: Barkskin
    SE: Survival Instincts
    SR: Rip
    SC: Feral charge cat (it's inferior to bear)
    SV: remove Curse

    CR: berserk
    CF: shadowmeld macro

    With My Mouse! (LC-leftclick MC-middleclick RC-rightclick)
    Helpful (over friendly)
    Ctrl-LC : Lifebloom
    Ctrl-MC: Regrowth
    Ctrl-RC : Rejuv
    Alt-LC : MotW
    Alt-MC : Thorns
    Alt-RC : Innervate
    Shift-LC: Swiftmend
    Shift-MC: Natures Swiftness
    Shift-RC: Healing Touch

    Harmful (over enemy)
    MC-Cyclone
    Ctrl-LC : Wrath
    Ctrl-MC: Starfire
    Ctrl-RC: Moonfire
    Alt-LC : Roots
    Alt-MC : hibernate

  14. #14
    Deleted
    Start small with only core abilities. Also don't forget it's not baaaaaaaad to keep clicking things like long cooldowns but core rotations you'll improve by binding.
    You'll have to force yourself to learn it. First learn your raid rotations on dummies. Then equip a lvl1 bow and kite vanilla elites which will learn you how to move with keybinds.

    Before you know, you'll have memorized it all and find the tricks like jumping to keep moving while shooting.
    If you have some money spare, I'd advice to emmediatly switch to a G600. Don't go razor cause you pay for marketing and not quality.

  15. #15
    Deleted
    I used to be a clicker when I first started raiding in BC - but I slowly started using the keyboard more and more.
    If you're used to doing one thing, you have to start slowly, there's no way around it. Start my regularly using the keys 1-5 (I can't reach beyond 4 tbh, my fingers are short ). Then start re-binding your Q, E, R, F,G keys to other ones.
    After a while I got more adventurous and starting using the F1, F2, F3, F4 (etc) - and then... Mod shifts - I use Alt (to make Alt-D keybind for example which at the moment is the 'oh-shit-deterrence time!!' key).
    If you also have a fancy mouse, then keybind some functions to the extra keys, I have two or three buttons on there, bound to various quick reaction things (healthstone). My scroll-up is 'send pet in' (makes logical sense) and \ key is currently to call him back.

    The most important thing is - make sure your keybinds make sense to you!! The most important abilities on easy to reach buttons, not so important ones on harder to reach (traps for me are the F - function keys as they are situational).

    Good luck!

  16. #16
    Start small.
    Make a list in order of your most commonly used abilities. Prioritise abilities that require fast reactions, such as deterrence, silencing shot, feign death, scatter, disengage.
    Make a list in order of your most comfortable keybinds (different for everyone).
    Match them up, and try to group them so they are easier to remember.

    A few tips:
    -Put abilities are are off GCD on your mouse buttons assuming you have a gaming mouse. It's easier to press keybind+mouse button then it is to press keybind+keybind.
    For example, I use interrupts, pet control (attack, retreat, etc), trinkets and push to talk on my mouse buttons.

    -There are several default functions that are taking up valuable keyboard real estate which you should rebind to something else.
    Example: Q and E are strafe by default. Rebind to A and D and use mouse to turn. Use Q and E for high priority spells. Use C for something useful rather than opening char sheet. Use R for something useful rather than reply (type /r instead). etc.

    Here's my priority of spells you should keybind:

    Arcane Shot
    Cobra Shot
    Kill Command
    Focus Fire (This only has a good keybind because I replace it with Black Arrow or Aimed Shot when different spec, to simplify things)
    Multishot
    Serpent Sting

    Silencing Shot
    Deterrence
    Disengage
    Scatter Shot
    Feign Death

    Pet Attack
    Pet Passive

    Kill Shot
    Glaive Toss
    Dire Beast
    Lynx Rush

    Explosive Trap
    Frost Trap
    Freezing Trap

    Readiness
    Bestial Wrath
    Stampede


    Here's my favourite keybinds, grouped and in order, not including modifiers (I prefer shift, then alt, then ctrl)
    123456
    QER
    Mouse 345
    ` (tilde) CV
    F1 F2 F3 F4
    ZXTG

  17. #17
    If you can afford it get a Naga mouse - it has 12 keys on the side of it and it's "life changing" as far as keybinding goes. I also recommend doing keybinding cold turkey. Write down a list of everything you want to keybind - put it on hidden bars and just learn it. Spend an hour at the target dummies and just do your rotation over and over again...until it becomes muscle memory.

    EDIT: I also prefer to move forward with E back with D strafe with W, R. It frees up more keybinds to be reached easily since your fingers are in the natural typing position that way.
    Last edited by Bellatrex-Saga; 2013-01-08 at 05:06 PM.

  18. #18
    Honestly I don't know how I played a hunter before owning a Naga. It is literally a lifesaver.

    I now use it for other classes too, obviously, but often the keybinds are three different types of taunts (mouseover, target, focus), three different types of interrupts (mouseover, target, focus), etc. On my hunter, they're all unique binds.

    Also, I find binding any placeable AoE (DnD, glyphed Consecrate, traps) easier with a mouse bind as you need to move your mouse anyways to position it correctly.

  19. #19
    when your learning a new set up, i t can help to lay out the buttons in an area relative to their binds so that you have an idea what is binded to where without looking at your bars/keyboard

    when i first got my naga mouse and changed my binds around, i did this just till i got used to everything:

    keybinds are set up likes this

    1 2 3 | N1 N2 N3
    4 5 6 | N4 N5 N6
    S1 S2 S3 | N7 N8 N9
    S4 S5 S6 | A1 A2 A3

    s = shift, n=numpad(naga), a=alt

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by eschatological View Post
    Honestly I don't know how I played a hunter before owning a Naga.
    This pretty much, I would not be able to use another mouse than the Naga at this point.

    A small tip: If you wanna get really good, you'll want a macro that sets your current mouseover as your focus (/focus [@mouseover]). Then, in every ability, macro in @focus for mod:shift, or just go in Interface > Game > Combat > Focus Cast Key and set something there. I remember I had an issue with that, though, so I just macroed it into everything.

    Now, the above wasn't my main point here, but it's something that you should consider when placing your keybinds. Spells that do NOT work with a focus, for example aspects and self buffs, could be put on any of these combinations: Ctrl, shift, alt + W, A, S or D. For example, I have Dire Beast on Shift+A, because I don't need to cast that on my focus. I have Camouflage on Shift+W, etc. I used to have Widow Venom on Shift+A, but it made me unable to cast it on my focus, because macros don't really work well if your bind is Shift+A and you try to use another mod for Ctrl+A, for example.

    TL;DR: Do not place shots and other things that can be cast on a "focus" target on WASD + a modifier key. It will save you some trouble later, unless you just play without macros.

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