How do druids manage all their spells?

[jimmy valmer]

Do you follow a certain keybind system for spells that require different forms? Like for example placing certain spells in the main action bar because it changes based on what form you are in? Do you use specific addons? I ask mainly for pvp but of course pve as well since (at least as boomy) I can make use of all forms in pvp but some spells get left out because I don't have enough keybinds for them all.

[Moralio]

I use Bartender since 2008. It is pretty easy to configure, allows to move and resize bars/buttions freely and works without a problem with druid forms.

[Hoonterbar]

I play all four specs and I like consistent keybinds between them so I have a LOT of keybinds but it can be done. Do you use all your modifiers? Like shift+1, shift+2, ctrl+1, ctrl+2, etc.? I also bind strafe to A and D and use Q and E as spell buttons along with their shift modifiers and basically every key that's on the left side of the keyboard I've bound two spells to. You can ditch things like C for character pane and get two or three spells there, just click the button when you need your character pane. On top of that I use the G502 mouse which has another six spells worth atleast on it. Good luck!

[Low Hanging Fruit]

A few modifiers. A mouse with keys on the side. Also I have pretty big hands so I can reach without moving off the primary keys to Y and U pretty easily. So that helps a lot.

[clevin]

Do you follow a certain keybind system for spells that require different forms? Like for example placing certain spells in the main action bar because it changes based on what form you are in? Do you use specific addons? I ask mainly for pvp but of course pve as well since (at least as boomy) I can make use of all forms in pvp but some spells get left out because I don't have enough keybinds for them all.

Use Dominoes or something like it an keybinds don't have to be unique - they change per form. So F1 or whatever can be Rejuv in Resto and, say, Solar Wrath in Balance and something else in Feral and Guardian.You have to remember what they map to per form, but that's different.

[huth]

Use Dominoes or something like it an keybinds don't have to be unique - they change per form. So F1 or whatever can be Rejuv in Resto and, say, Solar Wrath in Balance and something else in Feral and Guardian.You have to remember what they map to per form, but that's different.

You don't need an addon for that. Every spec has their own set of action bars, and each combat form also has a form specific bar.

[Sylar Hao]

I use mouse wheel up for Cat Form, alt+up for moonkin, down for Bear and mouse wheel click for travel forms.

67890
TYUIOP
GH Ñ
BNM,.-

for every form and spec. and a single modifier: ALT. When I'm in say cat form they show all cat form abilities and by pressing alt (or not being shapeshifted) they show healing and utility spells. Same for the other forms. Well, in fact, I use the very same setup for all classes and specs, but for druids' it required more thinking to place them all in "my logical way", like for example, I is the main filler / spam ability (mangle, shred, solar wrath, regrowth, and also incinerate, lightning bolt...), and 8 is the big spender (frenzied reg., ferocious bite, starsurge, chaos bolt, earth shock...) or M is for interrupt if the spec has one or some kind of cc if it doesnt. And so on...

JKL is how I move characters, strafe left, run forward (with alt pushed is autorun) and strafe right. In case you wonder why those keybinds: lefty here.

Hope it helps.

[Whitepaw]

G19 Logitech keyboard and a Razer Naga MMO mouse. Gives me 20 extra keys. I use all of them.

[Indil]

I just use the binds i use on all the classes, i'm pretty sure you have binds for everything, with someone unused

[Tenjen]

Ontop of what others have said. I tend to place spells from different transformations that are similar in function on the same hotkey. Dots to dots, heals to heals, CD's, etc etc.

makes it so much easier on my muscle memory.

[clevin]

You don't need an addon for that. Every spec has their own set of action bars, and each combat form also has a form specific bar.

Can you tell it's been a long time since I've NOT used Dominoes?

Te other thing is that I rarely switch forms during the same event. I don't PVP on the druid so I can't speak to that, but if I'm in a mythic and healing, I don't go feral for a bit etc. I just stay in caster form. Same for being Boomy - I don't pop into bear for a few then back. I know there are some edge cases where this might be a useful thing to do but eh. (I'm excepting the quick form shift to break roots etc)

[exochaft]

I avoid using add-ons that alter most of the default UI when it comes to bindings, as usually it's not necessary at all. Added bonus that playing on the beta/PTR is really easy since you don't rely on external add-ons.

So how do I do it? Macros, simple as that. Had a few friends start playing druids and suddenly get overwhelmed at all the spells, so this topic came up as to how I do it. Now, I reeeeeally hate using Alt/Shift/Ctrl modifiers as they tired out my hands something fierce, so I go about using all the other modifiers available. For example, as boomy, I have one bind to a macro that will use Solar Beam or Innervate or Rebirth based upon conditionals dictated by what my cursor is over (so enemy is Solar Beam, non-dead friendly gets Innervate, dead friendly gets Rebirth). Some macros, such as my Regrowth macro, are tailored to work with all my specs to cast other spells depending upon my mouseover and also respect not breaking forms via scripts, which is something that's been done for ages. I'll admit it took a while to get used to some of the macros since occasionally different specs have different spells layered into the same base spell, but I cut down on the number of binds I needed by 50-66% using macros with no Alt/Shift/Ctrl modifiers (which could technically make it more specific).

*edit* - If you're specifically worried about macros using abilities based upon what druid form you're in, the stance modifier is your friend. Can't recall off the top of my hand which for is which number, but a quick search will likely help out with that. WoW macro syntax is heavily documented, most people just don't dive into it.

[Whitepaw]

I avoid using add-ons that alter most of the default UI when it comes to bindings, as usually it's not necessary at all. Added bonus that playing on the beta/PTR is really easy since you don't rely on external add-ons.

So how do I do it? Macros, simple as that. Had a few friends start playing druids and suddenly get overwhelmed at all the spells, so this topic came up as to how I do it. Now, I reeeeeally hate using Alt/Shift/Ctrl modifiers as they tired out my hands something fierce, so I go about using all the other modifiers available. For example, as boomy, I have one bind to a macro that will use Solar Beam or Innervate or Rebirth based upon conditionals dictated by what my cursor is over (so enemy is Solar Beam, non-dead friendly gets Innervate, dead friendly gets Rebirth). Some macros, such as my Regrowth macro, are tailored to work with all my specs to cast other spells depending upon my mouseover and also respect not breaking forms via scripts, which is something that's been done for ages. I'll admit it took a while to get used to some of the macros since occasionally different specs have different spells layered into the same base spell, but I cut down on the number of binds I needed by 50-66% using macros with no Alt/Shift/Ctrl modifiers (which could technically make it more specific).

*edit* - If you're specifically worried about macros using abilities based upon what druid form you're in, the stance modifier is your friend. Can't recall off the top of my hand which for is which number, but a quick search will likely help out with that. WoW macro syntax is heavily documented, most people just don't dive into it.

It's too bad we can't like posts here on these forums - because this one is really good.

[Deleted]

The healing addon Vuhdo is my way to go since WotLK.
5 mouse buttons, wheel up,down = 7 spells.
shift + those 7 = 14 spells for heals /buffs fit in vuhdo.

So I have 1-5 and shift+1-5 for main rotation = 10 keys
Shift + Mouse Sidebuttons + wheel = 6 keys
Some letters if needed.... rest I click

[Twdft]

Lower left action bar can be filled with spells for every form. For the other bars you can write makros like:

#showtooltip
/cast [stance:1] spell1; [stance:2] spell2; spell3

You can but don't have to include all stances, in my example spell3 will be cast in every form other than 1 or 2.

Takes a while to set up but it's worth it IMO.

[Kyphael]

When you play the class for 110 levels, it becomes second nature like any other, even with 4 specs.

[axxey]

My main mouseover heal keys stay the same in all forms on my mouse where i can't fat finger them hitting key modifiers and leaving forms at bad times. My feral has regrowth and roots macros to not accidently leave form with predatory swiftness proc casts. Resto affinity is super strong at times in all non resto specs.

#showtooltip Regrowth
/console autounshift 0
/cast [target=mouseover,help,exists] Regrowth; [@targettarget,help,nodead] Regrowth; Regrowth
/console autounshift 1

[huth]

Can you tell it's been a long time since I've NOT used Dominoes?

Te other thing is that I rarely switch forms during the same event. I don't PVP on the druid so I can't speak to that, but if I'm in a mythic and healing, I don't go feral for a bit etc. I just stay in caster form. Same for being Boomy - I don't pop into bear for a few then back. I know there are some edge cases where this might be a useful thing to do but eh. (I'm excepting the quick form shift to break roots etc)

At least cat should be used commonly for the 30% movespeed bonus indoors, not to mention (Tiger) Dash. Bear can on occasion help survive some bigger hits, particularly when you can't attack/cast anyway.

[Kaver]

I play all four specs and I like consistent keybinds between them so I have a LOT of keybinds but it can be done. Do you use all your modifiers? Like shift+1, shift+2, ctrl+1, ctrl+2, etc.? I also bind strafe to A and D and use Q and E as spell buttons along with their shift modifiers and basically every key that's on the left side of the keyboard I've bound two spells to. You can ditch things like C for character pane and get two or three spells there, just click the button when you need your character pane. On top of that I use the G502 mouse which has another six spells worth atleast on it. Good luck!

Haha only BM hunters have the luxury of keeping strafe on Q and E

[Deleted]

Gaming mouse with extra buttons. If you don't have one, I urge you to consider buying one! Before, I struggled to find keybinds for all my abilities, even resorting to switching between bars with a macro - a functioning but clunky solution.

Then I jumped the gun and finally bought a mouse with 5 additional buttons on the side. It was a huge QoL improvement! So much so, that if you were to continue playing this game, theres no single thing that would assure your enjoyment better. Especially as a druid, you'll finally feel like you've got full control. Like a true Master Shapeshifter.