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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast topic: How do you control your character?
by Elizabeth Wachowski 
Apr 4th 2007 at 8:17AM
Doctrine of Arthas asks the "top guilds" a burning question: do they have anyone in their guild who clicks on their abilities, or does everyone use keybindings? This is a topic that's come up a lot on the forums, with "clickers" being derided as bad or slow players. Of course, this being the WoW forums, there's one serious response from DnT (yes, a couple of their players click and are slow to turn but manage to avoid dying), and a whole lot of funny:
- "Death and Taxes build lifesize replicas of the dungeons, dress up in robes and armor, and use motion capture technology to control their characters in game." Follow-up: "Our guild leader paid for everyone in the raid to play laser tag as C'thun practice."
- "Everything I have is macro'ed on the Staples "That was easy" button."
- "I smash my face on the keyboard repeatedly to get the job done."
- "I feed punch cards into the computer to move. 'Forward' is cards 12 -> 53."
- "I play text-based WoW. You are thy Raider! Ye find yourself in yon dungeon. Ye see a dragon. Behind ye dragon is ye epix. Obvious exits are North, South, and Hearth."
I used to be a clicker until BC, when I pretty much remodelled my interface. Now I mostly use the mouse to move and have numerical keybindings for my top abilities. For potions, buffs, and rarely-used abilities, I still click. I know I should keybind everything, but I have trouble remembering exactly what's bound to what without a visual reminder.
Do you click, use keybindings, or merely control the computer through a telepathic interface?
Filed under: Tricks, Breakfast Topics, Humor
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Tony Apr 4th 2007 12:33PM
The only time I use my mouse in combat is for my mass dispell, which requires AOE grid targeting.
Arrow keys for movement
Number keys setup for common offensive spells and buffs.
F1 - F5 target party members.
F6 - F11 Pots
F12 Mount
F13 SW:Death
F16 WotF
Tab to target hostiles
Delete - Silence
Keypad - Healing Spells/Trinkets/Bandages
R - Single opponent PvP cast sequence (blow all my CDs)
[]\ - iTunes FF Play/Stop RW
I also use SHF/CTRL combos for second tier spells like smite or levitate.
Tolento Apr 4th 2007 1:09PM
Right hand numpad FTW!
Doodzin Apr 4th 2007 1:10PM
The whole click versus key-binding is a somewhat false dichotomy, as I do a combination of both. On all my toons my main combat skills are bound to 1-10 and situational skills/pots are scattered along my action bars.
For instance on my priest I have 3 ranks each of renew, flash heal, and greater heal along 1-10 and max rank spells along the action bars. Usually I am "typing" my skills, but occasionally use clicks for special situations.
I find it hard to believe that most caster classes have ALL their abilities bound to keys. If they do, than /clap, they have more brain cells to waste than I do.
Brad Apr 4th 2007 1:17PM
My issue with using intricate keybindings is that it becomes specific to that certain character, and even that certain computer.
I think I'd find it tough to remember what exactly each key did when I switched characters. And when I happen to play on a different computer, it'd just be impossible.
My only change to keybindings is that I duplicated the main action bar (1 thru =) to the keypad. I end up using the -, +, and 0(ins) keys for emergencies (ex. Counterspell, Blink, Mana Shield).
Zor Apr 4th 2007 1:26PM
I bind pretty much everything to keys.
WASD -> Movement
`,1-5, Tab,q,w,e,r,t,y,f,g,h,z,x,c,v,b are all bound to hot bar slots along with alt and ctrl variants of the same set of keys.
I use the middle mouse button as target nearest enemy, and always have mouse look on. So to change targets I just point at the beasty in question and cycle through targets in that area until it's highlighted.
Z.
klink-o Apr 4th 2007 1:55PM
I'm a clicker, with ASDW for movement. What I don't understand is why people think clicking buttons in a properly designed interface is any slower than keybindings. I mean, just about everything I click is on the one second global cooldown, so I'm usually hovering my mouse over the next button waiting for it to become active. I guess the arguement is that targeting would be quicker, but not by much. I do, however, use a lot of the predefined keybindings (tab to cycle targets, f keys for party members, f to assist, etc.).
Arte Apr 4th 2007 1:46PM
My main is a pally and I need a lot of stuff hotkeyed .
The most elegant solution i found is bongos. Everything I could ever cast is hotkeyed. I have it setup as such:
Most often used stuff is bound to 1,2,...-,= on the bottom row. The next row is SHIFT+1,2,etc. The row after that CTRL+1,2,etc, and then ALT+1,2,etc for the top row.
Everything is in a nice grid which makes it easy to cast. I could never click all those different things with any efficiency, now, with bongos, I can hot key everything (48 hotkeys) and cast without moving the mouse.
I highly recommend it.
hisk Apr 5th 2007 1:48PM
im a key clicker i never play wow realy fully silver so i cant realy remember wahts waht but the pretty pictures make it eiser also iv never had troble in pvp mainly cause i know how to play my hunter.
badfish Apr 4th 2007 3:22PM
I really recommend using a Nostromo. You can keep both hands still pretty much the whole time, except when you need to type a message.
I am a lvl 65 enh/resto Shammy, and I use the top row on my n51 for damage spells, and the bottom row for my heals. The d-pad on the Nostromo can be used for strafing, backwards and forwards.
I use the mouse for targeting, totems, and pots, as well as changing my view.
PhyerFly Apr 4th 2007 4:19PM
I'm an organization freak when it comes to my bars - so in the past I just did everything with keybinds and modifiers. I've been using one of those Wolfclaw gaming keyboards for the past few months and it's really made using keybinds much easier.
With my Warlock i've got a pretty simple bar setup at the moment using bongos - just 3 rows of 6 buttons stacked on top of each other and a few huge "click" buttons floating around.
My first row of bars is bound to the numbers 1-6, second row was ctrl+1-6 and third row is shift+1-6.
I also have a few "spam" button set up with cast sequence macros so I can mash one button for Corruption/Curse of Agony and another for Immolate/Conflag.
The only time I use my click buttons is for spells that are limited use or a really long cast time (e.x: Hellfire, Summoning, Seed of Corruption).
Michael Apr 4th 2007 7:19PM
I bind my action bar to the number pad. I control movement with WASD, in addtion to Q and E to turn. This setup RULES, and i'm convinced it's the best, especially for warriors. I put my stances to - and * keys, while execute is in the middle at number five. It's quick and efficient.
Kinoki Apr 10th 2007 3:18AM
I have everything keybound. From ยง to backspace, with shifted included. The entire numpad, including "/", *, "-", "+", and ",". I also have Q, E, R, F, T, Y bound and shifted.
I'm a PVP-Huntard. That might explain it.
Craig Apr 9th 2007 10:57PM
Let me start off by saying I'm a lame-ass keyboardist
(strickly hunt-and-peck). Yet, I can hold my own when it comes to manueverability and quick reaction. My method can't be beat...
- left hand (only) = xBox 360 controller using Pinacle Game Profiler (pinnaclegameprofiler.com) to map:
-W,A,S,D to thumbstick
-'mount/dismount' to left trigger #1
-'jump' to left trigger #2
-4 diferent spellcast macros are mapped to D-pad
(note - only left side of controller is used, and only in my left hand)
All other functions are handled by mouse clicks as my keyboard is strickly for chat.
SirCasey Apr 10th 2007 9:22AM
I followed Charlie's suggestion of shifting the movement keys from WASD to RDFG and am in the process of fixing key bindings on all my toons.
I've only been doing it a couple days but I can already tell that it's a wonderful thing. My pinky has a purpose now! Having it sit on S and A for frequently used spells is great and there are so many more easy to reach keys with that setup.
I have a 5 button mouse, and always have one hand on it and the other on the keyboard. On my pally those extra 2 buttons are my heals. On my warlock, Pet attack and soul drain.
The only consistancy I use is Q for autorun and Z for mount.
Liff Apr 17th 2007 12:06PM
I've never experienced any advantage to keys over the mouse in Wow, simply because I'm generally waiting for the global cooldown anyway. I can actually take my time moving the mouse if I want to..
Does no one else find this? o.o