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The latest patch 5.4 newsBlood Sport: PvP keybindings -- ESDF and roaming index finger variants
by C. Christian Moore 
Mar 8th 2011 at 9:00PM
Our last Blood Sport article featured the first in a two-part series about the strategies of PvP keybinding. You'll probably need to check it out for this article to make sense, seeing as there's lots of confusing colors and everything.
That article had lots comments praising ESDF hand positioning. Well, we're going to start things off with a crowd favorite.
Read A guide to PvP keybinding, part 1.
ESDF is keybinding code for a type of hand position that moves the hand slightly to the right. As you can see, the movement keys are no longer WASD, but ESDF (hence the name). (See last week's column for an explanation of the colors in the charts used here.)
There is a reason ESDF is so widely praised as a fantastic adaptation: It gives you access to more keys with very little sacrifice! I highly recommend this variant for the user who is currently using the common WASD with roaming pinky positioning.
This type of hand positioning gives the WoW player access to more keys on both the left and right. A roaming pinky can now access A and Z without much trouble. Moreover, the index finger can find its way back to home row much easier because of the little ridge on F. ESDF positioning also allows the hand to have easy access to more keys to the right, such as 6, Y, H, and B.
Roaming index
Roaming index is another type of hand position variant, but this type is much different than ESDF. Most WoW players rest their hand on the A, W, and D keys using their ring finger, middle finger, and index fingers respectively.
However, players who use a "roaming index" style instead rest their fingers on home row and use their ring finger to touch the W key. This means their index finger is free to "roam" amongst the middle keys, giving them a more friendly access to F, G, C, V, R, T, and 5.
I haven't played a lot of games other than WoW, so when I started playing, the roaming index style was very natural to me. I haven't tried to break the habit, because as we'll see very shortly, this positioning is arguably the most optimal hand position for keybinding.
Roaming index definitely allows the user to have the most keys easily accessible without using modifiers. Perhaps the biggest draw of roaming index is the ability to access 7, U, J, and N without much difficulty.
The Z key is much harder to use in this configuration, but this is an acceptable sacrifice in light of the large amount of access the user has in the middle of the keyboard. R, T, G, C, and V all become prime real estate for the roaming index. Moreover, if you use your mouse for autorun, the Z key is actually fairly accessible with the ring finger.
Spell Interrupts: The key to the castle
While this is certainly debatable, I believe the most important keybind a PvPer has access to is his keybind to interrupt enemy casters. Stopping a heal is the difference between victory and defeat far more than I'd like to call attention to.
I highly recommend binding your primary spell interrupt to E, R, or F, if you're not using ESDF. If you're using ESDF, your spell interrupt key should probably be R or G, or possibly T.
Your index finger is probably the quickest and most reliable finger on your left hand. You want to give it access to spell interrupts to maximize your chances of hitting that enemy spell. A thumb button on a mouse is another great place to put an important spell interrupt ability. On my death knight, I have multiple spell interrupts, so I bind them to E and R, and Strangulate is on my thumb button.
My personal keybinds
As I've mentioned, I use the Roaming Index WASD keybind system -- I'll be disclosing my keybinds for my warlock. I use a very similar keybind system on all my other characters, which I will explain after the wall of text.
`~ Immolate
1 Curse of Exhaustion and Conflagrate
2 Bane of Agony
3 Corruption
4 Unstable Affliction, Hand of Gul'dan, and Shadowfury
5 Haunt, Metamorphosis, and Chaos Bolt (51 pointers)
6 Drain Life
7 Shadow Ward (previously Drain Mana, Shadow Ward was on 8)
Tab Demonic Circle: Summon
Q Life Tap
W,A,D Movement
E Pet macro / interrupt (Sacrifice, Spell Lock, Seduce, Axe Toss, etc)
R Death Coil
T Tab target" (because I have a roaming index, it's easier to tab target on T)
Y Howl of Terror
F Fear
G Pet attack
H Pet follow
J Move pet
Z Bane of Doom
X Searing Pain
C Fel Flame
V Shadow Bolt
B Shadowflame
N Curse of Weakness
SPACE Jump
SHIFT + `~ Incinerate
SHIFT + 1 Soul Fire
SHIFT + 2 Racial ability (except for Every Man For Himself)
SHIFT + 3 PvP Trinket (Every Man For Himself is also here)
SHIFT + 4 Power macro (on-use trinkets + Demon Soul + engineering use items, etc.)
SHIFT + 5 Soul Link
SHIFT + 6 Fel Armor
SHIFT + 7 Demon Armor
SHIFT + Tab Demonic Circle: Teleport
SHIFT + Q Other pet ability macro (Felstorm, Succubus Knockback, Imp Dispel, Felhunter Dispel, etc.)
SHIFT + W Flying mount
SHIFT + E Pet focus macro (Spell Locks, Seduces, Axe Toss on my focus target)
SHIFT + R Death Coil focus macro (Death Coils my focus target)
SHIFT + T Seed of Corruption
SHIFT + A Ground mount
SHIFT + S Soulshatter
SHIFT + D Focus target (acquires my focus)
SHIFT + F Fear focus macro (Fears my focus target)
SHIFT + G Healthstone macro (eats healthstone, uses battlemaster trinket, etc)
SHIFT + H Health Funnel
SHIFT + Z Curse of Tongues
SHIFT + X Pet attack focus macro (tells my pet to attack my focus target)
SHIFT + C Soulburn
SHIFT + V Soul Harvest
SHIFT + B Banish Focus macro (Banishes my focus target; I do not have a regular Banish cast)
SHIFT + N Curse of Weakness focus macro (CoWs my focus target)
SHIFT + SPACE Immolation Aura (Metamorphosis)
CONTROL + `~ through CONTROL + 6 cast the normal spell on my focus target (I rarely use these)
CONTROL + Q Drain Soul
CONTROL + E Summon Imp
CONTROL + R Summon Succubus
CONTROL + A Bandages my target
CONTROL + S Bandages myself
CONTROL + D Fel Domination
CONTROL + F Summon Voidwalker
CONTROL + G Summon Felguard
CONTROL + Z Curse of Tongues focus macro (CoTs my focus target)
CONTROL + X Summon Felhunter
CONTROL + SPACE Demon Leap (Metamorphosis)
MOUSE MIDDLE BUTTON Autorun (I use this far more than I use W to move)
MOUSE THUMB BUTTON 1 Ventrilo push-to-talk key
MOUSE THUMB BUTTON 2 Tertiary spell interrupt on certain classes
An explanation of my keybinds
These keybinds aren't intended to be "perfect." Perfect keybinds are keybinds that work for you, not a set that works for other people. I'm just listing my personal keybinds because I've found that organizing spells and abilities in a logical manner has helped me to improve my game.
I'm not a big mouse guy, unfortunately. I just haven't shelled out the cash to get a mouse with a ton of buttons on it. I'm not sure I'd really want one, either. One of my friends considers it a godsend for pet movement. More power to him!
I don't care much for Alt modifiers, as my roaming index positioning can make it complicated to use Alt while stretching to 7 or J. Control is also an awkward modifier, but it's the price I pay for having lots of nice, index-based keybinds.
You'll notice that most of my DoTs are from 1 to 5. These are instant-cast, spammable abilities that whatever class I'm using has access to. I try to not put long cooldowns on the number keys unless they're on 6 or 7. Your mileage may vary.
Shift keybinds are important cooldowns that I don't want to accidentally hit. Demonic Circle: Summon is the regular keybind, while Demonic Circle: Teleport is the Shift keybind. This is important because I don't want to accidentally hit my teleport at any given time during an arena match or rated battleground. If I accidentally hit my summon, that's fine because I'll probably be on the move anyway (and it has a cast time so it won't do anything), or I'll just relocate my portal. It's certainly less devastating than getting out of a good position or burning an important survivability cooldown.
Shift also allows me to (pun incoming) shift my abilities from affecting my target to affecting my focus. I prefer Shift to do this in most circumstances to control because my roaming index hand positioning allows for greater reach with Shift, as well as less awkward positioning if I hit Control.
Also, notice that abilities that cannot be used in multiple trees (Unstable Affliction and Shadowfury, for instance) occupy the same keybind. This is to save on space -- it also feels nice knowing that my 4 key is bound to important abilities all around the board, even if they're pretty different in what they do.
Listening Music: Whitney Houston. Few voices will ever be heard that are as incredible.
Want to ascend the arena ladders faster than a fireman playing Donkey Kong? We'll steer you to victory with the best arena addons and let you in on some rank 1 gladiator PvP secrets. If you're looking for the inside line on battlegrounds and world PvP, read The Art of War(craft).
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Blood Sport (Arena PvP)
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Budokan Mar 9th 2011 9:40AM
This might be slightly (un)related, but when you mentioned the small "ridge" on the F key I thought I would share something that I myself have done for years. In order to facilitate a more tactile approach for my hand to wander a bit to different keybinds I like to add what is essentially more of those same ridges to various keys. Call it braille if you like. This of course involves permanently modifying your keyboard, so if you're into keeping your hardware absolutely pristine, you might not like this.
I apply a small drop of super glue on the keys I want to use as my "guide keys". Allow it dry completely of course, and voila. You have guide dots, or ridges, or braille, or whatever you want to call them. I haven't had to look at my left hand to grab a keybind in years. My hand always knows where it is thanks to these tiny yet vastly helpful little guide dots.
perderedeus Mar 9th 2011 11:00AM
I've always played most games, including WoW, with the Roaming Index. I actually never thought to use anything but my ring finger for W, and leave my index finger free for F, R, T, V, G, etc.
I'm tempted to try ESDF though... hmm.
Oldboy Mar 9th 2011 1:18PM
I recently got around to picking up a Nostromo b52 Tournament Edition... one of the "speed-pad" types that mimics the leftmost keys on the keyboard, along with a directional pad, mousewheel, "spacebar" etc.
It freed up the WASD keys from movement to keybindings, which with modifiers equals 12 new keybinds not accessible for anyone using a keyboard for movement. Turning off the directional pad from 8-way movement to 4-way means my only options are strafing or backpedaling (I use the mouse for autorun). The config is extremely flexible, and in addition to macros it has three "states" that can completely change the entire keybind config on the fly, so you go from 45+ potential keybinds to 130+ if you really need to (I personally don't).
It definitely took some time to adapt to, but now I wouldn't go back to a keyboard for anything.
DArcMatter Mar 9th 2011 1:55PM
+1 for ESDF. It's the most compatible control scheme for my touch-typing brain.
Might I suggest that you remap your CAPSLOCK key to something more useful? In my case, I'm a programmer, and I use a funky text editor that has me hitting ESC a lot (Vim, for the curious). I swapped the roles of the ESC, CAPS and CTRL keys on my keyboard, so I can program with less pain, and I have to reach far far away to the ESC key to use the CAPS key.
You can get something like the RandyRants.com keyboard remapper utility if you're a Windows guy. Mac users should be able to do their key remapping via built-in utilities.
Lee Weaver Mar 9th 2011 2:33PM
I can not understand all the talk about keybinding... the game is designed to be played with a mouse play it like it's designed.
Biskit333 Mar 9th 2011 5:19PM
Assuming you aren't trolling, there are many reasons to use keybinds over mouse clicking. Especially in a PvP environment or a reactionary role like tanking, it is vital to use your abilities as quickly as possible. It is markedly faster to activate buttons using keybindings as opposed to mouse selection, as you don't have to divert your eyes to the action bar, move the mouse to the correct button, and then click the ability. Instead you simply move one finger a much smaller distance, from memory, and activate the button. Shaving off those milliseconds can and will mean the difference between life and death in many aspects of the game. In addition, using keybinds leaves the mouse free for its most important job, selecting enemies and using mouseover macros. Clickers must either move the mouse to the middle of the screen or rely on inaccurate tab targeting, and mouseover macros are impossible if you must click your abilities, as the mouse cannot be over a button and an enemy at the same time.
In response to your claim that the game is designed for clicking, I disagree completely. As soon as you start the game most buttons, actions, and interfaces are automatically bound to a key. Graphical buttons remain for reference and learning, but the game is designed to allow for greater usability through keybinding, and not utilizing this feature limits your potential to play the game.
Biskit333 Mar 9th 2011 5:22PM
I have an unorthodox keybind layout that works quite well for me. My mouse has two buttons on each side, near the thumb and pinky. I have one of these on each side bound to strafe in that direction, while the others are used for autorun and movement increasing spells. This setup places all of my movement keys on one hand, and lets me keep movement and abilities separate in my mind. It also frees up the wasd keys, making that prime key real estate available for other uses.
burntpizza Mar 9th 2011 5:25PM
I use the razer saga mouse, yo hell with using my left hand for anything besides moving
Anubiss Mar 9th 2011 5:36PM
Belkin N52te was a god send for me. My fingers are Freakishly long and in the beginning I couldnt play for long periods of time using the keyboard. I got the Belkin, bound all my spells to it and use the mouse to move and only use my keyboard to chat. The Belkin could stand to have the ability to extend a little bit to accomodate freaks like me but its way better then the keyboard.
Talarian Mar 9th 2011 8:09PM
First things first: great guide! As good as the first incarnation. I use ESDF (mostly because, due to typing, I had those key memorized so had to spend less time looking at the keyboard when I saw a CD end on my action bar) and am glad to see it get a mention. I find that it frees up so many keys (I use a roaming index AND a roaming pinkie) that I can't live without it anymore.
Second matter (and the more important of the two): how many other people here have torn out their left-side Windows key? I tore mine out in the middle of a battleground, one night, many months ago. As usual, PvP action had gotten frenzied and an errant pinkie swept over the Windows key........and I was staring at my desktop. My computer is a bit slow so it took it a second to get WoW back up, but of course I was dead. In a fit of resurrection-counter rage, I jammed my thumb under it and pressed up as hard as I could. It flew off like a champagne cork and I've never seen it since (my room is a mess). Needless to say, I haven't missed the damn thing even for an instance. Plus it leaves a hole in my keyboard to shake things out of when sandwich crumbs fall in. Its a win/win situation and I highly recommend that all PvP'ers ditch that Windows key immediately. After all, there's another one on the other side! Not that you're going to use it, anyway...
Basilmoyh Mar 10th 2011 1:51AM
I use F and G as left and right strafe, T as backup Forward because most of my running forward is via the mouse.
With my pinky on F and my ring finger of G, my middle and index fingers are free to roam. All my keybinds are on the right half of the keyboard.
My thumb rests perfectly on ALT, so my thumb works the modifiers.
To me, this is the most comfortable, functional layout by far. It really is a gem. I can't believe no one thought of doing this before.
Lee Weaver Mar 12th 2011 1:09AM
with the GCD i can click and still be waiting on the GCD and click targeting is CRAZY with all the crap going on it's almost impossible except for the initial pull
lucasthegreat7 Mar 30th 2011 4:29PM
Hey I am setting up my action bars to match my keyboard, as suggested in this post, and was wondering if there was any way that you could include modifiers. For example when im not pressing any modifiers then it shows and casts heal, but when i press down shift it changes to flash heal on the action bar. Im using dominos atm, but I would switch to other action bar addons if needed. I know this post is confusing, so if you need clarification just ask :)
muffinmocha May 13th 2011 10:48AM
Thank you so much for this article, I luckily stumbled upon it while reading one of your more recent articles. I wish I had access to all this information back when I started playing around 4 years ago. Probably would be a much better PVPer, a better warlock.
I been experimenting with keybinds since I picked up WoW. I have small hands, which was ok when I was playing on my laptop, but with a regular keyboard, using WASD, I have limited options. I tried nostromo n52te, that didn't work, so I'm now using it as paperweight. I currently have Logitech G15, which is ok I guess, but I have never really been happy with my keybinds.
Now, thanks to you, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I may even finally learn to PVP on my warlock.