NEWBSAUSAGE Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Hey guys. So... I'm a total n00b at PC gaming; the last MMO I played was FFXI on PS3. With that said, I'm still trying to get the hang of a mouse and using the keyboard to do mostly everything -- including running around. I got spoiled with the option of using an analog stick to run around. Anyway, I'm currently trying out Combat Medic and have slowly realized that there's a lot more abilities in this game than FFXI. Haha. I was wondering if you guys could help me out with this Key Binding thing. What do you guys suggest using for the following: 1. Movement 2. Targetting 3. Attacks (for PvE) 4. Heals/Buffs If there's already a similar thread for this topic, could anyone link it to save some trouble? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuzt Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 This is a very good guide on key binds, Taugrim plays tanks I believe but the binding guide can be used for any class really. I don't think he would mind his guide being posted for anyone who may be curious about bindings. So with that said I take no credit for this but it definately helped me. http://taugrim.com/2011/04/07/guide-...d-keybindings/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raani Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Movement I use the mouse to move and turn. Keyboard turning is slow and I wouldn't recommend it. Some people prefer to strafe with the keyboard, but if you can find a way to bind it to your mouse buttons (depending on the model you use), it's probably more convenient. Targeting A combination of Tab and mouse. Tab in this game works very strangely, so if you need to be super-precise, use your mouse. For friendlies, I have operations frames enabled at all times. I prefer to click them, even in small groups, because I have my F keys bound to other things. Offensive and Healing spells Honestly, this is a matter of personal choice. The general rule is that you should use the most convenient keybinds for the spells you use the most. Since I'm a healer, my healing spells get my favorite keybinds, which also tend to be closer to the Shift/Ctrl modifiers, which allow me some extra combos. My offensive spells get some F-keys and a few others. I find this set-up incredibly awkward, because I'm used to healing with mouseclick combos and using my keyboard strictly for offensive spells. That shouldn't be an issue for you, since you don't come with a preset muscle memory from a different game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaniardInfinity Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 (edited) This is my layout for healing on Commando. It feels comfortable to me anyway. To make it simpler, all of the abilities I use with regularity are in the left side of the keyboard where they are easy to reach. Abilities in the middle I use largely for openers, such as Concussion Round or Mortar Volley (things I only use once in a fight, or things which I don't normally need in a fight). The right side is for non-combat, including out of combat heal, sprint, speeder, class buff, sitting, holstering weapon, etc. - All of my healing abilities are bound 1-7, with Hammershot on 1, Medical Probe on 2, and Advanced Medical Probe on 3 (most of your time will probably be spent with those). The remaining slots I have Kolto Bomb, Bacta Infusion, Trauma Probe, and Field Aid. - Q and E for Adrenaline Rush and Reactive Shield respectively. In PvE, I normally swap Diversion (aggro drop) into the place of Adrenaline Rush. - R is bound to Research Cells because I like to think of it as my reload button (FPS player here). - X through V are bound to my attacks, Charged Bolts, Pulse Cannon, and Full Auto. Z is bound to Tech Override so I can quickly make an ability instant without needing to click. Especially useful on the go. - Supercharged Cells is bound to middle mouse for me, since its easiest for me to trigger it with the mouse (while adjusting my camera) so there is no wasted time in pumping out the heals. - CC Break is bound to mouse wheel down. Although I do not use it for targetting except on an ally NOT on my raid frame, I also have mousewheel up bound to target next friendly, since pointing and clicking on them in my eyes is an absolute last resort. - Speaking of targetting, if you are healing I absolutely recommend using the raid frame at all times for healing. It makes targetting significantly easier (just click on their name) and with a few options you can easily personalize the healthbars with % of health, actual remaining HP, the size of the healthbar (both height and width). It's a really awesome feature for us healers, and is much more reliable than targetting with the tab system. As I said, that's just what works for me. Hopefully it gives you some ideas to get your layout comfortable for you. Edited February 23, 2012 by SpaniardInfinity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylow Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 - Speaking of targetting, if you are healing I absolutely recommend using the raid frame at all times for healing. It makes targetting significantly easier (just click on their name) and with a few options you can easily personalize the healthbars with % of health, actual remaining HP, the size of the healthbar (both height and width). It's a really awesome feature for us healers, and is much more reliable than targetting with the tab system. And as a "bonus", you don't see the health of the companions any more, so you have an excuse to let them die right away? (Haven't tested raidframes since end of December, i have to admit, but at that time, companions were not included in the raidframe, making it quite useless when healing in a group of less then 4 players. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alithyra Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 (edited) And as a "bonus", you don't see the health of the companions any more, so you have an excuse to let them die right away? (Haven't tested raidframes since end of December, i have to admit, but at that time, companions were not included in the raidframe, making it quite useless when healing in a group of less then 4 players. ) Yes, that's still the case, sadly. I use the raid frames as default as they are so much much better, plus having your own health bar with the others means I don't forget to heal myself (frequent occurence). So it's quite annoying to have to go into prefs and switch back when I'm in a 2/3 man group - something I usually only remember to do after somebody's companion has died at least twice Edited February 23, 2012 by Alithyra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaniardInfinity Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 (edited) And as a "bonus", you don't see the health of the companions any more, so you have an excuse to let them die right away? (Haven't tested raidframes since end of December, i have to admit, but at that time, companions were not included in the raidframe, making it quite useless when healing in a group of less then 4 players. ) True, which is a bit of a shame. With that said, if you are bringing along one companion and they will be tanking, it would be smart to make them your focus target with Alt + F. It brings up a UI on your screen with all their information (and healthbar) and if you're holding down your focus target modifier, any ability you use will automatically target them (I think it defaults to the End key, which for me is entirely useless with my setup). You can also manually target them by just clicking on their portrait which is part of the UI. This is also good for when someone doesn't show up on your raidframe as well, which happens from time to time in Warzones (it's always a DPS, I swear). If you've got 2 companions running, make sure your friend's companion is the focus target since your companions healthbar is always on your screen. Unfortunately this means if you're clicking names to heal the names will be all over (your companion bottom left, focus target sorta middle right, your raidframe wherever you put it since it can be moved). There are several keybindings for targetting party companions, which will probably be useful along with focus target. Edited February 23, 2012 by SpaniardInfinity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuzt Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Link wasn't working try this one. http://taugrim.com/2011/04/07/guide-to-strafing-movement-and-keybindings/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
withonor Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I use my mouse for targeting and to use abilities I don't need to cast on cooldown. Now, I have the primary abilities I cast on 1-7 and I have a Razer Naga Mouse to back up what I might cast 1-7. Those abilities are: 1: Hammer Shot 2: Advanced Medical Probe 3: Medical Probe 4: Kolto Grenade 5: Bacta Infusion 6: Trauma Probe 7: Field Aid I swap Sticky Grenade to 7 a lot. Everything else I might click, I do so because I can switch to mouse hot keys quickly to allow for mouse clicking on main abilities. 8: Cryo Grenade 9: Concussion Charge 10-12: I could use these but haven't found a need for any of my abilities so I have my best AoE here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nytak Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Well.. lots of good advice in here. Nice to see another former XI player as well! Movement: For movement and turning, I use the mouse, unless I have to move straight backwards. In that case I use my arrow keys because... Combat: I try to bind everything to one key press, and rarely used abilities usually to some alt key combo. This is where trial and error comes in, but I find that most of my abilities are in the 1-7, Q-U and Alt+1 - Alt+7. I do this for all my charaters. We get quite a few abilities but in reality there are only a handful or two you use in regular rotations. I try to keep those in the 1-4 and Q-R keys.. Targetting: Tab and mouse. For friendlies, I use my G keys on my G15 keyboard (F1-F4 will work fine). For healing in raids though, I find that the most efficient healers tend to click on the unit frame of the person they need to heal then fire off the ability. Much more efficient than fumbling with the tab system or trying to click on a character in the middle of the action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rigaletto Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I'm new to healing and combat medic as well, but a long time MMO'er. Here's what I have so far, suggestions welcome. PS: Only level 18 right now. 1. Movement: MOUSE!!!! unbind your movement keys if you need practice with mouse movement. Then do a war zone. 2. Targetting: I tab target enemy's and bound numpad 9 to "nearest friendly". I use my F keys for attacks heals so I rebound my numpad keys 1-4 for party members, 5 self, 6 companion, 7-8 player companions. I may try to bind "nearest friendly" to mouse down just to see how it pans out. NOTE: sadly the numlock key is active in the game. I had to rebound "auto run" to the numpad - key so I can leave numlock on at all times. 3. Attacks (for PvE) I use number keys for attacks 4. Heals/Buffs F keys for heals/buffs Happy hunting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzine Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 (edited) A few personal tip for key bindings in general: > Make sure you are able to cast instant skills and strafe at the same time - For example: if you strafe left with Q then don't bind an instant skill to 1. > If you use the Ops UI to click targets then do not bind healing skills to your mouse. The main reason for this is because you cannot cast anything when your mouse cursor is hovering over specific UI frames such as the Ops UI, portraits or focus frame. - BioWare really needs to reconsider this "bug" imo > Improve customization: Override in-game keys which cannot be remapped (like left/right mouse clicks) by the use of additional software like AutoHotKey or a Key Mapper. > Step out of the box and experiment new bindings, but bear in mind: re-arranging key bindings can be frustrating. It takes time to re-adjust yourself before you get comfortable with finding the right keys blindfolded. > Use mnemonics to associate certain skills with a character. For example: R binds to Reactive Shield, A binds to Advance Medical Probe, K binds to Kolto Bomb etc... Many people tend to use the same key configuration for all their games. If you play(ed) WoW for example - you prolly have a layout that is more or less the same Edited February 25, 2012 by Dazzine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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