Is Veng Jug easier to play than Marauder?

[futuredami]

I am having a hard time managing the immense number of skills warriors have. It has been suggested that I play merc/sorc but the problem is I WANT to be a melee sith; the style appeals to me. I got marauder up to the mid 30s but I was getting beaten down to 20% of my HP every pull. Most pulls are multitarget so I would carefully set up all my bleeds one target, it would die, and then I had no rage and bleeds on cooldown while the rest would beat on me. Not a lot of fun. Most of the time I just spent nervously staring at my icons waiting for them to refresh and often confused over what I was supposed to be using.

 

Apparently I am a below average player with very little hope of mastering anything with that many buttons/micromanagement.

 

Is there any hope for me being a sith or is veng just as complicated and obtuse as marauder?

 

Could someone perhaps describe the typical veng priority? Will I have to use all the weird unnecessary strikes like pommel, throw, kick, choke etc etc? If I can narrow it down to like 4 or 5 important strikes that is all I need.

[pzljug]

I am having a hard time managing the immense number of skills warriors have. It has been suggested that I play merc/sorc but the problem is I WANT to be a melee sith; the style appeals to me. I got marauder up to the mid 30s but I was getting beaten down to 20% of my HP every pull. Most pulls are multitarget so I would carefully set up all my bleeds one target, it would die, and then I had no rage and bleeds on cooldown while the rest would beat on me. Not a lot of fun. Most of the time I just spent nervously staring at my icons waiting for them to refresh and often confused over what I was supposed to be using.

 

Apparently I am a below average player with very little hope of mastering anything with that many buttons/micromanagement.

 

Is there any hope for me being a sith or is veng just as complicated and obtuse as marauder?

 

Could someone perhaps describe the typical veng priority? Will I have to use all the weird unnecessary strikes like pommel, throw, kick, choke etc etc? If I can narrow it down to like 4 or 5 important strikes that is all I need.

 

Yes you will be using all of you abilities and yes the mobs seems to hit harder after 30. This could be something fixed from gear or go get a level or two doing space/pvp/bonus series. But also don't forget your defensive abilities, always use them and make sure your companion is properly geared too.

[lolcthulhu]

I am having a hard time managing the immense number of skills warriors have. It has been suggested that I play merc/sorc but the problem is I WANT to be a melee sith; the style appeals to me. I got marauder up to the mid 30s but I was getting beaten down to 20% of my HP every pull. Most pulls are multitarget so I would carefully set up all my bleeds one target, it would die, and then I had no rage and bleeds on cooldown while the rest would beat on me. Not a lot of fun. Most of the time I just spent nervously staring at my icons waiting for them to refresh and often confused over what I was supposed to be using.

 

Apparently I am a below average player with very little hope of mastering anything with that many buttons/micromanagement.

 

Is there any hope for me being a sith or is veng just as complicated and obtuse as marauder?

 

Could someone perhaps describe the typical veng priority? Will I have to use all the weird unnecessary strikes like pommel, throw, kick, choke etc etc? If I can narrow it down to like 4 or 5 important strikes that is all I need.

 

Once you get your skill rotation down you will be in a better position. I agree you should remember to use your defensive cooldowns OFTEN because thats what they are for. Also i think you should pay attention to the skills you have that DONT have cooldowns, mainly vicious slash. There should never be a moment where you arent doing something so if you dont have any rage.. press 1 and build some with your regular attack combo. Marauders really fun if you get the hang of it ^^ so for your sake I hope you dont give up and play a faceroll class like arsenal merc

[Rcorathers]

I am having a hard time managing the immense number of skills warriors have. It has been suggested that I play merc/sorc but the problem is I WANT to be a melee sith; the style appeals to me. I got marauder up to the mid 30s but I was getting beaten down to 20% of my HP every pull. Most pulls are multitarget so I would carefully set up all my bleeds one target, it would die, and then I had no rage and bleeds on cooldown while the rest would beat on me. Not a lot of fun. Most of the time I just spent nervously staring at my icons waiting for them to refresh and often confused over what I was supposed to be using.

 

Apparently I am a below average player with very little hope of mastering anything with that many buttons/micromanagement.

 

Is there any hope for me being a sith or is veng just as complicated and obtuse as marauder?

 

Could someone perhaps describe the typical veng priority? Will I have to use all the weird unnecessary strikes like pommel, throw, kick, choke etc etc? If I can narrow it down to like 4 or 5 important strikes that is all I need.

 

Honestly man I'm going to say give a Rage spec'd Juggernaut a try. I'm not saying they are easy to master so no hate from the gallery, but they can be used pretty easily in pve with only the use of a few key abilities.

 

You wont have the 4-7 defensive CDs a mara has so less worry there, and on a group of normal mobs you can Leap > Force crush(or choke) > then use smash and nearly 1 hit kill them all. That is 3-4 abilities. Add in the 2 rage builders and an occasional Vicious or Obliterate and you have a grand total of 8 skills.

 

I will reiterate, The spec can be used with all of the abilities much more effectively but using those few will probably solve your questing woes.

 

Also of note while lvling and getting used to the spec and getting comfortable you can watch the wonderful video posted in the guides on this forum. That vid will explain the spec in depth and really how to kick some butt.

 

Edit: Sorry for the rambling and spelling. Im just getting off of a 18 hour midnight shift >.<

Edited February 25, 2012 by Rcorathers

[Taimedown]

I refer you to this post on mara pre level 40. I totally agree with it.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=315295

[futuredami]

Marauders really fun if you get the hang of it ^^ so for your sake I hope you dont give up and play a faceroll class like arsenal merc

 

I thank you for your input (everyone) but I have never been particularly skilled or good at these types of things. I don't multitask well and I process information pretty slowly I think based on what people say ("Its really easy and you are a total mouth-breating idiot if you think pve is hard, you should be able to keybind 25 abilities with no trouble" etc etc)

 

I find that sort of thing difficult and I cannot type so I have to look at my keyboard to see my finger position, so the naga helps but I use process more than 12 abilities.

[rweiowjerwei]

Hey, OP, talk to me for a bit.

 

What is your main issue? Is it remembering what buttons trigger what abilities? Is it you cannot remember different keybinds because you feel it is too difficult for you? Or is it something else entirely such as not knowing the proper rotations and just being overwhelmed by choice?

 

I dont play a SW, but I can help you get a grasp on using your abilities in a functional and efficient way. I used to play a Feral DPS Druid and an Arms PVP Warrior, so I know my way around some complicated things such as rotations, keybinding, ability usage, priorities, etc.

 

Anyways, answer one of the above questions if you can and we'll go from there.

Edited February 25, 2012 by rweiowjerwei

[beyondkilling]

idk what ur doing wrong i have no problems at all with my mara and my jug was hella easy to lvl but mara was even easier i have not died once on my mara and its lvl 33 my jug died and 15 times by this lvl

[futuredami]

Hey, OP, talk to me for a bit.

 

What is your main issue? Is it remembering what buttons trigger what abilities? Is it you cannot remember different keybinds because you feel it is too difficult for you? Or is it something else entirely such as not knowing the proper rotations and just being overwhelmed by choice?

 

I dont play a SW, but I can help you get a grasp on using your abilities in a functional and efficient way. I used to play a Feral DPS Druid and an Arms PVP Warrior, so I know my way around some complicated things such as rotations, keybinding, ability usage, priorities, etc.

 

Anyways, answer one of the above questions if you can and we'll go from there.

 

Overwhelmed would be a good way to put it, I really have trouble with the "situational" aspect and the physical ability to actually press all the buttons involved. Physically, I am limited to 12 keys (razer naga) I can't use any more skills than that without clicking. I can keybind all I want, but I will have to stop looking at the screen and look down at my keyboard to actually press them, which is probably slower than even clicking the icons with the mouse. Even if I did there is no way in hell I would ever remember that F was pommel strike or J was saber throw etc.

 

I have heard about people holding down shift to access a second row of skills but I am nowhere near fast enough to mentally process that much information. I don't even know how that is possible honestly because if you have your thumb or pinkee on shift, you would have to arc your hand 45 degrees to hit the numbers, and even then you could only reach the first 5 keys or so with your hand in that weird position. It just doesn't make sense to me at all.

 

The other problem is I don't know what half of these skills even do or which take priority. I keep rereading the marauder guide and what I have gleaned is that stacking 3 bleeds takes priority, and to do that I need rage. This I get, but apparently this is the tip of the iceberg and not nearly enough to make me "good". There are a ton of weird other moves which I have no clue about:

 

Annihilate (This will one day be important assuming I actually get to max level. No idea where I will keybind it, I am beyond full on my buttons)

 

Massacre (I do not know what this is)

 

Battering Assault (Rage builder I set to 1 key because of it's importance and frequency of use)

 

Assault (Set to 2 so I ca use it easily, I use this a lot)

 

Vicious Throw (No clue what this is)

 

Sweeping Slash (I can assume from the name it is a cleave style aoe. Would be nice but I have no place to set the key so I will not be able to use it when I learn it unless I ditch another skill)

 

Deadly Throw (dropped from my bar. The range is too short and damage is too to be worth using. It seems like a pvp ability and I am having trouble with pve as it is)

 

Crippling Slash (No clue again it sounds like a pvp ability so ignored)

 

Ravage (Conflicting stories on this, some use it some don't. No idea what circumstance would make it beneficial. I have stopped using it but I worry about it and sometimes hit it in panic when I get confused)

 

Retaliation (I had this bound to 4 which was my quick reflex easy to hit key because it is so time-intensive and has a small window for use. Sadly I can either do this or interrupt, not both. I only have one 4 key. Again some say not to use this and others use it liberally)

 

Force Charge (This I keep bound to 12 on the naga and I am comfortable with that as an opener/rage builder.)

 

Vicious Slash (Set to 3 because I use this more than any other strike, and my pointer finger is glued to 3)

 

Obliterate (I have no idea what this is)

 

Gore (Same. No clue what this is it might not be my spec or perhaps it is a high level skill I don't have)

 

Smash (This I set to 5 because I find that is easy to hit. I surmise this is useless on solo targets so I only use it when I pull groups and don't mind taking hits)

 

Rupture (DoT) (set to 8 which is right below 5 because I use this constantly)

 

Force Choke (No idea when to use this why to use it or where I could possibly bind it. It apparently interrupts sometimes, but other times it seems to not interrupt so I resort to this being very low priority and don't know where to stick it in a priority at all. Usually I just ignore it)

 

Pommel Strike (again, no idea what this does how it works when to use it, nor do I have any keys left to place it. I ignore it but I have a feeling I should be using it)

 

Cloak of Pain (Apparently I need to use this liberally at the beginning of fights, so I started placing it at 11 on the naga, but that means I had to drop saber throw which used to be set to 11 so now I can no longer use saber throw)

 

Force Scream (The only thing I use this for is when I get pushed back from a boss just to sneak a hit in while I am running forward. I don't know if it any stronger than my regular hits and have since removed it because it was taking up prime real estate on my bar)

 

Deadly Saber (Hitting this is really redundant to me, Its a hassle to have to press a button just to enable the bleeds I wish that this was combined into my regular strike. As it stands I set it to 10 which is the bottom row of the naga, so it is part of the bleed lineup. Really the kind of thing I would macro if I could like DK used to macro rune strike etc.

 

Force Crush (I have no idea what this is)

 

Savage Kick (Same. No clue what this is or when one would use it)

 

So yeah... A lot of if it psychological I think; I avoid pvp because when I am under pressure I panic and freeze up and hesitate because I can't think of what I need to do next. Even in pve however if anything happens that is "out of synch" with a normal rotation I stop hitting buttons and just... kind of stare at the icons while taking damage.

 

When things are normal I can keep track of a simple 1-2-3-4 step by step process but I don't have an easy time with anything that deviates from that.

 

I keep getting the feeling that he game is simply too difficult for me and I should be playing something more slowly paced.

[rweiowjerwei]

Related - do you have skype? MSN? Ventrilo? Teamspeak? Any sort of more immediate method of communicating?

 

Okay. So what I am reading here is that you are using ALL your abilities hotkeyed to your Naga mouse? I've always been partial to using the number keys with modifiers such as shift, control, and alt. I did have a Naga mouse which I used with some effectiveness, but I found that other than the keys near the LMB or the numbers of 1-4, the rest were too difficult to reach and actually slowed my reaction times because I had to feel for buttons.

 

Here is what my current UI looks like : http://i.imgur.com/1cp2f.jpg

 

The method to my madness is this:

 

1) All frequently used abilities are on the 1-6 keys. Easily reachable and broken apart into categories - by that I mean that 1,2 are 'initiators' , 3 is 'spam ability', and 4,5 are 'finishers'.

 

2)Auxiliary abilities are kept on the further keys from 7 to the = key. Sometimes it could be seen as sluggish, but with practice they end up being in a good spot so that you dont accidentally hit them.

 

3)Second bar below the main one will store any and all utilities for my character. A very good thing to do is change your keybinds in relation to movement. Instead of having WASD for moving and turning, and QE for strafing - instead you should unbind Q and E and place them as A and D. Thus you strafe with A and D, and you just freed up two close keys to be usable. When you do this, you should typically turn with the mouse by holding the RMB and moving the mouse side to side to change direction.

 

The proximity of the Q keybind in relation to my 2 keybind makes complete sense. Both are melee abilities that are typically associated, so having the bind's so close together can help reinforce that they are used together. I can also easily reach them both with any available finger.

 

I made E my defensive cooldown. It's quick to access which can very well save your life.

 

I consider V to be more of a DPS cooldown. For my case, it lowers the amount of heat I have drastically over a few seconds, thus allowing for more ability usage. In this case I made it accessible with my thumb, because you dont sit there spamming spacebar in PVE or PVP, your thumb ends up being a great choice.

 

Shift + R is electro dart. The equivalent to force choke as it is a 4 second CC. You will notice on the right side I bound simply the R key to something called Shoulder Slam, which is only usable on incapacitated targets. Thus the logical thought progression would be Shift + R to stun, and then R to 'finish' the combo off...assuming that makes sense.

 

You will notice I have varying keys hotkeyed for Shift + 1-4. They are also abilities that I want more readily accessible, so I have kept them bound in such a way that they are easy to reach - I simply hold shift with my pinky, and then hit the appropriate key. I know you said you had a problem with shift binding and such, but if you provide me with an immediate means of communication (at the top of my post) I will help figure out something that works for you.

 

I have T bound to my interrupt. It's fairly simple to reach and I keep binds like this consistent on all characters. For any alts I may have, they will ALWAYS have their interrupt on T. That way, no matter which I am playing, my muscle memory will take over when I know that I need an interrupt, and I will automatically hit T.

 

Mouse E simply refers to a button on the side of my Logitech G9X mouse (google if you really want to see) near my right hand thumb. A simple press with this means that I can pull somebody to me, and it allows my left hand to be free for an instant follow up with abilities and keeps me from having to worry about pressing or releasing a modifier key such as shift.

 

Anyways, that's a quick breakdown of the reasoning behind binds and why you should try and come up with some that make sense to you. The biggest factor in getting good with them (I wasnt always) is having determination and practicing with them. Because this game doesnt have target dummies (that I'm aware of) you can ask a decent healer of some sort to duel you and just let you beat on them for a while. Work on using keybinds reflexively with little thought required - even if it is difficult at first, you will get it.

 

I dont know how many alts you have/play, but ensure that similar abilities (CC remover, CC, defense, interrupts, etc) are ALWAYS bound to the same keys. It will build up muscle memory and give you a huge boost in getting the hand of different binds.

 

Anyways, I'd like to talk to you like I mentioned at the top of my post.

[futuredami]

OK I went out for a burger and pondered it, and I think I have come up with a solution:

 

If I use the ` key as a makeshift.... shift I could set all the naga buttons to a secondary function doubling the skills I could utilize. I would use ` because my left hand rests on 1234 currently (and it has to stay there)

 

That still doesn't solve the issue of not knowing what a lot of the skills do and when to use them but it does make the buttons possible to press. It will take a long time to remap my brain to remember each button has a sub-function but I see it eventually working out if I practice. I tend to give up on things if I am not good at them immediately, haha.

[rweiowjerwei]

OK I went out for a burger and pondered it, and I think I have come up with a solution:

 

If I use the ` key as a makeshift.... shift I could set all the naga buttons to a secondary function doubling the skills I could utilize. I would use ` because my left hand rests on 1234 currently (and it has to stay there)

 

That still doesn't solve the issue of not knowing what a lot of the skills do and when to use them but it does make the buttons possible to press. It will take a long time to remap my brain to remember each button has a sub-function but I see it eventually working out if I practice. I tend to give up on things if I am not good at them immediately, haha.

 

To me, using the tilde key as shift is just not effective. If you are using 1-4 for normal abilities, how do you expect to be able to reach the key (Quite the reach to hit it) and still be able to move around or do other things? I for one have to take my fingers OFF of the move keys to hit the tilde key - which means it's probably a bad idea.

 

As for what skills do, read the tooltips - You are aware that scrolling over them explains the ability, correct?

 

As for giving up, dont let yourself. Start with something simple like Binding an ability to 1, and then another (preferably similar) to Shift + 1. Try and get your mind wrapped around those. After a while you'll grasp the stuff no problem... I never thought I'd be able to do it until I tried and succeeded with practice. It's like learning to ride a bike...a bike with lots of buttons and controls.

 

Anyways, I'm still offering some sort of faster means of conversation assuming you have one. Like I said, MSN, Teamspeak, Ventrilo, Skype, etc etc.

Edited February 25, 2012 by rweiowjerwei

[Vid-szhite]

I have heard about people holding down shift to access a second row of skills but I am nowhere near fast enough to mentally process that much information. I don't even know how that is possible honestly because if you have your thumb or pinkee on shift, you would have to arc your hand 45 degrees to hit the numbers, and even then you could only reach the first 5 keys or so with your hand in that weird position. It just doesn't make sense to me at all.

 

Which is exactly why I don't use Shift with number keys. I use Shift + Q / W / E and Shift + A / S / D

 

Here's how my cooldown bars are arranged (I'm weird because I use it CoH-style, with my top bar as my alt bar and my bottom bar as my normal, keep that in mind):

 

 

[ALT+1] [ALT+2] [ALT+3] [ALT+4] [ALT+5] [ALT+~] [ALT+Q] [ALT+W] [ALT+E] [shift+Q] [shift+W] [shift+E]
[   1   ]   [   2   ]   [   3   ]  [   4   ]  [   5   ]   [   ~   ]  [ALT+A] [ALT+S] [ALT+D] [shift+A] [shift+S] [shift+D]

 

With this layout, I never have to even reach my fingers. This layout is deliberate and fills up the whole top and bottom. Does it take getting used to? Of course, but only at first.

 

Now you may be wondering, why Q / W / E? Look at your keyboard. Those three letters are right below 1 / 2 / 3, the easiest buttons to press. A / S / D is a row below that. I use those two sets of letters twice, because they're easy, and with Shift, no reaching is required at all.

 

"Wait, how do you move forward and press buttons at the same time?" Mouse1 + Mouse2 moves forward by default, so if I ever need to press a W-modified key, I use those. I turn by holding down right click and panning around by hand, because it's more precise, so pretty much I have mouse2 held down the whole time anyway. The game's movement keys are VERY well programmed, and I never hit a cooldown by accident, though sometimes I do have to stop moving for just one second.

 

Naturally, I don't bind commonly used abilities to those modified keys, but I know them by heart because I practiced, practiced, practiced. I was very slow with them at first, but now they're second nature.

 

Alt + Q: Pommel Strike

Alt + W: Enrage

Alt + E: Single Taunt

 

Alt + A: Force Push

Alt + S: CC Breaker

Alt + D: AoE Taunt

 

Shift + Q: Interrupt

Shift + W: AoE Stun

Shift + E : Vicious Slash (Way over at the end of the top bar, because it's a rage dump that I rarely use)

 

Shift + A: Guard

Shift + S: Saber Throw

Shift + D: Savage Kick

 

 

 

Wait! What about your defensive cooldowns? Those are easy too, I bound them all to the outer buttons of the numpad and pulled out the Numpad Enter key (since that's considered the same key as regular Enter).

 

Numpad +: Saber Ward

Numpad -: Invincible

Numpad 0: Endure Pain

 

"Wow! I'd never be able to know all that by heart!" Don't psych yourself out, I thought so too, and this is the first MMO I've ever had to do this. My range of not having to look down is normally 1-5 and then from there on out I just click. I have abnormally slow reaction times as well, my own mother says so to my face - she was even worried about teaching me to drive because of it. In other words, I'm just like you, except I don't have the luxury of owning a Razer Naga. I frigging wanted to tank, though, and more than that, I wanted to tank as a Sith Warrior. Screw easy. I pretty much set my heart on being able to do this, and now I can. Am I any good, though? The last healer I tanked with straight up said he was /friending me because I was the best Jugg he'd ever seen.

 

If I can do it, so can you. Rather than give up and say "oh well I must be disabled", rise above it. Find a way to work with it. Don't consider things impossible, simplify the impossible until it becomes easy.

Edited February 25, 2012 by Vid-szhite

[Vid-szhite]

OK I went out for a burger and pondered it, and I think I have come up with a solution:

 

If I use the ` key as a makeshift.... shift I could set all the naga buttons to a secondary function doubling the skills I could utilize. I would use ` because my left hand rests on 1234 currently (and it has to stay there)

 

That still doesn't solve the issue of not knowing what a lot of the skills do and when to use them but it does make the buttons possible to press. It will take a long time to remap my brain to remember each button has a sub-function but I see it eventually working out if I practice. I tend to give up on things if I am not good at them immediately, haha.

 

That'll do just fine! If it seems too awkward at first, though, consider trying something different until it's not awkward anymore. I had to try several different layouts until I got mine settled in, but now I use it on all my characters. It's a pain in the *** to re-bind every time I make a new alt, though (which is three times a week).

 

If you own a Razer Naga, can't you use the Alt key to modify the Naga buttons? That'd be easier than the ~ key, I think, and it pretty much doubles the amount of buttons you have available.

Edited February 25, 2012 by Vid-szhite

[rweiowjerwei]

Guess the OP left...

[Elyx]

Guess the OP left...

 

Or he's too busy trying out all the great ideas

 

I agree with the above posters OP...don't give up! As a self defense instructor, I often worked with people who were simply not used to moving themselves (walking, stepping, balancing) like they needed to in order to do what I did. from years of teaching a multitude of learning styles, I came up with a quote:

 

"What is natural is neither beneficial nor efficient...it is simply habitual"

 

the idea is that what feels normal to you now isn't something your limited to, it's a long process of wiring in habitual movements based on stimulus. there will be limitations based on learning style and/or physical issues, but most of the stuff were talking about here can simply be re-worked with time and practice. And persistence.

 

One of my methods to the madness is bind ctrl and alt to buttons on my mouse. I have a 5 button mouse...i bind the ctrl and the alt keys to the side buttons. now...I move with my keyboard (and hold down my mouse look button to strafe). so i map the keys directly next to my movement keys to my hotbars.

 

Not saying you have to do this setup...this is what I do. the key is trying out different ways of getting access to more then one set of keys. for me it was mapping ctrl + alt to my mouse, so i wouldn't have to reach for them with the same hand I'm hitting my keybinds with.

 

My default keybinds are: Q,W,R,T,A,G,Z,X,V. I use ESDF solely for movement. As you can see, all my keybinds are directly next to my movement keys! it makes reaching them very easy. 1 through 5 i reserve for my companions (i drop the ctrl + on their hotkeys), and i save the number pad for things that are very situational...such as medpacs, food, buffs, speeder, etc.

 

and, with the ctrl and alt keys assigned to mouse buttons, I have no need to stretch for the shift or ctrl at the same time. my right thumb holds down the mouse button for ctrl as my left hand presses whatever key I need. same with the alt button. or I can hold down both and have a ctrl+alt+ option. thats a full extra set of hotkeys without having to play twister with your left hand

 

and I, too, run into the issue of remembering what skills are on what keys. I have had that problem since i started MMO's back in DaoC days. My solution was to bind actions with similar "results" to the same keys, no matter what game im playing.

 

So, my most commonly used skills will always be right next to my movement keys (W and R respectively). on my jug that means W is Assault, R is Sundering assault. next in line are those skills that are used allot, but may not be all the time (such as ones with a ten second CD or so, or ones that have situational requirements, such as needing rage). those go to Q and T respectively. for my jugg, thats Q for retaliate, and T for Vicious slash.

 

My ranged skills or pullers go on A usually (like force leap in this case), and my AoE's rest on G. Z and V are fillers, or finishers. in the case of my vengance jugg, this means impale and force scream are on Z and G.

 

of course, you run into issues when you have more attacks then those keys! thats when i add the ctrl and alt...but the key is that i don't change the keys. so ctrl+W is still an often used skill. ctrl+G is still an AoE...just not the one I use most often. As an example, i have slam on G. ctrl+G is my sweeping slash.

 

so this way If im reaching for my "AoE" skill it will always be on G. i don't have to wonder where it is...in WoW my G was my warriors thunderclap, as an example. so when someone says AoE...I think G !

 

i don't think my exact system will be 100% the solution you need at the moment, but the important details to carry from it are (TL : DR):

 

1) Keep hotkeys close!

 

2) Keep similar skills on the same hotkeys, and use ctrl or alt to access the next similar skill, rather then just spreading them out all over the place. so if your ranged attack is on button 1, then you should put your next ranged attack on button ctrl+1.

 

3) If reaching for shift or ctrl or alt are difficult, then look at other ways of mapping those keys (as i did). buttons on your mouse are one alternative.