what movement keys do you use?

[Razuko]

I use a nostromo speedpad, I have my whole keyboard mapped to it. It has the movement keys next to the thumb of my left hand. It is shapped like a hand. I only use my keyboatd for typing messages. I dont see why more people dont use them.

 

this exactly, dpad movement ftw, hold right mouse button to strafe and turn faster and the ridonculous amount of keybinds possible.

 

i rock a nostromo, a logitech trackman (the blue thumb position ball) and a slim bluetooth ps3 keyboard with trackpad... swtor from the couch baby!

[Failheals]

i have a 5 button mouse, how would i go about making the game think that one button was alt and one was ctrl? that would make life so much faster....i think

 

Depends if you can make macro's or substitute key bindings with the mouse and keyboard you have. I use an old z-board with a normal interface and a simple USB mouse, I kind of find it funny the lengths and the gear people will buy for an mmo to make it easier for them to play..

[Umpire]

says the man with a Z board....how many layovers do you have for it?

[Nechronix]

Buy and Logitech G13 and you'll never go back. Posted something similar in another thread recently, but with a Logitech G13 (not a keyboard, it's a gaming device) there is a joystick for your thumb and (I think) 23 keys under your fingers. It costs anywhere between $80-$100...

 

Cost aside, with that device you can move around with the thumb joystick while activating any ability (unless of course it has a cast time...)

[Cernow]

WASD but A and D are strafe. Mouse to turn. In PvP where mobility is crucial I tend to use the mouse to move as well. Camera panning with left mouse.

 

No mouse clicking on abilities (this is really important), it's all keybinds. I put my primary rotation abilities on the number keys, 1, 2, 3 etc as I find it easier to remember what is what that way. Then I map other important abilities to keys near to WASD (E, F, G, C, V etc). Less important abilities I map to function keys and any other spare keys. Most of the default keys I've remapped.

 

For targetting I use F1 instead of Tab as I've always done this in MMOs and it works for me. Stick with Tab if that's what you're used to.

 

Companion attack I mapped to T as on certain classes I like to send the pet in first or micromanage which mob they need to be attacking.

 

Best tip I can give is to remap R to something other than chat reply, because there's nothing worse than accidentally hitting R in the middle of a frantic fight only to find your whole rotation for the last minute was being typed to a friend

Edited February 27, 2012 by Cernow

[Bajak]

I use WER, W and R to strafe (no backpeddal, because bp=death) I don't have to stretch for anything and i get full use of my pinky, and some use of my thumb, and the Fkeys are more accessible. Its based on Taugrim's guide....tripled my pvp skill overnight.

[iMakesh]

I use A (strafe left) W (forward) D (strafe right).

Would've shifted one step to the right and used S E F if I needed more keybinds, but it's not needed in SWTOR atm (atleast not with a Naga). Really wish I would've thought of shifting my movement keys one step to the right while I was hevy into arenas in WoW though, since I really struggled with binding every ability and all the macros associated with them. SO MANY!

[Failheals]

says the man with a Z board....how many layovers do you have for it?

 

That's just it..I simply use it as a normal usb keyboard. Don't mess with any of that crap, I like the responsiveness of the keys however lol. The freedom of using mouse movement allows me to make more key bindings in a more or less unconventional manner. I guess I'm just lucky to have long piano player fingers.

[Sevvy]

I use a combination of arrow keys and my mouse. I use a Razer Naga, I also use the numpad for 1-off abilities, as well as the Page Up and Page Down rows.

 

It's not a conventional setup, but I'm a solid player, don't keyboard turn, and I'm fast.

Edited February 28, 2012 by Sevvy

[KangasCollective]

I used to raid top content with way too many extra keys bound for movement. I still used mouse-move a lot but found myself still mouse clicking some skills on toolbar and slowing my game down.

Also my fingers began to hurt during multi-hour hard mode boss raids that required lots of mobility.

 

So... when Swtor launched I threw all my keybindings away and started fresh. Now I don't click any skills. My fingers don't hurt. I have lots more raid awareness and mobility.

 

Key map setup for movement and max bindable keys:

Rest pinky on A key and using W and R for strafing and that's the only keys you need for movement.

Any time you need to run forward click auto run (best imho on a mouse button you are comfortable with)

Or hold down both mouse buttons for short run distances or hold them and release when about to stop.

Try to think about the function of the keys you bind so that when you switch between tank/healer/dps toons you can mostly keep the same functions in the same spot. This makes it much easier to master multiple roles at end-game and reinforces memory of your binds.

This gives you 21+ nearby keys to bind. And that doesn't include shift combinations.

 

With this setup you have from 2 to 4 extra keys available for binding that you might have used for keyboard turning or moving forward or backwards which are all unnecessary in top raid content and in pvp.

With this setup your home row kind of moves to w and r and the 1-6 keys become MUCH more accessible and easier to hit accurately.

Shift key is nearby for combinations of keymapped skills.

 

Also see the very useful Taugrim's Guide to Strafing and Keybinding

[JoeyMcFool]

Taugrim's guide is key. W - strafe left E - forwards R - strafe right. Use your little finger to tab. Do not have a keybind for backpedal. A decent pvper will murder you if they see you do this as its a sign you are panicking.

[KangasCollective]

Taugrim's guide is key. W - strafe left E - forwards R - strafe right. Use your little finger to tab. Do not have a keybind for backpedal. A decent pvper will murder you if they see you do this as its a sign you are panicking.

 

There actually is no forward keymap suggested in that guide. There is a first diagram that shows how typical mmos suggest you map things. But if you look at Taugrim's revised diagram the E is used for "defense". (again though it is just a guide to demonstrate a keymap strategy)

 

Here's that diagram:

http://taugrim.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/taugrim-keybinds.png

 

This point is crucial, not a nitpick correction. The reason is if your middle finger is pressing down a key to move forward instead of moving your mouse and another finger is strafing, you don't have a reliable set of keys you can use to spam your main spammable attacks or finishers which make the most sense to have on the 2/3/4/5 keys.

This means you can be strafing left or strafing right and still be hitting those at the same time.

When you get used to this setup you intuitively choose to strafe left or right based on which keys you know you'll need to be hitting for a given situation.

 

The point though is to gain from the guide a workable keymap strategy/philosophy to greatly improve your ability to nail many skills on the run as needed in dynamic pvp battles.

[JoeyMcFool]

There actually is no forward keymap suggested in that guide. There is a first diagram that shows how typical mmos suggest you map things. But if you look at Taugrim's revised diagram the E is used for "defense". (again though it is just a guide to demonstrate a keymap strategy)

 

Here's that diagram:

http://taugrim.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/taugrim-keybinds.png

 

This point is crucial, not a nitpick correction. The reason is if your middle finger is pressing down a key to move forward instead of moving your mouse and another finger is strafing, you don't have a reliable set of keys you can use to spam your main spammable attacks or finishers which make the most sense to have on the 2/3/4/5 keys.

This means you can be strafing left or strafing right and still be hitting those at the same time.

When you get used to this setup you intuitively choose to strafe left or right based on which keys you know you'll need to be hitting for a given situation.

 

The point though is to gain from the guide a workable keymap strategy/philosophy to greatly improve your ability to nail many skills on the run as needed in dynamic pvp battles.

 

Good point, I use E out of force of habit I guess. But I had never really thought of the middle key for spamming. Will be trying that. Thanks

[SwordofSodan]

Don't over complicate things for yourself go back to WASD for movement and buy a Razor Naga it's the single best gaming peripheral you'll ever buy.

[Thycorberig]

Sure is casual in here with all the key movement and what not . My setup:

W+R=strafe L,R.

1-5 QETASDF = bar1

ALT+1-5 QWERTDF = bar2

Shift plus same combo for bar 3.

Hold both mouse buttons to move forward.

Middle mouse button bound for backwards moment.

[Rocco_]

for all the razor naga fans, i would love to get my hands on one but i refuse to spend £120 on a component that cost more then my laptop. a previous poster got me when he said ''dont over complicate things'' that being said i decided to keep it simple and got a 5 button mouse and bound shift and ctrl to 2 of the buttons, i now have over 30 keys open to me and i still use WASD (i never played games when ESDF was the norm so i never got used to it)

 

1-5, Q, E, f1-f5, MMB....these are my spamm or my ''oh cr*p'' buttons or any skill that i expect to proc in my rotation

 

shift+(above).............these are my skills that are not in my rotation or are just good openers

 

ctrl+(above)...............these are buffs i.e shield's/bubbles, medpacs, relic's, adrenal's etc

 

any out of combat skills are key bound to other easy to reach buttons like R, F, V, C, X, Z and wouldnt be too difficult to just add the shift or ctrl to these either.

[Rabbitfoot]

uhjk will give you the most keys with easy accessability. Another thing I really like about it is that you can put a lot of keys on your pinky, which makes movement 100% unhindered by tapping them. I have 6 keys on my pinky. The only disavantage to this setupd is that you have to rebind all keys always in all games.

 

Or well it does take slightly more space.

[Springa]

I have a naga but it way to small, im not talking about the button layout

but its physical size. You need a small hand, ive gone back to my cs storm.

 

i use one of the two side buttons as modifiers ctrl+shift and one as next target.

I also just got a nostromo. Really happy with it. I only have strafe bound as

movement keys on it. So with the nostromo's excellent ctrl modifier button and

my mouse modifier i have plenty of keybind real estate. I dismissed the nostromo

as a gimmick, i wish i got one ages ago

 

 

Springa

[Xneco]

I use kind of an different setup then most. I've never used WASD in any game I've played...

 

Arrow keys + right mouse button for movement

 

Insert - Rapid Shots

Home - Rail Shot

Page Up - Taunt

Delete - Explosive Dart

End - Rocket Punch

Page Down - Heat Blast

Num 0 - Target Next Enemy

Num 1 - Flame Thrower

Num 4 - Flame Blast

Num 7 - Unload

Num 2 - Grapple

Num 5 - Jet Charge

Num 8 - Electro Dart

Num . - Energy Shield

Num 3 - Vent Heat

Num 6 - Guard

Num 9 - Flame Sweep

Num * - Determination

Num + - Carbonize

Num - - Koto Overload

Mouse 3 - Death From Above

Mouse 4 - Rakata Medpac

Backspace - Quell

\ - Thermal Sensor Override

= - Sonic Missle

Ctrl+Delete - Oil Slick

Ctrl+End - Defense Relic

Ctrl+Page Down - Rakata Absorb Adrenal

[Erevan_Kindelar]

S for Strafe Left

D for Alk Backwards

F for Strafe Right.

 

If I want to move forward, I hold both mouse buttons.

 

However, if I ever try playing a Knight, I will probably bump everything one key to the right to give me more potential keybinds under my left hand... I think I might need them

[AetherMcLoud]

EDSF

 

Everything else is inferior.

[Umpire]

EDSF

 

Everything else is inferior.

 

[OnlyNameLeft]

Don't over complicate things for yourself go back to WASD for movement and buy a Razor Naga it's the single best gaming peripheral you'll ever buy.

 

Another vote for the Naga here. I was skeptical as well, but decided try one out when my kb/mouse needed replacing. Best. Decision. Ever.

 

Though I use WQSE, A&D being remapped as strafe. Way back when (on my Commodore 64 IIRC) something used that keybind and I've used it ever since. Makes [Tab]ing with the pinky easy and also angles the hand inward in a more natural angle. As a bonus, the slight angle gives my left thumb a bit more room to play (more on that later).

 

for all the razor naga fans, i would love to get my hands on one but i refuse to spend £120 on a component...

 

I thought the same, then decided that finger gymnastics and esoteric keybinds were just too much. If a buddy has one, try it. You'll love it. The learning curve is not nearly as bad as some claim.

 

I have a naga but it way to small, im not talking about the button layout

but its physical size. You need a small hand, ive gone back to my cs storm.

 

I don't have a problem with the size. Big hands, yes. Problem, no.

 

---

 

Not to sound like a commercial, but while the keybinds discussed here are rather novel and useful in their own right (and prevent the aforementioned finger gymnastics default settings have you doing) having access to the numpad with your thumb is crazy simple and effective.

 

And for the record, bought my Naga with an Anansi as a bundle on NewEgg a few months back. The thumb modifier keys really bring out the most from the Naga. Have the three left-most modifiers mapped to Shft-Ctrl, Shft-Alt, and Ctrl-Alt so with a flick of the thumb I can jump to left, right, and bottom-center ActionBar. Basically all four ActionBar buttons can/are accessed by two thumbs.

 

Pricey? Maybe. But, when you factor in that most of us spend a good amount on our PCs and pay $15/month to play a vid, it's really not. Oh, and it'll save on future doctor visits, too, as you won't be seeing him for carpal tunnel anytime soon.

[Malistyr]

I use the mouse for all movement. I have the Naga but rather than having keybindings on it I put my strafe, jump, automove, focus target, etc on the mouse keys and use a-g for my routine abilities, z-b for melee, q-t for cc and such with the 1-6 keys for med packs, stims, etc. That leaves my F-Keys open for targeting party members. I also use the space bar for enemy targeting and tab for friend targeting.

 

It is kind of abnormal but I am a touch typist and home row for the left hand is super easy for me to reset to and that gives me 20 keys in 4 rows to organize my abilities by function. I can toss in shift and control for another 20 keys each if needed.