Best advanced classes for players with disabilities

[nukemeister]

Hello everyone,

 

My old guild has a couple of members that are having physical disabilities. Missing arm, missing hands or missing fingers are quite popular, so most of the guys are playing as follows:

 

1) "1-Handed": One hand to play. Usually used to do everything with one hand.

2) "One and a Half-Handed" One hand controls the mouse while the half-usable-hand is used for steering the character with the arrows keys.

 

For obvious reasons MMOs are easy accessible for people with disabilities like these and they would like to crossover from what they are playing right now, so they asked me what classes I can recommend that are easy to play, but I have no idea and ask for recommendations.

 

I am very much interested in the experience of players with similar disabilities or players that are very familiar with the advanced classes and are “mouse clickers”.

 

Just to give players without disabilities an idea:

Good examples for WoW classes that are not easy to play

 

1) The Warrior as a tank.

Constant “Tabbing” and swift turning is a big problem.

 

2) The Roque

Button smashing is an obvious problem.

 

3) The Druid in all roles.

It had something to do with the shape shifting.

 

Good examples for WoW classes that are easy to play

 

1) The Shaman with elemental and restoration spec

 

2) The Hunter

 

3) The Priest in all roles

 

4) The Mage

 

I’m currently the only player of the guild that is playing SWTOR, but if I play all classes up to level 20 to get an idea of the playability for my friends, we won’t start before the first addon comes out

Some of the guys already checked on boards for gamers with disabalities, but didn’t find any help.

 

Help me SWTOR Community, you're my only hope.

 

Thanks in advance for all helpful replies!

[GarfieldJL]

Trooper, Bounty Hunter, Gunslinger are probably classes they can play.

 

 

That said, this game really isn't set up for people with those kinds of disabilities.

[Abye]

Arsenal spec mercenary (mirror is gunnery commando I think) by far. You are pretty much a ranged caster, you set up everything with a few casts of tracer missile which is a 1.5 second cast and cash in with a few finishers.

 

Some sorcerer specs have the problem that they are build around ground attack targets, they are somewhat finicky in this game which can be a problem for you friends. Besides the ground attack problematic they are also built around few abilities.

[Crooooom]

I would say a Sage/Sorcerer would be the most suitable to their needs. You can set them up to only require only a few abilities to be useful. If you go up the shared tree it removes the cool down from arguably the most powerful spell which also restores force so that's another thing they won't have to manage and the base abilities (especially a damage shield and heal) will provide them with survivability enough that, coupled with automatic target facing via animations, they won't need to move and turn too often.

 

If they choose sorcerer they may need some help during the final class mission before they head out to the fleet as there are encounters requiring CC and a bit of movement.

 

Another option would be Mercenary/Commando using the middle tree as a majority of the content can be completed with around 5 buttons. Similarly to the above, they have some innate durability and healing if things get tough.

 

I'd advise staying away from all melee and both Agent/Smuggler ACs since they require a lot of movement and positioning to be effective, not to mention a LOT of hot keys.

 

As a final note, if they choose one of the 2 classes I recommended above, they could get through the entire game using a tank companion and going up the healing tree by sending it in first and just keeping it alive. This does require more resource management but less risk of death.

 

Hope that helps

[nukemeister]

Big thanks to you, Abye and Crooooom!

After reading your posts, three of the guys are created their accounts and are going to try Merc, Sorcerer (as healer) and Sorcerer (DPS) as suggested

 

Again, thanks a lot!

[Toogeloo]

I would recommend Commando, Gunslinger, or Sage if Republic, and the mirrors, Mercenary, Sniper, and Sorcerer for the Imperials.

 

All 3 are pretty stationary dps and have very small rotations.

 

 

Sorcerer and Sage both start with a Tanking companion that can hold agro, and they can heal their companion as well.

 

Gunslinger and Sniper both start with a Tanking companion as well, but they lack the ability to heal the companion. Still, they should be able to do enough damage to finish a fight and heal between if needed.

 

Mercenary starts with a Healer companion, which probably makes them the easiest to level of the bunch. They don't have to worry about healing at all and can just do damage to enemies while the healer keeps them up. Mercenaries do have heals of their own as well.

 

Commando starts with a DPS companion, and between the both of them, should make short work of most encounters, but will have to definitely heal up between fights, and like Mercenaries, have heals of their own if needed during a fight.

Edited March 3, 2012 by Toogeloo

[nukemeister]

Big thanks to you as well, Toogeloo! Very good explanation.

I passed it on and maybe a Gunslinger finds his way into the group.

[efylinx]

Yup, definitely would recommend a ranged caster type such as Sorc/Sage, Merc/Commando (have no experience with Sniper/Gunslinger, but probably that too!).

 

If your friends have some extra money, I would recommend buying a new mouse geared for MMOs (they usually have a good amount of buttons on the side). With that kind of mouse, I tend to play the game with one hand 90% of the time because all my abilities are bound to the mouse buttons.

[subrosian]

Trooper, Bounty Hunter, Gunslinger are probably classes they can play.

 

 

That said, this game really isn't set up for people with those kinds of disabilities.

 

Actually you are wrong. SWTOR has actually won several awards because of its accessability for players with disabilities. The options menu contains an option to auto-target the nearest enemy, which is amazingly helpful for one-handed gamers.

 

BAD CLASSES

 

Operative - button heavy opener, tons of retargeting as both healer and lethality.

Assassin - lots of buttons, procs and tab dotting.

Marauder - ridiculous number of buttons in rotation

 

GOOD CLASSES

 

Sorcerer - lots of AoE, few buttons, not position dependent

Merc - lots of AoE, few buttons, can take a hit

Edited March 4, 2012 by subrosian

[nukemeister]

Thanks for this, efylinx!

 

To my knowledge, most of my friends have quite the gear at their disposable, others prefer Xbox controllers, but apparently the latter needs some knowledge setting up to full satisfaction. Most problems are coming with movement, targting and using abilities at the same time.

Edited March 4, 2012 by nukemeister

[subrosian]

Thanks for this, efylinx!

 

To my knowledge, most of my friends have quite the gear at their disposable, others prefer Xbox controllers, but apparently the latter needs some knowledge setting up to full satisfaction. Most problems are coming with movement, targting and using abilities at the same time.

 

The Razer Hex that is coming out is great for disabled gamers, the Naga is popular as well, in fact Swifty uses one because he is missing a finger and can't hit Alt. I also recommend looking at Speedpads, because they have a D- pad for yoir thumb that you can map buttons to.

 

I used a Razer speedpad when I lost partial use of my left hand during Heroic Rag 25- man ( pre nerf). I had the doctors set my fingers around the speedpad then wrap and cast over it, so I spent a few weeks with a USB cord hanfing out - but I was the first cyborg to 3-heal 25m rag.

Edited March 4, 2012 by subrosian

[Deganji]

I have problems with my back, bad pinched nerves, which has caused me to lose most of the feeling in my left hand. WASD isn't an option, as I can't get my fingers to fit in that area and can't feel if they move. I've found that using the arrow keys along with the mouse for strafing, and setting keybinds to the number pad a great way to over come it. Once they add macros, it will be even easier.

 

I don't think there really is an unplayable class once you find what works for you. I also hate to be negative, but tell your friends to watch who they tell about their conditions. I play just fine, better than most, and never had any complaint until people found out. I've lost friends and guilds due to being a "clicker", even if it's caused by a disability.

[Humankeg]

Hello everyone,

 

My old guild has a couple of members that are having physical disabilities. Missing arm, missing hands or missing fingers are quite popular, so most of the guys are playing as follows:

 

1) "1-Handed": One hand to play. Usually used to do everything with one hand.

2) "One and a Half-Handed" One hand controls the mouse while the half-usable-hand is used for steering the character with the arrows keys.

 

For obvious reasons MMOs are easy accessible for people with disabilities like these and they would like to crossover from what they are playing right now, so they asked me what classes I can recommend that are easy to play, but I have no idea and ask for recommendations.

 

I am very much interested in the experience of players with similar disabilities or players that are very familiar with the advanced classes and are “mouse clickers”.

 

Just to give players without disabilities an idea:

Good examples for WoW classes that are not easy to play

 

1) The Warrior as a tank.

Constant “Tabbing” and swift turning is a big problem.

 

2) The Roque

Button smashing is an obvious problem.

 

3) The Druid in all roles.

It had something to do with the shape shifting.

 

Good examples for WoW classes that are easy to play

 

1) The Shaman with elemental and restoration spec

 

2) The Hunter

 

3) The Priest in all roles

 

4) The Mage

 

I’m currently the only player of the guild that is playing SWTOR, but if I play all classes up to level 20 to get an idea of the playability for my friends, we won’t start before the first addon comes out

Some of the guys already checked on boards for gamers with disabalities, but didn’t find any help.

 

Help me SWTOR Community, you're my only hope.

 

Thanks in advance for all helpful replies!

 

Definately a mercenary or commando. It isn't the best rotation or gameplay, but you litterally can do viable damage by pressing one button. Keep out of sight as best as you can, and you can dish out soem heavy damage if ignored. Heavy armor allows you to take more hits than most other classes without actually having to do anything defensively.

[Taidean]

I think balance sage would be easy to play.

 

Check out this website http://www.dwvac.com/

 

I tried out the demo version of the software when I used to fly the DCS:Blackshark. It's voice activated commands. You can set up hot keys through the software. It works pretty well.

[nukemeister]

Thanks for contributing, everyone

 

@subrosian

Thanks for the list! I passed it on

 

You’re right. SWTOR was named game of the year by ablegamers.com and in general MMOs are quite playable for gamers with disabilities.

 

We actually have a discussion thread on our guild boards about periphals and the problem with most gaming mice out there seems to be that they are for right-handed people.

 

@Deganji

Thanks for the advice.

We did 40-man raids in WoW with two other guilds and after they learned that we have some members with disabilities, the raid leaders knew who to blame when we wiped, but that went away quick. Some folks are just not comfortable with people that are different.

[Korevas]

Thanks for sharing this, the posters contributing so far did offer great advice, and I hope it continues in that way.

 

On topic, I'd generally guess you'll want to steer away from melee centric classes, simply because those will have to position themselves and follow targets very quickly in order not to lose damage, and moving and using all of your abilites at the same time will probably be one of the most difficult tasks if you play one handed. Because of this, I'd assume that we also have to differentiate between specs more then classes actually, and maybe also between pvp and pve.

 

A healing operative for example could be played reasonably well in pve but will be a tad behind in pvp because even as a healer you will want to do damage sometimes in pvp and for that you'd have to get closer to your target. As a healer, you will probably not do much but autoattack in a group. so you could do fine.

 

So in general, I'd say go with anything thats more of a "stationary" dps kind so you can use your cursor to click while you stand still and to move around between casts. Lastly (though this is probably very much known to you), gaming hardware like the razer naga could serve you very well and might help overcome a great deal of limitations across games even. Currently, it seems they do not offer a left handed alternative to their standard design, but I think there is some left handed variation of it available, though the name escapes me at the moment.

 

edit: just noticed the naga was already mentioned, feel free to disregard that bit =)

Edited March 4, 2012 by Korevas

[QBSlide]

I know some people have been saying Gunslinger. However, I would steer away from that. Yes, it is a pure DPS class. However, it is dependent on the cover system. This is something you may want to avoid as it gets tedious, even for me without any disabilities.

[pattymcfatty]

Whoops, wrong thread. Edited March 4, 2012 by pattymcfatty

[Pernicia]

I know some people have been saying Gunslinger. However, I would steer away from that. Yes, it is a pure DPS class. However, it is dependent on the cover system. This is something you may want to avoid as it gets tedious, even for me without any disabilities.

 

Cover isn't really a big deal. You just need both Crouch and Take Cover keybound and know when to use which ability. The thing to be aware of if you have limited use of your hands is the amount of keybinds required to play one to its full potential. At its most simplistic, you can get away with 5 buttons (Rifle Shot, Snipe, Series of Shots, Followthrough, and Takedown), but you won't be getting the most out of it. Just your basic rotation requires 3 more (Orbital Strike, Explosive Probe, and Corrosive Dart). Add to that your offensive/defensive CDs, AoE, relics, cover/crouch, utility abilities, and adrenal, and you're looking at just shy of 30 buttons as a full Marksmanship Sniper. There is a hybrid Marks/Engineering spec that eliminates a few, but you're still somewhere around 23-25 with that I believe.

Edited March 5, 2012 by Pernicia

[nukemeister]

I will make sure to drag the guys into this thread to provide some feedback or copy/paste their posts from our boards.

[Cernow]

I've played most of the classes to level 20x and have a Powertech and Sorceror at 50.

 

Clearly the important thing is to find a class that is not dependant on being mobile and chasing mobs around or needing to spam huge amounts of abilities in their rotiation.

 

The #1 best choice I think would be Mercenary / Commando, especially if Arsenal / Gunnery spec. This is a ranged dps / healing class that by design isn't intended to be very mobile. The rotation isn't complicated either. Everyone laughs about Merc / Commando being a 1 button class, it's not true of course but it does reflect the fact that they don't need a large rotation to be effective. You also get the option of spec'ing for heals.

 

Sorceror / Sage would be another good choice. Again a ranged dps / healing class that doesn't need to be that mobile. Sorc / Sage has a bigger and more complicated rotiation *if* you use the full range of abilities on offer. But you can easily get by with a smaller subset without gimping yourself.

 

Sniper / Gunslinger would be ok too. Ranged dps which can spec for good single target or good aoe. Again these are classes that aren't designed to be mobile, because of the cover mechanic. So you choose your cover, send the pet in and use your shots. Similar to Hunter in WoW. Again the rotation can be complicated if you use all the ablities but you can get by just fine on a smaller subset. Word of caution - the cover mechanic is a bit buggy and this might cause frustration.

 

Classes to avoid would be anything which needs lots of movement and key spamming, which is most of the melee classes. Marauder / Sentinel require crazy rotations and button spam. Assassin / Shadow and Powertech / Vanguard are not quite so bad with the key mashing, but need a lot of mobility. Same goes for Jedi Knight / Juggernaught, where you'll be chasing mobs around far too much. Operative / Scoundrel would also be tricky.

 

If you want to try something tanky, Powertech / Vanguard would be best choice of the tanks because they can stand in one place a little more than other tanks and use their Grapple to pull mobs to them, plus have a few ranged attacks and two long range taunts. Also Jet Charge /Storm which jumps them to mobs (this can be used in combat). So a Powertech / Vanguard can tank without needing to run around too madly (but some battlefield mobility is still needed of course).

 

But my vote goes to Mercenary / Commando as the most straightforward to play, needing the least complicated rotation and no need for much battlefield mobility.

Edited March 5, 2012 by Cernow

[WereWyvern]

I think from all the answers you got you guys should be covered for healers and ranged dps. Now, for the other roles necessary:

 

Tank: Do not choose a Juggeraut/Guardian. It requires lots of work and about 28 keys if you wanna use abilities/relics etc. I would say the Powertech/Vanguard are easiest to play.

 

Melle dps: that's a really tough one. None of those guys are very easy to play in terms of rotations, targetting and key pushing. My vote would go for a Juggenaut/Guardian DPS; maybe rage/focus spec. But okay, you can skip mellee dps completely if you want to

 

Good luck to you guys

[nukemeister]

Hey guys,

 

Thanks again for all the great posts!

 

The feedback I got from the guys so far was great. They like the game and don't have much trouble playing it. Big minus was the missing auto attack, which results in loss of DPS.

You made three of the guys really happy with your tips.

 

I am sure that they will swing by at some point to thank you themselves.

[Roiz]

You need a good mmo mouse with plenty of buttons like razor naga, so you can assign most of the actions to the mouse and use mouse for moving and activating abilities. This way you can avoid keyboard turning even playing with one hand.

 

From my experince Mercenary and Commando are the easiest and all their abilities can be put in razor naga mouse.

[DSafana]

Naga Mouse would be highly recommended. If you click both right left mouse buttons at the same time you move forward. It has 12 buttons that relate to 1-12, and you can shift and ctrl using scroll up and down.

The class I would pick would be sorc. Spam lightning . I can actually play that class only using Lightning spam, bubble, shock, stun and force speed. the rest of the 7 buttons can be stims and heals and relics.