Keyboard, hands use, keybind

Hello. This is my first MMO. I use a normal keyboard and mouse (wireless.)
First, I wonder if I should buy a keyboard/mouse special for gaming or it is unnecessary.

Second, I would like to know how people use their hands. I usually move the character with the left hand (ASDW keys), and use the right hand for the keybound keys, tab between enemies and mouse.

I keybind the most frequent attacks and buffs to one key (not ctrl+key) so that I can use only one hand (if they are on the second hotbar, I search for unused keys and eliminate the ctrl+key keybind), and for the less frequently used or not urgent when needed, I use the mouse click. This way the left hand is always in place if I have to move avoiding an attack.
Spirits Within, Circle of Scorn, Hallowed Ground, Tempered Will, Flash, Provoke, normal attacks for combos, buffs (except Bloodbath and Fight or Flight), marking enemies 1 2 3, have one key keybind.
Stoneskin, Cure, Cover, Oaths, etc. have ctrl+key but I use mouse click usually.

I would appreciate suggestions or tips if you feel I can do it better, thank you in advance.

Main problem I have observed is when I have to use strafe, I change the left hand finger position, forget to return to normal position, then I don't move as I should and problems appear (main place this happens is AK at the wall, I have to grab the wasps, flash, try to stun, avoid floor attack, look to the front before I get hit back...)

You do not need a gaming keyboard or mouse to successfully play this game. I personally prefer a mouse with many buttons, but a two button mouse is certainly adequate.

I would recommend you learn how to move with the mouse. I have 'A' and 'D' rebound to strafe left and strafe right, so the ONLY way my character can turn is via holding down the right mouse button and moving the the mouse. That solves the problem of having to change your hand position to strafe at the cost of having to mouse turn. I highly recommend this, as keyboard turning in MMOs is too slow for my taste; that said, people play this game on PS3 controllers all the time, so that's not a necessary change either.

As for what buttons I have for skills. I use 1-5, q, e, r, t, f, g, h, z, and x, plus shift versions of the above in order to use my skills, which is 28 key combinations, which is enough that I don't need to click anything or change hotbars. Since I DO have a mouse with extra buttons, I substitute some of the more awkward combinations with some things bound to mouse, but you could compensate by using the control key.

I do HIGHLY recommend you get used to NOT clicking things, though. Sure, you probably don't use Cover very often, but when you do I'm sure you'll want to use it NOWNOWNOW, and clicking an ability is almost always slower than a keybind.

1) Not really necessary, but a lot of people like them. The extra buttons on gaming mice, especially, can be kind of nice. With the typical use, your right hand isn't doing much besides movement, so moving some hotkey functions to that hand can make a noticeable difference.

2) Right hand on the mouse at all times. Unbind left/right turn from your keyboard, put strafe on AD (or leave them on QE and put skills on AD), and do all your turning with the mouse. Use keys around WASD for skills. 1-6, QERTY, FGH, ZXCVBN (or as far as you can comfortably reach), plus alt/shift/ctrl mods for all of those, gives you a boatload of available keybinds. You've already got the idea of prioritizing your binds; the more often you hit it or the more important it is, the easier the key you put it on. Also put similar skills in the same places across classes as much as you can; stuns in the same place, buffs on the same keys, etc. (Z is always my stun key, 1-6 are defensive buffs on tanks, offensive buffs on DPS, main rotation is FVG, for example).

Thanks for the answers. I hope other people also find this interesting, no guides speak of it and new people will have to learn it.

I will try, the thing is all main work will be done by the left hand, which will be overloaded, and the right hand is underused and always busy because in any minute you need to turn the character to move. (Just the opposite as now, where I use the left hand to move and the right for all the rest, normally.) A game mouse with more buttons would let me use more the right hand and free a bit the left one. A game keyboard would have more keys to bind and easier placed I suppose.

I have the habit of using one hand for shift, control, alt, etc and the other for a key in normal keyboard use, so I don't know if I will get used to click two keys with the same hand (that also needs weird hand positions), better have different keys if possible. Let's see, I'll have to practice. And learn new habits (and unlearn others, that's not that easy.)

Thanks again for the help.

I bought myself a Logitech G600 and it's amazing!

You don't need gaming mouses but it really does help. I can use all my skills with my thumb so it's quicker and you don't have to move your hand from the directional keys in instances like Titan EM where positioning is very important.

I also find myself constantly holding right click so I have complete control of my character's movement at any given time.

If you are able to afford a gaming mouse I would really advise it as it's made my playing a lot easier. Again you don't require a gaming mouse but it sure helps!

I was falling over my own hands at first in this game, the easiest (and free) solution is to set the movement keybinds to the numbers pad, I left the normal ones in so I have 2 sets of movement keys which means I can free either hand when I need to.

I have 7 and 9 as my strafe buttons and 8,4,5, and 6 as my direction buttons, with the * key as my auto run. That way in a fight I can do movement with my right hand and skills/abilities with my left.

I have my set up as follows;

ASDW to move on legacy controls.

Q targets left.
E targets right.
Spacebar targets/interacts with the nearest target(s).

Alt Spacebar is jump (since I hardly need to do it)

2 is auto run.
Tab is a macro to target <f>

ctrl alt W is focus target


now, to target party members, i either use F1-F8 or use R to cycle up, or F to cycle down.
To cycle down the enemy list Shift R or F.

Cycling left and right through the alliance members is Shift Q or E.

That leaves me with using the num pad for abilities, along with the middle section for abilities (insert, home, page up/down, delete, end)

I also hit Alt with the num pad for more options.

then anything that requires mouse targeting, i use the middle mouse button click in. (along with alt, shift, and ctrl if need be)

Other than mouse ground targeting, i never touch the mouse. i also use the arrow keys to move the camera. (fingers on num pad, thumb touches the arrows to look and attack)

If you have the money to spend, a gaming mouse is a godsend. I have a Razer Naga and it has the 1-12 keys mapped to the 1 through equal sign keys on the keyboard by default. This essentially puts all of my abilities + camera movement in my right hand while I use wasd to control my movement with my left. You can also set up additional hotbars with shift/ctrl/alt + numkeys.

But like others said, it's not mandatory to have one. It's just so much more convenient.

Corsair Vengeance K95 Keyboard
Logitech G3 mouse

I love the extra 18 programmable keys on the left. I do most of my movement with my mouse and have strafing mapped to the 2 side buttons on it. I keep my left hand over the 18 keys of my keyboard and that is where I have all my stuff mapped.


Corsair Vengeance K95

Logitech G3