Realistically, how many buttons do you need?

I'm just getting into the game and I've watched a few gameplay videos. One thing that jumps out at me is how many hotbars many of these people in the video have. I play with a Logitech G13 and a Razor Naga. After adding movement, inventory, character binds I have about 18 keys on the G13 and 12 on the Naga. Thats well short of the 3,4 even 5 hotbars I see people using in videos.

So my question is, how many buttons are really needed to be effective in endgame content..

Call me a scrub but I'm a partial clicker when it comes to my buttons.

I have 3 horizontal hotbar stacked neatly upon eachother. Main combo on 1-7. Ctrl + Alt 1-5 are easily in reach too for important abilities and skills. Anything past that I tend to mouse over and I run on legacy controls since I find that far more comfortable then having to turn my camera to turn my character in regular mode.

Overall, depending on class, minimum 8 buttons or so.

You will find what's the most comforting set up for yourself in due time. Try different styles out and hit a dummy NPC to practice. Good luck!

Thats going to depend a bit on the class you end up focusing on, and how you define "endgame content". For instance, i main as a BLM. Ive got about 3 hot bars of "things" set out. But in a normal level 60 scenario(dungeon, trial, raid), i only actually use between 12 and 24 of them(honestly, id be at least 85% as efficient if you told me i could only use 10 or less). On the other hand, if i was in a hard level 60 scenario(savage raid, extreme trial), theres a few extra that id throw in to be at my very best(for instance, im not someone who uses potions in normal dungeons as they arent needed). The other abilities i have keyed are SO situational that 99% of the time id never miss them if they werent on my bar, but its much easier to use from the bar then a menu when that 1% happens. Other classes will have different requirements.

Depends on your job and what you do with it. I use 3 1/2 bars for Bard in PVP because I have a lot of little tricks (which I forget to use half the time). I can get by with about 2 on White Mage in casual endgame.

One suggestion is to use your mouse buttons and your most easily accessible keys for your combat abilities. Inventory doesn't really need to be on a hotbar, it can just be bound to a key like "I".

Sorry if I wasn't clear. Commands like inventory, map, character aren't on my hotbar, but they are bond to a key on my G13.

I use a controller, and no gaming mouse, and I do fine. A lot of things like inventory, character screen, etc, aren't needed at a moment's notice, so I have no problem using the menu to access them. I've got more than enough hotbar buttons to fit all my combat actions.

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Originally Posted by Frost033

Sorry if I wasn't clear. Commands like inventory, map, character aren't on my hotbar, but they are bond to a key on my G13.

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My bad, then. I haven't played Gladiator and Paladin so I can't tell you much about the absolute necessities for endgame, but what feels like a lot of buttons at first might feel like less later. Especially as you find better ways of organizing them.

Many of the people who are using tons of hotbars are only using half of each. They have lots of bars active just because of the layout. I have 2 hotbars devoted to switching classes and another for chocobo commands and emotes.
That said, paladin has 35 potential combat actions including limit break and sprint but not including directional movement or potions/food. There are about 9 defensive cooldowns, 2 "stances" depending on role, Cover (which is rarely used), 2 healing skills, and 6 cross-class skills. The basic rotations are 6 actions with 2 off-GCD moves, 1 ranged opener, 1 proc, 2 conditional use abilities, and Flash. So like 13 base abilities to keep track of for attacking and 11+ for defending. The rest depend on how often you use them and what cross-class skills you take. Realistically expect to be keeping track of 25+ actions in combat by level 60.

I use about 36 buttons with Warrior.