Hotbar highlighting / switching with modifier keys?

1. I need to have my keyboard layout duplicated by the hotbar button positions, so I can remember which key to press by it's matching screen position. Because if this, I can't have three different hotbar buttons representing one keyboard key.

First idea: 3-4 separate hotbar blocks, one for normal, shift, ctrl, alt spread across the bottom of the screen.
One problem with this is that it would mean taking my eyes off the action for the button blocks to either side, and I still don't know which one is active.
Question: Is there a way to have each block highlight when the corresponding modifier key is down, so I know when I have the right key pressed? (Sort of like groups are highlighted in controller setups.)

Second idea: One set of keyboard-matched buttons in the center of the screen, and have it switch abilities depending on the modifier key that's down.
Is this possible? Example: Shift buttons appear only when Shift is down, etc.

Not without breaking ToA via a third-party key-intercept map that would turn Shift-Down and Shift-release into separate keys, afaik. Doing so would allow Shift to trigger a macro (use a hardware/mouse macro corresponding to the single, rather than ingame, for reliably instant effectiveness) which displays all your Shift keys and activates Shift key-state. Shift-release would correspond to another hardware macro that would close the hotbar.

The closest thing you can do is use hotbar switching keybinds instead of modifiers.

/keybind
System
Cycle through Hotbars (Up) / Cycle through Hotbars (Down) / Switch to Hotbar X

Idea: Use the "Switch to Hotbar X" keybinds, which substitute the contents of other hotbars into position 1 on screen. Assign keys to these instead of the modifier keys. (Assuming the standby hotbars can be hidden but still swapped in, Need to try that)
One advantage of this is that I wouldn't have to hold down a modifier key while hitting the others.
However, it would mean two extra keystrokes to use one ability on one of the other bars. One to select that bar, then another to return to the default bar.

(Too many abilities.. I got by with about 8 primary rotation abilities in my previous MMO, and clicked about 5 others.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SamSmoot

One to select that bar, then another to return to the default bar.

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It could be more appropriately viewed as "one keystroke whenever you need to switch bars", as arranging your bars sensibly should have the effect of grouping frequently-used-together actions next to each other on the same bar.