What control/movement set-up do you use for your auto attacking classes?

Hey there :)
I recently have been made aware that I am losing auto-attack DPS on my Ninja by using legacy controls and moving left and right to maneuver him(since my character does not face my target like that).
Now that has been bugging me quite a bit now and I am trying to resolve that problem.
I know either locking on the target or going back to regular controls and strafe will fix the problem. But I hate the camera angle when locking-on, especially on my lil' Lala & I miss the freedom do dodge AoEs by running through the boss.
And with not-legacy controls I HATE backpedaling & strafing feels so awkward ><

I know I will have to get used to either one if I want to fix my little problem, but for now I am looking for inspiration and want to know how you do it :D

So I am looking forward to your answers :)

My job no longer has auto attacks, but I still make it a habit of using Standard control /w right click and "auto face target" disabled to control my camera. I came from playing a hunter in WoW, and being able to turn my camera to strafe (and not back padeling) or running backwards, jumping, quickly spin 180* degrees, use as kill, and spin another 180 to continue running.

For nin, when i need to strafe for longer than five seconds I just use the default L3 lock on to move around the enemy... then I disable it because it bothers me.

Thats the oonly job I bother with that, though. None of my other jobs are vital for it.

Bind Strafing in Legacy controls and you get the best of both worlds, legacy controls + standard behaviour with strafing.

Personally using Legacy Camera + Q and E for strafing, W forward, I don't move backwards at all.

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Originally Posted by Kitfox

Bind Strafing in Legacy controls and you get the best of both worlds, legacy controls + standard behaviour with strafing.

Personally using Legacy Camera + Q and E for strafing, W forward, I don't move backwards at all.

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My problem with legacy controls is that it does not allow you to turn your character with the mouse unless you're moving. It can get tricky at times if you're on range unless you macro /facetarget on everything, but even that can be unreliable at times.

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Originally Posted by RiceisNice

My problem with legacy controls is that it does not allow you to turn your character with the mouse unless you're moving. It can get tricky at times if you're on range unless you macro /facetarget on everything, but even that can be unreliable at times.

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The base key to face Target is usually F. It will automaticly turn your character to the moving target if you press it and it will follow it during the movement. I use it often when i Melee LB. You can try it by having someone turn around you and using this key.

I play legacy controls on controller, because the camera spin is too slow with the right stick to use standard. I have lock-on bound to R3, and got used to using it during final coil - before then I never bothered. T11 basically required it, otherwise you'd get caught in the aoe under the boss. Got used to it then, use it to this day.

When I know an aoe is coming that could cause me to have to leave the boss/run through the boss or something I need to turn around for (like Dragon's Gaze or Petrifaction), I'll use lock-on to get in position for my next positional and then tap R3 to toggle it off to dodge the attack, then turn it back on to get back into dps. I'm still getting in the habit of tapping R3 to just drop the lock-on for movement;;; I still tend to just tap O and de-target entirely to dodge, then quickly trigger>shoulder target back again and lock-on when I'm in range.

Also of note is some aoes (Ramuh's radial aoe) can be dodged successfully by diagonal strafing without missing a gcd or an auto, if you have the timing down well enough.

I play DRG mostly, but also use Lock-on for aoe dodging when I roll PLD or DRK. On tanks, I generally have it turned off while standing in front of the boss, since movement isn't something you should really be doing except to dodge stuff.

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Originally Posted by RiceisNice

My problem with legacy controls is that it does not allow you to turn your character with the mouse unless you're moving. It can get tricky at times if you're on range unless you macro /facetarget on everything, but even that can be unreliable at times.

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Ah, I see what you're saying. For spellcasters that want to manually keep their target in front of them they'd need something else. I don't really play casters and when I do, I use the face target keybind to stay on moving targets. For melee, strafing turns your character where your camera is pointing so that works for me.

Just trained myself to always face back towards the target after moving. I use lock on for the more stationary fights or when I'm feeling off of my game...

I use controller btw, so there is alot of camera repositioning going on at the same time as well.

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Originally Posted by Spayd

The base key to face Target is usually F. It will automaticly turn your character to the moving target if you press it and it will follow it during the movement. I use it often when i Melee LB. You can try it by having someone turn around you and using this key.

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Face target does that as well, but it gets unreliable at times esp against fast targets, you end up gettin interrupted anyway from LoS .

I m using standard myself and rotate with mouse, strafing is not that bad once you used to do it.

I'm a keyboard only user. I use legacy control with numpad 2468 for my camera control. Bound strafe to numpad 7 and 9, with target lock on numpad 5....

I never used strafe before...it took me a while to get used to strafe in numpad 7 and 9 >_>

I strafe with legacy controls and rotate screen with mouse

Legacy camera, strafe left/right bound to A/D.

Legacy for everything
Change A/D keybind from turn to strafe

At worst you miss 1 auto. Your next weaponskill should auto-face you back towards target, not a huge miss when dodging AoE.

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Originally Posted by Callback

At worst you miss 1 auto. Your next weaponskill should auto-face you back towards target, not a huge miss when dodging AoE.

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It's more than that. You miss at least one auto-attack everytime you move for a positional bonus. Granted, it may not as bad on Nin since (I think) they have less positionals than monk and dragoon, but still, add up all those misses over a 10 min fight and it's substantial dps loss.

The best bet IMO, if you are playing with controller, is to get used to the lock-on. It does seem clunky at first, but really it offers the most flexibility. I have mine set to lock-on with R3 (may be the default?), it's easy enough to click in and out of lock-on while avoiding aoe.

And I know it's annoying with lalafell because they are so small and the camera has limited movement while locked on, but it's just something you kinda have to get used to, once you do get used to it you'll start locking on for everything; tanks, casters, ranged, it turns in to a habit xD

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Originally Posted by whiskeybravo

It's more than that. You miss at least one auto-attack everytime you move for a positional bonus. Granted, it may not as bad on Nin since (I think) they have less positionals than monk and dragoon, but still, add up all those misses over a 10 min fight and it's substantial dps loss.

The best bet IMO, if you are playing with controller, is to get used to the lock-on. It does seem clunky at first, but really it offers the most flexibility. I have mine set to lock-on with R3 (may be the default?), it's easy enough to click in and out of lock-on while avoiding aoe.

And I know it's annoying with lalafell because they are so small and the camera has limited movement while locked on, but it's just something you kinda have to get used to, once you do get used to it you'll start locking on for everything; tanks, casters, ranged, it turns in to a habit xD

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Actually I was wrong. Even the auto attack auto-turns you to face. The only time you won't is if you turn directly away, and I don't think anyone will blame you for dropping a couple DPS during petrifaction/frond fatale, or anything you need to dodge away out of. Legacy is definitely the way to go.

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Originally Posted by Callback

Actually I was wrong. Even the auto attack auto-turns you to face. The only time you won't is if you turn directly away, and I don't think anyone will blame you for dropping a couple DPS during petrifaction/frond fatale, or anything you need to dodge away out of. Legacy is definitely the way to go.

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Please don't knowingly spread completely false information like that. Auto attacks never happen when the enemy isn't in a 90 degree area in front of you. We have more than enough problems without people wrongly thinking that autoattacks happen when you move to the flank/rear in legacy without using lock on(or strafing). Autoattacks are the bulk of all 3 melee's damage(even on dragoons who don't have autoattack speed buffs like monk or ninja), and every one you miss hurts you much more than you seem to realize.

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Originally Posted by TheMax1087

Please don't knowingly spread completely false information like that. Auto attacks never happen when the enemy isn't in a 90 degree area in front of you. We have more than enough problems without people wrongly thinking that autoattacks happen when you move to the flank/rear in legacy without using lock on(or strafing). Autoattacks are the bulk of all 3 melee's damage(even on dragoons who don't have autoattack speed buffs like monk or ninja), and every one you miss hurts you much more than you seem to realize.

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I only said that after testing it myself. My character turned 90 degrees to auto. It seems like it's a 180 degree cone that turns, but saying it's anything less is false.

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Originally Posted by Callback

I only said that after testing it myself. My character turned 90 degrees to auto. It seems like it's a 180 degree cone that turns, but saying it's anything less is false.

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It absolutely is not any more than 90 degrees, its so easily testable at a dummy that I'm not sure how you could believe anyone would believe 180. 180 degrees would mean you could autoattack something that's directly to your side, which anyone could tell you is wrong.

*edit*
Rereading your post, the fact that you called it a cone leads me to believe that you are confusing what 90 and 180 degrees are.

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Originally Posted by TheMax1087

It absolutely is not any more than 90 degrees, its so easily testable at a dummy that I'm not sure how you could believe anyone would believe 180. 180 degrees would mean you could autoattack something that's directly to your side, which anyone could tell you is wrong

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I did test on a dummy. I can move any direction and as long as I don't turn my back entirely I keep autoing.

Unbind A and D from rotate character, rebind them to strafe in every hotbar mmo ever.

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Originally Posted by AskaRay

For nin, when i need to strafe for longer than five seconds I just use the default L3 lock on to move around the enemy... then I disable it because it bothers me.

Thats the oonly job I bother with that, though. None of my other jobs are vital for it.

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It can come in handy for Tanks too, when mob/boss positioning. Especially for War's using Raw Intuition. So long as you target the centre most mob in the pack and slowly back pedal you can avoid flank and rear attacks without using Awareness. It's pretty useful in those 5 seconds in which you are vulnerable to Crits.

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Originally Posted by PFM

Unbind A and D from rotate character, rebind them to strafe in every hotbar mmo ever.

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Wait the default is rotate? I thought default was strafe. Mine seemed to be, unless I rebound back when I first bought the game and it saved my settings through the uninstall.