[Need Help] Adapting from PS4 to PC

Hello,

I'm a console gamer but due to circumstances, I recently switched from playing on PS4 to PC. Although I appreciate the increased graphics quality, I must say that I feel overwhelmed by the changes. Most notable difficulty that I'm having is that in order to access spells from bar 2 and above, I need to use Lctrl + 1 to =. This placed my fingers at awkward positions and severely reduced my performance, not to mention the difference in targeting as well.

I was wondering if perhaps some people here who were in similar boat (or just THAT good playing with keyboard) could give me tips on my configuration IOT make my "FF on PC" experience a lot better. I'm not familiar with macros either, so if there are must-have macros, do let me know about it. At the moment, I lay all my spells on the screen and manually click on them whenever I need to (lmao, I'm very inexperienced with PC gaming) and I would like to keep my screen just as clean as my PS4's. I could fit everything I needed on 2 cross bars and 2 double toggle bars on PS4, so I think having a clean screen on PC should be doable.

A friend of mine told me I can play on PC with a controller. I'd like to keep this as my last resort, because I'd love to learn keyboard controlling, since I'll be mostly playing on PC from now on. Any help or advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated, thank you.


Cheers,

Kazuki, Balmung

As a PS4 player turned PC player, though I will adapt as needed, I...honestly can't imagine playing this game without a controller. My advice? Hook up your PS4 controller or an Xbox controller and continue enjoying the game.

The best advice, if you started playing this game with controller, is to keep doing so. It's weird to switch to keyboard and mouse from one day to another, and the hand gets weird. I play on pc but started with controller, then tried k/m and I just can't lol

I use a Razer Naga which has 12 side buttons and 2 additional buttons between the left and right click for all my main skills. The number bar I specifically use for cooldowns or skills that don't fit/make sense.

I used gamepad up to level 50 content when game first released but found it difficult to heal 8 man raids and Amdapor keep (which was actually pretty hard back then) so I learned Mouse + KB and never looked back.
But after 8+years of gaming like that I think I may be developing carpal tunnel. Especially with fast jobs like NIN and MNK it's a lot of strain on just your thumb. In just the last couple years my arm has been getting tired/sore pretty quickly.

My tip would be to reassign your hotbar keybinds to what's comfortable to you. I don't use any combination that involves 6 to = because it's just awkward to do. 1-5 should already give you a good amount of actions given that you'll use LCtrl and LShift. Personally, I also use F1-F8 although I don't use any modifier keys for those. Those are usually my buffs and more frequent ones go to the left. I also rebound Q, E, R, F, G and have LCtrl and/or LShift modifiers for those. Try not to overwrite some useful keys around the WASD area. Some default key combinations are actually useful so check first before overwriting them.

It's best if you find the most comfortable for you. I'll share my own hotbar keybinds and maybe you can work from that.

(from left to right, bottom to top)
Hotbar 1 - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, G, Q, E, F, R, (unbound), ` (my sprint button)
Hotbar 2 - LCtrl + (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, G, Q, E, F, R), (unbound), (unbound)
Hotbar 3 - LShift+1, LShift+2, LShift+3, LShift+4, LShift+5, LShift+G, LShift+C, LShift+E, Alt+E, LShift+Mouse4, LShift+T
Hotbar 4 - F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8, F9, (unbound), (unbound), (unbound)

Hotbar 3 is my weirdest so don't think about it too much. The unbound slots are usually just clickables. You shouldn't have problems sticking your kit in the left side most of the time.

I know how awkward you must feel, but it will get easier. For me to deal with the second row of hotkeys I usually mouse click those, but they are my lesser actions that I use and I put my rotation on my on main hotbar, that way I can click using the 1-0 keys each action in my rotation.

I also suggest you learn all the nice little shortcut keys for the game. The "tab" key will cycle you through targets or you can just press F11 which targets the closest target to you. The zero on the numeric pad will target your closest NPC or interactive item. Why there's tons of nice shortcut keys. Also you can keybind things to suit your needs too

Here is a guide to how to get around better in game on PC. Loads of info
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes...al/#mouse_mode

Get a 12 button mouse for the number keys. Change the keybind settings to allow for more than 2 hotbars. By default, it appears that pressing a number key by itself is hotbar 1. Holding CTRL makes it hotbar 2. I configured it to make SHIFT into hotbar 3. You can do this with as many modifier keys as you want, assuming you don't run out of hotbars.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Vahlnir

As a PS4 player turned PC player, though I will adapt as needed, I...honestly can't imagine playing this game without a controller. My advice? Hook up your PS4 controller or an Xbox controller and continue enjoying the game.

---

This has always baffled me. Don't controllers have only 4 or 5 buttons or so? Never owned a console so maybe I missed when something, but I've never seen a console controller with as many keys as I can get on a computer.

I have a grid of 20 keys, and the use of shift, control, and alt to amp that up to 60, all resting right under my left hand.

Get a Razor Nostromo or Orbweaver.

Plenty of PC players use controllers, surely. Just because you have the keyboard doesn't mean you need to use it.

I use an ergonomic keyboard, which doesn't place enough keys within reach, so I bought a Koolertron keypad, which is completely programmable. (Any physical key can be anything) I also laid out my bars to match the key layout, except that the Q and F rows are combined into one screen row.
The actual keyboard doesn't have the labels in the pic below. They're just on a Photoshop planning image I made up with each label on a different layer so I can move them around. Also, I have no control or shift combos in regular gameplay.
https://i.imgur.com/ljAmOLVl.jpg

Lots of changes coming for NIN, so it's going to be a pain coming up with a new arrangement that works well

The shift, ctrl, and alt you'll get used to, it's actually just practice.
What you'll never get used to however is the 1 through 0 keys. This is where you'll need a mouse with 12 buttons on the side like this one https://www.newegg.com/utechsmart-us...0TP-0013-00002

If that mouse solution doesn't seem worth the money/time then yeah hook up that controller. If you want to experience the keyboard and mouse style then yes you'll definitely need a gaming mouse.

I always found ctrl and alt awkward to i just use shift and very few crtl and alts its really about finding what works for you better. Just get use to it by going to town on a dummy for a while you'll def get it down after a bit of practice.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Makeda

This has always baffled me. Don't controllers have only 4 or 5 buttons or so? Never owned a console so maybe I missed when something, but I've never seen a console controller with as many keys as I can get on a computer.

I have a grid of 20 keys, and the use of shift, control, and alt to amp that up to 60, all resting right under my left hand.

Get a Razor Nostromo or Orbweaver.

---

16 per cross hot bar, 9 hotbars that can be insta switched/cycled. I also use the expanded which instantly pops a half a hot bar for holding both triggers down which gives 8 additional on demand instant buttons 2x (r2 first and l2 is 8 on demand, l2 first and r2 is another 8)
so like 32 commands total without having to switch hotbars its not bad at all

As for OP. at one time i had both versions, and found it easier just to use controller on pc regardless.

The Dualshock4 controller actually has a lot of button combinations to it. The only thing missing is a Flip Camera option.

I found using pure keyboard and basic mouse to be problematic for my ability's too. I solved this by getting a logitech g600 mouse (https://www.logitechg.com/en-us/prod...ing-mouse.html)

The beauty of this mouse is it has a third button next to the standard two, a 12 button side pad, left right and press down on the wheel and two buttons behind the wheel.

I use the third button on the top for shift, that way i can hold the first two to move. Then for ability's i can have a full set (listed below) then double them all just by holding the third button on top of the mouse to make my entire bind set on keyboard shift modified.

1,2,3,4,5 (Hold down third mouse button to make shift 1-5)
q,w,e,r,t (Hold down third mouse button to make shift q-t)
a,s,d,f,g (Hold down third mouse button to make shift a-g)
z,x,c,v (Hold down third mouse button to make shift 1-5)
Space - Jump
y - sprint
ctrl e,r,t (bound to left right and press down on wheel)
control 1,2,3 (bound to the three rows on the side pad since i cannot accuratly do all 12 buttons)
ctrl y - mount (bound to back button behind wheel use lower finger joint to press)
fore button behind wheel used to switch mouse profiles since i use it for multiple games.

This give me:
38 binds on the keyboard using only 19 keys via the shift modifier on the mouse. Plus two buttons for jump and sprint that are not doubled.
7 binds on the mouse.
Movment controlled via the mouse.

Everyone has there own way, you will see differant methods, none are wrong. It is all a case of personal preference. My advice is to read everyone's suggestions on how they have there stuff set up, then either pick which one works best for you or make your own using the info here as inspiration.

I play on the PC and the keyboard is useful for chat and a few infrequent commands - other wise it's useless. ;)

I use a Razer DeathAdder mouse and a logitech G13 gaming keyboard. Got the G13 before they went out of production. Today I would seriously look at The Razer Orbweaver.

I also have a Logitech F310 gamepad. It works fine but I never got good at using the controller.

I had a Logitech G600 and it worked well. My issue was during -- say Alphascape hitting one of the tiny mouse buttons while trying to move with all the AOE happening became problematic.

I switched from PS4 to PC back during ARR. You can keep using your PS4 controller if you want. It works great on PC as well. I used my PS4 controller for quite some time before eventually getting an XB1 wireless controller which I use currently for gaming on PC. If you do want to use a mouse and keyboard though I would highly recommend buying a MMO mouse with a bunch of buttons on the side. That way you don't need to contort your fingers into unnatural positions.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Aeducan

Hello,

I'm a console gamer but due to circumstances, I recently switched from playing on PS4 to PC. Although I appreciate the increased graphics quality, I must say that I feel overwhelmed by the changes. Most notable difficulty that I'm having is that in order to access spells from bar 2 and above, I need to use Lctrl + 1 to =. This placed my fingers at awkward positions and severely reduced my performance, not to mention the difference in targeting as well.

I was wondering if perhaps some people here who were in similar boat (or just THAT good playing with keyboard) could give me tips on my configuration IOT make my "FF on PC" experience a lot better. I'm not familiar with macros either, so if there are must-have macros, do let me know about it. At the moment, I lay all my spells on the screen and manually click on them whenever I need to (lmao, I'm very inexperienced with PC gaming) and I would like to keep my screen just as clean as my PS4's. I could fit everything I needed on 2 cross bars and 2 double toggle bars on PS4, so I think having a clean screen on PC should be doable.

A friend of mine told me I can play on PC with a controller. I'd like to keep this as my last resort, because I'd love to learn keyboard controlling, since I'll be mostly playing on PC from now on. Any help or advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated, thank you.


Cheers,

Kazuki, Balmung

---

Ahhh...a fledgling of the superior master race, welcome young one, to true gaming.

As others have suggested, re-bind keys to what’s comfortable. MMOs notoriously have awful default binds like 1-=, even thought that’s horrible to reach (and these days, not even enough keys to play your character).

Be creative with it too. Lots of the keys near your hand are already unused. For example, one of the first things you should do is bind strafe left and right to A and D, freeing up Q and E as additional keys you can use. “Keyboard turning” with the default binds of A and D serves no combat purpose other than to get you killed. You might also consider unbinding S, as backpedaling at a crawl speed is pretty much a trap. Especially now that blocking works from all directions, even if you’re a tank, you can do your repositioning by holding the right mouse button to turn your character sideways and then use A and D to strafe backwards.

Speaking of the right mouse button: you’re probably gonna be holding it down. A lot. FFXIV in particular feels a little weird about this compared to most other WoW clones, but it still gives you a solid speed advantage to be always in “free rotation” mode. Just be aware that some mechanics (like the dice-over-your-head stand still) register rotation with the right mouse button as moving and will punish you if you use it during those.

If you want even more space, some people find it comfortable to move from WASD to ESDF. That gives you more open keys to the left.

Thank you everyone for the replies, I found lots of helpful information from your posts! I don't have a gaming mouse yet, the one I'm using only have right/left click, scroll, and few random buttons here and there that I don't know how to utilize. I'll look more into this; again, thank you for the help :)

I also changed from ps4 to PC. I have continued to use a controller as switch was far to difficult.

I played every kind of game with KB+M on PC but FF14 just does so well with a controller. It's a lot more accurate and in many ways can be faster. Stick with what you know and use the PS4 controller on PC. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Vahlnir

As a PS4 player turned PC player, though I will adapt as needed, I...honestly can't imagine playing this game without a controller. My advice? Hook up your PS4 controller or an Xbox controller and continue enjoying the game.

---

Also a PC player that came from ps4. I recommend this as well OP.