How do you physically play DDO?

[Mindos]

Let's start with rangers, level 30, with all the epic destinies for example. But feel free to post how you play your particular class/split! I picked ranger to start, because of just how many attacks there are between DWS, AA, Shiradi, etc.

How do you bind your keys? I am having trouble "ordering" my attacks, not to mention just where to bind them! In heriocs, I typically would use leg shot or whatever its called first, then sniper shot, then while under sneak attack weakness, I hit it with mortal something or other, which does 500 damage if its at half health. This works well in heriocs, but if I need to wittle them down more I have a few other attacks from the ranger trees to cycle thru.

I usually bind CSW to "`", with the attacks as 1-5, manyshot to "v", and ranged damage boost to 5 or 6. But in epics, there is so much more to bind! So I thought I would come on the forums and see how everyone else does it.

So, whats your keyboard layout? What do you bind where, and why? Also, whats your cycle of attack? Like I said, I suggested ranger to talk about first, but go ahead and tell me whatever! :)

[Baktiotha]

I generally feel that there are too many options for most builds and, given the cool down times, it is generally better to use the same 3 or 4 top choices than to try to have access to all of them.

I also play using a game controller and bind my keys to that.

The result is that I have about 10 things that I can do easily from the controller. I set those things on the first hotbar and map the controller to those first 10 hotbar spots. I put everything else that I might need in 2 or 3 additional hotbars and manually select them with the mouse if I have need.

I do take hotbar 20 and put it out away from the other hotbars to load up always on things -- primarily stances but also destiny related toggle on/off abilities. Keeps them out of the way but accessible. On ranger, for example, I'll put terror arrows and paralyzing arrows from AA on that hotbar and toggle on the one I want with a mouse click.

If I enter a quest where just for that situation I need a different set up I just rearrange the items on the hotbars so the ones I need are still in hotbar 1 slots 1-10.

[cru121]

I usually bind 1-7 to offensive stuff, 8 to sprint boost, 9-10 to healing.

[Tricosene]

It's a lot easier with a mouse like the Logitech G600 (or, should you be fortunate enough to have a Bic Camera nearby, Logicool G600).

I have 12 keys to program on my mouse. First six are set to attacks (or spells if you are a caster). If I have a lot of boosts that I use, then I put attacks first, followed by boosts. Next three are set to weapons sets, unless I have more than six attacks and boosts, then I drop a weapon set or two (or three). I find the last keys harder to use, so two of them have tumble left / right, and I forget what's on the final one.

I also program z and c for strafing. It just makes sense for my fingers to have them right beneath the a and d keys. And I program f for next target so I can cycle more easily.

[KoobTheProud]

I use a Nostromo game controller with 14 programmable keys, a directional movement button, a mousewheel and two other programmable buttons. I use the mouse with left-right click, mouse wheel and two programmable buttons in the other hand.

That gives me access to a full hotbar and several often-used commands as well as full movement in my left hand and mouse-look, targeting and attacks as well as my other hotbars in the other. It works fairly well.

I can theoretically switch between hotbars on the controller in my left hand with 6 different presets available however I've found the amount of confusion that causes to be not worth the trouble. It's too easy to accidentally switch hotbars in the heat of battle and have to devote precious seconds to getting everything back in order when I'm dying on the field of battle in the process. The mouse is good enough for my infrequently used hotbars, like buffs and various spells that only get cast in certain circumstances.

I strongly recommend looking into the various game controllers out there that let you take control of most of your character's frequently used commands and movement with just one hand. It's like compressing the keyboard down to a manageable one handed size and also incorporating mouse functionality into both hands.

[Hilltrot]

I lie back in a lounge chair with my feet propped up. I have a 65-inch TV in front of me. I use a solar Logitech keyboard which i don't pick up unless I need to. I use a razor silent orbweaver. I use a wireless Logitech 602 mouse. They are on the arms of my lounge chair. I use Logitech 623 speakers. The computer is an Alienware Alpha i3 with a Samsung 850 evo SSD replacement and 8 GB memory.

I occasionally pick up a 13" Mac Pro 2015 to reference while I am gaming.

The orbweaver is ok, but I have had problems with many Razer products. I enjoy and respect Logitech. The Alpha has been remarkably good.

[Hilltrot]

Oh, bindings . . .

I have 20 keys on my orbweaver and 6 on my mouse. Keys I use a lot are placed in the center of my orbweaver. For ranger these would likely be my healing spells, and other combat activated skills. DDO doesn't have that many skills which are used "all the time" so there is usually plenty of room.

Many targeting affects go onto my mouse. I have 6-8 in addition to standard buttons there. I like the g602. The MMO mouses with their huge keypad are basically unusable with a mouse thumb.

The thumb pad is used for movement. In this way, my movement is does not restrict my activation of powers. (I like the g13's analog better, but. . .) The two other thumb key are escape and inventory.

20 minute buffs are mouse clicked and usually don't get key-mapped. Bottom right key on the orbweaver is my "use" key. Bottom left is my shift key.

My keyboard is only used to say hello.

[azrael4h]

I interface with the server directly via mental telepathy. Of course, doing so means I always roll a 1 when rolling for loot. Or when rolling in the hard core group, I roll Drow.

Seriously, I have 5 hotbars set up with key combos so I can quickly access whatever is on them with my left hand. The first bar just uses numbers, and has my main attack abilities set up on it. On casters, this tends to rotate a lot depending on quest.

2nd bar uses SHIFT+#, and usually has weapons and/or healing scrolls (Heal, Restore, etc). Casters however, have CC there if it's usable on that build.

3rd bar is CTRL+# and varies the most from build to build. I seem to have more issues hitting CTRL reliably when in combat, so I don't put anything that may need to be hit in a moment's notice. Typically, it will be short term buffs like Displacement or Haste, or action boosts. Casters may use it for additional offensive spells instead, particularly if I have a lot of SLAs (I'll focus on SLAs on my main bar, then use this one for non-SLAs, etc).

4th bar is ALT+#, and has more critical stuff. Healing is always here, and if available, the first slot is going to be Wings or equivalent. For some reason, I can easily hit ALT so I tend to put things I use often and need to rely on, but not constant spam.

5th bar is ALT+SHIFT+#, and is always pots. Cure Serious, followed by Lesser Restore, Curse, Disease, Blindness, etc... Eternal pots go with long term buffs.

Depending on build, the far right of these bars may have gear swaps in them as well. Trappers get search and open lock icons over on the first bar, far right (9 and 0) since they get used enough that I want access, but don't want to use up more easily reached slots. Bar 19 and 20 are reserved for Teleport/G Teleport scrolls, and are generally not on screen until needed. D-Door, when available, is also on this bar, to avoid accidental usage. Long term buffs are put in other, non-hotkeyed bars as needed. I also have a bar up for stances and hires/kitty, though that may not get much use or none at all depending on what class I have.

I've never needed more than 5 bars at ready access. Most of the time, I don't need more than 8-9 on the screen at a time, though traditional casters may have some off screen with unused spells slotted for when needed.

[PermaBanned]

Key binds? Don't ever bother with 'em. I keep it simple: A,S,D,W and a rather boring/standard (not a gaming) Mouse with no extra buttons. Use the mouse to click the (boosts, special attacks, forms of healing) whatever's on the hot bar as needed.

Easy peasy & same set up works for all builds.

[levy1964]

Mouse :

http://i.imgur.com/E9yjRSw.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/3kjO5nq.jpg

Kayboard:

Q =Growing Storm
E = Dance of Death
R = Thousend cut
F1/F2/F3/F4 fast acces to potion / scroll
Z/X/C for weapon
1/2/3/4 for action boost skill
Alt+1 = Sneaky
Alt+2 = Search
Alt+3 = Open lock
MBR (mouse button right)+1 = Equip Bow
MBR+2 = Manyshoot

Whats is wrong with mouse it is...if some day stop working, i stop play in DDO, and be forced to run to shop again and buyin the same mouse

stupid comfort for which must pay salty money

[the_one_dwarfforged]

i personally find that the keys 7, 8, 9, and 0 are really too far to reach for usefulness while trying to move in combat because they move my hand too far from wasd to use them properly.

so instead i try to bind my keys closer to wasd. 1-6, shift+1-6, g, ctrl+r, ctrl+f, ctrl+q, ctrl+w, ctrl+e for various attacks.

i have b, n, j, v, y, ctrl+b, ctrl+n, ctrl+j, ctrl+y (maybe others im forgetting?) for weapon swaps.

there are a lot of blank keys you can use, and you can remap to your personal preferences.

i like to map stuff i want to use quickly around my left hand.

[dunklezhan]

I try to stick to just 14 things "hotkeyed" - 1-0 on hotbar 1 contains attacks or short term power boosts, generally with any AOEs on 4 5 6 and my best/cheapest/fastest general attacks on 1-3. Shift 1-3 for other high power attacks or emergency buttons (e.g. banishing strike on monk which sits directly under QP so my insta-kills are basically one shift key away from each other, or metamagic enabled versions of whatever is on 1-3). Final hotbutton is whatever my best instant heal is, tied to H (H for heal).

The rest of the hot bar for the H key is bound to is other healing potions and spells, and spell potions usually, and I use the mouse for that..

Other than that, I have another 16 hotbars on the screen to track supplies: 4 bars to swap gear (bottom bar being 'default gear', the other three bars vertically arranged with up to 4 different items per slot), a bar or two for my own buffs, a bar for restorative potions or scrolls, a bar for buff potions or scrolls, a bar for stances, a bar or more for weapon sets, a bar for spell components, a bar for utility spells and scrolls (e.g. teleport, dimension door), and the rest are basically "misc" or "overspill", although I try to keep them similar themed to their neighbours.

I have that layout saved, and I load it for all characters. It means I spend the first 5-10 levels with empty hotbars everywhere but it soon fills up and because they're thematically linked I can swap between my 19 alts and reasonably easily pick things up even after a year or more away from that character. Except for my L21 cleric. That always takes me several runs to get back into.

[Spookyaction]

Let's start with rangers, level 30, with all the epic destinies for example. But feel free to post how you play your particular class/split! I picked ranger to start, because of just how many attacks there are between DWS, AA, Shiradi, etc.

How do you bind your keys? I am having trouble "ordering" my attacks, not to mention just where to bind them! In heriocs, I typically would use leg shot or whatever its called first, then sniper shot, then while under sneak attack weakness, I hit it with mortal something or other, which does 500 damage if its at half health. This works well in heriocs, but if I need to wittle them down more I have a few other attacks from the ranger trees to cycle thru.

I usually bind CSW to "`", with the attacks as 1-5, manyshot to "v", and ranged damage boost to 5 or 6. But in epics, there is so much more to bind! So I thought I would come on the forums and see how everyone else does it.

So, whats your keyboard layout? What do you bind where, and why? Also, whats your cycle of attack? Like I said, I suggested ranger to talk about first, but go ahead and tell me whatever! :)

Awesome questions and the type questions that make you a better player in the end. I wont go in to full detail about my key bindings as it would take all day to explain but I'll give you my main setup principles that work well for me.

First off you really need an MMO mouse IMO. I use the same Naga pictured above. It has 21 programmable keys however when I hold down "left alt" it changes every key to something else so in effect I'm using a 42 button mouse.

I put all combat attacks, buffs, raise dead, 1 healing option (usually cocoon) and macros (combinations of multiple button presses with just 1 press of 1 button) on my mouse leaving my left keyboard hand just for movement, targeting and healing. I do this because while playing ranged for example I'll be holding down "s" running backward, tapping "a" or "d" to move sideways as well as spamming "space bar" to evade melee attacks and avoid slow movement caused by some spells and attacks. If I also had combat attacks on keyboard it would be impossible to press that many keys with just 1 hand. The second set of buttons on mouse by holding "left alt" are all buffing options so I don't have to hit "left alt" to activate attacks.

This is the main principle I use when setting up UI for any class. Movement, healing and targeting on keyboard. Attacks, buffs, 1 secondary healing option and macros on mouse. Start slow, adding one new hotkey at a time so you learn to remember where everything is. Also use similar effects from different classes on the same keys for example my biggest healing option is always set to the same key on my keyboard.

[Greantun]

I put lots of stuff in hotbars and the keyboard, but divide them into different uses. Since I like mouse-look mode (coming from a FPS background), I don't use my mouse to click on any hotbar.

1) Buffs - If I get buffs in a caster life, or wands and scrolls for buffing during a non-caster life, I put these on a hotbar with the NumPad keys 1-9. Any buff that I may need during the heat of battle (i.e. Nightshield) I put on NumPad 0, because it can be quickly reached with my mouse hand.
2) Active abilities - Those are on 2 separate hotbars, mapped to 1-0 and F1-F10. Yes, I remapped the F keys, but playing mostly solo I don't need a key to select other party members. If I am in a group, I do use my mouse to select them for buffs.
3) Healing - That also goes on a separate hotbar, mapped to the INS,HOME,PGUP,DEL,END,PGDN. I can move my mouse hand over quick enough to hit INS or HOME to heal, and then move it back while my other hand is still moving me with AWSD.
4) Rogue Abilities - Search and Open Lock are on the healing hotbar. The last 4 I mapped to the NumPad / * - +

I have several other hotbars that are used for potions, equipment swaps, Stances, metamagic, etc. Those I do click with the mouse, but they are done outside of battle, etc.

[Spookyaction]

Whats is wrong with mouse it is...if some day stop working, i stop play in DDO, and be forced to run to shop again and buyin the same mouse

stupid comfort for which must pay salty money


I know that feeling well!!

https://s6.postimg.org/awjtlpwvl/IMG_20160726_213347.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/82go89up9/)free photo hosting (https://postimage.org/)

[dunklezhan]

First off you really need an MMO mouse IMO.

Everyone I know uses these, except me - its good advice for most folks but I'm just too ham-fisted.

And no, it doesn't seem to matter what model mouse we're talking about - if it has buttons on the side, I am going to hit them accidentally. If left/right mouse buttons are thin in order to fit more buttons on, I am going to hit those other buttons. For sure.

I use an ASUS Cerberus but I actually only use left, right and one of the side buttons (which I use for push to talk). I use middle wheel for zooming and never bind the 'middle click' option because far too often I click it absently when zooming. The other side button is unbound. I tend to end up hitting both side buttons when I want to push to talk anyway, so binding something to it would be perhaps counter productive.

This does make DDO quite hard to play at times because the game in my experience cannot handle multiple key presses very well, often putting things on cooldown without really activating them if I'm moving around (i.e. in combat when I need them to work), unless I actually click on the icon: I've used at least four different keyboards since getting DDO in 2009, the last two being proper gaming keyboards with high ms response and so on, as well as used three separate motherboard/processor combos, so I'm pretty happy its not my rig and is instead more that I'm a keyboard jockey, not a mouse man.

Another reason I haven't bothered with some fancy multibutton mouse or controller is that I just know my way around a keyboard so naturally, having owned a computer since before Manually Operated User Selection Equipment* devices became something you could even use on anything but two or three specific branded computers. I learned to type on a ZX81 in 1981, when it had just come out and I was 4. A ZX81 for heaven's sake! If you know what one of those is actually like to use, you'll understand why learning to type on one might be considered an achievement (in fact I used to write BASIC programs with it. Cannot tell you how much of a relief it was when I was given a spectrum 48 in a custom case with non-rubber proper keyboard keys! Was like being given a trans-am when up to now you've only had a scooter).

Anyway - I'm just not as quick with a mouse as I am with keyboard shortcuts. And that seems to be that!




*this is a myth: MOUSE is not really an acronym. I mean, it is, but only because they came up with one to fit after they'd named it. It's really called a mouse cos it looks like a mouse.

[Vhayre]

I... may have too many alts >.>

But generally my setup is as follows.
1 Ohsht heal button
2 Wind dance like things, cc or cleave
2 - 3 Cleaves or attack clickies
4 - 5 Everything around me has to die buttons (lay waste, energy burst)
7 - 0 Boss things (boosts, DoTs)

Razer naga:
Mousewheel press - shield block
left - strafe left
right - strafe right
1 Sneak
2 Search
3 W for being lazy and/or eating ice cream while still running around swinging at things.
4 DDoor
5 Jump + tumble backwards macro
6 - 7 Main weapon sets
8 Not so important heal button
9 - 10 Short term buffs, more boosts (DM, manyshot etc.)

[Lonnbeimnech]

I play in mouse look mode with one hand on the mouse and the other on the arrow keys, which gives my access to the numpad where i keep things like cleave and action boosts, i keep heals on the '+' key and use the insert, home, page up, delete and page down keys for things like invis, displacement, trip. The 'end' key is the select next target button.

ctrl is jump, shift is block

I keep the 1-0 buttons on top of the keyboard for potions

[jalont]

I don't even use a mouse to play the game, as I'm on a laptop. I bind my bars to my keypad. The enter key, the + key and the - key are the three different bars I use. (You don't really need more than this). / Key is attack. Tab to target. Healing is on f and g. And... that's it.

[Feralthyrtiaq]

G13 Gamepad with 1-0, jump, F, Fw, Rv, StrfL, StrfR, M(ap), Q, E, Target Mob, Next Mob. Joy stick set to turn left/right only.

Razor Chroma Mouse with Wheel button on R(autorun), Wheel on Camera In/Out and both side buttons mapped to Shift.

I only map my main active hot bar and set up the others for mouse clicks.

I typically hold left button to attack and right button to steer, thumb to shield block/tumble. While getting nuts on the G13.

I can move *almost* equally well around a battle field with my left hand only the G13 or my right hand on the Mouse. Combining the two is 8D.

Since I can move and steer with the G13 it allows me the freedom to run/jump/evade while using the mouse for buffs, gear clickies, scrolls, weapon swaps, and stuff like Damage Boost/Hast Boost/Blitz etc.

I try to limit my hotbars to 12 or less and arrange things similarly between characters so I know where to go to click.

[Dandonk]

I have 1-5 usually for cleaves and some special attacks, 6 for curse pots, 7 for epic moment, 8-0 for not often used weapons. t, j, k for medium term buffs (usually j for divine might/kta for instance). f for healing. g and h for action boosts. y and u for other short term boosts like divine favor, or uncanny dodge. b for selfcast displacement or lay on hands. n generally for pdk speed boost.
On my mouse (razer naga) I have buttons 1-3 for other special attacks, generally single target. 4-6 for more attacks, if needed, or sometimes leap (on 4). Have some pots on 7-9 (lesser resto on 9), secondary weapon on 10, primary weapon on 11 and heal scrolls on 12.
q for target non-combat, e for use.

[levy1964]

I know that feeling well!!

https://s6.postimg.org/awjtlpwvl/IMG_20160726_213347.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/82go89up9/)free photo hosting (https://postimage.org/)

yea mouse pad DDO vs Cod4

http://i.imgur.com/YK32Fc8.jpg

xD

lol u have 3....yea shi.tty mouse with greate desing

[Hilltrot]

i personally find that the keys 7, 8, 9, and 0 are really too far to reach for usefulness while trying to move in combat because they move my hand too far from wasd to use them properly.

Once I learned that my thumb was perfectly adequate for movement, I stopped using WASD and never looked back. I refuse to play without a thump stick.

WASD is horribly bad for ergonomics, and I really suggest people try out using a thumb pad/stick for movement.

Keyboard turners in DDO still make me cringe.

[Roland_D'Arabel]

I don't think I saw this mentioned yet.

Voice Attack is very much worth checking out. It opens up whole new possibilities for interacting with DDO. Check out this thread:

Voice Attack DDO thread (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/476913-A-better-way-to-play-DDO-read-on-and-then-watch-video)

[dunklezhan]

Once I learned that my thumb was perfectly adequate for movement, I stopped using WASD and never looked back. I refuse to play without a thump stick.

WASD is horribly bad for ergonomics, and I really suggest people try out using a thumb pad/stick for movement.

Keyboard turners in DDO still make me cringe.

I right click and move the mouse whilst using direction keys. Works great, and fast.

[PermaBanned]

WASD is horribly bad for ergonomics...

Keyboard turners in DDO still make me cringe.

Years ago I actually tried getting my old Flight Stick to sub for my keyboard functions. Loved the feel/gameplay of the Stick/Mouse combo in Mech Warrior (grumble grumble /tangent rant *heh-ahem* should've always been called Battle Tech!) and thought it would've adapted well to DDO... alas, never had any success.

[the_one_dwarfforged]

Keyboard turners in DDO still make me cringe.

there is more than one way to turn in ddo, but ok.

[Mindos]

My keyboard is only used to say hello.

Quote of the year! :)

[Taimasan]

Mouse and Keyboard is going to own compared to any other input.

[Ralmeth]

My advice is to find what works well for you, but what I do is as follows:
- Use a trackball mouse with thumb control, and always in mouse look mode. For me, it's very ergonomic and so much easier than a standard mouse (which I can't stand for gaming).
- Use WASD for movement. When I combine that with mouse look with thumb control I can move, turn, etc very fast and precisely.
- Set-up hot-keys for my most common clickies as close to my left hand on WASD as I can get. 'E' and 'R' for example are my most common clickies. The more frequent I need a hotkey, the closer it is to WASD, and the less frequent the further away I'll assign it.
- Use three horizontal hotbars in the center bottom, with the standard 1,2,3,etc at the very bottom so I can use 1 through 10 as hotkeys. The other two hotbars above either have my common hotkeys so I can easily keep an eye on the cooldowns, or they will be clickies I need to use.
- Use five vertical hotbars on the right side of the screen in a big block. This is where I keep my less common clickies. I have a specific way I organize my hotbars, but essentially I group together similar things (ex. buffs are in the top 2-3 rows).
- In terms of hotkeys, I use as many as I can manage. If I run out of usable keys, then I pick which clickies to use, and which hotkey to use where. What I use where totally depends on the character I'm playing. If it's a new build, it usually takes me a while to work out what I like best where.

[Mindos]

2nd bar uses SHIFT+#,
3rd bar is CTRL+#
4th bar is ALT+#,
5th bar is ALT+SHIFT+#,

This! I think this is a good way to play. It's all right there. I wish the /ui layout load Ranger command would overwrite keybindings! I would love to have custom bindings per toon this way. Yeah, I know we just drag to the bar anyways, but some classes I don't want the G key bound on, some I do...

[Mindos]

Key binds? Don't ever bother with 'em. I keep it simple: A,S,D,W and a rather boring/standard (not a gaming) Mouse with no extra buttons. Use the mouse to click the (boosts, special attacks, forms of healing) whatever's on the hot bar as needed.

Easy peasy & same set up works for all builds.

How do you get into and out of mouse mode? Hit the "T" key? Hold down right mouse? I tried this and found it very hard! I was either attacking via left mouse, or my clicks on the hotbars didn't work right. It was a godsend when I found I could lock the hotbars though! :)

[Mindos]

stupid comfort for which must pay salty money

Great screenshots! Thank you! If I may ask, what exactly is salty money?

[Mindos]

I have that layout saved, and I load it for all characters. It means I spend the first 5-10 levels with empty hotbars everywhere but it soon fills up and because they're thematically linked I can swap between my 19 alts and reasonably easily pick things up even after a year or more away from that character. Except for my L21 cleric. That always takes me several runs to get back into.

This is my problem! I often when loading up an alt, hit my most often bound keys just to see what they do!

[Mindos]

3 W for being lazy and/or eating ice cream while still running around swinging at things.

Priceless!

[Livmo]

Don't forget foot controls to go along with keyboard and mice for mulitboxing

[PermaBanned]

How do you get into and out of mouse mode? Hit the "T" key? Hold down right mouse? I tried this and found it very hard! I was either attacking via left mouse, or my clicks on the hotbars didn't work right. It was a godsend when I found I could lock the hotbars though! :)

Yeah, for mouse look I just hold the right button when I want it; and yeah, locking the hot bars was tremendously helpful :D. Haven't had an issue with actions on the hot bar not working - excepting times when there were issues that caused things for more or less "everyone" to go on cooldown without triggering the proper effect.

Lol I suspect my issue with not liking/using key binds is that I'm still (@ 41 years of age!) a "hunt and peck" typer. If I take my hand off the ASDW to use the #s and/or function keys I don't get back to ASDW properly unless I look down from the screen ;) I use the Tab, Q, E & F keys, space bar (jump) and left ctrl for push to talk - and that's it (in combat. I, O, P, etc is used as defaulted). Rest is all mouse clicks ^^