Hotkeys setup for the experianced Barbarian

[Shade]

Here is my hotkey setup for those interested. Took me years to perfect it. My setup keeps all my important functions near the WASD keys for optimal speed. WASD/Mouselook mode is by far the most efficient mode for melee in DDO.

Most important keys:
F - Rage
C - clear fatigue (lesser restore potions x100)
X - Rage potion
Z - Haste potion (this defauls to examine i think, but personally I find examine to be too useful so i put it on a side mouse key)
G - Cure Serious potion
Ctrl + Z - Dismiss rage (nessary when you need a full rage bar for a boss and you dont wanna hold up your party)
Q/E - Not much use when in mouselook mode, but sidestep left/right when in chestloot mode.
R - defaults to auto run so i dont mess with it.. just be careful not to hit it at the wrong time
V - show names/off on, that works

Madstone rage throws a wrench into this tho.. So the the lesser restore becomes impossible due to the lame bug.. In general i ignore it try to get hurt so the cleric heals me to clear the fatigue lol (this is a big deal i dont like clerics who try to heal me with cure serious/crit) .. But sometimes ill ask for the lesser restore if im in a chatty mode.

So a normal routine goes - watch the timer carefully.. When it runs out (or when you dismiss it ), hit C, X, F.. Clear fatigue, drink rage potions for additon rage length, then rage. Takes several secconds and has to be done mid combat at times, but its worth it even if your under heavy attack.

Other good hotkeys I like:
B - for boots, madstone boots clicky
5/6 - DR boost/Sprint boost, i think the 5/6 keys the easiest to press and one of the most often i thit so it works nicely.
4 - power attack, you need that on a quick toggle too encase your to-hit suddely drops due to debuffs/loss of rage, whatever. Generally its left on tho 90%.
3 - trip, important ability must be used as soon as cooldown drops
2 - improved uncanny dodge, this has no cooldown and its a nice buff so i burn thru all my uses quickly, why not.
1 - ehh dont use this much find it ackward to press
7+ rarely used also due to being far away from WASD

Mouse buttons/New one i got for mod6:
Big Side mouse button - stunning blow.. Great ability and important ot have quick access to it. Before this was sunder.. Might have to find a new key for sunder..
Small side mouse button is examine - for quickly checking myself for buffs missing or checking boss stats or debuffs.
Middle mouse button defaults to look mode, so you can get an idea of what you party members are at behind you while you face foward to swing, important to keep track of all side of the battle.

Note you can put most of theese hotkeys in underneath bars where they dont even need to be seen. Tho some like potions must be on top to be seen and quickly replaced if they run out.

[Cold_Stele]

Nice setup, but if I can add -

Q/E - I put my most important key bindings on them (easy to spam them as I always have fingers on/above WADS).

I use em for -

Cleave/Great Cleave/Trip/Sunder/Intimidate - on my melees

Trip/Diplomacy - on my Rogue

Fireball/Heal/Diplomacy - on my casters.

*Edit* Forgot to mention that F is another important key for frequent use as it's right next to WADS but also ridged (for touch typist or whatever). I use mine for 'push to talk'.

[tihocan]

Just a little tip I had read somewhere and I found extremely useful: using ESDF instead of WASD. It makes two additional keys accessible (W+A), while Q, Tab & Caps Locks are still available as well.

[Shade]

Just a little tip I had read somewhere and I found extremely useful: using ESDF instead of WASD. It makes two additional keys accessible (W+A), while Q, Tab & Caps Locks are still available as well.

Makes sense.

But makes jumping into other games a pain since you will not understand how to play heh.. Since all modern fps/third person mouselook games default to WASD. Would have to reconfigure every single game.

[Strykersz]

Where's push to talk, Shade?

One handy thing I've set up is the use of the two thumb buttons on my mouse for "Cycle through nearest non-enemy" and the other for Use item. Makes picking stuff up or getting doors open on the run quite a bit easier.

[Strakeln]

For the right hand, mouse buttons and meta'd mouse buttons are pretty handy, if you have them available.

My mouse has back and forward buttons as well as the scroll wheel click. Back/Forward are cleave/GC; MMB is keyed to cure pots. ctrl+forward is the stoneskin clickie.

I also find it handy to have cure pots tied to a key that involves using shift as a modifier, so that you can drink a pot without having to deal with the shield animation (you do appear to lose the AC/DR while drinking, but it's much faster than having to release and depress shift). I use '~' for this (shift+`).

[Shade]

Where's push to talk, Shade?

I use tilde (~) - easy to hold and still do everything.

Yea I could use more mouse buttons, but I don't like changing too many defaults. Like for the scroll wheel i just keep it on zoom in/out as I like having a good camera control.

Moving the select next object from backspace to another key would be a good idea. It is ackward to hit backspace, so I might try to find one for that.

Hmm if you have shift on block and shift + hotkeys.. I think I tried that and had a problem. If I jumped to use a potion, i ended up losing jump speed due to trying to block in mid air or something weird like that.. Never worked well for me.

I also use ctrl + 1 - 9/0 for main weapons. and Alt +1 - 9/0 for 2ndary weapons.

[tihocan]

Makes sense.

But makes jumping into other games a pain since you will not understand how to play heh.. Since all modern fps/third person mouselook games default to WASD. Would have to reconfigure every single game.

Yes you're right. But why play any other game but DDO?

[Strakeln]

I use tilde (~) - easy to hold and still do everything.

Yea I could use more mouse buttons, but I don't like changing too many defaults. Like for the scroll wheel i just keep it on zoom in/out as I like having a good camera control.

Moving the select next object from backspace to another key would be a good idea. It is ackward to hit backspace, so I might try to find one for that.

Hmm if you have shift on block and shift + hotkeys.. I think I tried that and had a problem. If I jumped to use a potion, i ended up losing jump speed due to trying to block in mid air or something weird like that.. Never worked well for me.

I also use ctrl + 1 - 9/0 for main weapons. and Alt +1 - 9/0 for 2ndary weapons.

1) I use the scroll wheel for camera control, but use the scroll wheel press (it acts like a button *and* a wheel) for actions I do often (cure wands or pots, in my case).
2) Regarding shift+key for healing... you're absolutely right, it does not work well while jumping. For non-magical builds (barbarian), both shift+` and MMB are mapped to two separate stacks of cure pots. This way I can block/cure and cure without blocking. For my magical characters, MMB is usually a wand or cure spell, while shift+` is always a cure potion.

Note that it is important to spread your keys around the keyboard. Most keyboards have "sections" that can only output so many simultaneous keypresses (the WASD are is one such section, it goes out to around the F key). By spreading out important functions to the other hand (whether on the keyboard or on your mouse), you are bypassing this issue. I think the keyboard I use at home can handle 3 simultaneous keypresses on the same section of the board, 4 or more results in the last keypress being ignored. Alternatively, you can bypass this by doing what you have: key the close stuff to things that cannot be simultaneously performed (dismiss, restore, rage pot, rage).

I use 1-0 for main weapons (or spells for caster types), shift 1-0 for situational weapons, alt 1-0 for potions (1: rage; 2: shield cookie; 3: haste; 4: lesser; 5-9 energy resist pots; 0 remove fear pots). Ctrl 1-0 are used for special actions or action boosts: fighter haste boost, sprint boost, intimidate, etc. Naturally, the most commonly used stuff will be on the 1-5 keys, the less common stuff will be on 6-0.

[peskigo]

If anyone is looking to increase the number of easily accessible hotkeys they have while playing they should look into getting a gamepad like a nostromo n52 or similar device. I started using one when I got into pvp in WoW and found I had 10-15 abilities I need fast access too while still being able to maneuver effectively. Now that I've moved on from WoW to DDO I've found it's a similar situation here if not compounded due to the large number of item clickies and abilities everyone needs easy access to. It only took me about an hour to set it up for DDO and get used to using it, but now I doubt I'll ever go back to a typical keyboard interface after making the switch.

This is the n52.

Here is a similar device made by Ideazon for another option.

The nostromo is the only one I've personally ever used but I wanted to throw out a couple of options just to show people what is available. I also have a Logitech G15 keyboard, but I find the hotkeys on the left too far away from my typical hand placement to be of much use in fast paced games like MMOS. They're great in RTS style games, but I like having the extra buttons closer to my hand when I need to heal someone quickly, or use some other timing critical ability.