Bring the Player, Not the Keybindings!
May 14th, 2009Lately I’ve been doing a lot of character jumping. Raiding on my Hunter, leveling my Paladin and my Mage too. These three classes do not have very similar playstyles. In fact, they are almost as far apart from each other as you can get. Ranged with a pet, melee with heals and spell casting clothy.
This makes it difficult for me to switch between them smoothly. Last night I played my paladin for a bit, then switched over to my mage, who I hadn’t played in a couple of weeks. It was… a shock. I was too used to my buttons and keybindings, expecting different things from different abilities, quite a disaster! (Let’s just say Polymorph != Holy Light and Pyroblast != Exorcism)
I realized I need to adjust my alts to follow a similar keybinding strategy to my main. I need to know where everything is in a pinch. So I need to decide what abilities I associate between each class.
So here are the major categories of situations/abilities and which spells and abilities I associate them for each class. Hopefully this will help me sort my keybindings out so no matter which class I’m playing, the same button will have approximately the same effect.
OMG I’M GONNA DIE, GET IT OFF ME! (Aggro drop/damage protection)
- Hunter: Feign Death
- Mage: Ice Block or Mana Shield
- Paladin: (What are you talking about? My paladin NEVER dies.) A.K.A. Divine Shield or Lay on Hands
Crap, he’s a runner! Get him quick before he pulls adds! (Intant ranged cast)
- Hunter: Arcane Shot
- Mage: Fire Blast
- Paladin: Hammer of Wrath
You’re trying to heal? I don’t think so! (Stun/Interrupt)
- Hunter: Intimidation (when BM-spec’d) or Silencing Shot (when MM-spec’d)
- Mage: Dragon’s Breath
- Paladin: Hammer of Justice
They’re EVERYWHERE!! (Area of Effect)
- Hunter: Volley
- Mage: Flamestrike or Blizzard
- Paladin: Consecration
YOU! Stay there while I kill this guy. kthx! (Long-term Crowd Control)
- Hunter: Freezing Trap or Freezing Arrow (depending on mob/location)
- Mage: Polymorph
- Paladin: Repentance
Any other situations that you need to be readily accessible instinctively?
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Hmm, I have all my slowing/stunning abilities between characters on one key, because if I don’t, it causes isues. lol
Nassira’s last blog post..Obvious Things You Shouldn’t Do While Applying to a New Guild
I have “get mana back” buttons, at least on my two 80′s.
Shaman: Mana Spring Totem (logically, shamanistic rage would be better here, but I have that bound to an easy number key)
Hunter: Aspect of the Viper
If my druid was a caster, innervate would be bound to the same key, and when my Paladin gets it, Seal of Wisdom will be.
Faulsey’s last blog post..Crusader Ellaria (and more!)
I follow the same philosophy with my keybinds. I like to keep on hand the “Buff a Random Stranger That I Meet on the Road” button — abilities like Blessings, Arcane Intellect, Mark of the Wild, or Power Word: Fortitude. I also tend to keep my healing abilities in the same general location, and in some cases, I also have a “Get Off My Healer!” button, like taunts and growls.
I try to keep my healing abilities in the same spot too, and I keep my “quick heal” and “big heal” and “HoT” on the same buttons. But I don’t play my healers very much, so I forgot to add that
The mana regen ones make sense too Faulsey, I haven’t tried binding those together. I’m sure Evocation could probably fit in there as well!
I do this too! I try to put similar abilities in the same spot across all my alts just so that when crap hits the fan I’m not trying to over-ride my raiding instincts.
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Category titles were funny :>
I actually was going to post about this myself – on my alts, I try to associate similar situational settings and matching them to where my priest’s keybindings are. Sometimes it’s hard, but it really does make things so much easier than being close to dying and thinking, “Where is my OH SHIT! button?!”
Anea’s last blog post..Musings on Aemma and tanking