
Bring the Player, Not the Keybindings!
Thursday, 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?