Keybinds! Share your thoughts...

[Fuse]

I had been asked about mine a bit, so thought I would share my main thoughts and current setup...

As a Shadow...


Movement:
Q=Strafe Left
W=Forward
E=Strafe Right

Attacks on Numbers
1=Get-Focus-Back ASAP. Here for right click attack.
2=Finishing move when < %30 health. Spammed
3=Main attack. Used for proccing Particle Acceleration. Spammed
4=AoE
5=AoE Knockback
6=Slow. Great for following people and then smashing Shadow Strike.
7=Force Lift, not comonly used in PvP
==Blackout. Usually used to sneak past PvE.

Here's where my fun begins
A=Project. I use it almost every cooldown. Easy to reach.
S=Tele Throw. Used prety comonly.
D=Stun. Used very often. All easy to get to.
F=Force Breech. used almost every cooldown. Especially with groupped reds.
SHIFT+F=Mind Crush. Used when I have an opening.
C=Shadow Strike. I put this here because I don't always have the opportunity to use it in PvP, but when I do need it, it's still easily reached
SHIFT+C: Force Pull. Not used every cooldown, so put the shift modifyer on it.
Z=Tumult. An ability I'm not always aware if it's able to be hit (needs stunned) so have it close, but not always easy to reach.

BUFFS:
SHIFT+A:Kinetic Ward
SHIFT+S:Force Potency
SHIFT+D:Alacrity Relic

Other:
T=Mass Taunt (Changed to Throw huttball when in HB.)
SHIFT+T:Taunt
B=Mind Snap. Super useful for those damn BH AoEs.
SHIFT+B:Mind Maze. 60sec mezz? Yes please.
H=Deflection
CNT+H=Healthpack

CNT+W:Speeder
R=Force Speed
G=Grenade
SHIFT+G:Gaurd. Not always used in the heat of battle, so have the shift modifyer.

Mouse - My mouse has two buttons on the side (SIDE1 and SIDE2)
MIDDLE:Force of Will - Breaks CC.
SHIFT+MIDDLE:Resilliance - Breaks and resists CC
SIDE1:Stealth
SHIFT+SIDE1:Force Cloak


Some things I change...
I change what abilities go where depending on the situation.
Huttball? T=Throw, Shift+T is mass taunt, and taunt gets clicked on if needed.
Am I PvEing with a companion? H becomes healthpack, CNT+H becomes Channel the Force.

Why did I do it this way?
...becuase it works for me so far. My goal is to keep my hand on the left side of my keyboard for almost everything. For the windows that require keys, I remapped them to CNT+Whatever. So while you use "C" to bring up the character panel, I use CNT+C. I have to reevaluate these each time I get a new ability, and also what I actually use. I only have about 8 more barspots open to use, but have a lot of keys not yet shift modified I can still use.

This is the first game I've remapped keys for a game ever. After watching Taugrims videos on key mapping it all made sense. I can't use his suggestions, but it forced me to experiment. For instance, he ONLY uses strafe L/R with no forward button. I need that forward button, for sure. I tried to Shift modify anything I didn't use all the time - I think I aceived this with the exception of Mind Crush, but that works well because I only use that after my alacrity relic. (SHIFT+A, SHIFT+S, SHIFT+D, SHIFT+F - all in a row)

No backward? Who needs it? With strafing, you don't need to backpedal. I thought I would miss it. I don't.
No "X" binding? Nope. My finger strains to get this. I'll probably bring it into the rotation by the time I'm 50, but right now I don't need it.
Moving icons when switching from other monitor? Not me. i hotkeys SHIFT+CNT+L to lock the hotbars.

It took me some time to get use to this, and I'm always reconsidering placement, and fearing that my next ability will screw it up, but I am MUCH happier, and effective with the setup I have so far.

Here is an image of my icon placement and the binds I have on them. (might be slightly hard to see)

[likwidtek]

You need a naga sir.

Edit:  Everything is a series of 12345etc SHIFT-12345etc CTRL-12345etc  ALT-12345etc   Which is amazingly easy with the naga.  

No joke dude you gotta get one.

[Manic Velocity]

I'm seriously considering remapping my 'backwards' key, but it's such a longstanding habit to break.  The key is completely pointless because your movement speed takes a big hit while moving backwards.  A pain in the ass, but it makes sense that a person can't run at the same speed backwards as they do forwards.

I'm still experimenting with my bindings because I'm still min/max'ing my rotation.  But this looks very helpful for those of us who don't have the Naga.  Thanks Fuse!

[likwidtek]

I backpedal a lot when kiting.  Knockback/stun/slow pew pew.

[Mika]

I backpedal on my speeder because there is no speed reduction - Or I'm wrong, and there is, and I'm bad but I'm gonna keep doing it anyway since it's illegal to drive backwards in my car IRL.

**there definitely is speed reduction going backwards.
***why doesn't the strikethrough BB code work =(

[Fuse]

I should have also noted that for those odd times backwards might be "needed"the arrow key still works.

[JP]

Taugrim sums up my and the entire pvp communities thoughts on backpedalers

http://www.twitch.tv/taugrim/b/303878470

jump to 44:45

"This guy's backpedaling... makes me want to cry"

"it's really really horribad"

[Fuse]

On the Naga...
I almost bought one. I didn't want to spend the money when my current mouse works fine. I can do everything you can do, plus buy a couple bottles of Grey Goose.
A Naga is nice, but not needed. Even if I did have the naga, I'd still probably use the keyboard more than the mouse. I have nerv issues in my right hand, so that much work on the thumb might be an issue.

My next iteration of this will be to SHIFT Modify the second half of the numbers row for my top bar.
e.g.-1-5 and then SHIFT+1-5 and find other keybinds for "-" and "+".

My only concern is that I have fairly small fingers, so I'm hoping that doesn't strain my hand hitting SHIFT+5 commonly.

[JP]

shift modifers are bad news bears for pvp... slow reaction time, high chance for fuck ups, naga helps remove that need for shift modifers but there are ways around that as well.

[Fuse]

shift modifers are bad news bears for pvp... slow reaction time, high chance for fuck ups, naga helps remove that need for shift modifers but there are ways around that as well.

I've heard this before, and I call bullshit. Big pile of steaming bullshit, actually.
I'm so much quicker with this setup. I'm also much more accurate too, due to not moving my hand around much from the 12 keys on the left. Perhaps I don't have much of an issue with my pinky finger hitting shift because I've played guitar for over 20 years. What's the alternative...Buy a $80 mouse that you don't really need? Yes, the naga may be faster... MAYBE. But you would still have use for modifiers. Also, that's giving the impression shift modifiers hinder success, which they don't.

To each their own, I suppose. I suggest you try it yourself and see how you perform. I think a big key to success with modifiers (or even without) is muscle memory tied to abilities. I never have to look at what a binding is - that's key no matter how your bindings are setup.

[JP]

Hey some people can pull it off, hell ive run them for years in wow prior to the naga, i just noticed my speed and success rate shoot up once i removed them all

[calmbomb]

as a recent naga convert, shift modifiers have a place if you need them but not for "critical" spells. 1-6, all the letters around wasd and the naga is an assload of binds. For something like buffs, i think shift modifiers work fine, other than that get it on something quicker imo.

and you shouldn't be backpedaling in pvp but unbinding it is unnecessary imo

[Strod]

shift modifers are bad news bears for pvp... slow reaction time, high chance for fuck ups, naga helps remove that need for shift modifers but there are ways around that as well.

I've heard this before, and I call bullshit. Big pile of steaming bullshit, actually.
I'm so much quicker with this setup. I'm also much more accurate too, due to not moving my hand around much from the 12 keys on the left. Perhaps I don't have much of an issue with my pinky finger hitting shift because I've played guitar for over 20 years. What's the alternative...Buy a $80 mouse that you don't really need? Yes, the naga may be faster... MAYBE. But you would still have use for modifiers. Also, that's giving the impression shift modifiers hinder success, which they don't.

To each their own, I suppose. I suggest you try it yourself and see how you perform. I think a big key to success with modifiers (or even without) is muscle memory tied to abilities. I never have to look at what a binding is - that's key no matter how your bindings are setup.

People have their own ways of doing things. No need to call someone else's methods or ideas bullshit.

I personally was a clicker before I bought the Naga, I like the Naga better because it allows me to not move my hands near as much as when I was a clicker.

In the end, do what makes you happy and play the way you want.

[ExternalError]

I have my keybinds set up so my naga to bind to the numpad then i have 1-6,R,F,C,T,G,V,Z,X binded to various abilities with R and 1 being my quick hit abilitys such as mindsnap and cc breaker. Less used abilities such as force lift get pushed out to T.G,V and sprint is on X. I hate shift modifyiers myself but thats a personal thing.

[Mika]

So many people swearing by the naga - which is cool.

You won't ever find someone who's tried both rate the naga over the steelseries cata mouse though.

NOTICE: I am adding a disclaimer to every post I've made 'praising' the Steelseries Cata mouse.  I made these posts prior to configuring (or attempting to configure) the mouse for SWTOR.  I am having trouble finding a reliable key-mapping setup and may be forced to resort back to my Naga if I cannot find a solution. I am very sad.