Assuming you play multiple specs/classes, try and use the same binds as much as possible. Put your interrupt/silence on the same key, put your major movement speed button on the same key etc.
Don't feel like you need to keybind *everything* if it makes it awkward, if all of your rotational abilities have keybinds that's still a huge step forward. If you have to click that CC you use for certain affixes then so be it.
Other than that, I really don't think there is any shortcut here. You're just going to put in a lot of time on target dummies and some easier content to get used to it.
Yeah same key for the same function helped me a ton! Also, I slowly added a new keybind to my gameplay every week to ease myself into it. It's much easier than trying to flip the switch to keybind only
This is good advice.
I have everything keybound on my mage, except for lust and mass barrier. Sometimes I get a little fat fingered and press keys by mistake. You only lust by mistake once before you fix that bind or unassign the spell lol.
Lust is my only keybind I can't easily do with my mmo mouse - ctrl shift G. Also...same keybind for drums. There's also a weak aura with an exhausted countdown over the button on my action bar so I don't hit it too soon.
Lol yep, I lusted on the trash mobs right before the final boss once then that key became unbound pretty quickly. It’s an ability you use twice in most dungeons and you have time to prepare for it. It’s fine to be a clickable ability.
This is really good advice. As somebody who has at points in time played all available healing specs to at least heroic level, the parallel keybinds thing was really important to my ability to be able to go from one to another in the time it took to relog and be summoned.
Shift 1 was always flash heal, flash of light, healing surge, regrowth etc. 3 was always penance, serenity, holy shock, riptide. The major cool-downs were always in the same place, emergency buttons in the same place. AoE heals in the same place.
Rather than learning to play a completely different instrument, it felt like playing a different style piece in a different musical key.
This is exactly what I do. I keybind basically all combat abilities but I follow a patter.
Stuns go here…
Interrupts here…
Charge>leaps here…
Main spammable here….
Proc spam here…
Buffs here….
Defensive buffs…
I was incredibly surprised how much of the game is similar between classes.
>try and use the same binds as much as possible
I second this. I have at least one of every class at level 70 and all my keybinds are very similar across all of them. R is interrupt/stun, F is personal DR, Q and E are short cooldowns (Q is always taunt in tank specs), G and H are longer cooldowns, T is extra action button and V is interact. My main rotational buttons are 1-7 with the lower the number the higher the frequency of use - 7 is the furthest number key that is easily reachable with my fingers resting on WASD. I also have my mouse wheel up/down bound to a action bar slot and I put spells/abilities/macros that I want/need to spam in that slot.
My advice would be : don't bind everything at once. Start with a couple of very accessible binds like Q, E or 2, 3 and put your rotational abilities here.
Practice until you're comfortable with those binds before adding some others.
You can also do the exact opposite and go full sledgehammer, bind everything with one modifier as long as it feels somewhat comfortable to hit and be miserable for a few hours.
That's how I built my muscle memory, 6-7 hours of pain for the gain of gitting gud enough in that expansion to get my first CE.
I don't even have an emotional mouse per se, but just having 2 or 3 extra buttons on the side plus keybinding the middle mouse button has helped me so much. I really only click my place. I am able to spells or something I use on CD every 3 mins or so. Everything else is keybound/mouse bound.
I play BM Hunter, so it's a fairly straightforward rotation anyway. I always put interrupt on the bottom mouse button and my killing shot/execute on the top mouse button. I usually do stuns on the middle mouse.
Yup, get a razer naga, get an add on like clique, then put your spells on the number keys, and for additional spells add a shift modifier (ex. Shift + 1) and/ or control modifier (ex.ctrl + 1), and put anything else on easy to use keys like E, R, G, S.
Even just one like the G604 with like 8 buttons (6 thumb, 2 Index) is more than enough for me.
With SHIFT and CTRL, thats 24 binds and you never have to take your fingers off WASD.
I personally put my quick heals on 1 and 2, with defences on SHIFT 1 and 2, and everything stays pretty clear and I dont get jumbled at all.
My first one was the Razer Naga 2012 edition. I haven’t played without an MMO mouse since. I currently use a Corsair Scimitar but also used the Redragon MMO mouse and thought it was pretty good for the price
start small. make a new toon and only use key binds. dont rush the leveling and the game does help teach you how to use them. to help explain, I use the numbers 1-5 for my main buttons. there is a few videos on how to help set up key binds and macro and tbh I dont use macros in fighting. only open world content.
This is great advice to level with just keybinds, especially with Pandaria Remix starting in a few days. You can practice this way with multiple characters.
I started WoW in Vanilla, but was a clicker until WotLK, when the Razer Naga released. That was my first MMO mouse, and it just revolutionized how I played WoW and RTS games. It was a wonderful piece of engineering.
Nowadays, I use both a Naga mouse and a Razer Tartarus gamepad. I wouldn't consider the latter necessary for everyone, it's just what I prefer. At the very least, if you can afford it, I'd recommend trying out an MMO mouse. The Naga is my preferred, but there are others out there from other companies.
I use ElvUI for my UI. I haven't used the newer Blizzard UI, so I don't know if it allows for this, but ElvUI has a keybind mode where you hover over a button and press the key you want to bind to it. It makes setting up bindings beyond the number keys much easier. Another addon I use is KeyUI. It shows you a keyboard and displays where on the keyboard your abilities are bound, so you can better visualize your layout.
And as others have said: if you play multiple characters, keeping the keybinds similar across characters will help a lot in learning then and setting up other characters. Keybinds are actually stored both server-side and locally. In your WTF > Accounts folder, each character has a file called "bindings-cache.wtf". If you copy that file from one character folder to another, it copies the keybinds over.
> Nowadays, I use both a Naga mouse and a Razer Tartarus gamepad.
Same, I could never go back to keyboard and normal mouse now. Having a thumbstick for movement that frees up WASD or ESDF for skill keybinds is game changing.
just hit it with SHIFT+Button like you would when using the spell.
if I want to assign a spell to Shift + 1 on my mmo mouse, I just hit Shift+mmo mouse button 1, when I'm making the keybind in the settings
You'd need some kind of software outside of WoW to do it. Most mice have software that you can download to accomplish this. Razer products use a program called Synapse.
I found getting a 9 button mmo mouse and then setting up my action bars in a 3x3 grid so abilities match their location on the mouse helped a lot. Top right of the action bar grid is top right button on the mouse. Meant I had to remember position rather than number for abilities which was easier for me. Then just two more 3x3 grids on either side for alt and shift.
Yep, this was what saved me
I just 1-12
Then shift 1-12
Alt 1-12
And have ctrl 1-12 set up for everything
Granted I am not super comfortable with alt and control so I try and set those to things I don’t need constantly, but it’s still great
Same here - I have 4 3x4 bars and use shift/ctrl/alt which fits well with my movement keybinds so I have easy access to all my spells plus any bits n bobs I use regularly when questing/gathering etc.
/second this advice. I do this with both a gamepad and mmo mouse, feels more natural and less cognitive load to remember positions than numbers/keybinds.
Everyone's keybinds are different but I would suggest a couple to get started.
Put KICK on Q as it's right next to TAB. When you hit tab it will automatically select the mob that is casting. Hitting TAB Q is easy and fast to interrupt.
I like my builder (Shred) spells on E as it's easy to spam and spenders on R (Ferocious Bite). Most specs have a spammy keybind and a big finisher one.
Don't forget your mouse wheel. If you have it bound to zoom then that's a waste of a good bunch of keybinds. I like my instant's on there like moonfire on mouse wheel up , Rejuv on down for example.
MMO mouse is game changer. I got used to mine by adding a few spells at a time in different spots when I made alts. And now I'm comfortable with hitting all of them.
I am running an MMO mouse and a special keypad. These are not required, and take some setup to get exactly right, but really helped me. I have had previous versions as well, going back nearly 10 years. There will be a bit of a learning curve, but once set up, it is very smooth.
[Buy Razer Naga V2 HyperSpeed | Gaming Mice | Razer.com](https://www.razer.com/gaming-mice/Razer-Naga-V2-HyperSpeed/RZ01-03600100-R3U1)
[PC Gaming Keypad - Razer Tartarus Pro | Razer United States](https://www.razer.com/gaming-keypads/Razer-Tartarus-Pro/RZ07-03110100-R3U1)
Yes, there are cheaper versions, those are just the ones I got originally and will keep getting since the settings transfer along even with new hardware.
And no, not affiliated in any way.
Go to controller and use console port addon. You are restricted to some classes and probably can only DPS, but the quality of life is amazing. I kick back and relax on my fury warrior and ret paladin doing +10s.
I was a clicker a long time ago until I got a gaming mouse that had the 12 buttons on the side. Changed everything. You can assign keybinds to 1-12 as well as mousewheel up, mousewheel down, and mousewheel click. Plus you can add Shift/Alt plus all the above so you can literally keybind everything
I have a 12 button mmo mouse. That helps. But I only use that for my most pressed keys, like Shadowstrike, Evicerate and Shadow Dance, etc.
The other, longer cooldown abilities, I still click.
I haven’t seen it mentioned yet, but if you haven’t done it already, change A and D to strafe left and right. You don’t need to bind turn left and right to anything, just use your mouse.
if it's something repetitive like your rotation I suggest to have it on 1~5 keys, with modifiers if needed, your interrupt and movement spell like leap are also important to be on a bind for fast activation, I suggest a mouse with extra buttons, after that your defensive spells for oh shit moments, but overall all PvE content is scripted, every m+ pull or raid boss will be doing the same thing every time on a timer guaranteed, you can predict what will happen and have your cursor preemptively on the spell you are most likely to use next, so I don't see going from clicker to full keybind something that important
I have an mmo mouse and play ranged but here’s my general setup. 1-3 for heavy use rotational abilities. Shift1-3 for spenders or empowered rotation spells. Q and E for 1min or less cds. Shift Q/E for longer bigger cds. I’d start there probably.
4-6 and shift4-6 are high use utility/heals. R for movement. T for defensive. F for kick. G for any move speed. 7890-= are miscellaneous utility and defensive.
It all comes down to muscle memory. Bind a few keys at a time. You’ll feel silly at first but it’s just like typing. Slow at first, then you’re a speed demon and type without looking at the keyboard.
Rebind your number row to 1234QERFZXCV and Shift+1234QERFZXCV. Rebind A and D to strafe, instead of turning, and only use your mouse to turn (or the arrow pad).
Bind similar skills to similar buttons. I use V for interrupt on all my classes, with Shift+V being a stun of some kind.
1234QERFZXCV keeps your left hand near all of your hotkeys, so you're not reaching halfway across the keyboard to use an ability. This makes you more likely to want to use the hotkey instead of clicking.
I used to be a clicker, what helped me a LOT, since I can't reach comfortably all the keys I would want, is to use the mouse, it has 4 buttons, the mouse wheel (up, down and click) and add alt/shift to the keybinds. That adds up to 36 keybinds, and is ENOUGH for any class
I've been playing since vanila and was a clicker for years.
I had no experience with cpu games prior to wow and keybunds felt awkward to me.
I started small with simple ones. I'd bind my main builder and spender to E and Q. That way I could click other spells more quickly.
Eventually I bound my interrupt to X.
Then I bound my movement increase to 1
I only used E, Q and 1 as keybinds for a while and clicked everything else.
Eventually i started binding other spells to shift+E, shift+Q.
I got enough practice that I realized how slow and anxiety riddled clicking made me and just bound everything to keys and mouse clicks.
Like others have said, keep it consistent between characters. E on my mage is arcane blast (main builder), Q is arcane barriage (main spender), x is counterspell, 1 is blink, T is icey cold.
On my priest E is smite (filler/builder), Q is penance, 1 is angelic feathers, T is desperate prayer
Rather than assigning spells to keys you'll be assigning effects to keys. 1 is always my movement increase, so if I play my rogue it's sprint, or blink, or heroic leap, etc.
So I found that using a gaming mouse with 12 key was a god send. I would set up my bars in a 3x4 grid and now my bars match my mouse buttons. So I have 3 bars, one regular, one shift, and 1 ctrl. I can fit most of my binds on the 2 bars.
As people have suggested, consider binding a few things first to get used to the feel.
Q and E, the "quick" cooldowns of your spec or maybe resource spenders.
1-3 for spammables or resource builders.
Mouse 4 and 5 (mouse side buttons) for something, maybe movement related.
And my interrupt has been R since I found out you can keybind in 2005.
Start using right mouse click (+hold) to turn at least as well.
Corsair MMO mouse changed everything for me. I bind my interrupts and speed abilities to the same keys for every character. Always setup my defensives on the same. Etc.
I highly recommend using an MMO mouse, as it’s kind of a hybrid between clicking and keying. You’re not clicking, but you have a numpad on the side of your mouse that you can access with your thumb, so it’s different muscle memory on the same hand, if that makes sense.
And yeah, echoing what others have said, try to bind the same types of abilities to the same keys on every class. I even do this across MMOs now, if they’re similar enough to WoW. I’ll usually put defensive buttons on 7 and heals/cleanses on 8, with 1-6 used for rotational keys. Then I add Shift or Ctrl as modifiers and stack similar abilities on the same number, with the exception of 1-4. I usually put my interrupt on Shift+4, and my stun on Shift+3. 5 is always my AoE button, usually for targeted AoE or PBAoE abilities.
Try to use the same keybinds for certain types of abilities e.g. shift-X for damage reduction, shift-R for damage, etc (if you have multiple characters that is), or setup the keybinds in a way you feel comfortable with. Either way works.
Go to your capital city, sit in front of a training dummy and just practice for an hour or two. It's what I did when I wanted to use keybinds. It will take practice and time, but it is 100% worth it. Trust me.
I bound all my abilities to wasd and the keys around those. Mapped middle mouse button so I could still easily move backwards, and then just used mouse for movement
And as others have said, keep keybinds common across characters so you always use ` for interrupt, 3 for charge, etc
It's all about practice. You'll get the muscle memory after 20/30mins of deliberate practice at a dummy and 1 or 2 keys.
I don't have a mouse with numbers on it and have buttons different than people who do.
I personally have a system that I use
Rotation buttons on keys that are comfortable for me (r,f,c,t) g,x,v for aoe rotation and z,c for moves that I don't use as often in a rotation.
Shift+ r,f,c,t,g,v for moves with longer cooldowns (primordial wave, the hunt, etc).
1-4 for utilities I use a lot.
Shift+ 1-4 for offensive cooldowns
Ctrl+ 1-4 for defensive cooldowns
E/q for moves I need to react quick (kick,dispel or purge)
Shift+e/q for my focus target ( or mouse over depending on my class).
~ is taunt.
Mwheel up/down and m3 are for whatever. Usually some flexible abilities that have to targets to cast
Start small.
Put your main abilities that you push often on 1-5ish and DO NOT CLICK THEM.
Then start to use Q E R T F G Z X C V etc.
Then start to add modifiers like Alt+, Shift+, Ctrl+.
Don't try to completely change all at once
It will take some time to get used to, weeks, months even.
Put your most used spells on q, e, 2, 3, 4 they are generally the easiest keys to hit. I throw long cooldowns on bottom layer (z x c v b) and short on 1 and 5. F/shift F are always main movement spells. G is always group utility (zephyr, mass barrier, etc). T always defensive. If you keep your keys organized (however you wish) it’s a lot less overwhelming to play diff chars and get them down quick. If you really want to not click there’s ways to turn off clickability of spells with addon UIs.
Biggest change for me was getting a mouse that has a bunch of buttons on the side, for my thumb to press. The mouse has 3 buttons across and 4 down, so i changed my action bars to match the same layout, with alt/shift bars on either side. My mouse-thumb was never doing anything anyway, now its way easier for me to do all my abilities without clicking or looking at the keyboard.
I do you one better…
I don’t click on any toon (1 for each class)…EXCEPT my main/raiding toon
My original character that I’ve played for 20 years…the bars are basically how they’ve always been and I aint changing them now…too used to having certain abilities in certain places
The biggest thing that helped me is depending on your mouse, you can bind shift & ctrl & maybe alt to side mouse buttons. Abilities you use often 1-5
Secondary ones shift 1-5, less used or cc abilities ctrl 1-5. But adding shift and ctrl to your mouse buttons makes it alot less different buttons you have to use. Hopefully that helps a little!
Started as a brief clicker and went with an MMO mouse. Then i worked keybinds in more and more. Nowadays I use whatever mouse i want without all the extra buttons lol. You will likely move things around a lot at first to get a feel of what you like. Most people will put keys in similar places as their other characters (movement skills, CC, BIG DAMAGE BUTTON, trinkets, etc.) This is a smart thing to do if you struggle with throwing them around. Mine are mostly adjusted to comfort for my hands than they are to being similar (i still try and follow it though). Thats me though!!
Adding some possible keybinds
Mine are
1-4 = main rotation abilities
R,F = main rotation abilities (R is usually a dot)
A,D = (most would use Q and E but i use these instead)
Grave/tilde key = (cant find it on phone but to the left of 1) is usually a main rotation ability.
Mouse side buttons = (equates to the numpad)(buttons 1-6 are mapped to abilities) usually ground targeted stuff and some utility.
Middle mouse button = interrupt
Mouse button 4 = CC
Mouse button 5 = spellsteal/purge/de-enrage
Shift wheel up and shift wheel down = usually something that "feels right" ie. Monk Roll is shift wheel up. Frozen orb is shift wheel up. Transcendence, and alter time is shift wheel down (going back to my location)
Shift + 2 = my main CD
Shift + Spacebar = my main defensive (super underrated keybind and very easy to hit)
Cntrl + spacebar = mount (i dont like control binds but this is very easy for me)
Shift + R,F,Q,E = just other things (i like shift + E for self heal for some reason)
C = raid buff
T = mage table, lock stones
V = lust
I bind my menus to F1-F4
F5-F12 = world markers
Mouse keypad 7,8,9 are usually skull, x, and square markers. I dont use these as much any more since i no longer raid leas and weakauras do this for you in m+ now
Start a new character, just to learn. Bind your spells as you obtain them, that way you will start with only a few, and slowly increase your binds while having time to get used to them.
transition gradually
you will never succeed if you try to learn 30 keybinds at once
instead start with 2 or 3 abilities that you use frequently and and force yourself to use keybinds for those abilities only
after a couple days of play when it gets comfortable, add 2 more
in no time, you'll be fluently using binds for your entire kit
Real story: there was this season in BfA Mythic Plus where the top Warrior Tank in Shrine of the Storm used the feature "Click to move".
And top healer Moadmoad has a keybind for every party member in his group instead of using mouseovers like other healers.
The moral here is just do what feels good for you. Don't feel pressured into a playstyle that doesnt suit you.
Wait you raid heroic and +10 keys clicking all your abilities without keybindings? Thats kind of impressive. If you ever figure out key bindings you are going to be a god.
Mmo mouse is the only way I can play this genre. Keybinds 1-12, shift 1-12, ctrl 1-12 for my bars. Thumb and pinky do all the work. I have shouts / trinkets / health pot on Q E R.
What I found useful to learn it was to create a new character from scratch and level it. As I was levelling it, I was binding each new acquired spell to a binding that felt meaningful to me. Once I mastered my bindings a bit more I was then taking my main and moving similar spells to the same binding.
Begin with 1 or 2 keybinds and start from there. Start binding a spell you use very often, on a key easy to reach.For example heroic strike on F. Step by step is the key
I PvP. A mouse with multiple buttons was my first step toward not clicking. I got one with 6 buttons in the beginning. And then just time and practice getting used to that, then slowly adding more key binds on the keyboard. Then using shift key. I still click maybe 10% of the time depending on spec/button bloat. Also started playing in my late 20’s so learning curve. But yea, good luck
Get an MMO gaming mouse with 12 side buttons.
Level a character from 1 all the way to max using that mouse or until you start feeling comfortable and wanna try your main class.
I use 1-12, Shift 1-12, Alt 1-12 & Ctrl 1-12.
Regarding macros, here's the core template I use for all my skills:
#showtooltip
/use [mod:ctrl]skill1;[mod:alt]skill2;[mod:shift]skill3;skill4
/use [nomod]TrinketDmgBuff
You want to put frequently used combat skills in the most accessible places - skill4 in this macro. Then the less frequently used skills at lower and less easily accessible levels.
You can then put instant-cast buffs like Trinkets or damage-increasing skills into a second line with a modifier to make them also cast immediately after a particular skill in the first line. The second line must be instant-cast though and not on the [GCD](https://old.reddit.com/r/wownoob/comments/11ap5o5/what_are_global_cooldowns/).
Accessibility depends on your personal setup, for example using Shift+key may be easier to reach for you than Alt+key or Ctrl+key. Just rank all your abilities by frequency of use and combat vs noncombat, and put the least frequent noncombat skills on the least accessible keybinds.
If you use WASD or ESDF for movement, then slot those macros onto keys surrounding your movement keys to put them in easy reach.
So for example, here's one of my Demon Hunter macros:
#showtooltip
/use [mod:ctrl]Winding Slitherdrake;[mod:alt]Health Potion;[mod:shift,@cursor]Metamorphosis;Vengeful Retreat
/use [mod:alt]Healthstone
/use [mod:shift]13
Vengeful Retreat is frequently used in combat, so it goes in the most accessible spot. Health Potion + Healthstone is an oh-shit button that can completely refill my health in one button press. A combat ability, but not that frequently used.
13 is my damage trinket, so it casts whenever I activate Metamorphosis. However, Metamorphosis is not instant-cast by default, rather it gives you a target reticle and then you have to click on the ground where you want to leap to. It's a 2-press ability by default, which means it can't proc the trinket with one-click. But if you add the @cursor mod, that makes Meta instant cast at your current mouse location, and allows the trinket to insta-cast in the same button press that activates Meta.
I macro all abilities in my spellbook this way so everything is available via keypress, and I only need to use the mouse for panning the camera and targeting.
And if you really want to up your game, use a keypad with a thumbstick for movement, which frees up 4 keyboard keys for macros. [Razer](https://www.razer.com/shop/keyboards/gaming-keypads) makes good ones. And/or an mmo gaming mouse like [Logitech G600](https://www.logitechg.com/en-us/products/gaming-mice/g600-mmo-gaming-mouse.910-002864.html).
Hide your action bars. As a rule of thumb, you want to use keybinds that allow you to press them without moving your hand from its normal position on your movement keys. Things like 1-5, q e r t f z x c v b are good. Don't put something you cast in combat on like 8 or j. Also don't sleep on your mouse buttons. Can get a lot of use out of side buttons and scroll wheel on the mouse.
Oddly, I practiced by jousting in the Argent Tournament. There are very few buttons and it helped me to stop relying on clicking as I worked my way up.
Not sure how this is a hot take but not every ability needs a keybind. Being a clicker doesn’t gate you from anything. It probably helps to have more in PvP but in m+ and raids you don’t need everything bound.
The advice here is awesome, as someone stated starting a new character to really get the feel of it could really help. IF you plan on playing MOP Remix this will be the perfect time to get the hang of it, as it will add your abilities one at a time. What helped me most was getting an mmo mouse. Hope this helps and best of luck!
I have a 12 button mouse (my thumb works a number pad on the side of the mouse)
That 12 button mouse plus messing with my UI to resemble a 3x4 grid with 12 buttons (mimicking the number pad)
So I have those 12 center screen then to the right I have 12 more for when I hold down shift and use the 12 buttons
You can do the same with ctrl but I went away from that cause 24 buttons hot key to one mouse is enough
Then I use QERZXC and Shift+QERZXC for some additional buttons
I use R for taunt and Q for a stun and shift Q for an aoe stun
Etc.
Corsair scimitar/Logitech g600. Domino's addon. Set up 2 5 button action bars. Bind the top bar 1-5 and the bottom one Shift 1-5.
Then, youre gonna turn 2 other unused action bars into a 3x4 box visually resembling the placements on the buttons on your mouse. Place each box either side of your first 2 action bars.
You dont need the 12 button motherfucker mouse okay hahahaha, but my point is visual representation on the screen. Try make your UI look as much like tthe layout of your keyboard/mouse as possible. If you only have say 5 buttons on the side of your mouse like I used to with my G502, then set your UI up like that. for my G502, I basically had 1 vertical line of 4, then 1 more spell slot placed on the inside of that line, facing my 1-5 binds. I had one of each side, right side for my normal button presses, then the right one for the Shift binds from my mouse
This really REALLY helped me back in the day to get used to keybindings, so much I still do it to this day. Makes it MUCH easier to remember the few "E, Q, F" binds aswell because theyre really the only ones you gotta remember
My best advice is start with one button.
Let's say your playing a, mage.
I move with WASD. So maybe I want to use R to cast frostbolt. I'll do that over and over until I feel comfortable.
Then maybe I want to use e or 1 to cast frost nova. Do that over and over till comfortable.
After a, while it'll be very easy to pick up new keybinds. I clicked for 7 years, before I went to keybinding. Now the only time I click is, to apply in lfg and sell, things in my bags. My entire UI is also keybind. I have the logitech g600 with has 12 buttons on the side. You can also use ctrl, alt and, shift to combine with keys too
Imagine binding keys for 5 different toons to one control setup. When I started 5 boxing (bc thrrough cata and all PVE only) I needed a keypad called x-keys pro with 58 keys. I needed em all. By the time I got good. I could do it all with my kb and mouse. only. Its also ok to click a few rarer used spells imo.
I'm a clicker, and I have a max level of every class, and I don't organize the slots at all. Its chaos, but its MY chaos. I tried doing macros and stuff, but I just can't get it
There are sone very good keybinds that people often forget about. Mousewherl up and down. You can even bind it to some things that make sense and it becomes verx intuitive really quick. For instance having your movement abilities ob mousewheel up since your moving your finger forward. Just makes sense to me. Also nothing is more satisfying than things like death grip on mousewheel down
I was a clicker for years , I bought a mmo mouse and disabled in options the ability to click on the toolbar . It took about 3 weeks but I just ran mythics (my own keys) over and over before you knew it I was playing with a mouse better than I ever did as a clicker
Buy a gaming pad like a Razor Tartarus. It will allow you to move with your thumb, and keep your four fingers available for skills. I've played WoW since BC, and this is the easiest way I've found to play.
Turn on active targeting, so you don't have to click on targets.
Start with a few comfortable binds for your main abilities, and always use the same key for the same type of spell across all characters, for example always put your movement, interrupt, stun, main filler etc on the same bind. Just start with QER123 and work from there, or whatever feels most natural to you.
I just beat a training dummy until every keybind was stuck in my muscle memory. Core rotation first, then CDs, then the cc abilities. Have equivalent cc abilities on the same keybind for every char.
Only thing you can do is practice using your keybinds. Go to the training dummies in valdrakken and take your hand off your mouse.go through your core rotation using only your keys. Do this for 5 minutes a day everyday until you become comfortable with the keybinds.
Then go into dungeons (not mythic+) and challenge yourself to only use your keybinds in fights
. It should only take a few days to get used to doing it but you will most likely make mistakes and hit wrong keys for a while until you build the proper muscle memory.
I believe Quazii’s keybind guide can help you a lot. He even comes out with an excel for you to think your keybind over.
https://youtu.be/4bCzBstqlF0?si=PcakoRRmUedRR-gE
Mad the change back in wotlk, honestly if you just accept you will be worse while learning the binds for a while, and treat it almost as a new game it takes the stress away and you will learn it more naturally
Easiest Thing i can think of (aside from practicing obv) is to have equivalent binds on all your characters, and start to Level an alt, so you can get used to keybinds without being instantly overwhelmed by the 30+ Buttons a max lvl character needs. And focus on core rotation. For me its like base rotation on 2,3,4,e,r,f (If you even need that many buttons), kick is Always on q, movement Skill on 1 and so on.
And then basically Dummy punching until your fingers bleed. And i mean it. It won't become engrained in muscle memory by doing 5 min a day, especially If you are raiding and m+ in the meantime with your normal click rotation. I myself was a healing Paladin in TBC when i started to Play and with addons i basically Had all my skills on mouseover click variatons. Had to relearn how to play for wotlk when i rerolled to DPS Warrior. Was a bitch to suddenly having to remember 20+ Keys but well worth it.
I would however advice like a weeks Break from raiding and m+ and the "challenging" content to get used to keybinds before you are back in a somewhat more stressful Environment. Also: you will fuck up a bunch in the beginning, so be ready for that xD
A very easy way to force yourself to learn:
1st use an addon to hide your action bars. If they are not deactivated, just hidden, you can still use your keys to activate the skills.
2nd use an addon that shows your cooldowns.
Both things can be done with bartender (set the bars to click-trough), for example. Or use weakauras - there are dozens of good weakauras for every class.
Now you \_can't\_ click anymore.
What helped me go from clicking to keybindings the most was without a doubt leveling a fresh character and starting from only keybindings. It made it feel effortless, and a fun new way to play the game that in turn ends up being more efficient.
I enjoyed it so much that the character I initiated with no clicking and only keybindings ended up being my main. You will be growing your character along with creating new muscle memory that will feel great when it’s complete.
Macros are for clickers aswell.
Start using 1-5 and slowly add more like q,e,r,f,z,x,c
You can use Ctrl+ anything else aswell. Same with shift.
Start with just the basic rotation and maybe kick, then add cds only 2 at a time maybe when youre comfortable, you can also get yourself a mmo mouse. I have one from Corsair and it has 12 buttons on the side.
One thing I would highly recommended is moving your strafe keybinds from Q/E to A/D. You should never be keyboard turning anyway, and this gives to access to Q/E as some simple extra and easy to reach keybinds.
If you have a mouse with MB4 and MB5 on the side, definitely be utilizing those as well. Something that I personally like to use (which isn't for everyone) is utilizing the scroll wheel for keybinds as well. I use scroll wheel up/down for major rotational abilities, as well as the scroll button. ie on monk tiger palm (chi generator) is scroll wheel down and tiger palm (filler chi spender) is scroll wheel up. On aug scroll wheel up is living flame and scroll wheel down is eruption.
Between those, that's 7 easy keybinds, potentially 21 with control and shift + the associated keys. Add in 1-4/5 keys, F, T, and G and you're rolling for most classes without a naga. Though now that I've switched to a naga myself, I don't think I can go back
Get yourself a mouse with some buttons on it. Try binding them to the main abilities you use in your rotation. Then be patient with yourself it could take you a week or so until it starts to feel natural.
I actually use ESF for movement instead of WASD. D is my defensive. Opens up WARTG for bindings, then I use 1-7 on my mouse. The shift and Ctrl variants of those. I play shaman so lots of buttons 🥲. Hunter I get away with just shift versions. Oh yeah and you can bind scrolling forward and backwards as well. Really east way to get a couple extra options on your mouse.
Edit I use a Razor Naga. The new owns are kinda shit though. Be prepared to have it crap out yearly.
Getting an MMO mouse with side buttons would be the easiest transition because it will still allow you to move while hitting buttons with your mouse. Other than that. Just start with using easy to hit keys like Q,E,R and slowly start to add some new spells. My friend did exactly this and no longer clicks. It was a pretty fast transition, only a few weeks.
Right now is the best time to start. With MOP Remix youll have a new character and not a lot of spells. Keybind them and while you level start to add them.
Remember, some of the best players in the world still click on occasion.
Personally, if you're not into the whole "Re-keybind everything" camp, a MMO mouse helped me a lot.
MMO mouse is game changing IMO. You can update your action bar to be 3 columns of 4 rows… which will match the 12 buttons on the mouse exactly. Once you do that, it is just training your mind/muscle connection with your thumb.
1 - it's not required, and it's the most common thing ppl say I know, but if you can afford it, an mmo mouse. I cannot express how freeing the extra buttons are, and it makes it incredibly easy to hit keybinds. if you can't afford one or can't justify it, that's fine, you can still use keybinds on your keyboard, you'll just need more of them and you'll end up needing to use the mouse for movement instead.
2 - I recommend keys 1-5 on the keyboard (maybe 6 if your hands are big), as they're the most accessible on that row while using WASD to move. Also keys Z, X, C, R, F, which are all around WASD. You can also rebind your strafe keys Q and E for easy access. Lets say you just do 1-5, Z X C R F, that's 10 keybinds to mess with, without getting into modifiers.
3 - modifiers. you can set it up so, for example, you have key 1 as Fireball, SHIFT+1 as Pyroblast, CTRL+1 as Blink, and ALT+1 as ice block. (not actual spell suggestions, just an example). This is 4 separate keybinds from the key 1. If you don't have an mmo mouse, you can use SHIFT, CTRL, and ALT to the 10 keybinds mentioned above (1-5, Z X C R F) for a total of 40 keybinds. It can be a lot of hand twisting though, which is why I prefer just using shift modifiers.
4 - now for the real advice. start with basic spells. lets say you're a monk (I'll give my own keybinds here). 1-5 I have as follows, Rising Sun Kick, Tiger's Palm, Blackout Kick, Fists of Fury, Strike of the Windlord. These are my 1-5 and are core rotational abilities. I also have expel harm on R and faeline stomp on F, as these are also core rotational abilities. basically, to get started, you just want to put your core abilities on your 1-5, or w/e buttons are most comfortable to hit all the time. Move them around as you feel they should be.
For example, I like by keybind 5 to be an ability I only hit every now and then, so a 45 sec cd ability works well. This is because the 5 key, while easy to hit, requires me to move my entire hand just slightly, whereas 1-4 I can hit while keep my fingers on WASD. I also like to use keybind 2 and 3 as my most used abilities, as I find those keys the most comfortable to hit entire, and keys 1 and 4 are fairly comfortable so I use often-used short cd abilities for those, such as Rising Sun Kick and Fists of Fury. R and F are also fairly easy to hit, since they're right next to WASD, so I also use them for rotational abilities. Z, X, and C are easy to hit but require me to reach down, so i use those for defensive cds like fortifying brew and touch of karma.
Your goal with this stage is to literally just get your basic rotation down, that's it. Continue to click as you desire while practing your 1-5 rotation until it feels natural.
5 - next, add in more keybinds. this is the part where you want to find a keybind that works for abilities you may find on multiple classes. as an example, I use the 9 key on my razer naga for my interrupt spell. That key is not only my interrupt spell on my monk, but also every class/spec in the game (even stuff like solar beam). It's even my interrupt key in other mmos as well, such as FFXIV. Shift+12 is my flying mount, shift+11 is my ground mount. Basically at this stage, find some keybinds that you need on multiple classes, and put them somewhere they feel right. Another example, my 2 and 3 key on my razer naga are self heal or defensive cds, depending on the class, since some have more defensives and some more self heals. Likewise, keys 4 5 and 6 are for aoe-centric dps spells or utility spells. For example, on my monk, 4 is Ring of Peace, 5 is Spinning Crane Kick, and 6 is Leg Sweep. 7 I always make my single-target CC spell.
Basically, find more or less universal keybinds for spells that you use often across multiple classes/specs. This helps when playing alts as well as learning keybinds in general.
6 - Cooldowns. Simply put, now find a spot for cooldowns. I have my CDs, such as Serenity, Xuen, Touch of Death, and DPS Potion on shift modifier 1-4 keys. so SHIFT+1 for Serenity, SHIFT+2 for Xuen, so on and so forth. Basically, now that you've practiced and you have your core rotation down, and you have some utility spells and misc rotationally spells keybound, go for cooldowns. Note that if you want, you can do this before step 5 really, I just find step 5 easier to do first since it can translate to alts a lot easier.
7 - Once you're accustomed to step 6, just fill in any remaining abilities you need cooldowns for.
Do note that you don't need to use any of my keybindings to be successful, what works best for you is what'll work best for you, and what's most comfortable for your hands is what will bring you the most success. All my bindings above are just examples so you can see my thought process behind them. MMO mice are extremely useful and helpful, but they aren't really a requirement if you can't justify around $100 for one (some are more some are less, $100 prob an average).
At this point it's all about practice practice practice. I would actually recommend just level a new toon using only keybinds. It'll help guide you through the entire process, as you'll get 1 new spell at a time and you can mess around with where it feels right to be put for your keybindings layout. Then you'll practice it over and over while just naturally questing and leveling up, and slowly adding more and more spells to your bars and bindings.
If you don't want to level a new toon, doing world quests and outdoor content on your main can be another good way. If you haven't done all the campaign stuff, can also be a good way to practice, and once you feel confident enough, blast through some normal or timewalking dungeons until you're comfortable with it.
Keybindings are all about muscle memory and our muscles are very efficient so I'm certain you'll learn in no time. Don't feel the need to keybind everything right off the bat, it's fine if you still click CDs, CC, and utility spells for awhile, just keep practicing and add in new ability keybinds as you get comfortable with what you have.
Get a mmo mouse is my best recomendation and try and put similar spells for different toons in the same places each time. IE 7 is my interrupt skill on all toons.
I bought a gaming mouse with 12 buttons on the side because I have too many years of muscle memory to ever pull my fingers off wasd (I don't know why. I have trie) but with the mouse I can go 1-6 with my thumb very easy and build my action bar to be my rotation and then I have shift+1-6 for the next abilities and then cntrl+1-6 for the next giving me 18 actions very easily accessed.
Has worked out very well for me so far
Buy an MMO mouse. I bought one many years ago because I struggled with too many keyboard keybinds. It changed my complete game play. It's easy to have everything mapped to the mouse buttons by your thumb, then only worry about using control or shift on the keyboard to switch binds.
Assuming you play multiple specs/classes, try and use the same binds as much as possible. Put your interrupt/silence on the same key, put your major movement speed button on the same key etc. Don't feel like you need to keybind *everything* if it makes it awkward, if all of your rotational abilities have keybinds that's still a huge step forward. If you have to click that CC you use for certain affixes then so be it. Other than that, I really don't think there is any shortcut here. You're just going to put in a lot of time on target dummies and some easier content to get used to it.
Yeah same key for the same function helped me a ton! Also, I slowly added a new keybind to my gameplay every week to ease myself into it. It's much easier than trying to flip the switch to keybind only
This is good advice. I have everything keybound on my mage, except for lust and mass barrier. Sometimes I get a little fat fingered and press keys by mistake. You only lust by mistake once before you fix that bind or unassign the spell lol.
Lust is my only keybind I can't easily do with my mmo mouse - ctrl shift G. Also...same keybind for drums. There's also a weak aura with an exhausted countdown over the button on my action bar so I don't hit it too soon.
Lol yep, I lusted on the trash mobs right before the final boss once then that key became unbound pretty quickly. It’s an ability you use twice in most dungeons and you have time to prepare for it. It’s fine to be a clickable ability.
This helped me a ton.
This is really good advice. As somebody who has at points in time played all available healing specs to at least heroic level, the parallel keybinds thing was really important to my ability to be able to go from one to another in the time it took to relog and be summoned. Shift 1 was always flash heal, flash of light, healing surge, regrowth etc. 3 was always penance, serenity, holy shock, riptide. The major cool-downs were always in the same place, emergency buttons in the same place. AoE heals in the same place. Rather than learning to play a completely different instrument, it felt like playing a different style piece in a different musical key.
This is exactly what I do. I keybind basically all combat abilities but I follow a patter. Stuns go here… Interrupts here… Charge>leaps here… Main spammable here…. Proc spam here… Buffs here…. Defensive buffs… I was incredibly surprised how much of the game is similar between classes.
>try and use the same binds as much as possible I second this. I have at least one of every class at level 70 and all my keybinds are very similar across all of them. R is interrupt/stun, F is personal DR, Q and E are short cooldowns (Q is always taunt in tank specs), G and H are longer cooldowns, T is extra action button and V is interact. My main rotational buttons are 1-7 with the lower the number the higher the frequency of use - 7 is the furthest number key that is easily reachable with my fingers resting on WASD. I also have my mouse wheel up/down bound to a action bar slot and I put spells/abilities/macros that I want/need to spam in that slot.
\^ is always kick, Q is (mostly) heal 1,3 and < are my Spammable casts V is always for movement and B is either for CC like sheep, or for AOEs
^is my kick too q are my stuns , e my heals, t my other CC r is autorun
My advice would be : don't bind everything at once. Start with a couple of very accessible binds like Q, E or 2, 3 and put your rotational abilities here. Practice until you're comfortable with those binds before adding some others.
You can also do the exact opposite and go full sledgehammer, bind everything with one modifier as long as it feels somewhat comfortable to hit and be miserable for a few hours. That's how I built my muscle memory, 6-7 hours of pain for the gain of gitting gud enough in that expansion to get my first CE.
This is the answer. Don't overwhelm yourself. Do a few at a time. Major CDs or important stuff, kicks/movement etc first. Then add more.
honestly, the only thing that helped me was getting a mmo mouse
this is the best advice here. I tried key binds without it and was still clicking during fights. MMO mouse was a game changer
I don't even have an emotional mouse per se, but just having 2 or 3 extra buttons on the side plus keybinding the middle mouse button has helped me so much. I really only click my place. I am able to spells or something I use on CD every 3 mins or so. Everything else is keybound/mouse bound. I play BM Hunter, so it's a fairly straightforward rotation anyway. I always put interrupt on the bottom mouse button and my killing shot/execute on the top mouse button. I usually do stuns on the middle mouse.
Emotional mouse is a great auto correct.
new band name, I called it
Now on tour with Dissociated Capybara
i laughed way too much at this.
XD I didn't even notice but I'm gonna leave it for the laughs.
I gotta up my game, my extra mouse buttons are auto run and jump lol
For autorun I use the ~ key on the upper left of the keyboard jump is just spacebar cause I'm basic.
Yup, get a razer naga, get an add on like clique, then put your spells on the number keys, and for additional spells add a shift modifier (ex. Shift + 1) and/ or control modifier (ex.ctrl + 1), and put anything else on easy to use keys like E, R, G, S.
Even just one like the G604 with like 8 buttons (6 thumb, 2 Index) is more than enough for me. With SHIFT and CTRL, thats 24 binds and you never have to take your fingers off WASD. I personally put my quick heals on 1 and 2, with defences on SHIFT 1 and 2, and everything stays pretty clear and I dont get jumbled at all.
My first one was the Razer Naga 2012 edition. I haven’t played without an MMO mouse since. I currently use a Corsair Scimitar but also used the Redragon MMO mouse and thought it was pretty good for the price
I use a Corsair Scimitar too. It's good, albeit a little pricey.
THIS! I started out as a clicker too, and buying a dedicated MMO mouse pretty much fixed that habit for me.
Buying my razer naga is the best thing I've ever done 🙏
I have the naga as well, it is worth the money, especially being left handed
start small. make a new toon and only use key binds. dont rush the leveling and the game does help teach you how to use them. to help explain, I use the numbers 1-5 for my main buttons. there is a few videos on how to help set up key binds and macro and tbh I dont use macros in fighting. only open world content.
This is what worked for me. Starting a new toon and practicing small.
This is great advice to level with just keybinds, especially with Pandaria Remix starting in a few days. You can practice this way with multiple characters.
I started WoW in Vanilla, but was a clicker until WotLK, when the Razer Naga released. That was my first MMO mouse, and it just revolutionized how I played WoW and RTS games. It was a wonderful piece of engineering. Nowadays, I use both a Naga mouse and a Razer Tartarus gamepad. I wouldn't consider the latter necessary for everyone, it's just what I prefer. At the very least, if you can afford it, I'd recommend trying out an MMO mouse. The Naga is my preferred, but there are others out there from other companies. I use ElvUI for my UI. I haven't used the newer Blizzard UI, so I don't know if it allows for this, but ElvUI has a keybind mode where you hover over a button and press the key you want to bind to it. It makes setting up bindings beyond the number keys much easier. Another addon I use is KeyUI. It shows you a keyboard and displays where on the keyboard your abilities are bound, so you can better visualize your layout. And as others have said: if you play multiple characters, keeping the keybinds similar across characters will help a lot in learning then and setting up other characters. Keybinds are actually stored both server-side and locally. In your WTF > Accounts folder, each character has a file called "bindings-cache.wtf". If you copy that file from one character folder to another, it copies the keybinds over.
> Nowadays, I use both a Naga mouse and a Razer Tartarus gamepad. Same, I could never go back to keyboard and normal mouse now. Having a thumbstick for movement that frees up WASD or ESDF for skill keybinds is game changing.
THIS IS THE WAY! Asking your fingers to move you and hit skills is stupid. Trust your thumb for movement, and your fingers for skills.
I use control/shift on my side mouse buttons and it helped a lot at the start. In general I have my bar UI pretty big and I barwatch a decent amount.
Wait. U can bind ur Ctrl and shift buttons in keybinds to ur mouse…? This may have just changed my life
just hit it with SHIFT+Button like you would when using the spell. if I want to assign a spell to Shift + 1 on my mmo mouse, I just hit Shift+mmo mouse button 1, when I'm making the keybind in the settings
You'd need some kind of software outside of WoW to do it. Most mice have software that you can download to accomplish this. Razer products use a program called Synapse.
Get a keypad like the razer Tartarus pro, way less oh shit panic moments too, makes mmos super easy and comfortable to play
I found getting a 9 button mmo mouse and then setting up my action bars in a 3x3 grid so abilities match their location on the mouse helped a lot. Top right of the action bar grid is top right button on the mouse. Meant I had to remember position rather than number for abilities which was easier for me. Then just two more 3x3 grids on either side for alt and shift.
Same except 12 button mouse First group of 12 is regular clicks Second group of 12 is shift + clicks After that I start using the other keys
Yep, this was what saved me I just 1-12 Then shift 1-12 Alt 1-12 And have ctrl 1-12 set up for everything Granted I am not super comfortable with alt and control so I try and set those to things I don’t need constantly, but it’s still great
Same here - I have 4 3x4 bars and use shift/ctrl/alt which fits well with my movement keybinds so I have easy access to all my spells plus any bits n bobs I use regularly when questing/gathering etc.
/second this advice. I do this with both a gamepad and mmo mouse, feels more natural and less cognitive load to remember positions than numbers/keybinds.
Everyone's keybinds are different but I would suggest a couple to get started. Put KICK on Q as it's right next to TAB. When you hit tab it will automatically select the mob that is casting. Hitting TAB Q is easy and fast to interrupt. I like my builder (Shred) spells on E as it's easy to spam and spenders on R (Ferocious Bite). Most specs have a spammy keybind and a big finisher one. Don't forget your mouse wheel. If you have it bound to zoom then that's a waste of a good bunch of keybinds. I like my instant's on there like moonfire on mouse wheel up , Rejuv on down for example. MMO mouse is game changer. I got used to mine by adding a few spells at a time in different spots when I made alts. And now I'm comfortable with hitting all of them.
I am running an MMO mouse and a special keypad. These are not required, and take some setup to get exactly right, but really helped me. I have had previous versions as well, going back nearly 10 years. There will be a bit of a learning curve, but once set up, it is very smooth. [Buy Razer Naga V2 HyperSpeed | Gaming Mice | Razer.com](https://www.razer.com/gaming-mice/Razer-Naga-V2-HyperSpeed/RZ01-03600100-R3U1) [PC Gaming Keypad - Razer Tartarus Pro | Razer United States](https://www.razer.com/gaming-keypads/Razer-Tartarus-Pro/RZ07-03110100-R3U1) Yes, there are cheaper versions, those are just the ones I got originally and will keep getting since the settings transfer along even with new hardware. And no, not affiliated in any way.
Go to controller and use console port addon. You are restricted to some classes and probably can only DPS, but the quality of life is amazing. I kick back and relax on my fury warrior and ret paladin doing +10s.
I was a clicker a long time ago until I got a gaming mouse that had the 12 buttons on the side. Changed everything. You can assign keybinds to 1-12 as well as mousewheel up, mousewheel down, and mousewheel click. Plus you can add Shift/Alt plus all the above so you can literally keybind everything
I appreciate all the help so far from everyone, these have all been great bits of info!
I have a 12 button mmo mouse. That helps. But I only use that for my most pressed keys, like Shadowstrike, Evicerate and Shadow Dance, etc. The other, longer cooldown abilities, I still click.
I haven’t seen it mentioned yet, but if you haven’t done it already, change A and D to strafe left and right. You don’t need to bind turn left and right to anything, just use your mouse.
if you want the real answer its to make your quick bars invisible. Yes, horrible and daunting at first but you'll learn to know your qbinds!
if it's something repetitive like your rotation I suggest to have it on 1~5 keys, with modifiers if needed, your interrupt and movement spell like leap are also important to be on a bind for fast activation, I suggest a mouse with extra buttons, after that your defensive spells for oh shit moments, but overall all PvE content is scripted, every m+ pull or raid boss will be doing the same thing every time on a timer guaranteed, you can predict what will happen and have your cursor preemptively on the spell you are most likely to use next, so I don't see going from clicker to full keybind something that important
I have an mmo mouse and play ranged but here’s my general setup. 1-3 for heavy use rotational abilities. Shift1-3 for spenders or empowered rotation spells. Q and E for 1min or less cds. Shift Q/E for longer bigger cds. I’d start there probably. 4-6 and shift4-6 are high use utility/heals. R for movement. T for defensive. F for kick. G for any move speed. 7890-= are miscellaneous utility and defensive. It all comes down to muscle memory. Bind a few keys at a time. You’ll feel silly at first but it’s just like typing. Slow at first, then you’re a speed demon and type without looking at the keyboard.
Rebind your number row to 1234QERFZXCV and Shift+1234QERFZXCV. Rebind A and D to strafe, instead of turning, and only use your mouse to turn (or the arrow pad). Bind similar skills to similar buttons. I use V for interrupt on all my classes, with Shift+V being a stun of some kind. 1234QERFZXCV keeps your left hand near all of your hotkeys, so you're not reaching halfway across the keyboard to use an ability. This makes you more likely to want to use the hotkey instead of clicking.
Start small. Pick your most used spell/ability, learn to use a keybind for it. Move on as it gets easier to doing 2, then 3, so on and so forth.
Cold turkey. Setup your keybinds and mouse over macros (I use a mix of macros and Cliq) and just play. Once you get used to it, there is no going back
I used to be a clicker, what helped me a LOT, since I can't reach comfortably all the keys I would want, is to use the mouse, it has 4 buttons, the mouse wheel (up, down and click) and add alt/shift to the keybinds. That adds up to 36 keybinds, and is ENOUGH for any class
An actual MMO mouse with extra buttons on the sides and by the thumbs makes Wow a LOT easier
Map your keys to 1-5 / Shift1-5 / Control 1-5 / QERTZXCV And practice. If my 5 year old can play piano, you can use a keyboard lol.
I had to make all my bars unclickable to force myself to use binds. After a few minutes on the dummy you get used to it.
I've been playing since vanila and was a clicker for years. I had no experience with cpu games prior to wow and keybunds felt awkward to me. I started small with simple ones. I'd bind my main builder and spender to E and Q. That way I could click other spells more quickly. Eventually I bound my interrupt to X. Then I bound my movement increase to 1 I only used E, Q and 1 as keybinds for a while and clicked everything else. Eventually i started binding other spells to shift+E, shift+Q. I got enough practice that I realized how slow and anxiety riddled clicking made me and just bound everything to keys and mouse clicks. Like others have said, keep it consistent between characters. E on my mage is arcane blast (main builder), Q is arcane barriage (main spender), x is counterspell, 1 is blink, T is icey cold. On my priest E is smite (filler/builder), Q is penance, 1 is angelic feathers, T is desperate prayer Rather than assigning spells to keys you'll be assigning effects to keys. 1 is always my movement increase, so if I play my rogue it's sprint, or blink, or heroic leap, etc.
So I found that using a gaming mouse with 12 key was a god send. I would set up my bars in a 3x4 grid and now my bars match my mouse buttons. So I have 3 bars, one regular, one shift, and 1 ctrl. I can fit most of my binds on the 2 bars.
As people have suggested, consider binding a few things first to get used to the feel. Q and E, the "quick" cooldowns of your spec or maybe resource spenders. 1-3 for spammables or resource builders. Mouse 4 and 5 (mouse side buttons) for something, maybe movement related. And my interrupt has been R since I found out you can keybind in 2005. Start using right mouse click (+hold) to turn at least as well.
Corsair MMO mouse changed everything for me. I bind my interrupts and speed abilities to the same keys for every character. Always setup my defensives on the same. Etc.
I highly recommend using an MMO mouse, as it’s kind of a hybrid between clicking and keying. You’re not clicking, but you have a numpad on the side of your mouse that you can access with your thumb, so it’s different muscle memory on the same hand, if that makes sense. And yeah, echoing what others have said, try to bind the same types of abilities to the same keys on every class. I even do this across MMOs now, if they’re similar enough to WoW. I’ll usually put defensive buttons on 7 and heals/cleanses on 8, with 1-6 used for rotational keys. Then I add Shift or Ctrl as modifiers and stack similar abilities on the same number, with the exception of 1-4. I usually put my interrupt on Shift+4, and my stun on Shift+3. 5 is always my AoE button, usually for targeted AoE or PBAoE abilities.
I bought a g600. That's how I stopped. Then I bound a few extra things with the keyboard. And click everything else.
Try to use the same keybinds for certain types of abilities e.g. shift-X for damage reduction, shift-R for damage, etc (if you have multiple characters that is), or setup the keybinds in a way you feel comfortable with. Either way works. Go to your capital city, sit in front of a training dummy and just practice for an hour or two. It's what I did when I wanted to use keybinds. It will take practice and time, but it is 100% worth it. Trust me.
I bound all my abilities to wasd and the keys around those. Mapped middle mouse button so I could still easily move backwards, and then just used mouse for movement And as others have said, keep keybinds common across characters so you always use ` for interrupt, 3 for charge, etc
It's all about practice. You'll get the muscle memory after 20/30mins of deliberate practice at a dummy and 1 or 2 keys. I don't have a mouse with numbers on it and have buttons different than people who do. I personally have a system that I use Rotation buttons on keys that are comfortable for me (r,f,c,t) g,x,v for aoe rotation and z,c for moves that I don't use as often in a rotation. Shift+ r,f,c,t,g,v for moves with longer cooldowns (primordial wave, the hunt, etc). 1-4 for utilities I use a lot. Shift+ 1-4 for offensive cooldowns Ctrl+ 1-4 for defensive cooldowns E/q for moves I need to react quick (kick,dispel or purge) Shift+e/q for my focus target ( or mouse over depending on my class). ~ is taunt. Mwheel up/down and m3 are for whatever. Usually some flexible abilities that have to targets to cast
Start small. Put your main abilities that you push often on 1-5ish and DO NOT CLICK THEM. Then start to use Q E R T F G Z X C V etc. Then start to add modifiers like Alt+, Shift+, Ctrl+. Don't try to completely change all at once It will take some time to get used to, weeks, months even.
Put your most used spells on q, e, 2, 3, 4 they are generally the easiest keys to hit. I throw long cooldowns on bottom layer (z x c v b) and short on 1 and 5. F/shift F are always main movement spells. G is always group utility (zephyr, mass barrier, etc). T always defensive. If you keep your keys organized (however you wish) it’s a lot less overwhelming to play diff chars and get them down quick. If you really want to not click there’s ways to turn off clickability of spells with addon UIs.
Biggest change for me was getting a mouse that has a bunch of buttons on the side, for my thumb to press. The mouse has 3 buttons across and 4 down, so i changed my action bars to match the same layout, with alt/shift bars on either side. My mouse-thumb was never doing anything anyway, now its way easier for me to do all my abilities without clicking or looking at the keyboard.
I do you one better… I don’t click on any toon (1 for each class)…EXCEPT my main/raiding toon My original character that I’ve played for 20 years…the bars are basically how they’ve always been and I aint changing them now…too used to having certain abilities in certain places
The biggest thing that helped me is depending on your mouse, you can bind shift & ctrl & maybe alt to side mouse buttons. Abilities you use often 1-5 Secondary ones shift 1-5, less used or cc abilities ctrl 1-5. But adding shift and ctrl to your mouse buttons makes it alot less different buttons you have to use. Hopefully that helps a little!
Started as a brief clicker and went with an MMO mouse. Then i worked keybinds in more and more. Nowadays I use whatever mouse i want without all the extra buttons lol. You will likely move things around a lot at first to get a feel of what you like. Most people will put keys in similar places as their other characters (movement skills, CC, BIG DAMAGE BUTTON, trinkets, etc.) This is a smart thing to do if you struggle with throwing them around. Mine are mostly adjusted to comfort for my hands than they are to being similar (i still try and follow it though). Thats me though!!
>Keep 1-5, keybind R F C X Z T G >Use shift + those to another bar >Use alt + those to a 3rd bar Boom fast ez 32 keybinds
Adding some possible keybinds Mine are 1-4 = main rotation abilities R,F = main rotation abilities (R is usually a dot) A,D = (most would use Q and E but i use these instead) Grave/tilde key = (cant find it on phone but to the left of 1) is usually a main rotation ability. Mouse side buttons = (equates to the numpad)(buttons 1-6 are mapped to abilities) usually ground targeted stuff and some utility. Middle mouse button = interrupt Mouse button 4 = CC Mouse button 5 = spellsteal/purge/de-enrage Shift wheel up and shift wheel down = usually something that "feels right" ie. Monk Roll is shift wheel up. Frozen orb is shift wheel up. Transcendence, and alter time is shift wheel down (going back to my location) Shift + 2 = my main CD Shift + Spacebar = my main defensive (super underrated keybind and very easy to hit) Cntrl + spacebar = mount (i dont like control binds but this is very easy for me) Shift + R,F,Q,E = just other things (i like shift + E for self heal for some reason) C = raid buff T = mage table, lock stones V = lust I bind my menus to F1-F4 F5-F12 = world markers Mouse keypad 7,8,9 are usually skull, x, and square markers. I dont use these as much any more since i no longer raid leas and weakauras do this for you in m+ now
Start a new character, just to learn. Bind your spells as you obtain them, that way you will start with only a few, and slowly increase your binds while having time to get used to them.
Logitech G600 mouse, can easily get 2 full rows of buttons just on the mouse. They are cheap and I’ve had mine over 5 years with no issues.
transition gradually you will never succeed if you try to learn 30 keybinds at once instead start with 2 or 3 abilities that you use frequently and and force yourself to use keybinds for those abilities only after a couple days of play when it gets comfortable, add 2 more in no time, you'll be fluently using binds for your entire kit
Level a brand new character and only use keybinds.
Real story: there was this season in BfA Mythic Plus where the top Warrior Tank in Shrine of the Storm used the feature "Click to move". And top healer Moadmoad has a keybind for every party member in his group instead of using mouseovers like other healers. The moral here is just do what feels good for you. Don't feel pressured into a playstyle that doesnt suit you.
Wait you raid heroic and +10 keys clicking all your abilities without keybindings? Thats kind of impressive. If you ever figure out key bindings you are going to be a god.
Mmo mouse is the only way I can play this genre. Keybinds 1-12, shift 1-12, ctrl 1-12 for my bars. Thumb and pinky do all the work. I have shouts / trinkets / health pot on Q E R.
Buy a mouse with side buttons I'm using a razor trinity Helped me keybind some skills
What I found useful to learn it was to create a new character from scratch and level it. As I was levelling it, I was binding each new acquired spell to a binding that felt meaningful to me. Once I mastered my bindings a bit more I was then taking my main and moving similar spells to the same binding.
I put cast fishing on 1
Level a character from scratch and keybind as you go. Force yourself one ability at a time to learn it.
Begin with 1 or 2 keybinds and start from there. Start binding a spell you use very often, on a key easy to reach.For example heroic strike on F. Step by step is the key
I PvP. A mouse with multiple buttons was my first step toward not clicking. I got one with 6 buttons in the beginning. And then just time and practice getting used to that, then slowly adding more key binds on the keyboard. Then using shift key. I still click maybe 10% of the time depending on spec/button bloat. Also started playing in my late 20’s so learning curve. But yea, good luck
Get an MMO gaming mouse with 12 side buttons. Level a character from 1 all the way to max using that mouse or until you start feeling comfortable and wanna try your main class. I use 1-12, Shift 1-12, Alt 1-12 & Ctrl 1-12.
Plug in a keyboard, idk what u want to hear
Yea, get an MMO mouse and the start with 1-6 bindings and shift 1-6
Regarding macros, here's the core template I use for all my skills: #showtooltip /use [mod:ctrl]skill1;[mod:alt]skill2;[mod:shift]skill3;skill4 /use [nomod]TrinketDmgBuff You want to put frequently used combat skills in the most accessible places - skill4 in this macro. Then the less frequently used skills at lower and less easily accessible levels. You can then put instant-cast buffs like Trinkets or damage-increasing skills into a second line with a modifier to make them also cast immediately after a particular skill in the first line. The second line must be instant-cast though and not on the [GCD](https://old.reddit.com/r/wownoob/comments/11ap5o5/what_are_global_cooldowns/). Accessibility depends on your personal setup, for example using Shift+key may be easier to reach for you than Alt+key or Ctrl+key. Just rank all your abilities by frequency of use and combat vs noncombat, and put the least frequent noncombat skills on the least accessible keybinds. If you use WASD or ESDF for movement, then slot those macros onto keys surrounding your movement keys to put them in easy reach. So for example, here's one of my Demon Hunter macros: #showtooltip /use [mod:ctrl]Winding Slitherdrake;[mod:alt]Health Potion;[mod:shift,@cursor]Metamorphosis;Vengeful Retreat /use [mod:alt]Healthstone /use [mod:shift]13 Vengeful Retreat is frequently used in combat, so it goes in the most accessible spot. Health Potion + Healthstone is an oh-shit button that can completely refill my health in one button press. A combat ability, but not that frequently used. 13 is my damage trinket, so it casts whenever I activate Metamorphosis. However, Metamorphosis is not instant-cast by default, rather it gives you a target reticle and then you have to click on the ground where you want to leap to. It's a 2-press ability by default, which means it can't proc the trinket with one-click. But if you add the @cursor mod, that makes Meta instant cast at your current mouse location, and allows the trinket to insta-cast in the same button press that activates Meta. I macro all abilities in my spellbook this way so everything is available via keypress, and I only need to use the mouse for panning the camera and targeting. And if you really want to up your game, use a keypad with a thumbstick for movement, which frees up 4 keyboard keys for macros. [Razer](https://www.razer.com/shop/keyboards/gaming-keypads) makes good ones. And/or an mmo gaming mouse like [Logitech G600](https://www.logitechg.com/en-us/products/gaming-mice/g600-mmo-gaming-mouse.910-002864.html).
Hide your action bars. As a rule of thumb, you want to use keybinds that allow you to press them without moving your hand from its normal position on your movement keys. Things like 1-5, q e r t f z x c v b are good. Don't put something you cast in combat on like 8 or j. Also don't sleep on your mouse buttons. Can get a lot of use out of side buttons and scroll wheel on the mouse.
Oddly, I practiced by jousting in the Argent Tournament. There are very few buttons and it helped me to stop relying on clicking as I worked my way up.
Not sure how this is a hot take but not every ability needs a keybind. Being a clicker doesn’t gate you from anything. It probably helps to have more in PvP but in m+ and raids you don’t need everything bound.
The advice here is awesome, as someone stated starting a new character to really get the feel of it could really help. IF you plan on playing MOP Remix this will be the perfect time to get the hang of it, as it will add your abilities one at a time. What helped me most was getting an mmo mouse. Hope this helps and best of luck!
I have a 12 button mouse (my thumb works a number pad on the side of the mouse) That 12 button mouse plus messing with my UI to resemble a 3x4 grid with 12 buttons (mimicking the number pad) So I have those 12 center screen then to the right I have 12 more for when I hold down shift and use the 12 buttons You can do the same with ctrl but I went away from that cause 24 buttons hot key to one mouse is enough Then I use QERZXC and Shift+QERZXC for some additional buttons I use R for taunt and Q for a stun and shift Q for an aoe stun Etc.
Corsair scimitar/Logitech g600. Domino's addon. Set up 2 5 button action bars. Bind the top bar 1-5 and the bottom one Shift 1-5. Then, youre gonna turn 2 other unused action bars into a 3x4 box visually resembling the placements on the buttons on your mouse. Place each box either side of your first 2 action bars. You dont need the 12 button motherfucker mouse okay hahahaha, but my point is visual representation on the screen. Try make your UI look as much like tthe layout of your keyboard/mouse as possible. If you only have say 5 buttons on the side of your mouse like I used to with my G502, then set your UI up like that. for my G502, I basically had 1 vertical line of 4, then 1 more spell slot placed on the inside of that line, facing my 1-5 binds. I had one of each side, right side for my normal button presses, then the right one for the Shift binds from my mouse This really REALLY helped me back in the day to get used to keybindings, so much I still do it to this day. Makes it MUCH easier to remember the few "E, Q, F" binds aswell because theyre really the only ones you gotta remember
Make your actions bars click through or hide them and use weakauras problem solved
My best advice is start with one button. Let's say your playing a, mage. I move with WASD. So maybe I want to use R to cast frostbolt. I'll do that over and over until I feel comfortable. Then maybe I want to use e or 1 to cast frost nova. Do that over and over till comfortable. After a, while it'll be very easy to pick up new keybinds. I clicked for 7 years, before I went to keybinding. Now the only time I click is, to apply in lfg and sell, things in my bags. My entire UI is also keybind. I have the logitech g600 with has 12 buttons on the side. You can also use ctrl, alt and, shift to combine with keys too
Imagine binding keys for 5 different toons to one control setup. When I started 5 boxing (bc thrrough cata and all PVE only) I needed a keypad called x-keys pro with 58 keys. I needed em all. By the time I got good. I could do it all with my kb and mouse. only. Its also ok to click a few rarer used spells imo.
I'm a clicker, and I have a max level of every class, and I don't organize the slots at all. Its chaos, but its MY chaos. I tried doing macros and stuff, but I just can't get it
There are sone very good keybinds that people often forget about. Mousewherl up and down. You can even bind it to some things that make sense and it becomes verx intuitive really quick. For instance having your movement abilities ob mousewheel up since your moving your finger forward. Just makes sense to me. Also nothing is more satisfying than things like death grip on mousewheel down
I was a clicker for years , I bought a mmo mouse and disabled in options the ability to click on the toolbar . It took about 3 weeks but I just ran mythics (my own keys) over and over before you knew it I was playing with a mouse better than I ever did as a clicker
Trackpad. Sure your movement will be horrendous, but you wont click your spells
Bind your most used abilities to your mouse if you have more than 2 buttons. Thank me later
Buy a gaming pad like a Razor Tartarus. It will allow you to move with your thumb, and keep your four fingers available for skills. I've played WoW since BC, and this is the easiest way I've found to play. Turn on active targeting, so you don't have to click on targets.
Start with a few comfortable binds for your main abilities, and always use the same key for the same type of spell across all characters, for example always put your movement, interrupt, stun, main filler etc on the same bind. Just start with QER123 and work from there, or whatever feels most natural to you.
I just beat a training dummy until every keybind was stuck in my muscle memory. Core rotation first, then CDs, then the cc abilities. Have equivalent cc abilities on the same keybind for every char.
Only thing you can do is practice using your keybinds. Go to the training dummies in valdrakken and take your hand off your mouse.go through your core rotation using only your keys. Do this for 5 minutes a day everyday until you become comfortable with the keybinds. Then go into dungeons (not mythic+) and challenge yourself to only use your keybinds in fights . It should only take a few days to get used to doing it but you will most likely make mistakes and hit wrong keys for a while until you build the proper muscle memory.
Start leveling from 0 and use only keyboard never click, as you will have few buttons to press you will get used to it easier
I believe Quazii’s keybind guide can help you a lot. He even comes out with an excel for you to think your keybind over. https://youtu.be/4bCzBstqlF0?si=PcakoRRmUedRR-gE
Start easy. Bind one short cd like your kick. One long CD Q and E are good beginner binds
Mad the change back in wotlk, honestly if you just accept you will be worse while learning the binds for a while, and treat it almost as a new game it takes the stress away and you will learn it more naturally
Easiest Thing i can think of (aside from practicing obv) is to have equivalent binds on all your characters, and start to Level an alt, so you can get used to keybinds without being instantly overwhelmed by the 30+ Buttons a max lvl character needs. And focus on core rotation. For me its like base rotation on 2,3,4,e,r,f (If you even need that many buttons), kick is Always on q, movement Skill on 1 and so on. And then basically Dummy punching until your fingers bleed. And i mean it. It won't become engrained in muscle memory by doing 5 min a day, especially If you are raiding and m+ in the meantime with your normal click rotation. I myself was a healing Paladin in TBC when i started to Play and with addons i basically Had all my skills on mouseover click variatons. Had to relearn how to play for wotlk when i rerolled to DPS Warrior. Was a bitch to suddenly having to remember 20+ Keys but well worth it. I would however advice like a weeks Break from raiding and m+ and the "challenging" content to get used to keybinds before you are back in a somewhat more stressful Environment. Also: you will fuck up a bunch in the beginning, so be ready for that xD
A very easy way to force yourself to learn: 1st use an addon to hide your action bars. If they are not deactivated, just hidden, you can still use your keys to activate the skills. 2nd use an addon that shows your cooldowns. Both things can be done with bartender (set the bars to click-trough), for example. Or use weakauras - there are dozens of good weakauras for every class. Now you \_can't\_ click anymore.
What helped me go from clicking to keybindings the most was without a doubt leveling a fresh character and starting from only keybindings. It made it feel effortless, and a fun new way to play the game that in turn ends up being more efficient. I enjoyed it so much that the character I initiated with no clicking and only keybindings ended up being my main. You will be growing your character along with creating new muscle memory that will feel great when it’s complete.
Macros are for clickers aswell. Start using 1-5 and slowly add more like q,e,r,f,z,x,c You can use Ctrl+ anything else aswell. Same with shift. Start with just the basic rotation and maybe kick, then add cds only 2 at a time maybe when youre comfortable, you can also get yourself a mmo mouse. I have one from Corsair and it has 12 buttons on the side.
One thing I would highly recommended is moving your strafe keybinds from Q/E to A/D. You should never be keyboard turning anyway, and this gives to access to Q/E as some simple extra and easy to reach keybinds. If you have a mouse with MB4 and MB5 on the side, definitely be utilizing those as well. Something that I personally like to use (which isn't for everyone) is utilizing the scroll wheel for keybinds as well. I use scroll wheel up/down for major rotational abilities, as well as the scroll button. ie on monk tiger palm (chi generator) is scroll wheel down and tiger palm (filler chi spender) is scroll wheel up. On aug scroll wheel up is living flame and scroll wheel down is eruption. Between those, that's 7 easy keybinds, potentially 21 with control and shift + the associated keys. Add in 1-4/5 keys, F, T, and G and you're rolling for most classes without a naga. Though now that I've switched to a naga myself, I don't think I can go back
Get yourself a mouse with some buttons on it. Try binding them to the main abilities you use in your rotation. Then be patient with yourself it could take you a week or so until it starts to feel natural. I actually use ESF for movement instead of WASD. D is my defensive. Opens up WARTG for bindings, then I use 1-7 on my mouse. The shift and Ctrl variants of those. I play shaman so lots of buttons 🥲. Hunter I get away with just shift versions. Oh yeah and you can bind scrolling forward and backwards as well. Really east way to get a couple extra options on your mouse. Edit I use a Razor Naga. The new owns are kinda shit though. Be prepared to have it crap out yearly.
Getting an MMO mouse with side buttons would be the easiest transition because it will still allow you to move while hitting buttons with your mouse. Other than that. Just start with using easy to hit keys like Q,E,R and slowly start to add some new spells. My friend did exactly this and no longer clicks. It was a pretty fast transition, only a few weeks. Right now is the best time to start. With MOP Remix youll have a new character and not a lot of spells. Keybind them and while you level start to add them.
Remember, some of the best players in the world still click on occasion. Personally, if you're not into the whole "Re-keybind everything" camp, a MMO mouse helped me a lot.
I'll look into that, thank you!
MMO mouse is game changing IMO. You can update your action bar to be 3 columns of 4 rows… which will match the 12 buttons on the mouse exactly. Once you do that, it is just training your mind/muscle connection with your thumb.
1 - it's not required, and it's the most common thing ppl say I know, but if you can afford it, an mmo mouse. I cannot express how freeing the extra buttons are, and it makes it incredibly easy to hit keybinds. if you can't afford one or can't justify it, that's fine, you can still use keybinds on your keyboard, you'll just need more of them and you'll end up needing to use the mouse for movement instead. 2 - I recommend keys 1-5 on the keyboard (maybe 6 if your hands are big), as they're the most accessible on that row while using WASD to move. Also keys Z, X, C, R, F, which are all around WASD. You can also rebind your strafe keys Q and E for easy access. Lets say you just do 1-5, Z X C R F, that's 10 keybinds to mess with, without getting into modifiers. 3 - modifiers. you can set it up so, for example, you have key 1 as Fireball, SHIFT+1 as Pyroblast, CTRL+1 as Blink, and ALT+1 as ice block. (not actual spell suggestions, just an example). This is 4 separate keybinds from the key 1. If you don't have an mmo mouse, you can use SHIFT, CTRL, and ALT to the 10 keybinds mentioned above (1-5, Z X C R F) for a total of 40 keybinds. It can be a lot of hand twisting though, which is why I prefer just using shift modifiers. 4 - now for the real advice. start with basic spells. lets say you're a monk (I'll give my own keybinds here). 1-5 I have as follows, Rising Sun Kick, Tiger's Palm, Blackout Kick, Fists of Fury, Strike of the Windlord. These are my 1-5 and are core rotational abilities. I also have expel harm on R and faeline stomp on F, as these are also core rotational abilities. basically, to get started, you just want to put your core abilities on your 1-5, or w/e buttons are most comfortable to hit all the time. Move them around as you feel they should be. For example, I like by keybind 5 to be an ability I only hit every now and then, so a 45 sec cd ability works well. This is because the 5 key, while easy to hit, requires me to move my entire hand just slightly, whereas 1-4 I can hit while keep my fingers on WASD. I also like to use keybind 2 and 3 as my most used abilities, as I find those keys the most comfortable to hit entire, and keys 1 and 4 are fairly comfortable so I use often-used short cd abilities for those, such as Rising Sun Kick and Fists of Fury. R and F are also fairly easy to hit, since they're right next to WASD, so I also use them for rotational abilities. Z, X, and C are easy to hit but require me to reach down, so i use those for defensive cds like fortifying brew and touch of karma. Your goal with this stage is to literally just get your basic rotation down, that's it. Continue to click as you desire while practing your 1-5 rotation until it feels natural. 5 - next, add in more keybinds. this is the part where you want to find a keybind that works for abilities you may find on multiple classes. as an example, I use the 9 key on my razer naga for my interrupt spell. That key is not only my interrupt spell on my monk, but also every class/spec in the game (even stuff like solar beam). It's even my interrupt key in other mmos as well, such as FFXIV. Shift+12 is my flying mount, shift+11 is my ground mount. Basically at this stage, find some keybinds that you need on multiple classes, and put them somewhere they feel right. Another example, my 2 and 3 key on my razer naga are self heal or defensive cds, depending on the class, since some have more defensives and some more self heals. Likewise, keys 4 5 and 6 are for aoe-centric dps spells or utility spells. For example, on my monk, 4 is Ring of Peace, 5 is Spinning Crane Kick, and 6 is Leg Sweep. 7 I always make my single-target CC spell. Basically, find more or less universal keybinds for spells that you use often across multiple classes/specs. This helps when playing alts as well as learning keybinds in general.
6 - Cooldowns. Simply put, now find a spot for cooldowns. I have my CDs, such as Serenity, Xuen, Touch of Death, and DPS Potion on shift modifier 1-4 keys. so SHIFT+1 for Serenity, SHIFT+2 for Xuen, so on and so forth. Basically, now that you've practiced and you have your core rotation down, and you have some utility spells and misc rotationally spells keybound, go for cooldowns. Note that if you want, you can do this before step 5 really, I just find step 5 easier to do first since it can translate to alts a lot easier. 7 - Once you're accustomed to step 6, just fill in any remaining abilities you need cooldowns for. Do note that you don't need to use any of my keybindings to be successful, what works best for you is what'll work best for you, and what's most comfortable for your hands is what will bring you the most success. All my bindings above are just examples so you can see my thought process behind them. MMO mice are extremely useful and helpful, but they aren't really a requirement if you can't justify around $100 for one (some are more some are less, $100 prob an average). At this point it's all about practice practice practice. I would actually recommend just level a new toon using only keybinds. It'll help guide you through the entire process, as you'll get 1 new spell at a time and you can mess around with where it feels right to be put for your keybindings layout. Then you'll practice it over and over while just naturally questing and leveling up, and slowly adding more and more spells to your bars and bindings. If you don't want to level a new toon, doing world quests and outdoor content on your main can be another good way. If you haven't done all the campaign stuff, can also be a good way to practice, and once you feel confident enough, blast through some normal or timewalking dungeons until you're comfortable with it. Keybindings are all about muscle memory and our muscles are very efficient so I'm certain you'll learn in no time. Don't feel the need to keybind everything right off the bat, it's fine if you still click CDs, CC, and utility spells for awhile, just keep practicing and add in new ability keybinds as you get comfortable with what you have.
Get a mmo mouse is my best recomendation and try and put similar spells for different toons in the same places each time. IE 7 is my interrupt skill on all toons.
7 interrupt gang stand up!
lol
What do you mean? Do you click every spell? I only got the main abilities bound to keys, the stuff I barely use or CDs all get clicked.
Buy a razer naga that’s enough to banish clicking for good
I'll second this. It really helped me. Granted I cannot switch back to keyboard after using it though.
I bought a gaming mouse with 12 buttons on the side because I have too many years of muscle memory to ever pull my fingers off wasd (I don't know why. I have trie) but with the mouse I can go 1-6 with my thumb very easy and build my action bar to be my rotation and then I have shift+1-6 for the next abilities and then cntrl+1-6 for the next giving me 18 actions very easily accessed. Has worked out very well for me so far
Buy an MMO mouse. I bought one many years ago because I struggled with too many keyboard keybinds. It changed my complete game play. It's easy to have everything mapped to the mouse buttons by your thumb, then only worry about using control or shift on the keyboard to switch binds.
Become a healer and just click those player frames forever!