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mouse or point and click?Follow
15 posts
Rogues say pointing and clicking is too slow for them, but what is best for a mage?
mouse clicking is always slower but you can play any class "good enogh" using the mouse, id say if you aim to be fighting in the top ranks in arena then you prob have to learn to not click with the mouse but for leveling/bg/normal arena and raids you will do fine with clicking.
i myself have always been a mouse clicker but use keybindings when appropieate(kiting on the hunter,aoe farming on the mage etc)
i myself have always been a mouse clicker but use keybindings when appropieate(kiting on the hunter,aoe farming on the mage etc)
Clicking works great with mages until you get into PvP. Rogues need keybinding more because they're squishy but also need to get in close, without the luxury of a 30ft space between them and the target. And since they have a Batman-like utility belt of special abilities and cooldowns, they need somewhere to put them.
The end of it is that keybinding and mouse turning is always better in every situation, but if you just want to click at your leisure, mage is one of the easier classes to do that with. So long as you're not in an arena.
The end of it is that keybinding and mouse turning is always better in every situation, but if you just want to click at your leisure, mage is one of the easier classes to do that with. So long as you're not in an arena.
IMO, clicking takes too much effort and becomes all the more difficult when things get crazy. Who wants to be looking for Iceblock when you're getting swarmed, or Poly when your sheep breaks?
Scholar
30 posts
The more that you bind the faster your reaction times will be. Bar none. If you need a Frost Nova or an Iceblock NOW you need it NOW not once you've scrolled your mouse over to the icon and clicked the correct one.
Clicking will also have your eye tracking the mouse cursor and you will be less attentive to changes on the battlefield. If you are trying to find the right spell amid a sea of icons you'll miss the errant mob that somehow got loose and is about to turn your face into dinner.
That being said, I don't have all of my spells on my action bars. Some things don't need to be accessed in the heat of the moment (like professions or Portal spells) and thus can be left in the spell book.
The rogue forum has generated this fantastic post about key bindings which is a huge help in understanding why key binding is superior and how to go about setting it up. Personally, I use the addon Bongos to easily bind all of my keys. That can be found [link=www.wowinterface.com/downloads/fileinfo.php?id=4744]here.[/link]
Clicking will also have your eye tracking the mouse cursor and you will be less attentive to changes on the battlefield. If you are trying to find the right spell amid a sea of icons you'll miss the errant mob that somehow got loose and is about to turn your face into dinner.
That being said, I don't have all of my spells on my action bars. Some things don't need to be accessed in the heat of the moment (like professions or Portal spells) and thus can be left in the spell book.
The rogue forum has generated this fantastic post about key bindings which is a huge help in understanding why key binding is superior and how to go about setting it up. Personally, I use the addon Bongos to easily bind all of my keys. That can be found [link=www.wowinterface.com/downloads/fileinfo.php?id=4744]here.[/link]
I have seriously gotten into the habit of actually typing into the chatbox
/cast Teleport: Shattrath
or wherever when I want to port, in an effort to save button space for other bindings.
Edited, Feb 10th 2008 1:28am by Raglu
/cast Teleport: Shattrath
or wherever when I want to port, in an effort to save button space for other bindings.
Edited, Feb 10th 2008 1:28am by Raglu
I'm still a WASDQE mover, and I have a little USB keypad attached to my laptop that I bind all the good stuff to. Everything else gets clicked on the upper or right action bars or Healbot (or now Control Freak).
Then again, I don't PVP, so I could probably bind actions to the buttons on my microwave and still get off the Counterspell on time.
Then again, I don't PVP, so I could probably bind actions to the buttons on my microwave and still get off the Counterspell on time.
Scholar
30 posts
Just because you only PvE doesn't mean that you can afford to slack off on improving your playing skills. Due to my work schedule, I won't be able to raid until possibly next year (but I hope to have a number of 70s - or 80's -to choose from at that time), but that doesn't mean that while leveling alts or running 5-mans I shouldn't be honing my skills to maximize my DPS.
If you are currently a keyboard turner to a clicker, I cannot recommend enough trying to work more bindings into your play scheme. Even in limited engagements, you may see improvements.
I remember first hearing about improving your DPS using stopcasting and immediately downloaded Quartz to take advantage of it. As soon as I read more about keyboard turning and key binding I immediately went back through my toons and re-organized my bars and bound as much as seemed prudent.
I know I'm not the best player around, I'll certainly be the first to admit that, but I am going to try to improve how I play each session. To do anything else wouldn't be fun for me.
I'm not going to tell you how to spend your $15 a month, but if you want to see where you can get on that money each month, each session then do yourself a favor and improve not just your gear, but your play style and skills. That alone will make you an asset to your group and your guild - a dedication to improving, that is. Read the message boards and strat sites, try each new thing, analyze your performance and make the adjustments that you feel are necessary to make yourself a better player and in so doing really set yourself apart from the 10 million other players.
If you are currently a keyboard turner to a clicker, I cannot recommend enough trying to work more bindings into your play scheme. Even in limited engagements, you may see improvements.
I remember first hearing about improving your DPS using stopcasting and immediately downloaded Quartz to take advantage of it. As soon as I read more about keyboard turning and key binding I immediately went back through my toons and re-organized my bars and bound as much as seemed prudent.
I know I'm not the best player around, I'll certainly be the first to admit that, but I am going to try to improve how I play each session. To do anything else wouldn't be fun for me.
I'm not going to tell you how to spend your $15 a month, but if you want to see where you can get on that money each month, each session then do yourself a favor and improve not just your gear, but your play style and skills. That alone will make you an asset to your group and your guild - a dedication to improving, that is. Read the message boards and strat sites, try each new thing, analyze your performance and make the adjustments that you feel are necessary to make yourself a better player and in so doing really set yourself apart from the 10 million other players.
I understand keybindings are faster, but do they really increase speed that much for non-typists. I type one finger at a time on the keyboard, with very few errors but not fast by any means. By clicking on abilities I can at least be looking at the screen. If I had to type shift/whatever to activate a combat ability, then I wouldn't be looking at the screen at all.
Keybindings > clickers - all your essential spells should be keybound (meaning that conjuring and teleport spells really don't need one, but that all the spells you need to cast to survive and deal some damage in a fight must be)
You can say "look at me, I'm a clicker and I own DPS meters" as much as you want - keybindings would make you own them more. And if you even think about going into a BG as a clicker, you might as well go in naked, since you are free Honor points. Every single melee will run through you, behind you and around you, while you slowly turn with your keyboard whilst trying to get a spell off. You'll be more or less dead before you get even a fireblast off
You can say "look at me, I'm a clicker and I own DPS meters" as much as you want - keybindings would make you own them more. And if you even think about going into a BG as a clicker, you might as well go in naked, since you are free Honor points. Every single melee will run through you, behind you and around you, while you slowly turn with your keyboard whilst trying to get a spell off. You'll be more or less dead before you get even a fireblast off
Scholar
30 posts
@Evocables
Can I assume that you have the standard WASD movement keys (ie. default keybindings)? If so, then you really only have access to numbers 1-5 easily. That's actually a good place to start. Take your toon someplace relatively safe (but where you won't be one shotting everything) and just concentrate on moving your fingers from the movement keys to the number keys to use a given spell. Even try shooting a Frostbolt and then a Fireball at say a bear (as they move slow and have high hitpoints). Just focus on that until you can get a rhythm.
You don't need to be the best typist; what this will do will help you get muscle memory so that your fingers "know" where the spells are so you don't consciously need to go looking. Trying it in someplace that is safer will give you a cushion but you want to still be challenged a bit so that you 'need' to succeed at this task lest you die.
Once you get comfortable with those rythyms then you can add in more keys to learn. Take it slow, but you will see vast improvements in your game. Would an archmage standing before Illidan be thumbing through his spellbook trying to remember how to cast Fireball or Arcane Missles? No, he knows intimately how to fling bolts of death from his fingertips. So should the player sitting on the other end of the computer.
Can I assume that you have the standard WASD movement keys (ie. default keybindings)? If so, then you really only have access to numbers 1-5 easily. That's actually a good place to start. Take your toon someplace relatively safe (but where you won't be one shotting everything) and just concentrate on moving your fingers from the movement keys to the number keys to use a given spell. Even try shooting a Frostbolt and then a Fireball at say a bear (as they move slow and have high hitpoints). Just focus on that until you can get a rhythm.
You don't need to be the best typist; what this will do will help you get muscle memory so that your fingers "know" where the spells are so you don't consciously need to go looking. Trying it in someplace that is safer will give you a cushion but you want to still be challenged a bit so that you 'need' to succeed at this task lest you die.
Once you get comfortable with those rythyms then you can add in more keys to learn. Take it slow, but you will see vast improvements in your game. Would an archmage standing before Illidan be thumbing through his spellbook trying to remember how to cast Fireball or Arcane Missles? No, he knows intimately how to fling bolts of death from his fingertips. So should the player sitting on the other end of the computer.
Even if you're a thoroughly casual, solo player that has no need/desire to improve your level of play, key bindings (or at least binding your mouse wheel up/down/click) are still worth it. They just make playing more fun, pure and simple. Grinding is repetitive, so making those abilities that you use time and again a simple wheel-roll away is wonderful.
And you certainly don't need to be a touch typist to use keybindings. Just keep it simple; perhaps you don't bind EVERY ability, but just the ones you use alot (if you're a grinder) or the ones that you use in PvP that require good timing (counterspell, sheep, iceblock, etc).
Keys that I've found easy to use:
1
F (and shift-R; shift with your left pinky)
R (though I still use this for /w replies)
and don't forget to use shift-mousewheelup and shift-mousewheeldown, etc
And you certainly don't need to be a touch typist to use keybindings. Just keep it simple; perhaps you don't bind EVERY ability, but just the ones you use alot (if you're a grinder) or the ones that you use in PvP that require good timing (counterspell, sheep, iceblock, etc).
Keys that I've found easy to use:
1
F (and shift-R; shift with your left pinky)
R (though I still use this for /w replies)
and don't forget to use shift-mousewheelup and shift-mousewheeldown, etc
Most people move with QWEASD and only use the mouse to target and turn. The rest is all keybindings. Personally, and the community at large seems to agree, I find this system best. Clicking generally reduces your performance in PvP.
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