Key bindings and keyboard set up

[Cado]

Well..another newby thread

Benny has been good to offer help in this area, but as I'm an old geezer and can't handle doing more than one thing at a time, I wasn't able to get those suggestions set up before I forgot :/ I remember something about mouse wheels and not using alt/shift for skills. After that, well....

So, I humbly ask for advice on a forum where I can refer to it over and over again

I'm finding that not having a separate chat box makes setting hotkeys something of a challenge as I want to be able to chat in game without it looking like "hya, os it ig,"

I'd prefer to not have to use alt/shift + key for combat type things as it gets rather cumbersome...I can do it, but would rather not. Using that for utility stuff out of combat where I don't have to stretch my fingers beyond reason in the midst of combat chaos...would be just fine. For example: I've set "last object" hot key to shift+O...see I can remember it's O 'cause it's the first letter of the word "Object"...that's the kind of set up I need lol

I have a Logitech G15 with a Logitech mouse with a middle wheel, two side buttons, and button available on the top.

I'm a recently converted key smasher from a long-time point/clicker so be gentle

[Pirul]

Some pertty useful information can be found here.

After re-reading some of the posts there, I think I don't make the best use of my hot keys, so maybe someone else could provide more indepth information.

[benny-]

Hotkey setup is relatively easy...you just need some time to think through what hotkeys you need and how easy they will be to use and if you can, a setup that's easy to remember.

I'll go over my setup, just to give you some insight on how I use mine....

F1-F12 + Printscreen, Scroll Lock, Pause (the three keys to the right of the F#'s)

These are my main pvp spells.

F1 - Weaken
F2 - Clumsy
F3 - Feeblemind
F4 - Cure

F5 - Heal
F6 - Greater Heal
F7 - Poison
F8 - Magic Arrow

F9 - Harm
F10 - Fireball
F11 - Lightning
F12 - MindBlast

Printscreen - Explosion
Scroll Lock - Energy Bolt
Pause - Flamestrike

Now this may seem like an unusual order, it might not be the best, but I've found it works well for me....as you can see the debuffs are all together, followed by my healing type spells, then all of my offensive spells in order of weakest to strongest.

Now, my potions...

D1 - Strength
D2 - Agility
D3 - Total Refreshment
D4 - Cure
D5 - Heal
D6 - Explosion
D7 - (macro to apply) Poison

I set these up like this, because this is the general order I drink my potions in the beginning of a pvp fight. I start with A greater str pot, drink greater dex, then drink a refresh to fill my stam to full (now that my dex is higher than my stam).

Also, you'll notice by looking at them, my potions fall in sequence with my spell macros F1 being weaken, D1 being Strength potion, F2 being clumsy, D2 being dex pot, same for cure, heal poison.

This isn't necessary mind you, but as I stated above, it helps to have a hotkey setup that's easy to remember when you're dealing with dozens and dozens of keys.

Now for my other main pvp macros...

Omeltide (the squiggly above tab) is my attacklast key

This is helpful for mage pvp, as when using a halberd, you constantly need to tab out then reattack, by placing this here I can hold my tab button in, tap omeltide to attacklast, then let off of my tab to automatically tab me out of combat...it's a trick many hally mages use.

Omelminus (next to d0) - bandageself...I only put it here because I needed a key I didn't use in regular speech so I wouldn't have to use an alt combination.

Mousewheel up - LastTarget
Mousewheel down - TargetSelf

This is a common setup, and a very good one imo, it's easy to use and is helpful in that it's done with your right hand, so if you're hitting spell macros with the left hand, you can use your right hand to target, saving you time. The up being last and the down being self also helps you to remember which is which (towards you targets you, away from you targets another.)

Mousewheel Middlebutton - toggle weapon

Again this is useful to me in that I can use this with my right hand. This is more helpful with mage pvp, in that I can arm, hold tab, and attack last much quicker, but I like it on my dexxer as well...easy to remember and very quick when casting and the like.

Now I use a lot of my UO interface keys, such as open inventory, open overview, open journal etc. These I went ingame and switched to control combinations , just to make it easier to remember...all uo interface options use control, such as control + j for journal, etc.

I've always used alt combos for skills and utility spells, something I've done since I started playing UO ten years ago, so it's really set in memory.

My alt combos are easy to remember...alt+h - hiding, alt+r - recall, alt+t - teleport, alt+i - invisibility, etc.

Anyway, just my setup, there may be better out there, but this works very well for me. Hope it helps.

[Cado]

As always, its a great deal of help It looks pretty user friendly and beats having a mess of icons scattered around the UI lol.

You mentioned "tabbing" in and out..not sure what that meant. What is your tab key set for. In most mmo's tab key is for "next target" but if there is a more useful way to do that, then I'm open

I'm also assuming that by "D1" you mean regular numbers on the keyboard. How do you set up hotkeys for potions? I don't see anyway in Razor.

Also, for a dexxer I still plan to buff/debuff and heal so I see the advantage of the F1 keys for spells. I'll probably substitute the damage spells for summoning ones as I don't plan to do damage with magery but having a blade pet will come in handy.

Can you share what the different color potions do? I'd like to set up hotkeys for that as well, and your idea makes a lot of sense...buff/heal/damage sequence.

[benny-]

Well, to start, tab in UO has it's own function, by tapping it, you clear yourself out of combat. Thus if you're already out of war mode, and someone attacks you, normally you'd autodefend (attack back). By tapping the tab key, you clear completely from combat, to where you won't even autodefend (that is, until you're attacked again). This is known as tabbing or tabbing out. It's a a key part of pvping with a hally mage, but it's very useful for any character (such as when you're buddy accidentally attacks you). I wouldn't put a hotkey over this. It's already built in, so nothing needs setup.

Yes, d numbers are the regular numbers (just beneath your F numbers). For potions, I forgot to mention I use alt combonations so Alt+1 - Drink Strength Potion, etc.

As for the types of potions....

White - Strength
Blue - Agility
Red - Stamina refreshment
Orange - Cure
Yellow - Heal
Purple - Explosion
Green - Poison
Black - Nightsight

A dexxer should carry all of the first six. Greens are only useful if you have the poisoning skill, no one uses blacks (as we all use light filters). Some are more important than others, but eventually, you'll want to carry and use all of the first six. Explosions are a bit tricky to get used to, so I'd hold off on those til you feel a bit more comfortable, but you should start to use as many of these as you can to become familiar with using them in fighting. Reds and Oranges are the most important for a warrior.

As for how to set them up in Razor.... Hotkeys > Items > Potions

As for your spell setup, just a tip here, but I if you think you might ever play a mage character and use more offensive spells, you may want to use a more versatile hotkey setup. I did the same as you in the past, only planned on playing a warrior so I made my setup for defensive spells, heals, debuffs, etc. Once I went to playing a hally mage or a bard that had eval, I had to change my setup all over and try to memorize something new...took a long while to relearn my keys after I had gotten so used to the former setup. Just my advice, but I'd stick to a spell setup that can be used by both a warrior and a mage so you don't have a hard time should you decide to play a different character in the future.

Also, for summons and such, I consider them utility spells, as they're not something I'm going to need to use on the fly like pvp spells, so I bound them to alt+letter combos with the rest of my utility spells...alt+d - dispel, alt+b - bladesspirirts, alt+e - energy vortex, etc.

Everyone uses a completely different hotkey setup though, so do what works for you, just trying to give you some tips on problems I've encountered in the past.....relearning whole new setups is a pain =/.

[Cado]

Very good stuff. I have accumulated all these potions now I know what to do with em...it beats using buff spells before combat as I automatically re-equip gear. I'm wondering if potions work like the spells in terms of duration and stat increase.

I really miss my tab targeting key, but see your point. I'm getting used to control + shift, and that is making targeting with icons a lot easier! I still need to set up key for targeting murderers and mobs so I can get use out of my "last target" function.

I think your right about the hot keys for spells. I really haven't used many spells, except some basic debuffs on tougher mobs and the occasional heal, so I'll probably reset them for use with a magic damage dealer type.

Thanks again!