Keybound: Part 1 — Movement

Many players seem to disregard the importance of key binding and even movement. Coming from an FPS background, it is strange to me that anyone would consider clicking their skills or willingly turn with their keyboard — the latter may seem convenient in lazy situations, but both severely limit gameplay. I’d like to discuss these topics and help to get the most out of your game through what may appear to be no-brainer basics. I am primarily a PvE player with a long PvP past, and I can certainly say that these “basics” are essential regardless of background.

Let’s begin with movement. You should be using the WASD keys to move around the game world; if not, you’re probably doing something wrong. By default A and D are set to make your character turn when pressed, and strafe if the right mouse button is held down.  Is there anything wrong with the default setup? Yes and no. Keyboard turning may have its uses with some vehicles, but even that can be done just fine with the mouse.

Mouse turning allows for much greater flexibility than keyboard turning. You can flick your mouse and do a 180º, but you’ll find yourself waiting if using the keyboard exclusively. You also can’t circle-strafe (as required at Malygos) or pull off any similar actions. You’re shackled to two directions: forward and backward.

So why not fix it? I re-bound my A and D buttons to exclusively strafe back in beta, and still haven’t found a need for turning years later. As I said before, the default binds are fine, but you’ll just find it slightly inconvenient if you’re properly strafing all the time anyway. If you’re currently turning, try rebinding them and getting used to it that way. I had a guildy do this and he’s very happy with the result, after a little time.

I’ll continue on the subject of basic key binding in the next part.