I use four banks.
Bank one, the default when you log in, has 1 Hide, 2 Sneak, 3 Selos, 4 Hymn,
5 Clarity, and 6 Run.
Bank two has my inventory slots, so I can quickly switch from weapon to
instrument, as well as Hymn, since often when I switch to lute, it's to
heal. Handy to have it right there.
Bank three is my combat bank, it's full up with songs, with certain mainstay
songs always in the same slot, and others moved around to fit the situation.
In most cases its my Combat song as 1 (that varies now, as I twiddle between
Anthem, Celerity, and Berzerker), 2 is usually an Area slow down song
(Melodic binding for a long while, now it's Chords of Cessation.) 3 is
ALWAYS Selos, 4 is always Consonant Chain, 5 is always Bellow, and 6 varies,
usually between Screech and Lullaby.
Bank Four is a utility bank, I have Hide again, Tracking, Forage, Assist,
Bind Wounds, and Selos. Matter of fact, Selos is on the 3 slot on all six
banks. I don't have Sense Heading hotboxed, with this much time in the
game, I'm never lost.
I find it's MUCH MUCH MUCH quicker to have songs hotkeyed than it is
tracking a mouse all over the screen, and since I play at 1024 resolution
and full screen, that's a lot of mouse moving.
It's a snap to hit SHIFT # to move from bank to bank, and after all this
time, it's second nature. I find myself hitting 6, then 3 first thing when
I log in(run and Selos), SHIFT 3 to move right to the combat songs, SHIFT 2
to twiddle inventory, SHIFT 4 then 2 to catch a quick Tracking, SHIFT 1 then
5 to fire up Clarity for the casters, etc.
Also, I rarely if ever mouselook in the game. I prefer to have my hands on
the keyboard as much as possible. I know there are those that hate keyboard
turning, but other than that, mouselook and button clicking tends to slow
you down in combat, especially when there's a lot going on.
You have to LOOK for the cursor, make sure it's on the right button, click
it, and move it elsewhere, whereas with keyboard commands, it's all
intuitive, and you never have to take your eyes off the text box. Cycling
songs is easier too, it's just tap tap then tap tap again.
I use the mouse to open distant doors (the U key most times, if I'm going
through), to target mobs at long range (other times, it's my N key, which is
mapped to Nearest NPC), and to loot mobs and open trade windows. And of
course to juggle inventory around. I will mouselook in places like
Cauldron, where there's a lot of cliffs, as I can avoid falls easier, being
able to hug the hillsides.
Other than that, it's all keyboard.
As far as having assist mapped, it's two quick key strokes to change
hotboxes. In my case, I use F2-F6 to target the party member, then SHIFT 4,
then 4, I've just assisted my target. Takes less than half a second. Then
I hit SHIFT 3, then 1, to fire up my combat song, then 5 to bellow, or 6 to
lull, etc. Combat is done, I hit SHIFT 2, then move weapons down and lute
up, after hitting 6 to sing Hymn. While I'm hymning, I'll hit SHIFT 4
again, then 3, to Forage, or 2 to Track. Health is back, we're ready to
fight again, it's SHIFT 2, put weapons back in hand, SHIFT 3, get ready to
fight again. If we have to run away, no matter which hotbox I'm on, it's 3,
Selos starts.
----- Original Message -----
From: Reece, Tom CPT - 30th Signal Bn <ReeceT@...>
To: EQBards <eqbards@onelist.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 1999 4:51 PM
Subject: [eqbards] Macro setup for bards
>From: "Reece, Tom CPT - 30th Signal Bn" <ReeceT@...>
>
>The recent discussion on the use of the /assist command has got me
wondering
>how other bards setup their macros. For myself, up to this point I have
>only used one bank (6 hot-keys) of macros. I have not setup the other five
>banks. If I have confused anyone, I use the term bank to refer to the six
>buttons you can hotkey in the lower left hand portion of your screen. You
>can hit Shift-# to switch banks or you can use your mouse to cycle through
>them.
>
>For my first bank, I have two inventory slots and two melee slots macroed
so
>I quickly switch from weapon/shield to an instrument if the situation calls
>for it. I have hot-keyed Sense Heading and Foraging to take up the other
>two slots. I hotkeyed Sense Heading so when I am fleeing I dont have to
>worry about switching macro banks. I have Foraging hotkeyed so I can
>continually click on it in between combats.
>
>I haven't worried about macroing songs because I can click on them with my
>mouse just as easy as hitting the hotkey.
>
>I'm beginning to think that I should place /assist on my main macro bank
but
>don't like the idea of moving Sense Heading or Forage to another bank.
>
>How does everyone else have their hotkeys setup?
>
>Galtin
>E'ci
>
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