Overwhelmed with skills/Keys, Please Help!

[PowderedToastMan.6354]

Hi all,

This will likely feel silly to so many but, I have been playing off and on since release but keep leaving why? due to being overwhelmed with skills/abilities. I start off great! 5 keys, then as I progress I start to loose it when I get in my 40s "level not age" although I am there as well! :P Can anyone help with the madness? any ideas or a different way of doing things to make it easier?

Thanks so much,Toasty

[alchemist.6851]

i just have like top 10 keys i use apart from direction. : action key, dodge, 8 skills

[Tanner Blackfeather.6509]

At any point (past lvl 31) you have 10 skills available, with every class having access to some way of switching the first 5 to one or several other set.

Skills 1-5 is decided by your weapon - every Greatsword-wielding Warrior has the same skills 1-5.Skills 6-10 are selectable. Most classes have options here in how active they want to be - Warrior for instance can go full Signet - a type of skills offering a, passive effect just from being slotted (there's more to them, but if looking to reduce the number of skills to manage it's a fine start).

Edit: My recomendations to reduce how many skills you need to actively keep track of is to choose either signets - Warrior can be fine that way - or skills that are more "fire and forget", like Necromancer Minion skills. You can then gradually increase the number of "active" skills you use as you become more familiar with them.

[LaGranse.8652]

As mantioned above you can use sigils for passive boosts and not activate them. GW2 is in my experience one of the MMO's with least amount of skills. I have played games with well over 40 skills and that was not fun.

[kapri.5918]

The best thing for you to do is take a moment and decide where you want your character to go. What would you like them to be effective at and all. Healer, tank, dps, or some sort of hybrid. After which, take some further moments and really look at the builds that you have and will open up. Spot the skills that fit your decision. Choose them and ignore the rest. You do not have to play the game where you can switch between three or more builds just to meet some one else's expectations. Do not feel as if you have to rush it either. And do not be afraid to ask people in game for help. I did and got a really good Druid just by asking for help...then the guy gives me Adam and runs Heroic Point spots for an hour with me to help with my build. I wish you luck!

[PowderedToastMan.6354]

This is one thing that has NEVER changed, the best community bar none! Thank you guys, I am getting overwhelmed on my Elementalist, I so wish I could use my mid mouse keys as something other than zoom in and out, I start getting overwhelmed when I get to summoning my fire elementals and such, with Engineer, I get messed up when I get to all my tool belt skills. Has to be an easier way, have played WOW for years and never and issue, so hope I can get past with what may be a mental block of some kind, I so want to Love this game!

[Tanner Blackfeather.6509]

@PowderedToastMan.6354 said:This is one thing that has NEVER changed, the best community bar none! Thank you guys, I am getting overwhelmed on my Elementalist, I so wish I could use my mid mouse keys as something other than zoom in and out, I start getting overwhelmed when I get to summoning my fire elementals and such, with Engineer, I get messed up when I get to all my tool belt skills. Has to be an easier way, have played WOW for years and never and issue, so hope I can get past with what may be a mental block of some kind, I so want to Love this game!

Both of those classes, while fun, are some of the more complex classes in the game when it comes to juggling skills.Start a new character, either Necromancer or Warrior, and give it another shot!

[Strider Pj.2193]

@"PowderedToastMan.6354" said:Hi all,

This will likely feel silly to so many but, I have been playing off and on since release but keep leaving why? due to being overwhelmed with skills/abilities. I start off great! 5 keys, then as I progress I start to loose it when I get in my 40s "level not age" although I am there as well! :P Can anyone help with the madness? any ideas or a different way of doing things to make it easier?

Thanks so much,Toasty

Being ‘in my 40’s’ (age not level) I have found a 20 button mouse was my solution. It has all of my weapon skills on it. Now, my thumb can take a beating but muscle memory kicks in fairly fast. I leave my left hand for the movement keys on the keyboard.

And as was stated above, Ele and engineer are two classes that can feel more like you are playing the piano.

Necro and Warrior, are a little easier from the muscle memory standpoint.

[sephiroth.4217]

Get yourself a gaming mouse, mine has 19 buttons for example, after a while your muscle memory will work into the thumbgrid on the side.

Before that I had 1-5 as normal but 6-0 shifted also put your F1-F5 on a difderent keybind so you can keep 5 buttons maybe? Dunno if that helps

[Linken.6345]

So playing the only 2 classes with lots of skills elementalist and engineer maybe its time to play one with less.Like litteraly any of the other classes =)

[Goettel.4389]

I have a simple way to get to grips while leveling alts: apart from my primary healing skill I keep using one skill until I actually NEED to use the second. Then I run on with just those two until I NEED three. I leave utilities for last, while I level and figure out what the weaknesses in my way of playing the alt are. After I've got a good grip on that I start selecting utilities to compensate for the weaknesses. When I need to dust off an alt I simply roll into a low level zone I haven't completed yet and finish it, for practise.

What also helped me is thinking carefully about how I map the keyboard. Most of all, I remap keys 6 to 0 because I don't like having to 'lunge' for skills by moving my hand. Everything is bound around WASD, including using Q,E,Z,X,C and R for the utility and Counter Magic 'special' skill (from the Ancient Magic mastery track).

Lastly, maybe switching skills to your mouse (maybe an MMO one with a lot of buttons) works for you, I hate 'em.

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

@"PowderedToastMan.6354" said:This is one thing that has NEVER changed, the best community bar none! Thank you guys, I am getting overwhelmed on my Elementalist, I so wish I could use my mid mouse keys as something other than zoom in and out, I start getting overwhelmed when I get to summoning my fire elementals and such, with Engineer, I get messed up when I get to all my tool belt skills. Has to be an easier way, have played WOW for years and never and issue, so hope I can get past with what may be a mental block of some kind, I so want to Love this game!

Check your mouse-drivers, most mouse-software has a feature to give the middle mouse button (pressing the mouse wheel) a secondary function. What you want to do is giving it the SHIFT key.

Now you want to log into Guildwars 2 => Settings => Controls. Depending on the class you play, you can adjust your skills as follows:

ElementalistHealing = SHIFT + 1Utility 1 = SHIFT + 2Utility 2 = SHIFT + 3Utility 3 = SHIFT + 4Elite Skill = SHIFT + 5

You pointed out that you get overwhelmed on the Elementalist by using the regular utility-skills. The mage is very squishy and requires good reflexes and fast movement. So you are probably having problems moving/evading and accessing your keys. Most of us play with one hand permanently at the mouse, so if you want to access the utility-skills quickly, you usually have to lift your left hand. Depending on your personal condition, this can end well or bad. This option allows you to let your left hand rest at its standard position, while being able to access all of your utility/elite-skills just by holding down your mouse-wheel - as you requested. I assume that you camp your elements most of the time and therefore have no trouble with selecting them manually.

EngineerProfession Skill 1 = SHIFT + 1Profession Skill 2 = SHIFT + 2Profession Skill 3 = SHIFT + 3Profession Skill 4 = SHIFT + 4Profession Skill 5 = SHIFT + 5

You pointed out that you get overwhelmed on the Engineer by using the toolbelt-skills in combat. So opposite to the Elementalist, I assume you have no problem using your utility/elite-skills manually, but get into trouble with the toolbelt skills. I can understand that. On the Elementalist, you can camp one element for an extended period of time, but on the Engineer your toolbelts require constant management. So we focus on the toolbelt skills here.

If you could link the builds you use, we could probably optimize a setup that works for both classes. But without further details, that is the best I can think of.

Note: Why using SHIFT? The game-controls somehow allow SHIFT to be held + another key to be used. Most other keys cannot be used like that. It is technically possible to do the trick with another key, but that requires a macro-program (3rd party program). So you could e. g. use the "<"-button for your mousewheel and create key combinations with that. But the use of these programs is always a little meh, they are also technically capable to create other/forbidden macros, which violate our rules. Guildwars 2 is a great game and we have a lot of options to customize things. Using additional programs should always be our LAST resort. The SHIFT-solution does look weird, but it should work without problems.

[DeanBB.4268]

I used a Nostromo n52 for years until it died, then moved on to a Razer Tarterus. So I have attacks, dodge, swap, etc mapped to the gamepad on my left hand, then a mouse with extra buttons for Jump, Mount, Reverse. I don't need the keyboard for hardly any combat functions. Depending on the spec, I do click some Function Keys with the mouse. I could map F1-F5 I suppose, but like the setup the way I have it.

[Zagerus.8675]

Agreed with the others! It might make it a bit easier to see the game as a warrior or necro on your first time through. I would also second the suggestion that HnRkLnXqZ.1870 made about using key modifiers to alleviate being overwhelmed with a bunch of keys on your left hand. I personally use alt + modifiers to double up each key. Multi-button mice are generally a good investment and there are several cheapies you can get on amazon for <$30. Being able to offload some of the work to your right hand when you're trying to get the most out of your profession can help a lot.

[PowderedToastMan.6354]

Simply the BEST Community, Thank you so much for the Info and effort all, I will put it to the test, wish me luck! :P

[crepuscular.9047]

how??? GW2 is much simpler than other MMOs

• weapon skill keys mapped to 12345
• healing skill key 6
• Utility key 789
• Elite skill key 0
• Supplemental trait/spec keys F1 F2 F3 F4
• standard directional keys WASD
• dodge key V
• Jump Key SPACEBAR

WoW = way too many accessible skills, pretty much use mouse clicks or use macrosBDO = combination of the directional keys with character keys or mice buttons, chain them up into combo = weeks of training into muscle memory; then a massive nerf making the class crappy, forcing you to play a different class with totally different key combinations orders for combo

[Einsof.1457]

If you think this is a lot you'll lose your mind if you try any theme park mmo such as ffxiv or Tera

[Tanner Blackfeather.6509]

@crepuscular.9047, @Einsof.1457 - how are those comments/comparisons relevant or helpful?

They really come across as a bit condescending - which seems out of place for a thread asking for help, in a subforum dedicated to seeking and offering help and advice.

[Sephylon.4938]

wasn't this in the gw2 discussion section? Am I loosing it?

[perilisk.1874]

I've found it a little easier to just keep everything left hand, and use mouse for the camera.

• So, WSAD for movement
• ~ for swap
• 123QE for weapon skills
• Shift+123QE for utilities
• Ctrl+123QE for profession skills
• Alt+Shift+QWEASD for specific mounts.
• shift+R for the special skills that pop up above the skill bar

[Cyninja.2954]

@Tanner Blackfeather.6509 said:

@PowderedToastMan.6354 said:This is one thing that has NEVER changed, the best community bar none! Thank you guys, I am getting overwhelmed on my Elementalist, I so wish I could use my mid mouse keys as something other than zoom in and out, I start getting overwhelmed when I get to summoning my fire elementals and such, with Engineer, I get messed up when I get to all my tool belt skills. Has to be an easier way, have played WOW for years and never and issue, so hope I can get past with what may be a mental block of some kind, I so want to Love this game!

Both of those classes, while fun,

are some of the more complex classes

in the game when it comes to juggling skills.

Start a new character

, either Necromancer or Warrior, and give it another shot!

Going to quote this.

While I'm not a big fan of recommending people switching classes, the disparity between some of the classes as far as difficulty for easy content is quite high.

Mesmer, Elementalist and Engineer are classes to avoid unless you want to invest a ton of time into understanding skill interactions, learn complex rotations and being quite squishy if not played well.

Classes I would recommend: Warrior, Ranger, Necromancer or Guardian. All of those classes will perform a lot better in an inexperienced players hands and help get to know the game and mechanics easier. Then once you have the basics down, switch to one of the more complex classes if you so desire.

[Taygus.4571]

I started off very overwhelmed with this game.

So I just want to add, I highly recommend starting with core necro, and using minions (minion mancer is VERY easy to play in open world) when they become available to you.

Practice using minion skills.

When your comfortable with all that, start switching the minions out 1 by 1 for other skills.Then you can move to scourge, which has more F1 skills but is still pretty easy going.

Check your key bindings, that made a massive difference to me.

One of my biggest difficulty has been memorizing skill sets. And I've played all the classes bar Engineer and Rev.The only advice here..is time. Keep reading the tool tips. Close your eyes, memorize them.It might take awhile..rotations took me far too long to understand. But you'll get there if you're patient.

I would not suggest Warrior as it can feel squishy which is frustrating. I would suggest Guardian or Necro. But I would lean heavily towards Necro. That class really helped me stick with the game. It's very forgiving.

[Turkeyspit.3965]

My first character (a ranger) I leveled running only Signets as I didn't know what to pick or how to use it. Rangers, Thieves, Warriors and Mesmers I believe all can run really well in open world running passive signets. That will cut down on the amount of keys you have to memorize and press until you get used to it and start adding in utilities. Do it gradually and as you get used to recognizing when you need to activate those abilities, you can add in more.

[Vashan.3098]

I play mirage, bought protheus spectrum, 3 buttons for thumb - dodge, F1,F2, and additional 2 buttons for point finger - F3, F4all other actions buttons on Keyboard (highlighted on K70 RGB by different color) WASD, Space (movement colors) 1,2,3,4,5,Q,E,R,T, (action colors)It took some time toget used to the mouse but I have to agree with others, it is the best solution

[Straegen.2938]

I have a bit of an odd layout but it is efficient:

Left Mouse Click/`-Attack 1Right Click-Dodge1-Attack 22-Attack 33-Attack 44-Attack 5Q-Utility 1E-EliteC-HealZ-Next TargetX-Look BackSpacebar-JumpTab-Toggle Action CameraMouse Back-Utility 2Mouse Forward-Utility 3Scroll Wheel Up/Down-Change WeaponCaps Lock-Clear TargetAlt-PTT DiscordShift Left Click-"F1"Shift Right Click-"F2"Shift Mouse Back/Mouse4-"F3"Shift Mouse Forward/Mouse5-"F4"

Everything is accessible without shifting any hands or mouse clicking skills. This does require a mouse with programmable keys and for the PTT best with a keyboard that can easily remap keys such as the ALT and CAPS LOCK. A 5 button mouse is also preferred but not necessary.