Automatic Rotating Element Attunements

[WarTactics.6725]

Hypothetical: Would having a small option that allows for the optional auto rotation of Elementalist Attunements make the gameplay smoother for the profession?

Personally I don't have the keyboard skills and stamina to constantly sequence my left hand to stretch from the 1-5 Keys to F1-F4 Keys in long combat encounters. How do players effectively sequence their manual attunement rotations and skills on the fly? Back in the old days when Frost Bow was meta I would read all sorts of ridiculous skill paths and sequences to do max damage. I hope some will know what I mean when I say keyboard gymnastics is not fun. We're playing a MMO not Mortal Combat or Street Fighter. If you wanna call me a noob I'm ok with that.

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by WarTactics.6725

[AliamRationem.5172]

I imagine it won't come as a surprise that a lot of players who love elementalist enjoy "keyboard gymnastics".  Maybe that will never be you, but there are things you can do to make life easier on yourself.  If F-keys are too much of a stretch, just rebind your attunements.  The ideal means of doing this is to use a gaming mouse with a bunch of buttons.  However, if purchasing a new mouse and the associated relearning isn't appealing to you, you could instead rebind those F-keys to something closer to your movement keys.

 

If you're going this route, I recommend using ESDF rather than WASD, as this frees up W and A for keybinds on the left-hand side but still leaves everything within reach (i.e. shift, ctrl, tab, etc.).  You could, for example, bind QWRT for your attunements.

[WarTactics.6725]

Well now I just made a fool of myself 😅 I spent $150 CAD on a G502 Lightspeed Mouse and didn't know how to use it. Thanks for the help.

[Fueki.4753]

I certainly don't want such a feature.

I like camping elements and having the game switch attunements automatically would ruin the only profession I enjoy these days.

Edited May 12, 2021 by Fueki.4753

[Razor.6392]

Feel free to play one of the other 8 classes, made for people who don't want to engage in "keyboard gymnastics".

 

 

[SoulGuardian.6203]

I understand you perfectly. 

I'm a bit lazy to do do keyboards gymnastics, and with all honestly I just purely can't be bothered.

It is fact that elementalist isn't the most keyboard friendly, but that does not mean that you shouldn't enjoy it.

You have as much right as anyone else.

 

There are gamers pads you can use, or one of them mouses with 30 buttons or so... ( I'm exaggerating ) but it's probably your best option.

[kapenike.6793]

I changed my attunement swap keybinds from F1 - F4 to Alt+1 - Alt+4 (use your thumb off space bar for alt). It feels very fluid and lets me swap attunements as fast as just pressing an ability. Might take a bit of practice at first but I bet you'll like it 😛

[steki.1478]

2 hours ago, kapenike.6793 said:

I changed my attunement swap keybinds from F1 - F4 to Alt+1 - Alt+4 (use your thumb off space bar for alt). It feels very fluid and lets me swap attunements as fast as just pressing an ability. Might take a bit of practice at first but I bet you'll like it 😛

I'm doing the same ever since I swapped from a laptop to a regular keyboard on pc (F skills are much easier to reach on a laptop). I do have to mention that first few days caused me some issues because I'd press alt+F keys occasionally and we all know what that could lead to.

[Paradoxoglanis.1904]

getting a mouse with side buttons helps a lot. With any mmo, rebinding your keys will help a lot even if its difficult to get used to at first. For example, i use my mouse thumb buttons for f1-f4, and then also use Q E R V C X Z Shift and Caps Lock as other keybinds.

[hash.8462]

Just an idea...

ANet could add an option to have an "Alternative weapon/element swap for elementalist profession";

If this option is cheked, the player can use CTRL+RightClick to set the element sequence on the UI (this is similar to the triggering on-off of the autoattack), on the elements will appear a little sequence number (1-4);

That way you can for example set 1:Water, 2:Air, 3:Fire; CTRL+RightClick on a numbered element will remove it from the sequence and will compress the sequence ex: you remove 2:Air and get 1:Water, 2:Fire; instead CTRL+RightClick on a non-numbered element (air again) will add it to the sequence 1:Water, 2:Fire, 3:Air.

Once the sequence is choosen (will be saved for each character), by pressing the weapon swap key it will swap elements instead, example for 1:Water, 2:Fire, 3:Air:

(current element)Earth->Water->Fire->Air->Water->Fire->Air->Water->Fire->Air...

(current element)Fire->Air->Water->Fire->Air->Water->Fire->Air...

You can always press F1-F4 or the UI buttons to select a specific element.

Edited May 14, 2021 by hash.8462