Mouse Move Noob

[LavCat]

I understand that steering with the mouse (or in my case, a trackball) is superior to using the A and D keys. I often steer with the mouse while riding or flying, but how do you steer with the mouse in combat? The eventual goal is for my hunter to be able to negotiate a jump shot, but I am stuck on even more simple tasks:

How do you ride up to a flag and target it to click when you have no cursor? How do you ride into a group of foes and select your target?

Is holding the W key and steering with the mouse as efficient as pressing both mouse buttons to move? the latter takes more strength than I can muster for very long.

How exactly does one do a jump shot? I have watched multiple movies that make it look easy.

[Klaus]

I understand that steering with the mouse (or in my case, a trackball) is superior to using the A and D keys. I often steer with the mouse while riding or flying, but how do you steer with the mouse in combat? The eventual goal is for my hunter to be able to negotiate a jump shot, but I am stuck on even more simple tasks:

How do you ride up to a flag and target it to click when you have no cursor? How do you ride into a group of foes and select your target?

Is holding the W key and steering with the mouse as efficient as pressing both mouse buttons to move? the latter takes more strength than I can muster for very long.

How exactly does one do a jump shot? I have watched multiple movies that make it look easy.

I use the mouse almost exclusively to steer. Strafe I use keys for (mostly) and occasionally I'll hold down the turn keys (default A and D) when I'm using the mouse for something else. I use the W key to move forward unless I'm on autorun - I find the both-mouse-buttons thing pretty useless except for when my left hand is busy holding a drink or a child or some such. :)

To answer the question about selecting a target - you either tab-target or you stop steering long enough to click on something.

Jump shot is: hold right mouse button, press jump key, move mouse to swivel toon while in the air, press hotkey for the shot, move mouse back so you're pointing the way you started. Do it fast enough and you have a jump shot. I've never found it all that difficult (I do it on both my mage and my baby hunter).

[Mordekhuul]

Hey there,

Mouse movement is a great thing, once you are used to it. I admit that doing it with a trackball seems daunting to me, however, but perhaps as much precision can be had with one as a normal mouse. I'll just assume so for the purpose of this post.

The key to mouse movement is holding down the right mouse button whenever you steer or turn. As you are figuring out, however, you do still want some key presses involved in the operation.

Side-note: I configure my hotkeys so that my left hand stays in normal typing position at all times and my right hand is on the mouse at all times. Between normal key bindings, shift- versions of most of those, alt-versions of most of them, and a nice 5 button mouse, I have some 48 hotkeys easily accessible from these hand positions and never have to stop and look down at the keyboard to hit them.

Generally you'll want to hold your W key to propel yourself while using the right mouse button to steer, and the S button occasionally when you want to back up. Note that one key advantage of mouse movement is that you can spin 180+ degrees in a heartbeat and with great precision, so if you don't need to continue facing forward while backing up you can just spin yourself to face the opposite direction and run the new direction.

You will occasionally find yourself holding both mouse buttons to give your left hand some freedom to hit a more awkward hotkey, but not often if your bindings are well established.

Another great trick of mouse movement is that the game, by default, treats the A and D keys differently if you have your right mouse button held down. Normally, with no mouse involved, they will slowly turn you to the left or right, as you know. However, if your right mouse button is held down, A acts as strafe-left and D acts as strafe-right. This allows you to bind Q and E to hotkeys instead of having them act as strafe buttons.

It is very easy to strafe using the right mouse button plus A or D, and Q and E are fantastic hotkeys, easily hittable while holding the W key down and steering with your mouse.

TLDR summary: Right mouse button plus W to move forward. Right mouse button plus A or D to strafe. Right mouse button for all turning purposes or swiveling. Take back those Q and E keys and use them for important hotkeys that you need to be able to hit in a pinch.

EDIT - Ignore Klaus. He still uses Q and E to strafe. What a maroon!

[Kevin]

I'm not good at this skill. I'm quite good with mouse movement in FPS where the game is designed for it and the mouse generally has very little else you need to do with it. But in WoW having to hold a button down SUCKS. I'm aware you can bind a key to have the mouse only act for turning but then you have to hit that key all the time to get normal control back. I actually have a much easier time with mouse turning with a trackball than with a mouse. Holding a button down for turning causes more stress on my wrist as well and that isn't good. I lose a ton of precision when I have to hold a button down with the extra pressure on the mouse, my Y view angle ends up getting changed a lot with mouse turning as well. The track ball is easier because the button I need to hold down is a tumb button and pressing a button doesn't have any other effect on the behavior of the turn. I've tried mapping my thumb button on my mouse as the right mouse button and it makes it a little easier but with the size of my hand and the size of most mice (I'm a guy who really like the original X-box controllers because I have bigger hands) it's still not good and it raises other issues for me.

I still do about 80% of my steering via keys. In most PvE content for most classes you simple don't have to turn as fast as the mouse allows you. I can jump shot very poorly but again I don't need to since I can strafe kite like a madman. :)

I've played over a full week (20+ hours of game time) forcing myself to only mouse turn (unmapped the normal turn keys so I didnt' have an option) and I still can't get used to it. It just doesn't work for me. As mentioned the turns are never precise so half the time they end up not being any quicker anyway. But I've gotten good enough that I can be precise enough and PvP still gets me doing a fair bit of mouse turning because you have to be competitive about 1650 rating. But I still get annoyed with it and I still almost always change my Y view axis doing so.

I still do extensive key remapping for hot key purposes, using just the default Blizzard bars so that patches never really cut my effectiveness at the game much. I've recently finally remapped again to swap to esdf for movement. I still have w and r as strafe keys but I'm fine since that is a more natural hand postion. I can't move with my hand in a normal typing postion if I stay with wasd since I don't like using the ring finger for movement. But it makes 1-6 easy to hit (with wasd it was just 1-5 and they weren't natural to hit). I've got z-b easy to hit, and q, t, and g easy to hit, y and h aren't bad, but those are right hand for typing so it's not natural. That's 15 keys right there with 2 very easy to hit modifiers of shift and control (alt is not a good one for me as it requires a hand shift or for me to move my thumb and with my thumb on it I lose reach to other keys). So I've got 45 easy to hit hotkeys. Some are harder to hit than others while moving so I map appropriately.

Just figure I would give the one voice of dissension. Trust me I wish I could get WoW to work better with mouse turning but it feels very tacked on and unnatural for me. But most PvE content doesn't need it anyway. You can turn while you are strafing and quick strafing gets you "out of the fire" just as fast if not faster than mouse turn and run. The big issues for it for me are melee classes that want to stay on backs quicker. It makes a difference there for sure. It helps a lot while tanking as well and I do mouse turn at times while tanking. For ranged I don't see it making much difference at all, though I did use it on Vashj on my hunter when on bat duty because if you want an extra shot on them with the facing requirements hunter shots have you need to get turned quicker than the keyboard lets you.

Just me. It's not a system I can get used to. And as mentioned I've tried for several times to only use it but I don't like it.

[Mordekhuul]

I respect GG's assessment as well. I think we are both right. It has to suit the person and the equipment he prefers to be a good option.

Keldor (ele shaman) did all of our Strider kiting and that poor boy not only uses keys to move, but he is a big time mouse clicker to boot, so I have a hard time saying my way is superior ;-)

That said, I'll point out that IF it starts to come naturally and doesn't feel awkward with your mouse, then the mouse turning is extremely precise. It felt wild to me for a while, at first, but now I have a very sensitive hand on the mouse, don't exert much pressure to keep the right key down at all, and can turn as slowly or quickly as I wish, stopping at a precise point.

I've been doing it for three years non-stop though. I first took it up when I was playing my original level 60 toon in the old days, a rogue (Saeroth), had a dagger PVP spec, and wanted to effectively circle strafe and spin to get behind folks in battlegrounds. Since then it just stuck.

I really enjoy the constant change in view. I am constantly panning around to look in all directions as I move, even if I'm not actively turning with the mouse. It is just second nature.

What GG did sounds like the right way to go. Make yourself do it for a week, if the advice from Xar and I makese sense, and see if it starts to feel good or if it hurts your wrist or feels uncontrollable or not.

Have fun.

[Shamago]

In addition to the above, remember that there is an auto-run key. I'm pretty sure you can also rebind just about every function there is between the mouse and the keyboard. Depending on how fast you need to move, just hit autorun and steer with the mouse. When you jump, your momentum will carry you forward, and you can turn and fire off a special and turn back to continue running when you hit the ground. You can still do this with the dual mouse button method.

[Klaus]

EDIT - Ignore Klaus. He still uses Q and E to strafe. What a maroon!

I don't, actually. I hold the right mouse and use A and D. But, to me, A and D are strafe keys, because the number of times I use them for regular "turn" is so small... :)

[Quark]

I don't, actually. I hold the right mouse and use A and D. But, to me, A and D are strafe keys, because the number of times I use them for regular "turn" is so small... :)

Switch A and D to strafe by default. Q and E are then actionbar hotkeys, and if you really need to turn (read: being lazy and playing one-handed or something) you can still use the arrow keys.

By removing turn altogether it forces good habits.

Also, kiting is much easier without camera follow set to "smart". Try disabling it completely and see how that feels.

[Artega]

Jumpshot is pretty easy, for any class. Enable autorun (I've got it bound to Z for easier access), and while you're running forward, jump, quickly spin your toon with your mouse (via holding down the right mouse button), press your button (you have to have the key bound, it's impossible to do with clicking), and continue on your merry way. You may need to increase your mouse's sensitivity to do this if you're using a low-DPI mouse.

It's easier for ranged classes than melee classes, but I can still effectively do a quick hamstring on a target directly behind me without stopping. Do keep in mind that because of the way WoW works, you are considered to not actually be moving while in midair via a jump - your new position is not registered until you land. For that reason, if you're trying to outrun someone, do not jump unnecessarily.

I have W and S bound to forward and backward, while A and D are strafe left and right. Q and E are used for abilities I use very often (in my shaman's case, Ghost Wolf and Blood Fury+Shamanistic Rage macro), while shift+Q and shift+E are used for left and right trinkets via TrinketMenu.

I very, very strongly recommend you break yourself of keyboard turning as soon as possible, because you are going to be far more efficient using the mouse to turn/steer - trackballs are probably going to have a larger learning curve, but that's compensated by the fact that trackballs are inherently more sensitive than normal mice.

[Mirajj]

I've tried and tried to be a "mouse mover"...but it's never worked out well for me. But I seem to do well enough for myself, as most folks I tell don't believe me. So it seems to really be a tossup and a personal preference thing. I can jumpshot kite just fine, but prefer to strafe kite. Seems to be like very much a YMMV issue.

Not being a 'mouse turner' doesn't mean the end of the world.

[Artega]

I've tried and tried to be a "mouse mover"...but it's never worked out well for me. But I seem to do well enough for myself, as most folks I tell don't believe me. So it seems to really be a tossup and a personal preference thing. I can jumpshot kite just fine, but prefer to strafe kite. Seems to be like very much a YMMV issue.

Not being a 'mouse turner' doesn't mean the end of the world.

It does mean that you're less efficient than you can be with your movement. You cannot PvP effectively if you are using the keyboard to turn, and I can't imagine being able to tank effectively if I used the keyboard to turn, either.

[shoju]

Ok. I currently am a mouse/keyboard mover. I have autorun set to the ` key. I autorun, and then steer when I need to with the mouse or strafe with q and e. Because I use the autorun feature, I can easily let go of the stearing to position my mouse and stop autorun as I am in range to click.

I'm sure that probably made no sense.

[LavCat]

Ok. I currently am a mouse/keyboard mover. I have autorun set to the ` key. I autorun, and then steer when I need to with the mouse or strafe with q and e. Because I use the autorun feature, I can easily let go of the stearing to position my mouse and stop autorun as I am in range to click.

I'm sure that probably made no sense.

I often use autorun while flying, but on land the feature can be dangerous. At least in my hands. I'm not sure I want to explain that further.

I also often ride and swim and fly by holding 'w' and steering with the trackball, but I cannot move properly by holding down the mouse (in my case, trackball) keys.

The main reason I had hoped to master mouse move and the jump shot was for my hunter to defeat Artorius the Doombringer. There must be some other way. I am thinking of engaging Artorious at the furthest north point of his track, rather than furthest south -- on the theory that it is easier to kite demons down hill than up hill.

Does anyone have any suggestions for Artorious that don't involve a jump shot?

[Kevin]

I often use autorun while flying, but on land the feature can be dangerous. At least in my hands. I'm not sure I want to explain that further.

I also often ride and swim and fly by holding 'w' and steering with the trackball, but I cannot move properly by holding down the mouse (in my case, trackball) keys.

The main reason I had hoped to master mouse move and the jump shot was for my hunter to defeat Artorius the Doombringer. There must be some other way. I am thinking of engaging Artorious at the furthest north point of his track, rather than furthest south -- on the theory that it is easier to kite demons down hill than up hill.

Does anyone have any suggestions for Artorious that don't involve a jump shot?

He was the hardest of the demons for me as well when I did this way back when (I don't think Naxx was in the game when I got him). I couldn't jump shot back then and killed him without it, but it was harder.

I grabbed him at the bottom of the hill, kited him up the hill, and then down the road, I was nearly back to town by the time I killed him. I just strafe kited him the whole way. I did get a fort and mark from friendly druid and priest, but on the kill I didn't have AI and I recall having to use a demonic rune to have enough mana to get him because the pot was in cooldown. There were 2 times when a cooldown was up that I was turned slightly wrong from the strafe position for them to hit.

You will want to make sure the camera isn't set to smart so that you can have the views as you want them while strafing. I actually preset a few camera angles as well when I was dry running the route.

Rank 1 arcane shot to keep him kiting and keep the serpent sting stack up (I think you can get the extra damage debuff to 3 stacks). Let autoshot go off after you hit him with concussive shot. If you get out of range of a shot on him, you can let an auto shot off at those times as well. And just practice. I was around 20 attempts before I got him. Which was significantly more than the 1 to 5 it took me for all the others and I intentionally kept myself ignorant of them so that I could figure them out. I actually killed the guy in Burning Steps the first time I attacked him just to see how he worked.

What you need to get good at if you can't get a jump shot down is to make sure you know how to get the camera set and know how turned you have to be for the shot to fire behind you. Get used to turning while you are strafing (you can hit E and D at the same time for example) or use the mouse to make minor turn adjustments while strafing. I tried kiting him for a few different starting positions, but for me going up the short hill and to the road was just the easiest for strafe kiing, I think because the road makes a good reference to angles and there is nothing you can accidentally run into.

[Mirajj]

Like GG, I strafe shotted that guy to death. He was the hardest for me, as I finally killed him on my 13th try (Ironically, JUST in time for an Onyxia raid...). It probably doesn't matter much these days, but I kited him the opposite way, away from the town. Every time I got near the town, some 'helpful' soul despawned him. At 3=4 hours a spawn, that's really annoying. Strafe shot takes some getting used to, but isn't really that rough.

[Kevin]

Like GG, I strafe shotted that guy to death. He was the hardest for me, as I finally killed him on my 13th try (Ironically, JUST in time for an Onyxia raid...). It probably doesn't matter much these days, but I kited him the opposite way, away from the town. Every time I got near the town, some 'helpful' soul despawned him. At 3=4 hours a spawn, that's really annoying. Strafe shot takes some getting used to, but isn't really that rough.

That is a good point, there were 3 times where I had that happen to me, though 2 of them were runs where I wasn't planning on using consumables because I was just getting some more practice in so I likely wouldn't have gotten them anyway, and on one of them I wasn't that close to town when I got "help". And I had at least 4 other attempts that were messed up by guildies because I hadn't explained the whole deal but I was so used to that path that I just kept going that way.

[LavCat]

I actually killed the guy in Burning Steps the first time I attacked him just to see how he worked.

When I read this the first time I thought you meant you kited Artorius to the Burning Steps. I need some sleep. I did see someone kiting Terokk to A'dal the other day.

I have tried strafing, which works fine till I run into a tree. Something I do in real life as well, and have a hematoma in my leg to show for it.

By running, turning around, shooting, turning, running, etc. I have kited Artorious past the left turn around the rocks going up to the road, but before I actually get to the road he catches me or loses interest in the chase. The turn seems to be the problem. This is why I thought it would be better to kite him down the hill, which is more or less a straight line.