Question

[Bob]

train yourself to take your finger off shift and the left mouse button at once, bash a pot button and put them both back on - you should lose at most only 1 shot this way, and as you say, you have a mercenary. They should therefore be able to cover you from getting swamped whilst you're doing this. It's a bit messy, and less than efficient, but it stops you dying. This is assuming that you're playing a bowazon - I have little (well, no) experience with javazons, and i should think that it mightn't work, as you'd probably end up in recovery/stun lock (what is it called in D2, since stun is now a seperate thing?). But it you are fighting melee, I don't see why you'd need shift down anyway.

-Bob