Guild Wars 2

I have an elementalist lvl 8. What should my hands be resting on in terms of keys . I find it hard to use my utility skills and switch b/w attunements AND move around.

Personally, I have a Naga and use the 1-6 buttons there with 7=q, 8=e, 9=r, 10=z.

I have a normal keyboard, so what should I make my keybindings be?

This is what I’ve done in a lot of MMOs. The 1-= is a complete pain to use.

I actually shift my movement keys one right to ESDF. I bind the following:
1 → z
2→ a
3 → q
4 → w
5 → r
6 → t
7 → g
8 → v
9 → b
0 → x

This means that all keys surround my movement keys and once you learn where they are, it’s really easy to quickly react rather than reaching half way across your keyboard for the 9 key.

For WoW, I used a similar setup, but had CTRL + ALT modifiers. I’d have every useful skill bound and once I learned where they were, it just became automatic, it was nice.

I did some thing similar to andy, but kept my movement on WASD and moved my profession skills to a more accessible location:
q → a (strafe left)
e → d (strafe right)
f → g (interact)
6 → q (heal)
7 → e (util 1)
8 → r (util 2)
9 → f (util 3)
0 → b (elite)
f1 → z (prof skill 1)
f2 → x (prof skill 2)
f3 → c (prof skill 3)
f4 → v (prof skill 4)

WASD for forward, strafe left, backward, strafe right
mouse turning with mouse2
weapon swap is on a mouse thumb button
weapons skills are on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
healing skill is q
utility on r, e, t
elite on shift+r
class specifics on shift+1, 2, 3, 4 [if the class even has that many, of course]
dodge is on v, but I normally just double-tap a direction
Nearest target is c, tab for next

If I get annoyed with t being a little bit of a stretch from the WASD position, I can easily throw in something like alt-R, alt-Q, alt-E or shift-Q, etc. That way my movement/skills hand never really moves.

In other MMOs, I made use of middle-click, a couple thumb buttons on my mouse, and the like as well. I have three or four mouse buttons I don’t really use in GW for action, so now I just have weapon swapping and auto-run bound there. I haven’t felt need to move from keyboard hotkeys yet in GW2.

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But of course this is all just what I find comfortable / has been stuck in my head due to use for years in other MMOs. I think the best advice, really, is to disregard all of our posts and find what is comfortable for you and where you place your hands. Ideally, you should just keep in mind the following:
-- what keys are best for you to have quick access to your weapon skills and probably your heal?
-- are you comfortable using the keys around your movement keys? If not, is there a way you could re-bind your movement keys to make it easier for you to spam what spells you want to spam?

Personally, I’ve never liked the use of F-keys for hotkeys like it is by default. That’s too far a distance that it interrupts movement.
But I have used a mapping like I described above long enough that it’s just second nature to me, and I have no trouble running and jumping while activating any of my skills.

Actually more often than not I forget that Guild Wars 2 doesn’t let you cast while in the air, and my habit of running around and jumping (I think my characters all have A.D.D.) frustrates me when I try to also cast something.

As Synk said I think the best approach is to work out what works best for you by trial and error.

I started off with the default set-up and every time I realise I’m having trouble using a key, or I keep hitting where I expect it to be instead of where it is (usually due to habits from other games) I move it.

You might want to check out this guide and read some of the comment suggestions posted on Taugrim:

http://taugrim.com/2012/06/27/guide-to-guild-wars-2-keybinds/

I’ve used both a Naga and a slightly modified keybind layout to the one above and both have worked well for me – but as others have suggested you may want to play around with some settings based on how you play. I also move (except for strafing) with my mouse along as well as control my camera with my mouse – which would definitely free up your hands if you’re trying to move exclusively with WASD and attempting to keep up with your ability hotkeys. (You only have so many fingers!)

I also used ideas from Taugrim’s guide, and adapted them a bit for myself.

I rest my left hand in the normal typing position, and use S-D-F for Left Strafe, Forward and Right Strafe.

My pinky uses A for Dodge and Z to Switch Weapons. I rarely move backwards, so I relegated the Move Backwards key to the bottom row (X, although C feels more natural).

Then I remapped the weapon and utility skills to other keys surrounding the home row: Q-Y, G-H, C-B. I use the number keys for targeting.

I left the F1-F4 keys as they were, but you might prefer remapping them to 1-4. Or remap F1-F4 to the bottom row, and place the utiliy skills on 1-5.

Some radical person wrote that he learned to center his left hand on the center of the keyboard, I think making his movement keys Y, G, H and J, and he remaps all the other skills around those.

Using the default keybindings template, if you move Autorun onto Mouse 4, then the Guild Dialog and Scoreboard onto the right-hand side of the keyboard, you will be left with eight empty keys on the left-hand side which can replace [7]-[0] and [F1]-[F4]:

[Q], [E], [R], [G], [Z], [X], [C] and [B]

As a rule of thumb I don’t recommend sacrificing [W], [A], [S] or [D], especially in a game with jumping puzzles. Relying on the mouse completely for movement often comes at the expense of good camera control.