Guild Wars 2

I have experience in the mmo genre (comming from WoW). Now im interested in leveling up an elementalist and im interested in competitive PvP/WvW. Now the question is:

Do i really need a gaming mouse or gaming keyboard to be competitive ?

Will i be fine with keybindings only ?

Many thanks in advance…

You don’t need it. I’m using razer naga 2014 and razer orbweaver, but normal mouse and keyboard is enough in my opinion.

You don’t need it if you have a good setup with your keybindings. Regular old keyboard and mouse will do. However, I personally find that it helps me a lot having a gaming mouse (regular keyboard) – twitch reflexes are obviously a lot faster if you have everything all in one place, but like I said, if you have a good setup on your keyboard, then that will work fine for you (I just prefer spreading out my skills between my left hand and my mouse).

It depends on how competitive you want to me. For most pvp/wvw, you don’t need it. But at the high end, every little bit counts. Me personally, while I’m horrible at pvp/wvw, I couldn’t imagine playing with just a regular mouse/keyboard.

No need to buy “gaming” junk.

I have both: a Razer Acosta keyboard and a Logitech G400 mouse.

Personally I’ve never found the extra functions on the keyboard all that useful, especially in GW2 where it’s already possible to rebind keys and macros aren’t allowed.

But I don’t think I could ever go back to using a normal mouse. It’s certainly possible to play any game, including GW2 without one. But it does make things much easier. Mine is fairly minimal, it has 2 extra buttons on the side and 3 extra down the middle but they’re so useful. I have most of my combat related keyboard commands clustered together on the number pad and then others on the mouse and it means I never have to move my hands around, just my fingers. Which greatly reduces the risk of hitting the wrong key.

If you’re not sure about getting one I’d recommend thinking about your current set-up, what keys are hard to reach or press accurately and have a look at some gaming mice to see how they could help. Ideally go to a shop so you can actually hold them and get a feel for how you’d reach the buttons. If there’s one you like that’s within your price range give it a go, if it seems too expensive for the extra ease of use then stick with what you’ve got.

Needed? Not at all.
But I have to say that it is a nice QoL, I have a CM Storm Inferno, not as many additional buttons as a Naga but be able to dodge, and use the elite and utility skills in the mouse is great.

I have ONE custom keybind on my mouse (a thumb button bound to dodge) and have NOTHING custom-bound on my Roccat keyboard for Guild Wars 2.

You have very few buttons to begin with, so keybinds/macros aren’t really needed for anything… relative to games like FPS’s and such.

As far as other features of gaming gear: I wanted heavier-duty MX keys because I have a tendency to smack the snot outta keys – it prevents re-buying for 3-4 years. I destroy cheap keyboard space bars in a year otherwise.

I haven’t even considered mouse sampling rates/mouse resolution ONCE in Guild Wars 2. FPS’s, sure; but not in this game… just not necessary.

doesn’t rly matter your keyboard or mouse, its all about how well u play. Player skill level trumps nearly every other factor, except maybe your latency in most cases. I have a cheap $10 wired mouse and just use my laptop keyboard. I still have default key bindings, well except for Ele attunement swap which I found easier with Shift+1 etc. Also my dodge key V was somehwat non-responsive after a while, so I rebound it to C and now I’m used to that.

not needed but nice. Mechanical keys are awesome and the better switches on gaming mice are less prone to wear down and not work like many cheaper products.

You mouse and keyboard are used every day and it is worthwhile to buy a quality product for the only parts of the computer you touch.

Thanks for the answers, i think at first im going to stick with the keybindings, maybe later ill give a try to the gaming mouse…

“Gaming keyboards” are mostly complete BS. Majority of the “functionality” that they offer bears no relation to playing a game. Media keys, repetition speed or LED backlight? That’s not gonna change your performance. The macro keys are usually situated so far from the WASD cluster that using them slows you down and you’d be better off rebinding to something closer that is already on every keyboard.

As for gaming mice? Well, that’s almost an exact opposite. Majority of the functionality in a gaming mouse will have some use in some scenarios. Having extra side buttons means that you can use your thumb and ring finger for something other than holding onto your mouse for dear life, which is awesome. Other than that, being able to tune the sensitivity of your mouse and save it on the mouse (or the cloud in case of Razer) is handy so that your settings stay consistent.
And while it might not sound like you’ll need to tune your CPI in increments of 1, it’s nice to have the option to tune the mouse to exact perfection. Not to mention it’s absolutely priceless for games that have bad or no sensitivity control whatsoever, particularly older games.
As for weight adjustment, I used to think that it was a complete gimmick and no one should use the weights. However, that is also a personal preference: Some like heavier mice, others don’t. And in some cases, the extra weight can make the mouse easier to manage, especially if you’re using a hard mousepad, as those can be pretty slippery.

But in the end, it’s not a yes-or-no type of question. Some people play perfectly fine with a mouse that has 2 buttons and a scroll wheel because they have Gandalf-grade management of their keybinds with the Shift and Alt keys. Others find themselves doing more mistakes if they have to use Shift to access something. Some will find themselves performing best when their left hand is only using WASD for movement. You have to experiment and find where your weaknesses are. Once you know what trips you, you’ll know what you need to look out for. And lastly, once you know the functionality that you want out of your mouse, go to someplace where you can try them out. There is nothing quite as maddening as finding a mouse that has all the functionality you need but a shape that makes your hand cramp. Or buying a keyboard only to discover that you prefer different keyswitches or key height.

Personally, I am using a SteelSeries 6Gv2 and a Zowie EC1 eVo. I chose the keyboard because it’s a cheap, mechanical keyboard that has a numpad and media keys, as those are a must for me. I chose a mechanical keyboard because I do a lot of writing on a daily basis. The mouse I chose based on its shape and similarity to mice such as Razer’s DeathAdder and Microsoft’s IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0. Recently I have been considering getting a mouse that has maybe 3 or 4 sidebuttons so that I could do something about the class mechanics tied to F2, F3 and F4. After trying them at a shop, I found that the Razer Naga and the corresponding Logitech mouse aren’t of a shape that I can use comfortably.

Lets phrase it like this: The more LED lamps and buttons and kitten, the kittentier the mouse or keyboard is.

Just choose something that’s comfortable.

Personally, I use a Steelseries 6Gv2 (have had it for years and buttons click like they are new, it really is built like a tank) and a Razer Deathadder 2013. Of course it got a kitten shiny Razer logo on it that oooooh lights up all green and kitten, its begun doubleclicking after roughly 6 months use.

Even when broken my Deathadder is better than a Razer Lycosa I had, worst keyboard ever. Keys get stuck, color wear off and its just kitten.

To replace my mouse I had high hopes for a Func MS-3 sequel with optical lens, but nope they went and kittened it up by making it a logitech copycat mouse instead. Never trust “gaming” stuff.

Personally I use a G13 Logitech keypad, but I absolutely SUCK at using a keyboard in games…..

As for a mouse, keep in mind that the right click button is likely to get worn out as holding it down is required to mouse turn (and you ShOULD be mouse turning).

Dawdler.8521:

Lets phrase it like this: The more LED lamps and buttons and kitten, the kittentier the mouse or keyboard is.

Not really. Corsair is producing an RGB backlit mechanical keyboard with Cherry. However, if the LED lighting is a prominient “feature”, then it’s a kittenty product.

I do remember Logitech once making some mouse where they changed the position of the sensor so that they could fit an LED light in it. That is an example of a kittenty product.

To replace my mouse I had high hopes for a Func MS-3 sequel with optical lens, but nope they went and kittened it up by making it a logitech copycat mouse instead. Never trust “gaming” stuff.

That is kinda like with SteelSeries. Nowadays SteelSeries produces some good stuff in various fields, but they started out as a mousepad company (anyone remember SteelPad?). Func is most known for their mousepads, which are still awesome.

As for a mouse, keep in mind that the right click button is likely to get worn out as holding it down is required to mouse turn (and you ShOULD be mouse turning).

Unless you’re hulking the kitten out of that mouse, just pressing it down isn’t going to break it unless it was fragile in the first place.

I’ve been using a Razer Anansi (Keyboard) and Razer Naga (Mouse) for a good year now and they work pretty well. I don’t really find gaming keyboards to be all that beneficial unless you really make full use of all the extra keys. I’ve never really found myself using any of them at least in GW2. Its probably more useful for other MMO’s with alot more skills. You should easily be able to keybind everything on to a normal keyboard without any problems. The tactile feedback on the keys feel nice so if thats important for you give it a shot.

Having a gaming mouse is very convenient since it gives you full access to certain keys (depending on the model) with just a press of your thumb. A normal mouse is good enough, but if you game alot it can make playing alot easier. It will take some time getting used to it in the beginning (1-2 week or so) to start feeling natural. Once you do get a feel for it normal mice just won’t feel the same.

I bought a cheap $40 gaming mouse because I was having trouble reaching past the 5 key in combat and it really made a difference for me. The mouse I bought also has a little button on the top left of the left mouse button so I use that for dodging now. I also bought a $45 gaming keyboard, mostly because I tend to play late at night and it helps to have a backlit keyboard. It’s really just a personal preference. The gaming mouse does take some getting used to if you’ve never had one before, so if you don’t have a problem without one, you might be better off not getting one.

It depends. If you want to play pvp extensively or roam a lot in wvw, then definitely yes.

There aren’t that many keybinds in GW2, so a gaming keyboard is a waste of money (especially since any macro that does anything other than keybind will get you banned).

I love having my skill keys on my mouse though, as they are much easier to reach with a thumb than with your movement hand.

Blasfemina.3694:

I have experience in the mmo genre (comming from WoW). Now im interested in leveling up an elementalist and im interested in competitive PvP/WvW. Now the question is:

Do i really need a gaming mouse or gaming keyboard to be competitive ?

Will i be fine with keybindings only ?

Many thanks in advance…

U can try a xbox 360 controller, you’ll have to setup everything to hiw ever u like. That’s what I’m using every time I play this game, I’m not use to keyboard and mouse.

For the keyboard, I think the most important thing is that you can tell what key it is by touching it. My keys had no texture at all so I put a piece of tape on the W so I can find it without looking.

I have a logitec g600 mouse. I like it, but I can only use the front 6 thumb buttons. I think it was designed for smaller thumbs. The g-shift button on the mouse is really helpful. Is it needed? No, I had a lot of good times in wvw before I got it. It is better with it though.