Guild Wars 2

Alright. Been doing a lot of reading and decided that I need to lose the perception that a Ranger is primarily a ranged archer class.

So I have been practising with Sword/Dagger with auto attack off. I have a pretty good system/rotation going on but still need to perfect it. Although the past few nights I have had more success than ever in melee. still lose more than I win but they are good fights.

Here is the problem. I need to do 3 things at same time.

1. Autoattack so I need to manually hit each attack button.
2. Dodge and weave. Keyboard + mouse turns.

So currently one hand is on keyboard…forward/backwards/strafes right/left. Plus I have 2 keys close for pet switch and face other direction.
Other hand is on mouse and I need to decide either to use it to mouse turn or to click on weapon 1-5. Can’t do both.

Likely not explaining it properly but bottom line is my movement is suffering atm.

How do you guys do it ?

I leave auto attack on, and dodge with skills 2, 3, and 4. Using a sword+dagger gives you access to 3 evade skills on relatively short cooldowns. Learn to use them to your advantage.

Razr naga use the mouse thumb:). Profit.

Quarktastic.1027:

I leave auto attack on, and dodge with skills 2, 3, and 4. Using a sword+dagger gives you access to 3 evade skills on relatively short cooldowns. Learn to use them to your advantage.

Yep, that is an option. Not really a fan though of having to rely on that rather than also being able to dodge roll. Might have to consider it.

Arrys.7145:

Razr naga use the mouse thumb:). Profit.

Yea ? Do you have your 5 attacks on the side of the mouse ? It sounds fantastic in theory. How hard is it to train yourself to use it ?

I play a sword+dagger and shortbow ranger in pvp, I can even win against some nasty thieves! I base most buttons around the WASD keys and use AD as strafe instead of turn, this allows for quick return to movement keys after using skills, and 8 directions to dodge in. I use the following setup:

Autoattack turned on or off, depending on whether I’m using shortbow or sword. It’s just a matter of ctrl+rightclick anyway.

F1-F4 are pet commands.
` or tilde (next to 1) is weapon swap.
1 to 5 are weapon skills.
Q is heal, R is elite. (E could be elite, but chances of me accidentally hitting it are high)
ZXC is utility skills.
A and D are strafe left and right instead of default of turn left and right. Easier movement.

I still mouse look with right click and mouse movement. Big, big part good movement skills.

Mouse 3 (middle mouse button/scroll wheel click) for dodge. Combined with WASD can create 8 directional dodges.

I use mouse button 4 (near/on thumb) to target closest enemy, and press tab to cycle through targets.

Autotarget is turned off.
Double tap to evade is turned off.
Free look is turned on. (Autorun while looking around with camera in bigger maps/fights)

This is after trial and error of various control schemes, it just feels ‘natural’ in such an action-oriented profession and game. I’m not hoping you adopt my control scheme obviously, but I do hope you can find some inspiration from it!

It does sound like you’re a ‘clicker’ (clicking on skills instead of pressing them), whereas I’m a ‘presser’ (pressing buttons for skills), so our styles may be too different for you to glean anything from.

I have autotarget turned off
Double tap to evade = off ? So just the mouse scroll button = roll ?

I moved the keys over so R = forward, F = backwards, D+G = strafes. T = about face and E = weapon swap.

Dunno if I changed it back to W as forward ig I would be able to continously hit 1-5 while using W,S,A,D

For sure at minumum I need a better mouse.

I have a razar naga and i really love my sword. its is really easy to hit 1 2 3 4 and 5
the rest need practice. I also have the mouse wheel mapped as f4 for switching pets so easy to get the burst of of them. I have the button just under the most wheel map to weopan swap.

Playing Gw2 with a razar naga vs a normal mouse is like going from a bicycle to a motorcycle. I will also add that playing a sword ranger with auto attack on is like using training wheels. Once you get the basics down the train wheels just get in the way.

Forzani.2584:

Arrys.7145:

Razr naga use the mouse thumb:). Profit.

Yea ? Do you have your 5 attacks on the side of the mouse ? It sounds fantastic in theory. How hard is it to train yourself to use it ?

took me maybe two hours in SWTOR to get it down although most of that was adapting from a trackball I liked to use for spin turns in FPS’ games. Gives you a full 12 keys on the side of the mouse. Was an absolute must use in SWTOR with all it’s hotkeys.

I actually hotkey 5 attacks plus heal and stun break to the mouse.

other 2 utilities and elite on 2,3,4

movement to esdf etc..(Opens more hotkeys on the keyboard).

Serraphin Storm.2369:

I have a razar naga and i really love my sword. its is really easy to hit 1 2 3 4 and 5
the rest need practice. I also have the mouse wheel mapped as f4 for switching pets so easy to get the burst of of them. I have the button just under the most wheel map to weopan swap.

Playing Gw2 with a razar naga vs a normal mouse is like going from a bicycle to a motorcycle. I will also add that playing a sword ranger with auto attack on is like using training wheels. Once you get the basics down the train wheels just get in the way.

Wow, you sold me on the naga.

Yes, it was a eureka moment when I turned auto attack off on sword and took a closer look at the attack ranges for the chain. It allowed me to add yet another dodge.

Not really sure of the mechanics of dagger 4 is though. I know for GS block you can see your toon stand there with sword up waiting to block. Have not noticed that yet with dagger 4.

Lots to learn for this n00b !

A Ranger uses all of his tools to be effective. It’s not wise to rely on a single weapon/off hand to do all the damage. I’ve found that GS/LB is the best weapon combo for spvp and I think that’s why you start with it when you first enter the mist. You get 3 knockbacks if you use a canine or porcine, too.

I have straffs set to “C” and “V”, so that I can put my thumb on them and still be able to push all the buttons on my keyboard. My mouse has two buttons, but just that keybind changes everything for me!

Welswift.9813:

I have straffs set to “C” and “V”, so that I can put my thumb on them and still be able to push all the buttons on my keyboard. My mouse has two buttons, but just that keybind changes everything for me!

Hey that sounds pretty good also. C/V for thumb strafe. R/F for forward/back and I have good access with 3 fingers to hit 1-5

Not bad

Serraphin Storm.2369:

I will also add that playing a sword ranger with auto attack on is like using training wheels. Once you get the basics down the train wheels just get in the way.

Question for you. Do you press 1 1 1 1 over an over, or did you macro a button to autopress 1 if you hold it down (on your mouse)? Just thinking it may be the best of both worlds, you get the “autoattack” by holding down a macrod button on you mouse and the freedom from not being auto-locked if you don’t hold it down.

Also, I just got the naga-knock off logitech g600 and it’s great for half the price. Took a few hours to get used to it, but I have my 7-0, f1-f4, and four buttons to spare. No going back.

Macro sounds like a good idea tbh. What I’ve used so far is kept autoattack on to maintain the nice burst with QZ on 1h sword, but disabled autotarget.

By default GW2 locks a target as soon as you hit them. With it off, I can press Esc to break target and autoattack will not trigger. I can then do my acrobatics and reaquire the target with TAB.

http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/electronics/detail-page/B000WMEHYG-3-lg.jpg

This

with a Naga