How many skill bars do you keep open?

Mine is complex, but its complexity makes it simple to use

I have 2 rows, numberkeys 1-2 (2x) and the Function key row above it,

number keys are set up with 2 unique keysets
1- solo mode, i have my cleric attacks here and IHB as my only heal. This setup i use when i need to quest.

2-FB/TT/BH suppode mode- all i have here are all my heals, res, and at the end in the least accessable places an attack or 2. I never attack when im in a party, im a healer first, for most, and only. It is my opinion i should never be cuase in midcast using an attack when a DD suddenly takes agro.

and the Function key row, i have my single target buffs Macxrod in one slot, party buffs macro'd in another, my debuffs and BB and RB.

I have all 8 open at all times. I never shuffle through them, that annoys me. 3 on bottom right with pots etc and 5 vertical on the right sitting below my squad list for easier healing etc..... but I also have a wide screen and they aren't in the way at all.

Gets really full if I make more apoc. Thank god I don't have sword skills O_o.
http://img211.yfrog.com/img211/3310/20100213010046.png

How many skill bars do you keep open?

All of them.

My cleric was easy, just the 2 main bars with another I pop out for when I need buff macro, BB, or other role not always needed. For AoE, just swapped to a different bar and used that one with still only two showing. To shrink it, just use one of each type of potion. It will use them all up, and automatically switch to a different level of the same type. As long as you have any health potion of useable levels, you can keep using the same hotkey.

BM uses all when running with group by necessity, have a few spare slots that are being taken over by a bow for Frost runs and other such, hate having to chase down those ghost heads with ray/farstrike.

please guys please..


what else you need?

I myself only keep 2 open for both bars. Forces me to choose whatever's most efficient. And cycling is pretty effective too. For instance i only keep a few foxform skills on my regular setup (foxform itself, Amplify Damage, befuddling mist and Purge) If i need to use say stunning blow, i'll just [v] and have all my foxform skills available.

Clutter does make you a more unefficient player as a) IMO makes it harder to actually find a skill the second you need it b) negatively impacts situational awareness. I've seen other venos' setup and always find it weird some waste so much room keybinding pets. I only keep 3 slots for pets myself (two for my regulars, one that i use to switch between situationals).

Also i try to always keep things familiar, for instance whatever's my heaviest nuke will always be on the same key and so on. Saves time, gives you a better reaction time and after a while you don't need to even look at the bars to use a skill.

Zandiya - Heavens Tear wrote: »

...

b:dirty

...I want this.

It's so...so...!!

ಥ_ಥ ...beautiful!!

MANray_ - Sanctuary wrote: »

I myself only keep 2 open for both bars. Forces me to choose whatever's most efficient. And cycling is pretty effective too. For instance i only keep a few foxform skills on my regular setup (foxform itself, Amplify Damage, befuddling mist and Purge) If i need to use say stunning blow, i'll just [v] and have all my foxform skills available.

Clutter does make you a more unefficient player as a) IMO makes it harder to actually find a skill the second you need it b) negatively impacts situational awareness. I've seen other venos' setup and always find it weird some waste so much room keybinding pets. I only keep 3 slots for pets myself (two for my regulars, one that i use to switch between situationals).

Also i try to always keep things familiar, for instance whatever's my heaviest nuke will always be on the same key and so on. Saves time, gives you a better reaction time and after a while you don't need to even look at the bars to use a skill.

I have all bars open at all times and have no problem finding whatever skill i need at any given time. The bottom bolded text answers the top bolded text quite nicely. This works no matter how many bars you have open. If you know your character and your skills, there is no inefficiency involved.

We all play our own way. This does not make any way the 'right' way, just right for you.

yah lol

you all have so much random stuff on your bars that doesnt even need to be there...

how can you all deal with such clutter?

most of my characters only need at most 2 rows on either bar... exception being my BM, which needs at least 3 rows on both bars, but could use 4 rows on one bar if really comes down to it


sidenote: hai aadi b:chuckle

I use all my bars, I even have **** I don't use on my skill bars.

Aadi - Lost City wrote: »

Ohai! I love when my forum buddies come join me on my server b:victory

told ya i'd come join ya b:laugh


ontopic:
i generally keep one bar (and sub-bars) for my attack skills, and the other one for my buffs/non-combat skills

On my cleric (my main), I keep things fairly simple. I find this important, as playing a cleric is more instinctual than, say, a wiz (my wiz keeps all 3 F bars and 2 1-9 bars open, all clicking). I use all 3 F bars (cycling (with tab), and folded) and 1 1-9 bar (folded)

Ok, here's my cleric's setup.

Bar 1:

1. Wellspring
2. Ironheart
3. Chromatic Somethingorother
4. Purify
5. Cyclone
6. Plumeshot
7. Wield Thunder
8. Tempest

This is my Attack/Heal bar, with most of my attacks and heals on here (counting purify as a heal). I spend most of my time on this one, as I spend most of my time healing and DDing. My keyboard clumps the F buttons into groups of four. Essentially, the 1-4 group is my heals and the 5-8 group is my attacks. F1 and F4 are quite easy to reach, which is good as they require the fastest reflexes. The 5-8 group is easy to use as well.

Bar 2:

1. Wellspring
2. Ironheart
3. Revive
4. Plume Shell
5. Phys Buff
6. Mag Buff
7. Regen Buff
8. M.atk Buff

This is my Defense/Buff bar. Pretty self-explanatory. Wellspring and Ironheart are skills which I can't afford to accidentally click something else, so I like to keep them consistent.

Bar 3:

1. Wellspring
2. Ironheart
3. Regeneration Aura
4. Empty (saving for a 79 skill)
5. Phys Debuff
6. Mag Debuff
7. Freeze Debuff
8. Sleep Debuff

This is my Miscellaneous/Debuff bar. 1-4 is misc, 5-8 is debuffs. I like how I don't have to shift between 1-4 and 5-8 when I'm DDing and debuffing at the same time. Also, I only have to press TAB once to switch to my attack bar, and there are many reasons to start on this bar then switch to my attack bar, which I find convenient. If I have to go back to my debuff bar, it's usually because they are either still asleep, the fight hasn't started yet, or the fight is over.

1-9 Bar

1. Fly
2. Meditate
3. Pick Up Items
4. Panther
5. Single Spark
6. Double Spark
7. Empty (saving for triple spark)
8. AOE Buff Macro
9. Chi Building Macro (Blessing of the Purehearted + Wellspring)

This is my utility/macro bar. It's nice to have these here, as they never change and I use them on a fairly consistent basis.

Everything not on a bar is generally unurgent enough to access from the R menu (aside from maybe Razor Feathers, but I'm already too used to this)