How are you hotkeying manual shield controls?

generator88 · November 2014

Hey folks,

So I'm trying to get a few more things keybound, and one thing that has eluded me so far is an effective way to allocate shields. I've got distribute set to the Z key, along with a few things like Emergency Power to X slits and such; that's the button I hit like it owes me money.

But what I need in addition to that are hotkeys for putting all shields to one of the four facings. The WASD keys would be naturals for this, but I still have them as helm controls (maybe 90% of the time I use the mouse for helm control, but sometimes the keyboard is the tool for the job). One or the other of those two functions could maybe be controlled by Shift/Ctrl/Alt and those four keys, I haven't decided which ones feel most comfortable yet.

Anyone else had any luck putting either helm or shields somewhere besides WASD, and if so, where?

Thanks for your time.

Generator

breadandcircuses · November 2014

You can keybind more than one command to a key, but be warned that you can only trigger one ability per button press... so if you have steering (a command) and Distribute Shields (an ability) both attached to WASD you can steer and Distribute Shields when you do so. If you stack too many commands in a single button, though, you need to keep pushing the button to get it to trigger all of them... thus the comments by many players about "mash spacebar!" playstyles, where you simply bind everything to the spacebar and whack away. Okay, that came out wrong, but it really is the gist of it.

generator88 · November 2014

Hmm, it hadn't even occurred to me to put both helm and shields on the same keypress; I mean, I know you can do it, but I just hadn't thought of it as a thing to be done. I've tried to keep from binding too many things into a single key, just to avoid getting two independent things tangled up together.

Bread, let me ask you this, is doubling up those two commands in that spot something you would do?

Another set of keys that might be candidates to get involved are arrow keys that live to the left of the number pad. If I do that, I'll have to figure out which set of commands to move there.

Thanks for the time.

Generator

dabelgrave · November 2014

My keybind file includes:

w "+power_exec Distribute_Shields $$ +invertibleup"
a "+power_exec Distribute_Shields $$ +left"
s "+power_exec Distribute_Shields $$ +invertibledown"
d "+power_exec Distribute_Shields $$ +right"

This doesn't do exactly what you asked, particularly being able to redirect shields to a specific facing, but it does do the basic redirecting to all facings.

ghyudt · November 2014

Its actually really difficult to set the single shield distribution commands if you're using a bunch of different consoles or other items. Currently, I don't use the single shield distribution, because I really don't have any room left. But if I were to remove saucer rep, red matter capacitor, antimatter spread, and distribute shields to all, I would bind them to my Razer nagas mouse wheel, since it has a left and right click on the wheel itself. Other than than that, you could bind them to your arrow keys and just set your weapons to auto fire. Steer with wasd, did tribute shields with the arrows, and macro some of your right hand number pad keys to multiple abilities (I.e, shield heal abilities, hull heal abilities, beam/cannon and or torp mod abilities, etc).

darkjeff · November 2014

The arrow keys distribute to a shield facing fine, if Tactical Team isn't active.

So in other words, I almost never manually distribute shields. I might click the center to even out my facings between combat.

szerontzur · November 2014

I just have "Distribute Shields" (and "Roll" on ground) bound to my Mouse 4 button in the ingame keybind settings. I find there's rarely a need to distribute to a singular facing; even-distribution seems to be faster and it's useful for other things like maxing out all shield facings with RSP.

generator88 · November 2014

darkjeff wrote: »

The arrow keys distribute to a shield facing fine, if Tactical Team isn't active.

So in other words, I almost never manually distribute shields. I might click the center to even out my facings between combat.

The arrow keys are already doing that? Sheesh, chalk one up to the dangers of posting when you're not at your game PC.

Sheepishly,
Generator

mightybobcnc · November 2014

Yes, the default behavior of the arrow keys is to divert shields to X facing. :P

woodwhity · November 2014

I use Tactical team^^

chuckwolf · November 2014

Well I did have it so pressing the right trigger and up, down, left or right on the D-pad of my controller did so and both triggers balanced them, but right now controller support is gone, so I'm currently not playing until they fix it.

tiekosora · November 2014

I use a Logitech G-13, and have my Distribute key set to repeat while toggled. Keeps my old fingers from having to mash buttons constantly. I have it placed between my button for Fire Phasers and Fire Torpedoes. I turn it off when not in combat, because it interferes with interacting with objects such as the rifts in the MI event. It also interferes with chat, inserting the ]]]]]]] throughout my typed message. That's the extent of my automation. I don't double up commands onto a single key or have any of those fancy string commands.

gilion · November 2014

ya to be honest I also just use the arrow keys to divert shield power. I dont have a hot key to evenly distribute shields but I manage easily enough just using the arrow keys

breadandcircuses · November 2014

generator88 wrote: »

Hmm, it hadn't even occurred to me to put both helm and shields on the same keypress; I mean, I know you can do it, but I just hadn't thought of it as a thing to be done. I've tried to keep from binding too many things into a single key, just to avoid getting two independent things tangled up together.

Bread, let me ask you this, is doubling up those two commands in that spot something you would do?

Another set of keys that might be candidates to get involved are arrow keys that live to the left of the number pad. If I do that, I'll have to figure out which set of commands to move there.

Thanks for the time.

Generator

These basically sum up what I've done:

dabelgrave wrote: »

My keybind file includes:
w "+power_exec Distribute_Shields $$ +invertibleup"
a "+power_exec Distribute_Shields $$ +left"
s "+power_exec Distribute_Shields $$ +invertibledown"
d "+power_exec Distribute_Shields $$ +right"

This doesn't do exactly what you asked, particularly being able to redirect shields to a specific facing, but it does do the basic redirecting to all facings.

Which allows you to naturally spread out your shield facings. It's handy for between combat, since in combat manual distribution is still slower than...

woodwhity wrote: »

I use Tactical team^^

...using Tactical Team. You will die if you rely solely on Distribute Shields to spread things out during a fight since manual distribution is so slow. What you accomplish by balancing your facings is making sure that whatever facing gets hit in the next volley has something to protect it, while also ensuring that you aren't wasting potential shield regen or shield healing on a full facing. Tactical Team, on the other hand, transfers shielding fast enough that it can actually counter incoming fire.

Then again, Tactical Team only lasts 10 secs and has a 15 sec gobal cooldown. In a fight, you'll probably want to try to...

crashdragon wrote: »

I just turn any weak shields away from fire.

...move when a facing goes down. It's much less of an issue now that the Intel Specialization offers DRM on that side and a shield HoT to all facings... but if you can move your weakened shields away from you opponent, you really should do so. It's tougher when using DHCs/DCs/DBBs, since you only have the one optimal arc rather than an optimal arc on each side of the ship, but leaving a down facing where your enemy is shooting... nuh uh.

Basically, do all three and you will find yourself having an easier time of not exploding. Rely on one and forget the others... and you'll develop bad habits that make the Respawn button show up.

snowpig74 · November 2014

I have only one keybind: 5 - distribute shield power. This is an old relic from STO beta.

noroblad · November 2014

I put equalize all on space bar, and the rest are right where they were --- on the arrow keys. I almost never use them, and the occasional arrow key works for me. I think at most I use the "front" one some if I get into a slugfest with a boss and my tactical team is down or not working (tac team does not work on crystal, for example).

generator88 · November 2014

I see another "Remember Sammy Jenks" tattoo in my future about the arrow keys. Always helpful to have another tool in the toolbox. Thanks, guys.

ghostsofwar116 · November 2014

OP, I would recommend taking a look at this:http://hilbertguide.com/

You would use tray number 7 on your Ship Tray, Load it down with all the abilities you want and can fit on the row, then just press spacebar, it fires your weapons, activates your abilities one by one left to right, and rotates your shields.

generator88 · November 2014

Yup, I've been aware of that for many moons.

I was more in the market for something to cover the times I just need one thing done, in his case, my shield routing. In my typical setup, something similar to the Hilbert tray 7 (but on a smaller scale) is usually given to the Z key, which includes a full distribute. Just at the time I posted, I hadn't been aware that the individual facings are mapped to the arrow keys by default.

Thanks, though.

Generator

darkjeff · November 2014

This doesn't appear to be common knowledge, but it really should be - don't spam Distribute Shields. It will interrupt your weapons' firing cycles.

For that matter, I hear if you spam Fire All it can interrupt the firing cycles too.

generator88 · November 2014

Now that's interesting. I don't think I was aware of that fact, and I'll certainly try to be mindful of it going forward.

On the subject of automating things, let me ask this. What I usually do with my weapons is instead of banging on my spacebar all night like I'm looking for a food pellet, I have my weapons set to autofire, then I change settings to not start firing on newly acquired targets until I've fired manually once. Even if it's not absolute "best practices", I'm hoping that's at least not an "eat the french fry that fell on the movie theater floor"-level bad idea. Anyone?

Generator

mightybobcnc · November 2014

darkjeff wrote: »

This doesn't appear to be common knowledge, but it really should be - don't spam Distribute Shields. It will interrupt your weapons' firing cycles.

For that matter, I hear if you spam Fire All it can interrupt the firing cycles too.

Lots of things interrupt the firing cycles and it really grinds my gears.

ksobanana · November 2014

You would use tray number 7 on your Ship Tray, Load it down with all the abilities you want and can fit on the row, then just press spacebar, it fires your weapons, activates your abilities one by one left to right, and rotates your shields.

... Stupid binding method imho... Fellow players that actually use that kind of binding are either lazier than when they were inside their momma's cozy womb, or not using that binding method at all... Glad I'm using my own personal bindings, because they actually make sense in more ways than one.

I have my weapons set to autofire, then I change settings to not start firing on newly acquired targets until I've fired manually once.

... Not exactly a bad practice, but autofire won't take advantage of high damage opportunities... Or use your weapon power properly... It just shoots... and consumes... but that subject is so debateable it actually became ridiculous trying to debate it. Fellow players think that autofire is good enough until they try the other way properly. At that time, they simply stop using autofire because manual fire ends up performing a lot better than auto.

Lots of things interrupt the firing cycles and it really grinds my gears.

... It doesn't bring a problem to me, actually... And it shouldn't be a problem for you if you activate stuff in their proper time instead of mashing the activation buttons. Game only activates one button/action at a time, and queues up a 2nd button/action as a follow-up. Mashing on them buttons will only rotate the 2nd action, most likely activating the one you don't want to, as a follow-up for the 1st action.

... Moving on...

generator88, those individual shield distribution are as relevant right now as Tactical Team. The Tactical Team automatic distribution became irrelevant as soon as Delta Rising went live, because PvE ships can deal serious damage. And its so serious, that Tactical Team will provide you with nothing but a small increase in weapon damage which, by itself, is useless. The bonus it provides isn't even big enough if you're completely buffed up. I don't intend to belittle what some of the fellow players mentioned and, as I usually say to my fellow Fleet members, most of the stuff in this game is prefferencial at best. You now know that manual single-facing shield distribution are binded by default to the arrow keys, but what you need to find out is how to use that manual distribution properly AND if it fits with your playstyle.

How are *you* hotkeying manual shield controls?

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How are you hotkeying manual shield controls?