Assassin Buttonbar Layouts

[Xilnip]

<div></div>Ok, so my assassin is only level15 but I already have problems with my four messy button bars. This is especially true in group combat when I don't always dictate how things go (solo I have a combo). Any suggestions or nifty layouts that could save the day? I'm especially curious to hear from those that are raiding consistently and those that thing they have the best layout.<div></div>

[SalBlu]

<P>I keep all my DOT attacks, ie, non stealth attacks on my primary hotbar, buttons 1-6 (and a macro key for my creature attacks).  7-12 are my stealth attacks.  My other bars are kind of all mixed together, but generally I group the things together that have like uses (snares, surveil/stealth, etc).  Secondary bar has to do with my macro keys, where I set my targets (raid tanks, certain mob macros, etc).   Most actions are done with the left hand so that the right can stay on my mouse to click other items if needed.</P> <P>In the end, I split my actions between my mouse and keyboard.</P>

[beliker]

The ones that matter I use on 1-4 ctrl 1-4 and are follows. Ive gotten pretty good at using ctrl keys for macros and sometimes alt so I do use them over clicking.1) Condemning blade.2) Cheap shot3) Exposed Attack4) Bloodthirster5) Numbing Strike(5-= are click skills, its first because in pvp its awsome)ctrl-1) Shadowctrl-2) Slice Throatctrl-3) lvl 1 Stealthctrl-4) Murderours Blade(I might be getting ctrl-2 and ctrl 4 mixed up, which ever does the most damage is in ctrl2)Now in pve I ussually just click because if I go all out with my above combo I get aggro really fast, and then really can't do [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn]. Yet in pvp I can ussually do 1-2-3-4 before people know what hit them. Now if they stand and fight I will go into ctrl1,2,3,4 ussually not 3,4 since they are dead by then. Most of the time its 1-2-3-4-5, snare then our 3 bow attacks in thier back, and maybe a imp weapon to finish them off as they run. I am only 38 right now, but at 50 I will keep everything the same and have decap as like ctrl = and just click on it since its cool down is so long.<div></div>

[Dracor]

<div></div><a href="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=40&message.id=17177" target=_blank>http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=40&message.id=17177</a><div></div><p>Message Edited by Dracorat on <span class=date_text>11-09-2006</span> <span class=time_text>10:30 AM</span>

[Jayad]

<P>This is the one I'm using currently (standard UI):</P> <P><IMG src="http://www.xney.com/eq2/Assassin_KB_Layout.jpg"></P> <P>I may change it up a little bit, only been an assassin a few weeks, but I do raid daily just about.</P> <P>I'm right-handed so you can see it favors the left side of the keyboard.   The main attacks are in the middle, regular 3-8 for standard attacks/DOTs/stealther and the alts for backstabs or rear attacks.  On the left side (1-2 areas) are the AOE and trigger buffs (exacting, concealment).  I swap out stun '1' and sprint 'alt-1' for raid macros like assisting or items like cures that I need to hit fast. </P> <P>I dont' favor having every item as a button on my screen - too messy.  If I need to use items I'll just open my inventory, the exception being certain important ones like cures.  On the top are items & buffs like manastone, shards, hearts, carpet, etc. along with the two temporary buffs for haste & dps. </P> <P>My permanent buffs are on another hotbar ('4') so to buff I just hit shift-4, cast them, then shift-1 to go back.  Since the hate transfer and poison buffs are swapped now and then they also live on the top of the 4th hotbar.</P> <P>Some things are just force of habit from having played eq2 for a while, like '9' being the HO and '5' being the backstab.  (it was the order you got them in long ago as a scout <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> ). </P> <P>Hope that helps.   </P>

[EtoilePirate]

<div></div>I have too much time on my hands tonight, hehe.I keep these across the bottom of my screen.  Text box (with 4 tabs) in the lowermost left-hand corner, then these hotbars to the right of that.(And as someone else mentioned -- some things travel across all my characters.  The HO icon always goes in the same position on all of them, and I always put direct-damage attacks on the top hotbar.  On my Fury, heals go where the Assassin's backstabs are, and on my Illusionist, mezzes and the personae go there.)For now I'm using the default UI, but I don't like to so I won't post a screenie of my whole screen. <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  The UI changes on Test/Beta right now mean that the UI modders haven't caught up to making functional alternatives yet, but I hope next week I can make it all pretty again. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><img src="http://etoilepb.com/eq2/kella_hotbars_1106.png"><div></div><p>Message Edited by EtoilePB on <span class=date_text>11-09-2006</span> <span class=time_text>09:22 PM</span>

[HazNpho]

One thing you could do is Macro's. To cut back on clicking and keys I gotta hit, I've grouped a few. Off the top of my head the only one I can think of is my primary stab and Bounty... Believe me, when its being proced every time it comes up... it adds up. In 1hr I can make enough to pay for a full repair on my armor. Another one I have grouped is doubleshot and improvised weapon. Though I still have Improvised weapon on its own, it cuts down on clicky and makes for fast ways to jump back into the frey.<div></div>

[Xilnip]

Could you explain the Bounty macro thing? I don't have bounty yet so I'm a little out of the loop.<div></div>

[EtoilePirate]

<div><blockquote><hr>Xilnipus wrote:Could you explain the Bounty macro thing? I don't have bounty yet so I'm a little out of the loop.<div></div><hr></blockquote>Bounty is our very first AA point.  When you put it on a mob  (it's got a 3 minute duration and a 3 minute reuse timer, so to use it as often as you can = every three minutes), it gives you a certain amount of coin upon the mob's death -- provided that the mob cons blue or higher to you.  On something like a 71^^^ named mob that can be nearly a gold; on something like a 21v writ mob, it'll be a few pennies.  However, it does add up significantly over weeks if you remember to use it often.If you set up a macro that looked something like this:/useability Killing Blade/useability BountyIt would immediately hit bounty the second you'd finished hitting Killing Blade.  If the reuse timer was up on Killing Blade but not on Bounty, you'd just get a message about it and nothing would happen with Bounty at all.It's actually a very good idea.  So much so that I can't believe I didn't think to steal it sooner.  <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  I'll put it on one of my low-timer non-positional DoTs that I use a lot, so that I'm really hitting Bounty pretty much every 3 minutes.  As the other poster said: the silver adds up into repair costs, and once you start raiding regularly that's no small thing.</div>

[Xilnip]

I have to get Kingdom of Sky to get AA right? Any way to get KoS retail? I've only seen it boxed with EQ2 Orig so far.<div></div>

[HazNpho]

<div><blockquote><hr>EtoilePB wrote:<div>It's actually a very good idea.  So much so that I can't believe I didn't think to steal it sooner.  <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  I'll put it on one of my low-timer non-positional DoTs that I use a lot, so that I'm really hitting Bounty pretty much every 3 minutes.  As the other poster said: the silver adds up into repair costs, and once you start raiding regularly that's no small thing.</div><hr></blockquote>LOL, I actually shoulda mentioned this to you guys a long time ago. My friends and I have been doing it since I got the AA. But I'd say drop it on the quick strike line... I think its a 30s timer for that CA... though I could be wrong.Unfortunatly I haven't seen if you can multi proc with it yet(mainly cause I don't watch when it does proc)... And what sucks about that way of doing things is when your grouped and fighting blues and whites, then all of a sudden a green appears and it procs on him. But for one miss proc, it makes little difference in the larger picture.</div>

[HazNpho]

<div><blockquote><hr>Xilnipus wrote:I have to get Kingdom of Sky to get AA right? Any way to get KoS retail? I've only seen it boxed with EQ2 Orig so far.<div></div><hr></blockquote>Thats actually how I bought it, was grouped with the Original. But if you look at it... I payed 29.99 or something for the DoF exp., and paid less for the grouping of KoS and Original.</div>

[Xilnip]

Ya, but I don't want to lose my current account by buying it bundled, and the digital download sounds like a huge burden. I like having DVDs to reinstall. Is it true when EoF comes out, I'll be able to buy EoF, DoF and KoS all bundled for a good price?<div></div>

[EtoilePirate]

<div><blockquote><hr>Xilnipus wrote:Ya, but I don't want to lose my current account by buying it bundled, and the digital download sounds like a huge burden. I like having DVDs to reinstall. Is it true when EoF comes out, I'll be able to buy EoF, DoF and KoS all bundled for a good price?<div></div><hr></blockquote>Yes.  The EoF DVD, coming out next week, will have all the expansion packs on it.And you'd do well to get it, becuase you can start getting AAs as soon as you ding 10 when it goes live next week, and trust me when I say that the earlier you start, the easier it is.  My 40 Fury has been raking in the points so much faster than my 70 Assassin.  (The Fury was at 26 when KoS went live, and the Assassin was capped at 60.)</div>

[HazNpho]

<div><blockquote><hr>Xilnipus wrote:Ya, but I don't want to lose my current account by buying it bundled, and the digital download sounds like a huge burden. I like having DVDs to reinstall. Is it true when EoF comes out, I'll be able to buy EoF, DoF and KoS all bundled for a good price?<div></div><hr></blockquote>I don't know where you got that idea... You don't lose your current account by buying the bundle. Just like you would with any expansion, just update your keys and it adds KoS. It doesn't wipe your current account.</div>

[Dracor]

I have quite a few macros.<img src="http://keithratliff.com/transfer/bar1.png"><img src="http://keithratliff.com/transfer/bar2.png">Those are my two main bars. (Image in full format: <a href="http://keithratliff.com/transfer/ui.png" target=_blank>http://keithratliff.com/transfer/ui.png</a>)Before I go in to the buttons - it might help to know why the bars are ordered as they are. I use a special game pad device called a nostromo. Here is a picture of it:<img src="http://www.estonteco.com/image/real/n52.jpg">This device lets me control my game from my left hand pretty much. I only touch my keyboard to chat.My right hand stays on my mouse. With the button layout of the nostromo, you can see there are 5 buttons, 5 buttons and then 4 buttons.The on screen buttons are thusly laid out 5, 5, 2 - only 2 because there are only 12 buttons in the hot bar.The two unused buttons control push-to-talk with my ventrilo and then tab-assisted-targetting (which is really a nostromo macro to press CTRL and = at the same time, which pushes yet another button on my third hotbar [not pictured] with the macro of /target_next_npc that I switch sometimes to /assist TANK)Whew!Finally, my thumb button (the flat black one out by itself at the bottom) acts as ALT so that by holding it down, I actually press buttons on the SECOND bar (pictured above) and not the FIRST hotbar.---Because of the fact I can press any of the 12 buttons on either bar with my device, the basic setup is that oft-used abilities are on the first (so I don't have to hold down the thumb button to press them) and if they have a sister ability, it is in the same slot, but on the second (so that I hit the associated command with the thumb button held down).The top right is an example. My second biggest backstab shares the same button as my biggest one - the difference being that I hold down the button to hit the BIG BIG one (cause I save if for when it REALLY matters - like when qeynosians come by looking for a fight).<div></div>Now, the executive review:1 - I find this button the hardest to push, so I assigned sprint to it because if I need spring, I most likely don't need to be furiously pressing other buttons.ALT 1 - DPS boost - I use this when I have time to hit it. Usually, other combat arts take precedence.2 - Anathema - I use this with the one immediately below it, so having them close together means I can press them easily.ALT 2 - Improvised Weapon. I hate this ability and only use it when its the last thing left on my cooldowns.3 - Shroud-Strike - this is the one that causes me to become cloaked when I backstab with it. It is here because I can press it easily with my ring finger but I don't use it spam-style because it requires me to be in a good position. Finally, it being beside button #4 makes hitting #4 convenient as you will see...ALT 3 - Paralytic Strike. MMMmmm yummy. A situational skill I hit when I need the root. Having it here makes it pretty easy to hit (my ring finger presses the #3 key easily).4 - Backstabbies Macro. There are a TON of backstabs for the assassin and I basically want my backstabs to hit from order of biggest one to littlest one based on cooldowns. Thus, I macroed them all together in to a single macro, except my biggest two backstabs because I want to manually dictate when I use those ones. Being right beside button 3 which puts me in stealth makes this easy for me to hit.ALT 4 - AoE Opening Strike attack. Another type of backstabs, but one I do not use often. I open with this if there are a lot of mobs, but only if...5 - 2nd biggest backstab. For when it matters, my first finger can hit it without issue.... heheALT 5 - THE BIG ONE. Assassinate. Hell yeah.6 - Heroic Starter. (Like other people have mentioned, this ability and the sprint ability always appear in the same place no matter the character I happen to be playing)ALT 6 - other DPS boost skill.7 - Bleed over time - used with Anathema and completes a heroic if used as such. Thus, my heroic opportunities are perfomed entirely by my pinkie by pressing the outside button, the top button, the middle button.ALT 7 - All my arrow attacks. I am an assassin, not a ranger. I don't need to control which arrow attacks I use, so I macroed them all together. I press this, I get arrows flying out of my bow. Good enough for me.8 - Mark. Ohh la la. Probably my biggest source of DPS, so I like it right there in the middle where I can see it easily. I hit this one with extreme prejudice every time it is up. And I always keep it at master level.ALT  8 - My Splitpaw and my Class snares macroed together.9 - Evasion and Oozing Wound. This is called in my macro window "deaggro wounder" And no, I didn't misspell 'wonder'. This hits my other bleeding wound ability and then hits my evasion skill. Thus, every time I use that ability, I always hit my de-threat if it is up from cooldown. People compliment me all the time at being able to dish out DPS and yet not take aggro, this is one of my biggest secrets as to why.ALT 9 - AA granted strike.10 - Regular sword strike and cripple in a macro. Again, I don't care which one happens as long as at least one does if they are up from cooldown. I like hitting the fewest abilities possible to get all the strikes possible.ALT 10 - Surveil. Easy to hit and situational.11 - Cheap shot. By placing on the lower row, I will not accidentally hit it. I never accidentally hit keys on the lower row. By placing it on the outside edge I also never have to fish for it. The first button is the one I need.ALT 11 - All my sinister strikes on a macro. After all, if I am going to use a VERY situational strike on a button when I am under a very fast timer (the one cheap shot has) then I will have my ability easy to hit after all...)12 - Insta-stealthALT12 - casted stealth.-----All abilities I have that are on macros do not show their cooldown status, so to counter that, I placed them also on a bar that I keep shown on my screen so that I can just look at it to see their cooldowns. I don't actually use the abilities from that bar - I use them from the main action bars by using my Nostromo.Hopefully this helps someone.TTFN,Fiefal of Nagafen

[HazNpho]

Thanks Dracorat, That backstab macro is something I didn't think of till you mentioned it... That clears up a whole list of keys I don't need out... Hmmm also gives me an idea for the next topic <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><div></div>

[cfcoat]

<DIV><IMG src="http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n197/cfcoates/smallui.jpg"></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>i have mine grouped (basically) in this way:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>non-stealth attacks</DIV> <DIV>ranged attacks</DIV> <DIV>aoe's</DIV> <DIV>buffs</DIV> <DIV>stealth based attacks</DIV> <DIV>deaggro's</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>i put the short duration buffs close to the CA's that are best affected by them IMO</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[ERROR]

<img src="http://menace.iselite.net/_/RiotCAs.jpg"><div></div>