Old Republic Controls - Best Advice For An MMO Newbie

[NitehawkFury]

So, I just started playing Old Republic, because a bunch of my friends picked it up and they want to build up a guild and all that. So, being the stalwart, independent-thinker that I am, I said "Sure," and downloaded it.

Now, I'm a guy who never played World of Warcraft. I'm really more of an action-shooter kind of fellow, though I do love Skyrim and Dragon Age a whole bunch. In any case, as I'm trying to play as my new Imperial Agent, I'm having a really hard time getting used to the controls. More specifically, as I'm trying to transfer my shooter skills onto the character, it's becoming apparent that those tactics don't really work in this kind of game.

So, my question is, what would be the best way to approach this kind of game, for someone who's never really played them? I understand the WASD and strafing, but with the way that the targeting works, are there any ideal things that I should be doing to make targeting enemies easier besides just tapping the TAB button again and again?

It just seems like I'm having an unusually frustrating time in a game that everyone else seems to have picked up all-too-easily.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Newtonyd]

I've never played Old Republic, but I played WoW for years as a raider and PVPer, so take my advice however you like.

The keys are probably bound with turning to A and D and the attacks from 1 to 9 or 0. You'll want to fix this first. Change A and D to strafe, get rid of the turning keys all together. Instead, use your mouse on right click to turn and look (assuming the controls are the same as for WoW, you might have to set it up so right click adjusts the camera).

I'm not sure how many skills or abilities you'll have, but you can get quite a few buttons in on one hand so you can keep your right hand on the mouse at all times. Rank your abilities on how important they are to use and how often you use them. Keep primary abilities on buttons 1-4. Secondary abilities can be placed on Q and E, as well as F. Z, X, C, V, and ` keys (left of the 1 key) make good spots for utility abilities.

If your mouse has a middle button and side buttons they can also be utilized. Try to keep similar types of abilities grouped together, keywise. It makes finding them easier. Emergency abilities or abilities with long cooldowns I usually put on the F1-F4 keys. If you need more keys use alt-1 through alt-4. You might not need that many abilities anyway.

This frees up your mouse hand to target whoever you want, turn around quickly (keyboard turners are something of a joke).

Good luck!

*Edit* Or, if you want, you can get that mouse with the 9 buttons on the side that I've seen around. Honestly, though, that thing scares the shit out of me.