Skill Bar for PC Please

All I want is the skill bar. I thought it’s going to be a QoL option but later I was extremely disappointed when I realized it’s apparently only for controllers. It should just be a QoL option for all platforms. No matter how I liked D2 back in the day, I can’t deny how old, awkward and clunky it feels now without a proper skill bar. And if it was just an option, you keep purists happy too.

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controllers are still going to be a major handicap… so really i think it balances it out to a point.

imagine having a fixed directional play rather than a freedom of movement.
imagine having a limited range for spells/attacks - such as teleporting

because of this, I can see most people playing on console actually leaning towards keyboard/mouse support.

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If you mean just some layout change, then I think it is fine. If you mean changing from 2 clicks to 1 click, no because this is an increase in power and this power is to offset the handicap of controllers.

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I feel 100% this is what he has in mind, being able to push A and shoot a spell, without having to “switch spells”

The default layout was always bad imo, going from F1-8 for spells, but I cant imagine anyone that played this game for years didn’t switch to a layout like Q-W-E-R-A-S-D-F-Z-X-C-V kinda thing.

Swapping spells like this is easy and fast.

E/ I could see having the selection always available on screen tho, if that’s what he means and it makes life “easier” i guess… knowing which spells are set on your Q-W-E-R in case for some reason you forgot your rotation or something… but honestly thats just unnecessary screen clutter imo

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I would love to have 4 skills bound to what ever keys I want or Q W E R the constant clicking is awful and let me program my quick switch! This would be amazing mass clicking hurts my hands I’m not young anymore

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I want to see this too. It already exists for controllers so the work should be minimal. Just make a toggle in the options for “Legacy or D2R”. It’s the standard way to play ARPGs today. I would love to do away with the extra click.

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This isn’t QoL.

If you have really good keyboard software you might be able to make some semblance of a skill bar. It won’t be 100% though.

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Well, I was reading some tests about the alpha. Most of them says controller support is better then mouse + keyboard. Don’t know so really…

what I discovered after talking to someone, was that controller was much easier because of lack of clicking. D2 is a very click intensive game. the controller eliminates the potential of CTS which is pretty nice…but every person I saw use the controller was INCREDIBLY slow… normal inventory management and well as directional attacking… but you wont get carpal tunnel!

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istn there a skillbar on the bottom ? (twitch alpha-tester vids ?)

i played this for 15 jears or so and i never had that problem. just buy good mouse? ^^ :wink:

Does that logic apply to buy a better monitor so you can off screen pvp better?

When you plug in a controller the UI changes to add a skill bar with mappable skills. So it’s already in the PC game you just can’t access it when playing with mouse/keyboard.

yes when you activate a controller or plug one in. not always.

Dunno about that… I was speaking mostly for the people saying controller is better, but I’ve also speed run d2. and I’m pretty sure every speed runner or hardcore player that goes very fast has had wrist issues. it literally has nothing to do with the “quality” of your mouse and has more with the amount of micro movements of your wrist as well as the constant flexion of the forearm and constant clicking. of course, I’m also 30 and have played this game for nearly 18 years

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Um, you guys do know you can assign keys to spells already right? Where it switches to that spell then you can use left or right click.

Doing it the way they did in D3 would break the game cause you know have 3 auras going on a pally wouldn’t be overpowered right? Or me being able to run fireball, orb, chain lightening at the same time is horribly broken.

If you have played this long and not realized you can assign keys for key swap I am sorry but, it exists.

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Guy says adding the feature as an optional setting are you people out of your minds?
It feels like these people came from the past working for the Vatican Church as inquisitors in the middle age. They don’t wan’t anything changed.
Just do not use the OPTIONAL option then…

I hope Blizzard Devs use some common sense and come up with all the QoLs.

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Out of my mind? I just explained why. If you are just saying you can see all your skills do you realize how many skills I have on my character that I use. I have a hybrid sorc build.

Here are all the spells I use:

Chain Lightening
Fire Ball
Frozen Orb
Static Field
Meteor
Shiver armor
Energy Shield
Thunderstorm
Frost Nova
Enchant
Teleport
Telekensis

On rare occasions blaze and blizzard. There is also Tome of Town Portal.

So how many are you going to display on the screen? If it is just a reminder thing so you can look and see fine but, anything past that will allow me to absolutely run through this game as if it was D3. I don’t want this game to turn into D3.

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Don’t use D3 as an excuse when you know jack crap about what you are spittin. Monks use “auras” called mantras. You can only have one bound at a time on your bar. Items in both cases, allow more, such as the multiple runewords in D2 that have auras, Act 2 mercs with auras, and of course, both games have multiple auras that stack in party play. D3 really only has party play, and the set inna’s bonus of “All 4 mantras active at once” and even then, you can only rune and use active button spamming on one bound aura.

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Skill bar dosent come for pc ahahahahahahahahahahaha

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Really, I don’t know really? I played d3, even revisited it. It still stinks. D3 you walk all over everything there is no challenge to it what so ever. My character who has remained unchanged in years can still run Torment x5. You keep trying to make D2R into a different game.

I just explained it to you. It is the difference of using 4 skills at once vs 2. You effectively at least doubling the damage. That is if it is only limited to 4. I know exactly what I am talking about. So now you are saying limiting the aura’s how are you going to limit all the other classes. You fundamentally have to change the game play. You can switch rather quickly through the way it is.

If you need them to be visible so you know what you have available for use it is one thing but, changing it so I can run 4 spells vs 2 effectively cuts the difficulty of the game in half if not worse. Sorc you have big damage spells like meteor, blizzard, static. Dude those combined I could just run past things as they melt. The game is meant to make you use what is between your ears.

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I have not played much of D3 since RoS launched, outside of probably 20 hours in 2018, and just recently a new character (a monk, of course) to replay the story mode and probably will revisit my whirlwind barb to farm a bit. Even I knew that, it was a basic function of the elective mode that there were restrictions of what could be bound.

As for the rest of that crap, it wouldn’t change anything of “difficulty” except as an accessibility of control and visualization except in the rare case of how one skill interacts with another on a build (concentration + blessed hammer for the most popular). If you says skills are easy to swap with current keying system, then this already changes nothing for you outside of a couple of less button taps.

The entire point is moot however, since the bar will be existing on PC anyways in the form of controller input, thus putting forth “pc first” philosophy (since this is an obvious feature to fit the game on console) only makes sense keyboard and mouse should get it. 4 button hotbar would be fine, with the ability to still use normal keybind system for swapping mouseclick skills should be a piece of cake.