I’m trying to learn PvP arena as I mainly only do PvE/PvP in Bgs rather then arenas. I really want to try and get into it with SL coming around the corner.
I just feel a little overwhelmed when it comes to target123 or using modifiers (or both for CC?), what would be the best option for a beginner in arenas to not feel so tunneled? I would honestly just love to hear some of your guys’ tips as I am very new to it. I’m focusing on maining a Lock and prioritizing my bar and binds for arenas atm, thanks!
Logitech G600: 1-6 on Top Half & Bottom 2 Rows I’m looking to use those for arena123 & focus123?
Also what are some Warlock Sequencing abilities that are always used for Arenas? Im trying to get my bars in sequence if that makes sense
I would suggest you spamming 2s so you can get a hang of target/focus 1 and 2 down. As to learn modifiers I highly recommend going at your own pace and slowly build up to max and learning through dueling/battlegrounds/wpvp or even start with the target dummies since it is muscle memory. You dont want sequencing macros, you want to have manual control of all your abilities due to the nature of pvp, even more so in arena. Key to success is persistence, patience, and going slow.
Thanks for the great advice ill definately be practicing the class. By “Sequence” I meant combos destruction warlocks use in Arena ex. A mage who Blinks into a CS… having to binds next to eachother would be comfortable to press together.
Do you use arena123 or spell modifiers? I dont know which is best for a beginner, especially a caster.
In terms of keybind, minimizing awkwardness of movement/spell combinations pretty important.
What I found smoothest was to have a,s as strafe-left/right, d for move forward, no more movement keys. And then q/w/1/2/3 for spells you cast so you’ll never need to press a/s at the same time, and then all instant casts be to the right of that, so your index finger can cast any spell while your pinky holds down shift or ctrl modifier if need be, and 2nd/3rd finger press a/s to strafe as needed while you use mouse to choose direction or double-click to move forward.
And in terms of targeting party 1-2-3 (if healer or for dispels), arena 1-2-3, focus 1-2-3 with mouse buttons is generally a lot better than have 3 keybinds per spell.
in the same boat as you OP, but here is my dilemma. I learned to play WoW years ago a super unorthodox way, of moving with the mouse, and strafe left = mouse thumb button up, strafe right = mouse thumb button down, and binding all of my damaging abilities to 1,2,3,4,5, and all of my support/cc/AoE/non-ST dmg rotation abilities on qwert, asd, zx, F1, F2, shift+q,w,a,s. My focus macros are on my G1-G6 on the macro keys on my K95 platinum on the far left.
am i at a huge disadvantage here? All of my friends play with mvmnt aswd, and dmg/support bound to a 12-button naga trinity or something similar. I really feel like I need to re-train myself to play the game, but am so hardwired now 14 years in. Should I retrain my brain the proper way?
first time ive heard of that, good on you! If you don’t mind me asking how do you control camera?
camera controlled with scroll mouse wheel up/down, whats the normal way? I’m constantly pivoting with left-mouse, turning angle with right-mouse, moving while clicking both. my irl friends literally rofl when watching my play and are floored that I have reached 2.1 in RBGS and 2K in 2s, which I know is no big feat at all.
not trying to hijack thread, just looking for honest PvP feedback <3
honestly there is no right or wrong way to keybind only to make it more efficient. If you are comfortable with that setup you already hit 2k, you can hit 2.4 with it. Normal way is to left click to free move camera, pressing both left and right to move forward when using keybinds that move your fingers away from movement keys. Would like to see a vid of your movements if your friends are laughing at it, very curious
thats the impression i’m under to, just to stick with it and refine the efficiency I think.
I will record gameplay tonight and have cam on my keyboard/mouse to show and PM or upload, will be in touch. would LOVE critique of how I can make my wonky system more efficient <3
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I use both arena123 and spell modifiers. For beginner the easiest macros to get into is the spell modifiers
#showtooltip
/cast [nomodifier] Consume Magic
/cast [modifier:shift,target=focus] Consume Magic
This is an example macro that I use. If you do 2s mainly you can use these type of macros over Arena123. If you are trying to get into 3s then you will want to practice arena123 target macros. I use both arena123 and spell modifer for the same spell since I also do WPvP
With how much stuff you have to do to be viable in arenas I would suggest going with focus macros and an easy to reach keybind for switching focus. (in my case ctrl+mousewheel for focus arena enemy 123)
That way you have one solid group of binds and macros that never change regardless if you do pve,normal pvp or rated pvp. If you are a beginner and you go with arena123 macros that are 100% useless outside of arena and have to be switched out for focus/normal macros every time you do non rated pvp,rgbs and pve… that will fry your brain.
So as a Destro Lock should I be using Modifier Macros for ex. Fear, Fel CC to only shift for focus? Making it more viable outside of arena? Is it possible to find Shift Focus Fear for my focus to be on the same bind as my arena1 fear.
#showtooltip
/stopcasting
/cast [@arena1,harm,nodead,exists] fear
/cast [target=focus] fear
you will have to test it, i think that may work for you. I suggest having spell modifiers and arena123 macros for fear, pet silence, pet sleep, and conflagrate if you are running the pvp talent
dawg wtf
who did this to you
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This macro will cast Fear on arena1 if you’re in BGs (and a flag carrier exists) or Arena, and otherwise use it on focus.
/use [@arena1, exists][@focus] Fear
I would highly recommend watching CDEWS videos on YouTube regarding this.
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Keybinds are important, and so is understanding your class. But good fundies are important too. Learning positioning, strafing, LOS’ing, how to juke kicks, etc often get overlooked.
As for keybinds, there’s a ton of ways you can arrange it. For utility spells (and heals, though I’m guessing you’re sticking with lock), you can set it up with modifiers so that nomod = casts on you, shift casts on party1, and ctrl/alt casts on party 2. This saves some space, and I prefer to set up macros like this to keep interface cleaner. However, some people choose to make targeted macros where they have multiples of the same spell on their action bar. This could manifest itself as having one button that fears arena1, another for arena2, et cetera.
There’s lots of ways to be creative with your macros and keybinds, you can get creative with it. Skill capped is a good resource, as is the aforementioned Cdew.
Also, incase it hasn’t been mentioned, getting a multi-button gaming mouse will take things to the next level. It opens up a whole world of possibilities. A 12 button mouse essentially becomes a 60 button mouse if you use modifiers.
EDIT: You’ll probably read a lot of resources that tell you to use focus macros, and you definitely should. BUT they often forget to tell you that you can bind auto focusing arena targets, and that’s something you NEED to do. You should have a button for focus arena1, 2, 3. Stealth drops focus and sometimes you need a different focus target. If you’re trying to do all that with clicking, you’re dead meat. So make sure you have those target binds.
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It’s doable as the person below you has demonstrated the problem is that arena123 also counts for flag and orb carriers in battlegrounds which means the focus portion of the macro will only work if no orb or flag is picked up…
Works fine in pve and world pvp though.
The physical key binds you pick should feel good to you. They should compliment the way your mind moves.
Aside from that, I would recommend important spells to exist in arena 1,2,3 variation. Important CC like fear and interrupts are always good for these.
Personally what I like to do on classes that have hard casted CC is also bake my focus macros into the cast. For example, I have hex 1,2,3 and baked into each macro is also focus 1,2,3 this way you can just tap your casted CC macro to switch your focus while you’re on the move. Saves needing 3 spare binds to just switch your focus.
For important team utility I like to create custom macros to cast on each of the other two players. Stuff like remove curse and healing surge (not mandatory) are nice to have so that I don’t have to click their frame then cast. Probably not as big of a deal for healing surge but with destro locks in their current state getting off havoc as fast as I can is a priority to me.
@cursor macros are also very nice for aoe skill abilities. All of my placement totems and earth quake are @cursor. Not mandatory but it feels more fluid this way.
Hope this helped.
Thank you Ill give it a try