The NotAddicted Hardware Lab Presents: The Belkin N52 Gamepad

[isobelle]

Accessorize your Addiction!

Every once in a while I come across a forum thread asking if anyone has any experience with the Belkin N52. Since I’m a lazy bastard, I’m going to write an article about it here, so I can just spam the link to this article from now on in such threads.

First off, let me get this out of the way: I can’t play without this thing. If I try to play WoW on my laptop or something, and didn’t bring this thing with me, I’m absolutely retarded. I can mine ore, but anything involving any kind of reaction time is out the window. I revert to clicking all the buttons manually with my mouse, and feel like most people must feel the first time they ever played the game. With it, however, I’m a force to be reckoned with. I can stance dance on my warrior like silly; can pop into battle, throw an overpower, and be back to popping berserker rage for a pummel before my little “you’ve entered battlestance” icon has faded. I fell in love with the original n50 model a long time ago, and got the n52 the week it came out (a long time ago).

I can’t understand how people play with a regular keyboard, using the actual #9 key waaay over there on the right hand side of the keyboard. Then again, I can’t crouch in counterstrike with my pinky on control and still move freely with the WASD keys, so I guess I’m just retarded. With this thing, though, any game is a breeze. There’s an initial setup time involved where I launch a new game, write down its default controls, then go into the profile editor for the n52 and start to assign its keys. There’s always a bit of tweaking, but once I’ve got an idea of what to do, it falls into place. Most FPSes share common controls (reload, jump, use) that can be shared across profiles, and the few that support other fuctions (Rainbow Six and peeking around walls, for example) can easily be intergrated into an existing layout without losing the ‘basic feel’. Games like WoW, Guild Wars, and DDO (and EQ, I imagine, never played EQ) share similar ‘action bar number key’ schemes. RTS games are a bit trickier; but basically, if you can use a keyboard for it, you can do better with this thing.

I guess the best way to start is just to show you my layout for WoW, and the logic behind it… you can see if it works for you, and give it a shot or not. One other thing I need to mention before someone else does is the “Wolfpak Keyboards” or the “Z Claw Specials” or whatever. The ones that either double the size of your keyboard, or give you some fruity piece of cardboard to lay over the keys so you can see that the B key does, in fact, open your Bags. I don’t like them, and here’s why: I still have a regular keyboard at the end of the day for when I’m typing stuff like this up. I don’t have an autofire turbo switch on my spacebar or whatever. The belkin is a separate unit, and if I want to type and eat ramen, I can pick it up and move it out of the way. Other people swear by the Logitech G15, and I’d actually probably get one if they offered it with kana on the keys. I use a Japanese version of windows and, subsequently, a 106/109 key Japanese keyboard (I live in Japan). They actually sell the G15 at my local shop, but it’s an English-only keyboard. The keys look all naked without hiragana on them, and there’s no dedicated key to switch to Japanese input. Plus, people get all hot and bothered when they tell me that they can see who’s talking on vent by looking at the LCD, but I have two monitors, so that’s never really been an issue. I can look 3 inches to the right to see the entire 40 man raid in vent without needing to scroll or alt tab or whatever… so… yeah.

Anyway. Moving right along.

Let’s start with a basic rundown on the hardware itself. It’s got 14 buttons in the main ‘clump’ of keys, with 2 other secondary buttons, a wheel, and a Dpad that your thumb rests comfortably on. The handrest area can actually be adjusted between two different positions, as well. You lift it up, and set its pegs into a differentset of holes… no hinky movement once it’s in place. Its got a nice rubber grippy area on the underside that keeps it from sliding around during use. There are three little lights in the bottom right corner which can indicate a “shift state”. Basically, you can hold a button down (or push to toggle) and enter the ‘green shift state’.. all the other buttons are then free again to reprogram.. so we’re not really looking at 16 buttons, we’re looking at 4 different sets of 16… regular mode, green, blue, and red. It’s a bit overwhelming, and I really don’t use that feature too much (I only have 2 green shifted buttons, and they aren’t used at all in combat), but if you’re into that kind of thing, then by all means, have at it.

In some people’s descriptions of their usage, they describe using the Dpad for movement, which ‘took some getting used to’. I guess these people got this thing, and decided WoW had become Super Mario Brothers 2 or something, but that idea seems absolutely ridiculous to me. The WASD keys are how you move in the game, and I’ve never personally tried to operate those four keys with my thumb. Ever. I’m actually kind of tempted to log in and try it right now, but I think I’ll pass.

The basic theme behind my setup revolves around wrapping the number keys around the standard WASD configuration, thereby eliminating the problem I mentioned earlier where the 9 key is ‘way over there’. The big button right below my thumb is Tab for targetting, and the little orange button is the 11th button on my action bar. I use it to execute on my warrior, or sap on my rogue… it’s got a satisfying little click when you push it, and sapping or killing with it just feels right. Rolling the wheel downwards one click activates the 12th button on my bar. I use it for thunderclap in battle stance, and not much else (I have cleave on it in other stances, but also a real button bound for it). Rolling the wheel upwards is Death Wish, I have it on a different action bar, and have that slot bound to the decimal point on the Numpad. The Dpad itself is the crown jewel of this thing, and I use it as follows:

North (pushing ‘towards’ my monitor) is jump. Woohoo.
West is my ventrilo ‘push to talk button’.
East is the Alt key, and is used in a variety of ways (more in a sec).
South is the Ctrl key, and is used Exessively (see below).

I have mainly one action bar I use in game. In my warrior, stance dancing switches the bar out itself between battle or defensive stances, and the same is true of my rogue (stealth or not) and druid (cat, bear, caster). I used to have two pages I would scroll between (using the wheel on the belkin), but it got too crazy during combat so I began using Ctrl+<button> for shouts and stuff.

Let’s focus on my warrior for a sec.

This is my main battle stance layout… yours will look different, depending on where you have your buttons on your action bars, but this is what I’ve been using since the dawn of time.... also note this is a Fury layout. Wherever you see Blood Thirst is where I put Shield Slam if I'm prot specced, or MS for Arms (key 0).

1 – Attack
2 – Heroic Strike
3 – Cleave
4 – Rend
5 – Hamstring
6 – Shield Bash
7 – Overpower
8 – Mocking Blow
9 – Charge
0 – Blood Thirst
(-) – Execute
(=) – Thunderclap




My defensive and berzerker layouts tend to mimic my battle stace wherever possible. This, to me, seems to be common sense. Wether you use a belkin or not, having the same button be shield bash in defensive stance and pummel in berserker (spell interrupts for the non-warriors out there) just seems logical. Same with skills like mocking blow and taunt. Charge and Intercept. Revenge and Overpower.

1 – Attack
2 – Heroic Strike
3 – Disarm
4 – Rend
5 – Shield Block
6 – Shield Bash
7 – Revenge
8 – Taunt
9 – Sunder
0 – Blood Thirst
(-) – Switch to Zerk (to execute)
(=) – Cleave

1 – Attack
2 – Heroic Strike
3 – Slam
4 – Cleave
5 – Hamstring
6 – Pummel
7 – Berserker Rage
8 – Whirlwind
9 – Intercept
0 – Blood Thirst
(-) – Execute
(=) – Cleave



When I pull back on my dpad (towards me), the layout then becomes this setup here. I have sunder on there just because you can do it from any other stance… it has a dedicated key in Defensive Stance, but if I need to throw one on there in battle I can Ctrl+7.

Ctrl+4 = Piercing Howl
Ctrl+5 = Battle Shout
Ctrl+6 = Demoralizing Shout
Ctrl+7 = Sunder
Ctrl+8 = AOE Taunt
Ctrl+9 = Bloodrage

I’ve already effectively got two full sets of action bar love at my fingertips; I never need to reach more than ‘one key’ away from WASD to use any key.



Pushing East on the dpad plus 8, 9, or 0 changes my stance.

8 = Defensive Stance
9 = Battle Stance
0 = Berzerker Stance

If you look closely, you’ll see that 8 lines up perfectly with taunt. I can hit Alt+8, be in defensive stance, and already have my finger right there to push once more to taunt something. To start a fight, I can Alt+9 (battle stance), 9 (charge). The combinations are all there… I rarely just assign a button randomly. I think about how often it will be used, and position it accordingly. Button 3 is the furthest of a reach, so I put Slam (lol) on it in Berserker, Cleave in Battle (which I mostly use in Berzerker, complemented by Whirlwind), and Disarm in Defensive (which only needs to be popped once before it has a 30 second cooldown).

	This action bar is one of the Blizzard default ones that runs down the right side of my screen.

The Ctrl + <button> things are shouts, etc… things that work in every stance. Since my action bar shifts when I change stances, I don’t want to put battle shout on there. I can reach it at any time by putting it over on my right sidebar, and using keybindings in game to say Ctrl+<number> accesses ‘that bar’.

This same setup is mirrored on my druid. Alt + 8, 9, 0 is bear (defensive stance), cat (battle), and travelform (not quite berzerker, lol, but whatever). I use Ctrl and Alt in different ways for my druid, but it’s all still at my thumbtip. I use a clickcast healing system (Clique) and have certain key combos bound…

Ctrl + Left Click = Healing Wave Rank < whatever >
Ctrl + Right Click = Healing Wave Rank MAX
Alt + Left Click = Regrowth
Alt + Right Click = Rejuv
Ctrl + Middle Click = MotW
Alt + Middle Click = Thorns

I actually just use these key combos and click on unit frames themselves to heal, but the point is that I’m still using the Dpad as the modifier… not wonking around with my pinky on the Ctrl, Alt, and Shift keys… nor am I wasting Action Bar slots on separate ranks. Wasting your thumb on hitting spacebar to jump just seems so stupid. Our opposable thumb is one of humanity’s greatest assets. Don’t squander it jumping! Okay, actually, I still do use my thumb to jump, but I also use it for so much more!

The profile interface itself is pretty straight forward. You pick a key, click it’s button, and click whatever you want that key to ‘be’. There are drivers available on Belkin's site for Mac and PC users, although all of my experience with the thing has been on a PC.

The little Arrows you can see at the top of the window are for the Shift States. Click the green arrow to program what the buttons will do when green shifted. If you look at my layout in the first or second picture, you can see I’ve bound clicking the belkin wheel down to enter the green shift state. Within that green state, I have only two buttons I use. One types out my password for logging in. I use a pretty complicated password, but I can still type it out using two keys. The belkin offers the ability to record keystrokes and assign a macro to a button as well. In Counterstrike, this was handy, because I could push one button to type out “b14254840;,.0” or whatever the hell I used to type at the beginning of every round to buy a gun and bullets and ammo and a vest etc. The macro editor is pretty nice… you just hit record, and start typing. It records the delay between button pushes and everything. You can go back after you’ve typed, and select all the delays, and set them all to 1/10th of a second (or whatever), or leave them as they are.

Let me get this out of the way, too: Yes, you theoretically COULD type out a rogue or warrior combo. Charge, rend, battleshout, wait 5 seconds for autoswings, then thunderclap, whatever. It just doesn’t work in actual practice. Just get the idea out of your mind. Unless you’re fighting a target that doesn’t move it’s gonna screw up. Even if the target doesn’t move, your rage generation varies based on crits or whatever. Lastly, it’s just stupid. I’m only mentioning it, because you could use this function in a useful manner like I mentioned in Counterstrike. Since native WoW macros don’t let you specify wait times (every function called in the macro happens as fast as possible, screwing up global cooldowns), you could use it to POM Pyroblast or whatever, but if you’re a POM-Pyro mage your life isn’t really that difficult that you need to eliminate one keystroke… or is it?

Ask yourself : Am I Really That Gay?

Paladins could bubble and hearth with one keystroke! The possibilities are endless. Seriously, I’m just throwing these out there. Don’t do it. Last thing I need is for Blizz to decide that the belkin software is a third party hack, and ban it's use. I'd kill you.

Slowly.

There is one fuction that this touches on which IS useful, but many people would frown on, so I'll avoid upsetting the lynch mobs here and just not come right out and say it (LOL). Use your brain. It isn't rocket science, I figured it out on my own, and isn't really that terrible.... That's the secret 'second green shift state' button i have, and I use it maybe once a month. It's tearing you up inside not knowing, isn't it? Joy!

Anyway. I know this post has been very 'Warrior-Centric', but I only wanted to illustrate exactly how far I've gone to customize the layout for a specific class, while still leaving the door open to apply that layout to other classes as well. It works flawlessly for my Warrior, Rogue, and Druid. I could easily apply it to a Mage (using Ctrl and Alt for different ranks of the same spell) or a Priest (similar to my Druid, and using my stance changing function to 'go shadow' or whatever). Like I said in the one of the first sentences, oh so long ago: I can’t live without mine now. If I’m forced to play without it, I just don’t even bother. I check the AH and log out. If that sounds like something you’re willing to risk, then check it out. Once you’ve made the adjustment to playing with it, you won’t be sorry. Your first reaction will be to curse it, just because it's different... once you open yourself up to that, though, there's no going back.

Besides, every addict has their accessories… drunks have flasks, stoners have bongs, heroin addicts have a favorite needle, crack junkies have… uhh… that one shoe they didn’t sell (yet).

Good Luck, and see you in there.



*Update* I'm still linking this thing after a having written it a long time ago. Since the expansion, there are a few new moves for my warrior and rogue, like Spell Reflect and Intervene, Cloak of Shadows and Deadly Throw. In truth, a lot of these new buttons are mapped onto various buttons on my Logitech MX510 mouse (the little "autoscroll buttons" and thumb buttons). I still use my dpad's Alt and Ctrl modifiers to get the most out of them.

I also have gone 100% prot, and have decided to put sunder on all of my stances. In the above article, I had it bound to a dedicated key in Def stance, but was using Ctrl+7 in battle and berserker. I've made sunder my 9 key in all stances, moved my various charges (charge, intercept, and intervene) to my 3 key. It's out of the way, but there when I need it. I've also moved Heroic Strike to my 4 key in every stance. I'll maybe go back and update the pictures, but those are the main changes, warrior-wise.

Rogue wise, I put shiv as my number 2 key, and moved SS / hemo (depending on spec) to the 4 key, where cheap shot is when stealthed (haven't used a dagger build in a long time, but the 4 key is my go-to spam button, so it would be ambush & backstab in a build like that). CLoS and Prep / Premed / Cold Blood are all on my mouse with Alt and Ctrl modifiers maximizing the use of those buttons. <3 <3 Good luck in there.

With the upcoming WoW scripting nerf, I was considering buying this thing, since my keyboard setup doesn't allow enough useful macro keys anymore. This article helped me decide to do so, thanks

G15's are a nice way of getting a good keyboard and *most* of the Nostromo pad's features in one package.

G15 just adds a useless LCD display if you ask me... the value of N52 is the ability to better use your hand... especially your thumb. You get a bunch of very intuitive buttons to push with your thumb.

i'm sold. i've been using zorlen warrior so i've really been spoiled with macros. but god damn my typing sucks and after that time i feared a bunch of mobs in strat instead of demo shouting them (the keys were right next to each other), i had to do something. zorlen was great while it lasted but with the new patch it wont work and i'm looking for something that will allow me to hit a key without losing my place or having to look down at the keyboard. pretty good price too. thanks again isobelle for the great post
friday i restart wow and my first stop will be to report your damn toon Yasel which in farsi refers to a remnant left by an incompetent moil.....

[Alihja]

At around $32, I think I've got to go out and buy at least two (one for me and one for the husband). These would also make awesome gifts.

no strafing?

/dons flak jacket

anyone have any experience using the N52 on a Mac? <gasp>

-Gritz
Eldre'Thalas
Pewprawketeer extrordinaire

moil... did i really say that? musta been up too early or maybe too late. i meant mohel.... maybe moil is the farsi translation....

[Balthial]

I like the idea of using my thumb, although I would totally do it Super Mario Style.

I have the opposite approach for setting up keys. Having the same key do different things in different stances throws me off, so I have pretty much the entire right half of my keyboard bound to one of the bottom hotbar buttons. T is the button the far left for abilities I never use (berserking lol), Y is the next button over, then U, then I, et cetera, then you start the next row down with G. On the third row skip over B and / or you'll have problems.

This sounds confusing but it grew on me fast. I honestly couldn't tell you what key does what on some of my characters, you just THINK Corruption and boom, it happens, like you're fucking Neo. Then you're driving and you feel your fingers twitching and you realize you're trying to DOT the asshole who won't let you get into the exit lane so you can get off the 405 already and end up in fucking San Diego. Hi, my name's Alex and I'm not addicted.

Also, dude, Japanese windows? wtf? Do I sense story?

[Lesson25]

Originally Posted by isobelle

Since native WoW macros don’t let you specify wait times (every function called in the macro happens as fast as possible, screwing up global cooldowns), you could use it to POM Pyroblast or whatever, but if you’re a POM-Pyro mage your life isn’t really that difficult that you need to eliminate one keystroke… or is it?

Ask yourself : Am I Really That Gay?

Actually, caster macros are almost necessary IMHO for certain tasks--most notably, +dmg/healing CDs--b/c WoW is so ghey about the universal cooldown. Example: say your an arcane-fire mage who wants to use ToEP, AP, and cast a fireball. To do this manually, you would press ToEP, wait 1.5sec, press AP, wait 1.5 sec, press fireball, & finally hit three seconds later. Six seconds have passed since you started your sequence, and your ToEP buff only has 9 seconds left on it. Alternatively, you can make one macro that automatically blows both ToEP & AP & auto-chains in to a fireball before the universal CD even starts--this means you get damage-output 3 seconds after you start the sequence, & still have 12 seconds left on both your buffs. Similarly, you can make another macro to blow PoM & auto-chain into pyro--if you use this right after the latter, you get two massive blows almost back-to-back in less than five seconds, & only have to suffer two universal CDs.

I don't think it's so much a question of whether you are gay or not, considering how many other players are already doing this & how the game devs have created such a disparity in incentives between players who use such macros & those who don't (it's like those who don't are penalized by being forced to wait through additional UCDs). But that's just my $0.02.

Ps.- For the record, I don't use any such macros myself*.

EDIT: Not any more!! Bwahaha

[Mageyoulook]

zomg i have a mac does it work?!

Aside from my penis, this is the most common thing found in my hand these days. The n52 is an AWSOME peice of kit, never leave for your LAN without one!!!

[Ripperjack]

Originally Posted by Guest

Aside from my penis, this is the most common thing found in my hand these days. The n52 is an AWSOME peice of kit, never leave for your LAN without one!!!

Agreed. My n52 is the only thing that gets to see any action these days.

See ladies... see what you have reduced me too!!! I hope you are happy!

[isobelle]

lol, great responses so far. the penis one takes the cake.

"No Strafing?" - Uhh... I'm not sure where this question is even coming from. When i strafe in-game it's by holding down the A or D key and my right mouse button... you could certainly bind keys to be dedicated strafing keys (i think it's an option in keybindings of the game itself), but i'm just using this as an extension of the default keyboard controls, with a better layout that suits my hand. I still have WASD mapped on the thing. i just push it there instead of on my keyboard itself. the keyboard is for chat, and opening bags, and toggling the map or whatever. all combat / movement goes down on the belkin.

MAC users - fear not. the thing is USB, and the drivers are available on belkin's site right there for all to see, supporting all your fruity flavors of OS 9 - X. *edited into the body of the story as well*

Mage Macro Users - you will recieve no love from me, but i do understand your point. I use my belkin, but push every button manually. There are warriors out there that run the 'one button tank stance' setup where they set up a macro like:

if revenge is available, then revenge
if shield block is available, then shield block
otherwise, just sunder

...and just spam one button all day long. sounds like a joy ride. why not just get one of these things to play for you?



whatever. it's your 15 bucks a month, spend it how you like. I'm just baised against mages since their attacks already ignore all of my armor. plus they root. and sheep. their life doesn't need to get easier.

Japanese Windows - I live in japan. mystery solved.

Originally Posted by isobelle

There are warriors out there that run the 'one button tank stance' setup where they set up a macro like:

if revenge is available, then revenge
if shield block is available, then shield block
otherwise, just sunder

...and just spam one button all day long. sounds like a joy ride. why not just get one of these things to play for you?

Tried dippybird but it was too exciting for my cat who pounced on my "-" key and blew my retaliation. Besides it's not like ya use only ONE button, sometimes you use 2. oh and that macro above would be better with shield slam imho. but the sad fact is, it's over. no more easy street. luckily the n52 looks like a pretty sturdy package. cant wait to wrap my hot little hands around it.

Good post. I used my N52 with DAoC but haven't ever really tried using it with WoW. Maybe I'll try it out when I get back from the Sandbox since it'll have been a year since I played anyway so it'll be like having to learn the game all over again.

http://www.wolfkingusa.com/prdts_wolfking.html

Imba !

[isobelle]

Originally Posted by Guest

http://www.wolfkingusa.com/prdts_wolfking.html

Imba !

that thing is gay for every reason the belkin isn't. the belkin is streamlined. 14 keys total. that's just a big full keyboard laid out in a circle, and has no Dpad of love! the 9 key is still three and a half miles from the D... what is it 'solving'?! RAWR!

[Poistiant]

Plus the wolf looks retarded.

[Bloodybloodblood]

'Fraid I have to agree with Poistiant. Their website is totally a furry fetish.

Isobelle, where is that animated avatar of yours from? I can't get stop looking at those 4 asian chicks saluting, they have me in some sort of trance and I can't...stop...looking...so pretty...

[isobelle]

Originally Posted by Guest

Isobelle, where is that animated avatar of yours from? I can't get stop looking at those 4 asian chicks saluting, they have me in some sort of trance and I can't...stop...looking...so pretty...

dude, gross! those are my sisters right before we went trick or trea--- ok. just kidding.

we've already had this discussion, so allow me to just take you there with a link:

http://www.notaddicted.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4194#post4194

start with krunchy (reply #23), my response is 2 below that. (lol, post #17 wants to "defile" them as well)

[Runned]

I should just change your custom title so that it explains who those girls are just to prevent further confusion

I so don't get why folks think the dpad is for actions.. it's a DPAD! Where was the directional control on an NES controller? On a PS controller? On an XBox controller? LEFT THUMB! </rant>.
So, what'd you use to assemble your button layouts, the ones with the WoW icons? Much more readable than the Nostromo profile editor..
As I play multiple classes, I prefer a class-agnostic layout that references the action bars, then I can customize each character's actionbars ingame based on how i want them to map to the N52. This allows me to swap up layouts on the fly ingame, without having to drop to the profile editor to change key assignments.
The DPAD is for movement, and NO I don't hold it NES style, please: I'll take "Image 2 of holding the N52", Alex. I normally use the Numpad for FPS's, so i have that mapped to the DPAD; Forward, Back, Strafe left/right. The diagonals have turns on them, but using the right-click on the mouse means mostly it's just the 4 cardinals that get used.
The far left buttons allow access to the second action bar (shift) and the stance/stealth/pet/special bar (Ctrl), as well as self-casting for my priest (Alt). I always put 'attack' on (-) and shoot on (=), which puts them directly under my index finger on the N52, the central grid of nine buttons for keys 1-9 on the action bar. Scroll up for Next Target (tab), scroll down for alternate shift modes. This allows for a visual reference of what I want to activate onscreen, and a logical layout that lets me 'figure out' what button to hit if I forget what does what. "Holy Nova is on 0.. that's the thumbpad.. BOOM!" Also, it categorizes which fingers do what; thumb = move, esc, 0 special; index for attack/shoot/scroll targets; pinky for shift/ctl/alt bars, mid 3 for button dancing. With thumb controlling movement, the middle 3 fingers can do their thing without having to interrupt movement. With WASD mapped on the mid buttons, you'd have to move your finger off movement to access another button in the same column.
I usually also have a 3x3 layout on the action bars.. buttons 1-3 will be attacks, 4-6 defenses, heals, etc, 7-9 buffs or common but less used abilities (buttons are harder to reach). This maps to the N52 as Top Row = attacks, Middle row as defense/heal, Bottom row as Buffs. For my rogue, it puts combo-generating attacks on TopRow, Finishing moves on Middle row, and combat-related specials on the bottom row (Dissappear, blind, etc). Like your example for Battle Shout, items that should be available at all times but aren't used intensively go on the second bar, for access using [shift]1 thru [shift]= (Hunter's Mark, InnerFire, etc)
As the layout works for all classes, I use the shift modes for 'gaming' modes.. ie blue for socializing (emotes, bags), green for chatting (channel assignments).. still working on Red for raid management...

[isobelle]

Originally Posted by Guest

I so don't get why folks think the dpad is for actions.. it's a DPAD! Where was the directional control on an NES controller? On a PS controller? On an XBox controller? LEFT THUMB! </rant>.


So, what'd you use to assemble your button layouts, the ones with the WoW icons?

yeah, but on an xbox, i'm not using the dpad for movement, i'm using two analog sticks. I actually DID manage to map all of my fucntions to an xbox 360 controller plugged into my windows box one day just for kicks as well. the four face buttons were ambush and backstab, sinister strike and gouge, and the shoulder buttons were right and left click, with the 'upper shoulders' being distract or vanish. start and select 'stealthed' or swapped mainhand weapons etc. it worked, but it was just proof of concept. i played with it for an hour or two... much less time than i spent setting it up. :P

on my PC, i'm holding a mouse in my right hand...WASD just feels right in the end. "whatever works for you" is the beauty of the thing though... your layout may be radically different than mine, and that's what makes it so cool. your windows theme seems to be... radically different as well.

i did my pictures for the article using adobe illustrator to draw the squares and dpad etc, and photoshop to do the icons and type, pulling the icons for the spells off of thottbot.

[Grendalsh]

My post above, with the picture and Alamo reference. too lazy to register first...
REMEMBER THE ALAMO!

Windows theme curtesy of Windowblinds' WOW suite.
http://www.wincustomize.com

I do groove on how radically differently people mentally map how to use the N52, and I think it's one of the reasons it beats tools like the G15 or Claw like a baby seal - there's no 'right way' to use it (although that first pic is just plain WRONG!)

Hopefully the powers-that-be will also have tried the XBox Controller thing for WoW and realized porting it to the a Console is just a bad bad bad idea..

[Runned]

I remember the alamo, it doesn't have a basement.

[Lesson25]

UPDATE: For truefullness sake, I should probably mention that when I heard the new talents are coming out next week, I decided to spec my priest back to PI/Discipline (b/c I think it will be obsolete post-patch). & for sh*ts & giggles I made a PI/Draconic Emblem macro. I was just so sick of "wasting" PI on idiots/undergeared players in PUGs, & as I pointed out such CDs on yourself are wasted IMHO unless coupled in such a macro to circumvent the UCDs.

I'll probly delete it next week when I go back to shadow, though.

First, Iso, excellent article. I ran (or actually typed since I used amazon.com) right out and bought one. I can't wait to get started using it.

I'm a man of many toons. 47 to be exact. Ok, its a sickness I know but I can see where your use of keys would serve every single one of my toons except for the rogues. A previous poster asked, "No strafing?". The reason why strafe would be important to me is because I use Q-D or E-A to maneuver behind a mob for a backstab. As one rogue to another, how do you do it without strafing?

I use the n52 on Intel Macs with the excellent Controllermate. http://www.orderedbytes.com/forum/

The Belkin driver doesn't work on any Mac shipping today.

[Grendalsh]

To #30 above - One of my mains (is that an oxymoron?) is a rogue.. while I use the DPAD for movement, so it has strafes mapped to it.. there's no reason you can't use Iso's mapping with strafes. Just set A/D to Strafe Left/Right, and use the mouse's Right click steering for turning - it's basically a looklock, same as FPS's.

[JohnnyC]

I find that wasd movement is way to herky jerky. I use the N52 "control pad" for foward/back and strafing left and right, and use the mouse to "steer". This provides for much more precise movement and turning than wasd. Also, i set the keys to match my hot bars (1 through 0 and - and =) on the three rows of four keys, using the two keys on the far right as [shift] and [ctrl] to enable me to use all three of hotbars with swift ease. I use the N52 mouse wheel for targeting (roll forward) target friend (roll back) and attack (push down). The orange button I use for decursive (guess I'll have to re-map that key next week) and the broad thumb button on the bottom to lock/unlock running (i.e. mapped to the [Num Lock] key).

I love the N52 and feel severly handicapped without it.

$17.94 after rebate

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Compone.../dp/B0000DC643

Get 'em while supplies last

what about this one... anybody tried it?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...895964-7197720

Product Description
U.S. Military training combat pad - now declassified, for non-military personnel, for PC gaming use

[mven]

Okay to the guys saying he doesn't have any strafes mapped... If you hold down the right mouse button a and d (by default) will strafe while you have it down and if you release the right mouse button they will go back to being turn buttons... his method is probably even more efficient at least for pure movement as you don't have to take your fingers off the keys and if you need to turn quickly in the middle of your strafe you are already holding down your right mouse button.

I think I will buy one this weekend though I will probably also go with the dpad for movement even though it will be annoying to get used to.

can you actually type w/ it?

[Grendalsh]

The default setup is actually mapped as the left half of a keyboard.
In theory you could use this like a frogpad or other 'halfpad' keyboards.. but you'd need to use two of the shift modes for a complete keyset. Considering you've got a full keyboard right there next to it, kinda overkill.. about the only benefit I could see would be if you had movement on the dpad, you could still move and type.. If you thought it out enough, and fought the learning curve, perhaps you could even type and fight.. but that's what TeamSpeak/Vent are for.. too much work for the reward.. But kudos to ya if you can get it working for ya!

#35 - the Fang.. hmm.. The only good thing I can see on this is it's ambidextrous, so finally some love for southpaws. Otherwise the button layout looks clumsy.. you'd have to move your hand to switch between the top row and the bottom buttons. Bleh.

[Deity]

OMG I sooo love my Belkin.. i have this and enjoyed seeing your setup... It's a bit different from mine though, I initiallt started with WSAD... but I use the dpad for movement now, though it's good to see that there are more ppl addicted to the n52 than me.. ever since i got it I've never set foot in a gaming café again... hehe just not worth it

I always figured my ESDF (as opposed to WASD) layout gave me plenty of keys to putz around with, but since this thing is so cheap, it might be worth a try... Time to drop my boyfriend some subtle hints. :3