I think this is the right place...
I saw a video of some hunter PvP action t'other day (I can't recall who or where) and the big thing that struck me (apart from what a lot I have to learn about PvP play, and how difficult it's going to be to learn anything at all while dead) was how much the hero of the video used strafing. No matter where or how he moved (and he moved a lot!) he always seemed to be able to keep his target in his however-many-degrees-it-is (120? 180?) targetable field of view and fire off his instant shots on each CD, as well as a few well-timed pauses to add an auto-shot into the damage. The most interesting thing for me was that he was always facing more or less towards his target and could see exactly what they were up to.
I long ago made a decision to simplify my movement keys by ignoring strafing, but now I'm thinking just how important it could be for the budding young hunter to master it early on, and use it until it becomes second nature. It appeared to be far more effective than the basic kiting techniques I've managed to learn so far, like the 360-jump instant shot, or the 180-jump and land to catch the auto-shot timer.
I'd be interested to hear from more experienced hunters than I to what extent you use strafing: whether you only tend to use it in PvP; or in other situations such as boss fights that demand a balance of mobility and continuous firepower; or whether it's something that you have always done and you're sitting there with a puzzled look on your face wondering why I'm even wondering about this....
I think it's a very valid question. I find it difficult to strafe effectively simply because all of my movement is done using my mouse. I too jump and turn in order to get my shots off which at times seems a bit backpedlish. I now have a mouse (Naga) with way too many buttons, so that's not really an issue anymore, however I still find it clunky and oftentimes forget to even use them.
I try to get some practice in using the right mouse button to rotate around a target while strafing and seeing how many Autoshots I can get off withought breaking the 180 degree line. It's tricky.
I drive with the mouse too, but I have a couple of extra buttons programed to let me strafe. I usually only use it in PVP and I'm trying to get back into it more in prep for Apsect of the Fox, I have a feeling that once Fox is availible Hunter PVP is going to be pretty much constant motion. (even though it often times is already like that.)
I almost always straf, I move with my WASD keys though.. where my A and D are straf left and straf right. Picked this up for a boyfriend who totally removed the left and right movement keys in place of some key binds.
So I'm always strafing unless I'm steering with my mouse.
I strafe with my left and move with the mouse, not to make matters even more complex.
The "hero" of which you speak may be Kripparian of Ysondre, author of a lot of great stuff.
Strafing is probably the most important and also most basic ability for any player.
Not just for the Hunter, many classes can vastly improve their survivability and their dps if they master strafing and incorporate it into their normal play style. WoW's not the only game where this can be incredibly helpful either, many 1st and 3rd person games can be made much easier if you learn to strafe effectively.
For Hunters it not only allows you to keep an eye on your target but it also allows you to move at full speed while doing so. You move slower while backpedaling, and using the keyboard to turn is horribly slow compared to the mouse. If you're moving totally with the mouse then you're wasting valuable seconds turning around each time you want to shoot and you're probably losing track of your target as well which can easily mean death for you and your friends in both pvp and pve play.
You can fire/attack/cast at anything within the front 180 degrees of your character. This means that if you're strafing while kiting you generally don't even need to turn your character to get instant casts off because you're usually gonna have your target right at the edge of your firing arc. At most you'll have to make a slight turn to get them in the arc and this is usually taken care of automatically because in most cases you'll be circling your target anyhow, instead of running off in a straight line, so you don't get too far away from your friends. No jump shots needed unless your keyboard can't support more than 3 keypresses at a time, in which case you may still need to hop so you can get the shot off.
I play with WASD keys, with Q and E as my strafe keys, this puts all my full speed movment keys in a single like so it's less likely my hand will get 'lost' on my keyboard. It also means that my fingers are already right next to my hotkeys #1-5, with 6 and 7 being slightly harder to reach. If you use your Shift and Ctrl keys for modifiers you can easily bind up to 15 abilities within easy reach, and another 6 you'll have to stretch your hand a bit for, you just need to train your pinky finger a bit to be comfortable with holding down Shift and Ctrl a lot and with precise timing depending on how you spread your abilities out. If you get really crazy about it you can even bind another 5 keys with Shift+Ctrl as the modifier, it's a bit harder to pull off but you can get used to holding down both buttons with just your pinky while you press other buttons with your other fingers.
I use all these tricks and I've got the Naga MMO mouse too…so that's another 12 buttons on top of all those others. I STILL run out of hotkeys at times. It's hard enough keeping track of all those buttons and cooldowns and situational awareness…if i had to worry about having to turn around each time i wanted to fire a shot I'd have quit WoW long ago…strafe doesn't just save lives…it saves sanity….
numberjohnny5 said:
I drive with the mouse too, but I have a couple of extra buttons programed to let me strafe. I usually only use it in PVP and I'm trying to get back into it more in prep for Apsect of the Fox, I have a feeling that once Fox is availible Hunter PVP is going to be pretty much constant motion. (even though it often times is already like that.)
Johnny makes an good point here too about the new Aspect hunters are getting. While using Aspect of the Fox we'll be able to cast Steady Shot and Cobra Shot while on the move, but if you're not keeping your target in your firing arc for the whole casttime you won't be able to do it. So strafing is going to be incredibly important for pvp or for any pve encounter where you need to remain mobile while doing dps.
I haven't had hotkeys for my Aspects in a long time, but i suspect i'm going to have to make a macro to switch back and forth from Hawk to Fox and bind that within easy reach to facilitate quick and easy aspect changes during fights.
Harriel, i love having my aspects hotkeyed. I'm also a Q/E straffer and prior to 4.0 it just made mana regen easy for me during a fight. I'm glad we have focus now, however, it's easier to me to manage than mana regen so I can focus on shot prioritization.