[Hotkey questions] A step in the right direction... I think... Where's my compass?!

[Ellóren]

Read my previous post, please. People are different and do things differently. What's hard for you may be very easy for me, and vice versa. What works for some (or even most), doesn't necessarily work for all....

To return to the healer-without-addon example: One of the most competent healers I've ever met heals without any addons. So much for being carried.

Again: I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying that your way of doing things is not the universally only way to successful tanking.

[shieldbanger]

He also mentioned macros and others. Also note it may not be nesscary, a good healer becomes better at squeezing more out with the right help. From what you've stated it sounds like that healer has reached his max, especially if he/she is unwilling to try things to improve, sometimes that means doing something your not familiar with to get a higher potential than before. As in several puzzle games I've played "you have to go down to go higher up"

[Deathsvalor]

My list of Keybinds:
Q Dark Command
Shift-Q Death Grip
w Foward
E Blood Boil
R Rune Strike
Shift-R Deathcoil
T Outbreak
Y Empower Rune Weapon
A Turn Left
S Back Peddle
D Right Turn
F Mind Freeze
G Chains of Ice
H Strangulate
Z Horn of Winter
X Death and Decay
C Blood tap
V Vampiric Blood
B Ice Bound Fortitude
N Raise Dead/Death pact macro
Shift-C Dancing Rune Weapon
Shift-V Bone Shield
Shift B anti-magic shell
1 Icytouch
2 Plague Strike
3 Heart Strike
4 Pestilence
5 Death Strike/ Cancel Hand of Protection
6 Rune tap
Mouse 3 Back Peddle
Mouse 4 Strafe Right
mouse 5 Strafe Left

In addition to these I still have several clicked abilities
Army of the Dead
Raise Ally
Potions/Trinkets
Lots of abilities that I don't use in combat (Poth of frost, Deathgate ect.)

I did not learn these in a day. I played a ranged class when I first started playing and quickly turning/ changing targets while using abilities did not seem that important. So when I made my DK I was a mouse clicker just like on my warlock. I managed to do a good job, but after having several moments where I just could not react fast enough to a situation (like having a DPS directly behind me pull aggro on a melee mob and getting 2 shot) I started key binding.

I started with 1-5 and Dark command. Over a period of 2 years, I have slowly added in the rest.
I still have a few more I am planning to work in like trinkets and pots.

So what was the reward for all this? I now can react to situations far faster than I could before. If I need to change targets soon, I can park my mouse on it and change immediately. If something runs through me, it will only make it a couple steps. It was definitely worth the effort although when I first started it did not seem like it would be.

I now key bind on every character I have including my warlock. It is nice to know that I can use any ability at any time regardless of what is happening instead of being locked out while targeting and mouse turning.

[Gorthankk]

I personally am not great at having and using keybinds. I know for a fact that i'm not using them to their maximum potential, and could be an insanely better player if I did use them more often and effectively.

It took me a long time to finally come around from clicking, a lot longer than it should have, but I did it gradually, over time, and a few abilities at a time.

Now, I use 1-5, shift 1-4, Q, E, shiftE, shiftR, V, and G relatively effective (I can give a list of what abilities I have bound to those, but prob unneccessary)

I still find I click things like Cooldowns, Health Pots, Challenging shout, Bezerker Rage... I KNOW I would be a MUCH better tank if I could get all of them bound as well, but for me, it is a gradual process. I've noticed that the difference between having the few binds I use now, and when I had NO binds, is enormous.

It really does help step up your game in a massive way, cannot recommend more if you can get used to it.

I see that you are worried about losing your place on the keyboard, or not being able to reach, thats why Shift 1-4 and binds such as Q and E are so easy to use, they're right near the default movement keys, and very easy to hit.

All in all, practice makes perfect, and it sounds like it might be a gradual long term process for you as well. Try binding your 5 main abilites to some keys, and start with using those, then expand on that

edit: The above poster said and confirmed what I was also saying

I started with 1-5 and Dark command. Over a period of 2 years, I have slowly added in the rest.
I still have a few more I am planning to work in like trinkets and pots.

So what was the reward for all this? I now can react to situations far faster than I could before. If I need to change targets soon, I can park my mouse on it and change immediately. If something runs through me, it will only make it a couple steps. It was definitely worth the effort although when I first started it did not seem like it would be.

[Ardis]

Not meaning to go off topic with the others, but I tend to be spiteful of healbot users because back in Wrath we had to cancel/postpone raids whenever healbot didn't work until a new version came out because all but one of our healers (we have two now, but only one back then) didn't know how to heal without it...

Back on topic, Adamjgp just mentioned a convenient group of unused keys I didn't even think of even though it's right there, the numeric keypad (numpad). I could definitely map my cooldowns, potions/healthstones and situational keys to that and move my hand off the mouse for a split second to use it. Though, I just realized another thing, my hand can't reach the modifiers from the number row, but it can from wasd, so I can use that with a gaming mouse. I realize it sounds like I'm not reading the posts about the modifiers, but it looks like some money I had set aside might suddenly be coming back to me, so the option of buying a gaming mouse is a lot more viable now than it used to be.

And, if I get lucky by being unlucky, my plans to go to a convention* at the end of the month will go wrong. Plan C is falling apart by the day and there isn't time anymore to make a Plan D. That's money that I can suddenly put towards getting a Razer Naga. I got a Razer Carcharias headset (money I don't have to spend on replacing my dying $20 Logitech headset) for Christmas and I'm loving it, so if I can expect the same level of production quality from the Naga, I'm definitely willing to spend $70 for the Naga.

Though, I do wonder, are there any cheaper MMO mice ($30-$50) out there that anyone can recommend for me that I can use until I can afford a Naga? Basically to help me get used to using an MMO mouse until I can afford a Naga. Plus, I can talk my brother or one of my friends into splitting the price with the promise that they can have the cheaper mouse once I get a Naga, so I'd probably only be paying half on the cheaper mouse.

*Reason I'm broke right now.