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NOTE: This is only one way to setup these gaming peripherals. Everyone will have their own opinions and what works for you is what's most important. I have tried to present what I believe is a logical, well thought out setup that has proven to work well for me in the game.



Both the Razer Nostromo and Razer Naga are powerful gaming peripherals that individually can improve your MMO experience. Used together however they can do even more to improve your gameplay. That is the focus of this guide.



MOVEMENT & POWERBARS



First let's consider the Nostromo keypad. One of the primary advantages of using this keypad over a typical keyboard is the D-Pad ergonomically located for use with your thumb. Instead of using three fingers for movement with the WASD keys, the D-Pad does the same thing with only one finger. When used with the mouse (holding down the right mouse button) complete control over character movement and the camera is achieved in much the same way that using two analog sticks on a gampad does. Even better the other four fingers can be used to activate powers/abilities while still moving using the D-Pad/Mouse. The Nostromo defaults to the arrow keys for the D-Pad and this works perfectly with SW:TOR's default keybinds, so this should just work out of the box, no configuration necessary.



So if we're using the D-Pad for movement that leaves 19 other keys/controls on the Nostromo to configure. Our first priority is the power-bar, or more specifically powerbar 1 which uses 12 keys '1' through '=' as the default keybinds. (Note: You might be wondering why we are assigning the first power bar to the Nostromo instead of the Naga - that will become clear later on in the guide.) The next logical question is how to best assign these keys. We want them to be comfortable and easy to use, since these powers tend to be the ones we use the most often. At this point it would be helpful to consider how your hand rests on the Nostromo:



http://s19.postimage.org/5c1dair4z/Hand_On_Nostromo.jpg



As you can see the pinky finger rests on the '06' key, the ring finger on the '02' key, the middle finger on the '03' key, the forefinger on the '04' key, and finally the thumb on the D-Pad. We can access these keys with a minimal amount of movement. So let's refer to this position (and the corresponding keys) as the "neutral" position. Starting from that neutral position it's easy to move the fingers down to the corresponding keys below. I've highlighted these keys in the following pic:



http://s19.postimage.org/87eghdv4z/Nostromo.jpg



It gets a little bit harder to bend the fingers for the lower keys, thus the color guide. The green is easiest, the yellow a little bit harder, and the orange requires the most adjustment to reach. Even the hardest to reach though are pretty easy to use. So assuming that the most commonly used powers start at the left of a powerbar and they become less used as you move from left to right on the powerbar, let's assign the Nostromo keys as follows (in the Nostromo driver):



02 = '1' 03 = '2' 04 = '3'

06 = '4' 07 = '5' 08 = '6' 09 = '7'

11 = '8' 12 = '9' 13 = '0' 14 = '-'



That leaves one more key on the power bar ('=') unassigned on the Nostromo. I suggest we place a power only used out of combat such as your classes restoration power, or your speeder activation in this position of the powerbar. Then we can assign it to a key that's still pretty easy to reach but outside of the 'grid' established by the neutral position. I use the 05 key in the upper-right corner. So we now have the entire first powerbar assigned to the Nostromo. There are still 7 more keys on the Nostromo to assign, but before we get to those let's turn our attention to the Naga mouse:



http://s19.postimage.org/lplcto7ab/Naga.jpg



The Naga is pretty straightforward. The 12 keys on the left side of the mouse are activated with your thumb and by default are assigned to the '1' through '=' keys. However, we've already assigned all those keys to the Nostromo - the reason for which will become clear in a moment - so we need to add a modifier key. I assign Control + '1' through Control + '=' to powerbar 2 on SW:TOR. So to correspond to that let's assign Control + '1' to key 1, Control + '2' to key 2, and so on. Again I suggest placing your most used powers on the left side of the secondary powerbar with less used powers as you move from left to right. Why? The first to rows of keys on the Naga are easier to reach with your thumb than the last two rows which require more bending of the thumb. Might as well make the more commonly used powers correspond to the easier to use keys, right?



We now have two full powerbars worth of abilities that can be accessed instantly! But we can do more than that. For powerbars 3 and 4 I use a modifier in the same way I do for powerbar 2. So powerbar 3 has Alt + '1' through Alt + '=', and powerbar 4 has Shift + '1' through Shift + '=' assigned within SW:TOR. The Naga also has the typical forward and back buttons** of any mouse (highlighted in the picture above). If we assign each to one of these modifier keys then we can easily access all the powers in powerbars 3 and 4 as well! For example if the Forward key of the Naga is assigned to Alt then we would simply hold that key on the Naga while pressing any of the keys we previously assigned on the Nostromo to access the corresponding power in the tray. We now have instant access to 48 abilities at our fingertips, all accessible while simultaneously moving our character (unless that ability requires us to stand still of course).



You might be wondering about the jump ability. I've found that assigning that to the scroll wheel click on the Naga makes the tricky jumps required to obtain hard to reach Holocrons, significantly easier. So now all movement and powerbar keys are accounted for. But what about those remaining 7 keys on the Nostromo...



MISCELLANEOUS



We have some keys left on the Nostromo, so what things do we use the most that we should reserve them for? This is a lot more subjective depending on how you play, but I'll make some suggestions.



The game map is commonly accessed to figure out if you're heading in the right direction for your next objective, so let's start there. I assign this to the 10 key on the Nostromo. It's pretty easy to reach, and more importantly since the map becomes transparent when you move, this key can be accessed while still using the D-Pad.



Most players suggest that it's better to TAB target than to click, so the scroll wheel on the Nostromo can help us out there. Assign scroll up to TAB and scroll down to Shift + TAB. This will allow you to literally scroll through all the available targets. Works quite nicely.



It's important to be able to target yourself or your companion for certain abilities so assigning the Target Self key (F1 by default) to the 15 key right below the D-Pad is a good choice. Pressing this once will target yourself and again will target your companion, etc.



Assuming that you like to play the games with friends and/or guild members you're probably using Ventrillo, TeamSpeak, or Mumble to communicate your voice. Usually having a press to talk key is best since voice detection can be spotty and annoying. I assign that key (whatever it is you've set up) to the 01 key in the upper left hand corner of the Nostromo.



If you are playing the Smuggler or Imperial Agent, you need a key to take cover (assigned to 'F' by default). The small round button right above the D-Pad works well for this. Alternatively if you are a healer you can use this for the Focus Target Modifier. If you're a tank or DPS character, this key can be used all sorts of conveniences.



Finally we have the scroll wheel click (on the Nostromo, not the Naga). Whatever you assign to this key should be something you only need to access occasionally since it's a little difficult to hit. I have mine assigned to the Sheath/Unsheath weapon key.



CONCLUSION



I hope this long winded guide will help those who have purchased or are thinking about purchasing these Razer peripherals to use them effectively in the game. Much of the principles discussed could also be applied to other MMOs or even entirely different genres. There is some learning curve to all of this of course, but once you get used to it you won't want to go back. Have fun!



** The Naga Epic and Naga 2012 version place the Forward and Back keys in the middle of the mouse below the scroll bar making them significantly less useful. If you have one of these Naga models then reversing the assignment of the primary and secondary powerbars from the Nostromo to the Naga is probably your best bet. You'll then need to assign Alt and Shift keys to one of the extra keys on the Nostromo. It was suggested to me that I should write a tutorial or guide for taking advantage of Razer's Nostromo keypad and Naga mouse in SW:TOR so here it goes. I hope this will prove helpful!NOTE: This is only one way to setup these gaming peripherals. Everyone will have their own opinions and what works for you is what's most important. I have tried to present what I believe is a logical, well thought out setup that has proven to work well for me in the game.Both the Razer Nostromo and Razer Naga are powerful gaming peripherals that individually can improve your MMO experience. Used together however they can do even more to improve your gameplay. That is the focus of this guide.MOVEMENT & POWERBARSFirst let's consider the Nostromo keypad. One of the primary advantages of using this keypad over a typical keyboard is the D-Pad ergonomically located for use with your thumb. Instead of using three fingers for movement with the WASD keys, the D-Pad does the same thing with only one finger. When used with the mouse (holding down the right mouse button) complete control over character movement and the camera is achieved in much the same way that using two analog sticks on a gampad does. Even better the other four fingers can be used to activate powers/abilities while still moving using the D-Pad/Mouse. The Nostromo defaults to the arrow keys for the D-Pad and this works perfectly with SW:TOR's default keybinds, so this should just work out of the box, no configuration necessary.So if we're using the D-Pad for movement that leaves 19 other keys/controls on the Nostromo to configure. Our first priority is the power-bar, or more specifically powerbar 1 which uses 12 keys '1' through '=' as the default keybinds. (Note: You might be wondering why we are assigning the first power bar to the Nostromo instead of the Naga - that will become clear later on in the guide.) The next logical question is how to best assign these keys. We want them to be comfortable and easy to use, since these powers tend to be the ones we use the most often. At this point it would be helpful to consider how your hand rests on the Nostromo:As you can see the pinky finger rests on the '06' key, the ring finger on the '02' key, the middle finger on the '03' key, the forefinger on the '04' key, and finally the thumb on the D-Pad. We can access these keys with a minimal amount of movement. So let's refer to this position (and the corresponding keys) as the "neutral" position. Starting from that neutral position it's easy to move the fingers down to the corresponding keys below. I've highlighted these keys in the following pic:It gets a little bit harder to bend the fingers for the lower keys, thus the color guide. The green is easiest, the yellow a little bit harder, and the orange requires the most adjustment to reach. Even the hardest to reach though are pretty easy to use. So assuming that the most commonly used powers start at the left of a powerbar and they become less used as you move from left to right on the powerbar, let's assign the Nostromo keys as follows (in the Nostromo driver):02 = '1' 03 = '2' 04 = '3'06 = '4' 07 = '5' 08 = '6' 09 = '7'11 = '8' 12 = '9' 13 = '0' 14 = '-'That leaves one more key on the power bar ('=') unassigned on the Nostromo. I suggest we place a power only used out of combat such as your classes restoration power, or your speeder activation in this position of the powerbar. Then we can assign it to a key that's still pretty easy to reach but outside of the 'grid' established by the neutral position. I use the 05 key in the upper-right corner. So we now have the entire first powerbar assigned to the Nostromo. There are still 7 more keys on the Nostromo to assign, but before we get to those let's turn our attention to the Naga mouse:The Naga is pretty straightforward. The 12 keys on the left side of the mouse are activated with your thumb and by default are assigned to the '1' through '=' keys. However, we've already assigned all those keys to the Nostromo - the reason for which will become clear in a moment - so we need to add a modifier key. I assign Control + '1' through Control + '=' to powerbar 2 on SW:TOR. So to correspond to that let's assign Control + '1' to key 1, Control + '2' to key 2, and so on. Again I suggest placing your most used powers on the left side of the secondary powerbar with less used powers as you move from left to right. Why? The first to rows of keys on the Naga are easier to reach with your thumb than the last two rows which require more bending of the thumb. Might as well make the more commonly used powers correspond to the easier to use keys, right?We now have two full powerbars worth of abilities that can be accessed instantly! But we can do more than that. For powerbars 3 and 4 I use a modifier in the same way I do for powerbar 2. So powerbar 3 has Alt + '1' through Alt + '=', and powerbar 4 has Shift + '1' through Shift + '=' assigned within SW:TOR. The Naga also has the typical forward and back buttons** of any mouse (highlighted in the picture above). If we assign each to one of these modifier keys then we can easily access all the powers in powerbars 3 and 4 as well! For example if the Forward key of the Naga is assigned to Alt then we would simply hold that key on the Naga while pressing any of the keys we previously assigned on the Nostromo to access the corresponding power in the tray. We now have instant access to 48 abilities at our fingertips, all accessible while simultaneously moving our character (unless that ability requires us to stand still of course).You might be wondering about the jump ability. I've found that assigning that to the scroll wheel click on the Naga makes the tricky jumps required to obtain hard to reach Holocrons, significantly easier. So now all movement and powerbar keys are accounted for. But what about those remaining 7 keys on the Nostromo...MISCELLANEOUSWe have some keys left on the Nostromo, so what things do we use the most that we should reserve them for? This is a lot more subjective depending on how you play, but I'll make some suggestions.The game map is commonly accessed to figure out if you're heading in the right direction for your next objective, so let's start there. I assign this to the 10 key on the Nostromo. It's pretty easy to reach, and more importantly since the map becomes transparent when you move, this key can be accessed while still using the D-Pad.Most players suggest that it's better to TAB target than to click, so the scroll wheel on the Nostromo can help us out there. Assign scroll up to TAB and scroll down to Shift + TAB. This will allow you to literally scroll through all the available targets. Works quite nicely.It's important to be able to target yourself or your companion for certain abilities so assigning the Target Self key (F1 by default) to the 15 key right below the D-Pad is a good choice. Pressing this once will target yourself and again will target your companion, etc.Assuming that you like to play the games with friends and/or guild members you're probably using Ventrillo, TeamSpeak, or Mumble to communicate your voice. Usually having a press to talk key is best since voice detection can be spotty and annoying. I assign that key (whatever it is you've set up) to the 01 key in the upper left hand corner of the Nostromo.If you are playing the Smuggler or Imperial Agent, you need a key to take cover (assigned to 'F' by default). The small round button right above the D-Pad works well for this. Alternatively if you are a healer you can use this for the Focus Target Modifier. If you're a tank or DPS character, this key can be used all sorts of conveniences.Finally we have the scroll wheel click (on the Nostromo, not the Naga). Whatever you assign to this key should be something you only need to access occasionally since it's a little difficult to hit. I have mine assigned to the Sheath/Unsheath weapon key.CONCLUSIONI hope this long winded guide will help those who have purchased or are thinking about purchasing these Razer peripherals to use them effectively in the game. Much of the principles discussed could also be applied to other MMOs or even entirely different genres. There is some learning curve to all of this of course, but once you get used to it you won't want to go back. Have fun!** The Naga Epic and Naga 2012 version place the Forward and Back keys in the middle of the mouse below the scroll bar making them significantly less useful. If you have one of these Naga models then reversing the assignment of the primary and secondary powerbars from the Nostromo to the Naga is probably your best bet. You'll then need to assign Alt and Shift keys to one of the extra keys on the Nostromo. "Life is a series of mistakes, and success depends on how well we learn from them"